Thursday, July 30, 2009

CORRECTION

Exhaustion DOES NOT = Anxiety!
Apparently, a strange reaction to your Enbrel can cause a scary increase in your blood pressure which can present itself as some serious ANXIETY! That got a little too freaky for my taste....Last night I was laying in bed thinking I was going to come out of my skin! I couldn't figure out why. Dalton wanted to lay in bed with me and watch cartoons and I had to make him get out and turn the TV off...I just couldn't take it. Today, I mentally felt good but my body was saying I was FREAKING out. I had hives and my chest was hurting and I was just out of it. A little after lunch, I saw my thigh where I had my shot Tuesday and it was red and whelped up. We started putting it all together and called the doctor. My blood pressure was 174/117. BENEDRYL time....and 45 minutes later we were feeling MUCH better! (Just ready to go to bed.)
I know we have a ton going on and some anxiety is to be expected but that was ridiculous. We are going to try some Benedryl before my shots the next couple of weeks and see if we can't prevent this little episode from recurring. Apparently, it's a common side effect. They told me about potential chest pain, but not the rest of the story...I guess everyone is a little different. I learned that the doctors kinda freak out when your blood pressure gets into that range. HA. I told them to settle down, it had apparently been that way since yesterday. Dr. "Bow Tie" cracked me up all worked up.
ANYWAY,
The floors got sealed last night and again this morning. Jeff is going over tonight to buff them and I am sending the camera with him. I'm not up to going tonight. We had some MAJOR storms around here this afternoon. We didn't have damage at either house BUT there is plenty around us at both places. I'm sure the next few days, I will be working a new round of claims. I was just about to get those from the end of June wrapped up!!! I only had two left still open. I told Jeff to take some pictures. He said they look INCREDIBLE. He tried to take some pictures this morning but I had the card in the card reader so he took the camera with NO card in it.
Both of my kids got their haircut today before all of the drama! They look so cute! The storming started in the middle of Dalt's cut. Bless his little heart. The sirens started going off and he started crying. He toughed it out and we actually had to stay afterwards for about 45 minutes for the sirens to go off and for the rain to let up some. It was a mess!!
SO, I'm giving myself the night off and I'll hit it hard again tomorrow. I've got curtains to make and LOTS of packing to do.
YARD SALE AUGUST 8, 2009

Peace,
Kacy

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

TIRED!!

EXHAUSTION = ANXIETY

Whoa Nelly!!
The floors are stained and sealed!!
i think i can...i think i can...i think i can...

Peace,
Kacy

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Trying to Keep Up

In an effort to get “caught up” (HA! What a joke!) I’m sitting in Taekwondo with my laptop! I am so behind!! And so much has been happening that I don’t want to forget.

This MAY be the only time I will ever admit it, BUT yesterday was my birthday. No real exciting news there, but Friday night we partied like ROCKSTARS! (Well as Rockstarish as the Acree’s get, anyway.) ONE of my most excellent mother-in-laws (I’m fortunate enough to have 2) threw me a little bash. We had a little family get together and also celebrated my sister-in-law’s father-in-law’s birthday! Meet Mr. Dave….

We had a lot of fun!

Oh and for you regular readers, Jeff went totally OLD SCHOOL for my birthday and got me pink roses!! I know, that one threw me for a loop, too. You never can figure him out. About the time I get all pumped up about the possibility of getting another grocery store gift card, he gets mushy with the roses! HA. Thank you Jeff! They are beautiful!

ALL we have done is work on the house. We worked all weekend and then I have been working a half day at the office and then heading over to the new house until about 10 every night. Jeffrey on the other hand, has been there from anywhere between 2 and 5 a.m. and returning the following morning around 9. I would be a walking zombie by now! He kinda is, but he’s still going strong.

These BEFORE pictures are from either Saturday or Sunday. I took the AFTER pictures tonight.

AMAZING….

