Life as it happens with our three beautiful and adopted children, Shayla, Yamira and Manuel: Life as a woman stuck in an attic

Two months ago, I embarked on a terribly dirty and time consuming project. I decided to de-clutter my entire home. So far I have completed two garages, a shed, a workshop, a basement, another basement is almost done and two attics. I have to finish up one basement and I have to finish up one attic. Right now I am working on going through some stuff in boxes that came out of the attic. This project has been awful. It has been dirty. It has been exhausting. It has been encompassing. It has been eye opening. A lot of people have given me a hard time for working on this so long and so diligently, but these areas with their various piles have been plaguing me for some time now. See most people grow up and get married and move out of their parents home. My dad passed before I moved. When I moved, my mother followed me to my home within 10 minutes. We sold her house and moved her into a spare bedroom while we had an in-law put in. So everything my parents owned came to my house or a storage unit. Then we got rid of the storage unit. Then we got rid of some of the stuff in the house. I still have quite a bit left.

My parents were the executors of their parents wills. So I have all of the paperwork from their parents. There were a lot of things that I wasn't sure if they were old, vintage or antique. Do I sell? Do I give away? There is a crazy amount of paperwork. Most of it is mine that I have saved over the years. I had five huge trash bags to shred. I still have 2 bags to do. The rest have been done. I had a huge pile of junk in my driveway. I hired someone to come and get it. They took my money and most of the pile. They left me with some stuff. I am too trusting. They seemed like great young men. Very responsible. Showed when they said they would. So when there were five bags left, I paid them. They never came back. Guess I won't be using Abraham from Worcester again or his cousin Justin! Losers.

Anyway, this project has been awful. I have not loved any of it. It has been painful. There are a lot of things that I am very sentimental about. I have been proud of myself for letting some things go. I have broken down a few times in tears because it has been painful to let go, but I have had to do it. One really positive thing from this awful project is that I have been reminded how loved I was. My parents adored me. I was so lucky. So blessed. I forgot a lot of that because I seem to only focus on the last 10 years of my Mother's life. My Dad died on my Mother's 60th birthday. She died that day as well for the most part. Most of my memories are of losing my Dad and losing my Mom daily for 10 years after. However, this project has let me see the good memories again. Most parents give a card to their child on their birthday or Easter or Valentine's Day. My parents either gave two cards. One from each parent or they each signed one card. How many people had their Dad write in their card? Not just "Love Dad" either. We are talking about small paragraphs from both of them. I was indeed lucky to have them. They also saved all of my birthday cards and most of my school work. I am not sure if that is good or bad! I have chronologically put every single paper in order. So far it has taken 10 hours of my life to do just that one box! My Dad wrote "Jill's first W2 form." How many parents have done that for their kids? I was in tears when I saw that. Just reminded me how much my parents loved me. I tell people all the time that I rather have the parents I did for the short time than have some other parents out there who are still alive, but are not being parents.

I can say that I see the end of the tunnel. I am nearly done. In fact, I should be working on some of the boxes that I need to go through, but instead I am catching up here. It has been a busy couple of days. The kids are finishing up their activities and school. I have been running around with the three of them like crazy as Bill has been in school. Tonight we are home. Thank god. They are so darn tired. I made sure they were in bed for 7:00 pm. They need their rest. So here I am getting caught up on my blog.

The last time I was here was the 16th of May. So many things have happened since then. On Friday the 17th, we had a crazy day as it was a 1/2 day at school. Manny had an 11:30 am appointment with his therapist and Bill had