You can’t see a lot of the work we have done. If you look close there is a lot of extra trim in the house, TONS of painting, the plumbing fixed, a new hot water heater, the electrical completely redone in the house and duct work run into both of those back rooms for the new heat and air!! DID YOU EVEN SEE THOSE HARDWOOD FLOORS!!!????
The floors were totally perplexing Jeff. Here is that awesome piece of hardwood we "found" the other night.
That part was NOT so hardwood...but have no fear. We found some great CLEARANCE tile at Lowe's!!
That's Rafael's booty!! He's such a hard worker and really funny. He eats salads! He says they stick with him. Oh, and he told me Taco Bell was "shit". HA
Funny Feller!! AND as you can see, no real progress on the kitchen, yet. They are staining the floors tonight and then nobody can go in the house until noon tomorrow. The kitchen fun will begin then.

OH and I am feeling GREAT. Enbrel is the bomb!! If you take a BC Powder, it’s like… what RA? Even my energy level is coming back. I’m pulling these long days doing hard labor and I’m still OK. I can’t tell you how awesome that is and how thankful I have been. I’m getting all teary eyed typing in a room full of 20 kicking teens right now. I honestly didn’t think I would feel this good again and that I had taken so much of my time and strength for granted. I’m not taking any of these good days for granted. I LOVE IT, and what a powerful lesson it has taught me. It’s really funny to hear the people around me, asking about my more “chilled” attitude. I am ashamed of much of the time I spent being uptight and stressed out by the small things instead of enjoying each and every moment.

I will be SO HAPPY to get this move behind us. Because we are basically reconstructing the interior of the house before we move, and in my brain I have it all lumped in as “THE MOVE”, it’s really dragging out. If you have ever done construction work, you understand the concept of starting one thing, only to have it turn into 6 more things you didn’t anticipate. It’s inevitable and the reason all builders get a bad reputation for not being able to give an accurate time frame for a job. We were hoping to be moving this weekend, but instead, I think we will just be getting around to packing! I haven’t started!! I told you I was a procrastinator. BESIDES, we don’t have anything clean to pack right now anyway. My plan is to work on that tonight….We’ll see how that goes.
Just a couple of other pictures I took...

My sweet Boy! He was so excited I was having a birthday!

"Myrtle" under the Myrtle..

Peace,

Kacy

Sunday, July 26, 2009

DON'T BE HATIN'

We are all still here and Rockn & Rollin on the "new" house! Jeff, rather unexpectedly, ripped out the kitchen floor and we have been busy trying to get one back in before MONDAY. I'm not sure why he always likes to add one more level of stress to an already insane situation, BUT he does and I love him.....

I took lots of new pictures because we were excited to find some hardwood under some of what he ripped out. It's looking better and better. Well...sort of.... You know how you have to make a mess to REALLY clean up. That's the stage we are in right now and the bottoms of my feet hurt too badly to go get the camera. Sorry!! Not tonight.

Hope everyone is well and ready for a new week. We've got a busy one.

Peace,
Kacy

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

HOLLABACK GIRL SAVYG VS. GWEN STEFANI

I, maybe, should NOT be doing a post while still at work, but screw it!! It's MY office and MY computer and this is when I have time. Home life is a little NUTTY right now.

Yesterday, I had a very interesting day with Miss Savannah Grace, but I had to drive to Dyersburg last night and didn't get home until about 11. My Great Uncle Bobby passed away, so my Mom and Grandmother and I went up last night. His funeral was today at 1, but there was no way for me to make that.

ANYWAY, I have decided that the aliens brought Dalton back to me, but when they were here they took SavyG. That child is NOT right and it is becoming a growing concern that she may never be. I discovered Sunday morning that Dalton really doesn't have a perpetual odor. He just doesn't bathe properly. I don't know much about 11 year old little boys, but I'm not sure mine is the "typical" type. Sunday morning, I told him to shower and if he stunk when he got out, he would just have to get back in. The kid asked me to just come help him. HA. I put my Crocs on with my PJ's and got in the side of the shower he wasn't using. (It's one of those walk through jobs with two shower heads.) He walked over to me for me to scrub his head and it wasn't even all the way wet!! DING DING DING..This could be PART of the problem. SO, we had Showering 101 and would you know, the kid smelled GOOD when he got out. He even smelled moderately clean after his next shower. (I haven't told him to bathe again, so I seriously doubt he has.) I kiddingly told him I was going to sniff his balls after his last shower and he actually asked me if I needed to!! THAT kid ain't right.

BUT,

He might be better than Savannah. She started shaving her PITS Sunday!! I cried! I realize it's a rite of passage, but I wasn't ready. I still won't let her shave her legs (many of her friends are) but, she NEEDED to shave those pits! Yikes!!

So she went with me to paint yesterday afternoon for a couple of hours. I thought I needed someone to talk to me. In hind sight, NOT such a great idea, but I learned my lesson. I had to paint this built in bathroom cabinet in the kids bathroom. It was about the only thing at the "new" house that hadn't been touched yet. We've all been avoiding it because it's in a little bathroom and you have to close the bathroom door to even get to it. Of course, the closet/cabinet isn't very large either. How the ONLY claustrophobic (ME) in the family got stuck with that job, I'll never understand. I was a little concerned about freaking out in there, so I decided to take her with me to sit on the toilet and talk to me. (I didn't say it was good judgment.) OF COURSE, she was bored and entertained herself by standing on a 5 gallon paint bucket and singing and dancing (flailing) around. After an hour of flailing, and paint fumes, I couldn't take it anymore. I had to MAKE her sit down. THAT was very difficult for her. After a couple of minutes, she had one leg pulled up to her chest and was beating on her thigh. This was where it ALL went wrong.......all to the tune of Hollaback Girl. Instead of
..ain't no hollaback girl...this my shit...this my shit....(which is bad in itself) while beating on her thigh, she started singing....
ain't no hollaback girl...beat my meat...beat my meat...
WHAT????
Yeah, I washed that paint brush and we left!! I still don't know how I was supposed to handle that one. That's just somewhere I'm NOT going. WHERE IN THE MANUAL DOES IT TELL YOU HOW TO HANDLE THAT?
So, my husband is still working on someone else's house. It was finished Monday!!! He worked at FedEx yesterday and I was gone last night and today he is back in WALNUT. We had a few words about that this morning (they weren't good ones). We are getting in a bit of a time crunch!! Today we got the list of repairs from the appraiser so maybe it will do some good NOT coming from me. Ya know, wives are such Nags! Whatever, how about a place to live? We close in 8 days!! I mean, I'm trying to be chill, but I ain't THAT good.
Hey Tina! Thanks for commenting!! OF COURSE, I remember meeting you!! Girl, why do you think I don't get upset when I find Savannah's underwear WHEREVER I might find them? We have enough underwear and socks for 2/3 of the country's military. That started when I got my first job in High School. I realized I liked shopping and new clothes MUCH more than I did laundry. It may not be the most economical trait I possess, but is a trait none the less!! HA. Most of my friends seem to like it, too. (Well, they did before I grew!)

PEACE,
Kacy

Saturday, July 18, 2009

T MINUS 11 AND COUNTING

There are SavyG's underwear in the den floor from the other night!! I finally got up off my Industrial Size Ass! HA.
DISCLAIMER: It's late, I'm tired and this post may "bounce off the walls". I don't have the energy to keep up with the flow.
I didn't take any new pictures at the "new" house. We are still painting! The problem now is that we are doing all that detail work that the pictures don't show. So, pretty much, things look exactly the way they did last time I took pictures. We now have 11 days until closing AND the fun is about to begin. You have to remember we ARE the Acree's and we do things a little differently than most. I don't think MOST people knock out walls 10 days before closing. BUT WE DO. HA! and all of my hair falls out from living on the edge. NO, seriously, they did our appraisal today and we didn't have any major repairs. Well, no MAJOR MAJOR repairs. So, now that we know what we HAVE to do, we are free to do what we WANT to do. That means the kitchen will be on the curb by Monday afternoon. I would love to say it would be out there tomorrow, but you know things can't go smoothly for us.
Let me back up and explain (I'll need to remember this later so I can laugh, cuz it ain't so funny right now.) Jeff has been in Walnut MS working on an old home there for the last two days and will go back in the morning to hopefully FINISH. He took on this project a little while back. It is an awesome home that if I'm not mistaken is 103 years old. The lady bought the house and the bank put about $45,000 in escrow for repairs. You can imagine, being 103, it needed a lot of work (mostly cosmetic). Somehow, she and Jeff hooked up and he took the job even though it was an hour away. Well, that was great and all, even up until Wednesday of this past week AND the fact that we were trying to get our own OLD house up to par.....THEN, for WHATEVER reason the bank decided to call her loan and informed her (and Jeff, being listed as the contractor) that she had until MONDAY to complete the repairs or the escrowed funds would be applied to the principal amount of the loan. HUMM, that would mean that the money Jeff was to make on the job would be bye bye!! NO GOOD. Thank goodness it was fairly close to being completed anyway BUT, he has worked a couple of 14-16 hour days and has one more to go!
So my mother in law and I have been working our tails off at the new house doing all of the cosmetic things we can and leaving the wall banging for the BIG BOYS.
I'm also doing my best to hold down the home front. HA!! Laugh real hard right here, because that is a JOKE. I'm trying, I swear, but they may come take my kids soon. I'm not doing a very good job. At least I don't think I am. I think aliens came and abducted my baby boy. They left their version of a human prototype, but I swear it is NOT Dalton. It is this nasty greasy little boy that I hardly recognize. WHAT? WHAT happens to 11 year old boys? Now, everyone knows I love that baby more than life itself, but HE'S GROSS. He still stinks when he gets out of the shower!! AND, he's pissed, because I tell him at least three times a day to go take a shower. Did you see that Seinfeld episode where George says his shower didn't take? We are living it. When does this phase pass?
We got some back to school shopping done this morning! Well, let me be honest and tell you how that came about. It was an accident. Since we have to go to church in the morning, and my motherly skills are leaving MUCH to be desired, AND we have NO clean clothes because I haven't done any laundry, I decided we would just stop by the store and buy something to wear. That is much more fun, much less time consuming and just plain easier than actually washing clothes. (It's been one of my mottoes (spell check says that is right but it looks really wierd to me) for years. I'm good at it.) The next thing you know, Dalton had all of his back to school stuff and Savy had a HUGE jump on hers. YES.
Tonight, Savannah was outside swimming with some of her homeys and I realized that my flowers had come back to life with all of the rain we have had in the last few days. I didn't get back out there to take pictures until after dark....I was busy paying the pizza chick for the nutritious meal she delivered to the door. (I told you I was doing a great job.) BUT check out my crazy flowers...
OKAY, let's just keep it real....
YES, my dogs poop on the concrete when the grass is wet, too! BUT, if you move around just a little bit.......
NOBODY has to know!
How profound!!!! It's ALL in the way you look at it!
Peace,
Kacy

Thursday, July 16, 2009

MORE PANTIES IN THE DEN

I wish I had some pictures for you tonight....new ones that is, but I don't. The camera is on the bar and my bootay is on the sofa. I didn't have the camera at the new house tonight when we were working, but I did grab it and snap some new shots of SavyG's panties in the den floor when we got home. I don't know why she insists on leaving them lying around. As a matter of fact, I just don't understand much about her at all lately. Dalton either for that matter. I'll try to snap some pictures of them over the next couple of days as we "get ready" to go somewhere. Yesterday, I took both of my kids to the Taekwondo Studio for a fun "lock in" and they both looked like they had on their pajamas, especially Savannah. They have got to have a wardrobe makeover, especially given the fact they are demanding we go to church. We have to have some church clothes and I'm already keeping back to school in mind. IT NEVER ENDS!
I, however, have lost 8 pounds now. HAPPY DANCE! HAPPY DANCE! Most of that is just from coming off the roids, but I have had some intestinal distress lately, too. I have already started praying for an easier time this week. We'll see what happens.
OK, Ms. Missy....My Do! Let me try to show you what I do.

Here are some pictures of me doing NOTHING TO IT!

I didn't do anything to it in these pictures. I got out of the swimming pool and put my clothes on and stuck a clip in the front to hold my bangs back. That was it.

My hair texture has changed since I started these medications. My hair seems to grow all different directions. It began to fall out when I started MTX and got a little thin. That has grown back now and it grew back thicker and more course.

I watch So You Think You Can Dance every week and really like the funky style of Mia Michaels. So, I suggested that to my hair dresser and this is what he gave me.



The only thing I put in it is Bumble and Bumble Sumo Wax.

It doesn't take much. You just mash it around in your hands and rub it through your hair and stick your hair anywhere you want it. It's quick, easy, fun and FUNKY. I like it for now. Thanks for asking.

We painted some more tonight and got new door knobs for the whole house. We also finished MOST of the electrical outlets. It's getting there, but there is still a lot to do. I think the appraiser is meeting Jeff there tomorrow. I'm sure we'll be busy this weekend. I just hope I feel better than the one before

I hope to have more updates for you next time. OH, the grass got cut. That helped A LOT!

Peace,

Kacy

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Update

I threw a 2 year old fit last night. I was standing in the kitchen about 7:45 last night. I was hungry and I was tired, so I just cried. I cried so hard I just had to go to bed. Nothing was wrong! I was just plain worn OUT! Today was better, I just went back to work for some rest! HA.

We worked at the house ALL DAY yesterday (still without power). Here are the pictures I took before we left.

Definitely still a work in progress but we are happy with what we have gotten done so far. The power should be back on tomorrow and I have to say I am sorry for "cursing" the seller about the utilities. He is going through some difficult times, and I don't know the whole story and should have possibly been more understanding. (He could have also possibly been more communicative (if that's a word) and we could have avoided the whole cut-off thing all together.) ANYWAY, some things you can't see,,,,,,all of the electrical outlets have been replaced, all of that white in the main areas is wainscoting and I love it! Crown molding is going up in the kids rooms (who both decided on the same blue) and a chair rail is going up in our bedroom (above) and it will be white below. The bathtub and tile in that bathroom have to come out, but not until AFTER the appraisal. Same thing with the kitchen, we are scared at this date, if we rip them out, we might not be able to get them ALL the way back in before closing on the 30th. SO, deal for now. I'm not crazy and I realize they are a hot mess, but we will get to them. We also hired a fellow to come cut the grass and weed eat. Of course, it has rained everyday since we called the young man, but ain't that just the way it goes?


In case you were wondering, NOPE, I haven't started packing. Let's just go ahead and get something out in the open. I'm not much on packing. I'm an extreme procrastinator. While I can sit here and have the best of intentions and know that packing in advance would lead to a much smoother move, it just ain't happening. We can all hope! Just don't hold your breath.
We took today and tonight off from our construction job. The kids had Taekwondo and then we went to Taco Bell for dinner! HA! Am I good mom or what? It was my night off! I think we are headed back over there tomorrow about 3. We are looking forward to checking out our handy work with the lights on!! The kids have a "lock-in" at Taekwondo tomorrow afternoon and they are looking forward to that. Savannah is taking her bestie Riley with her. Dalton took a friend last time. OH, and we have picked out our backpacks for this year...LLBean! I still remember my first LLBean Backpack. I was in Jr. High and I think I used that same one until I graduated. My kids think they are supposed to get a new one every year! Whatev!
Sleep Tight!
Peace,
Kacy

Sunday, July 12, 2009

JUST ANOTHER DAY!

Today was MUCH better. I felt like a new woman when I got up today. I am exhausted tonight, but I'll take exhaustion any day.

Jeff got up and headed over to the new house about 7 this morning. I stayed behind to see how I was gonna feel and to take the kids to church if possible. It WAS possible!! Other than the blisters in the roof of my mouth and throat, I feel great.

I had a breakthrough moment at church today. The kids love this church we have been visiting, but Jeff and I have been struggling to connect. I've really been praying about it alot lately. It bothers me that I just haven't had that connection at church since we decided to find a new one. I finally connected today! They are doing a series called "Summer at the Movies". Each week, on Friday night they are showing movies on the lawn at the church....kinda like the old Drive-In. This week's movie was The Incredibles. (I love that movie.) The sermon was all about how to have an "incredible" family. You can't have an incredible family, without having an incredible self and how to be that way by "honoring" your spouse. Good Sermon!

After church, Dalton wanted to stay at home and clean (HA) and Savy and I headed over to the new house to join the others. Jeff's mom is a work horse and shows up every time we've been over there. Today, we also had the help of our dear friend Rohn and his brother who was visiting from L.A., Gene. Today was about 5 degrees cooler than yesterday and you can't imagine how much difference that made in that little house. We got a TON done today. I took some more pictures, but when I uploaded them, I realized that if you aren't planning on moving in in the next 18 days, it probably doesn't look like much. Since this is my "online journal", just humor me. The change is amazing FOR US.


We got alot more done than these pictures even show. All of these doors got painted and the closets!! We are heading back over there in the morning. Rohn is off work tomorrow and agreed to help us on his day off. SO the rest of us took off work, too. We hope to get most of the lime green painted tomorrow!! Wish us luck!! We have also decided to try to get through an FHA inspection with the kitchen that is there. We are afraid that if we cut that back wall out, we will put our closing date in jeopardy to get the whole kitchen back in. So, while it will be A MESS, the goal now, is to get through closing and moved into the rest of the house and THEN rip the kitchen out. We'll just have to eat out for a couple of weeks. I think I can manage. HA.

I took these pictures of Savannah in the truck on the way to the house. NO, not while I was driving. We were stopped. She talks ALOT, but she sure is cute.

OH NO YOU DIN'T!!

PEACE OUT,

KACY

Saturday, July 11, 2009

I'm trying. I'm doing the work, I promise I am, but I'm struggling here. I feel more like.....

I mentioned some side effects the other day. HUMM, now they are a little worse. I was looking forward to feeling better "soon" but I guess sometimes you have to feel worse to feel better. I got slammed back into the bed today. We started painting at the new house today. Well, I gave it my best shot anyway. Yesterday, I took my MTX after having my Enbrel on Tuesday. WHEW, that didn't go so well. Last night or sometime in the wee hours of the morning, I got really sick at my stomach and starting running a fever. This morning I got up and we went to get paint and headed out to the new house. When we got there, we were a little shocked to find out the seller had the utilities turned off. That is NO GOOD. Note: If you are ever selling a house, DO NOT have the utilities cut off prior to closing. The appraisal is to be done on Monday and it can't happen without power. Not to mention, if your buyers are taking care of extensive repairs at their own expense, it makes for some pretty crappy work conditions with NO AIR. We got both of the kids rooms painted and then I started throwing up. TIME TO GO HOME. I slept all afternoon and seem to be feeling a little better tonight. We'll be back at it tomorrow.

I'm either turning into a porcupine or I just pulled a splinter out of the top of my head. I honestly don't know what that was, but it was a little freaky.

Pray for cool weather in the morning. We need it.

Peace,

Kacy

Friday, July 10, 2009

Transformers

Are you in the "know" on all of your Transformer language?


I was introduced to that world today. I was a virgin to the world of Transformers. Well, except for that brief period when McDonalds gave them away in all of their Happy Meals. I think Dalton was about 3 1/2 and they frustrated the heck out of him! I used to have to work them for him EVERYtime he wanted to change them up. Even then, I didn't know what their names were and certainly not that a whole world existed. I learned all about Optimus Prime and Autobots and Decepticons today. NOT my kind of movie!! But, I enjoyed spending time with Dalton and I enjoyed watching him get so excited and into the movie he was shaking in his seat. That part was awesome. I'll admit, if weren't for the brief appearances by Josh Duhamel, I don't know if I could have sat there.

I swear, every time they flashed him up on the screen they piped his cologne into the theater. I almost slid out of my seat. Ha, Yep, I'd do him! I could be his Industrial Size Fergie!!! Look, a girl's gotta have dreams. Anyway, pretty good movie. There was some pretty tough language, and it definitely isn't for the little ones (too much violence) but it was good.

So, I need to be up packing or over at the other house painting and instead I'm piled up in my bed with my computer watching reruns. I am not feeling so hot tonight. SOON, I will feel better. I know it.

Hope you have a WONDERFUL weekend! Try to stay KEWL.

Peace Out,

Kacy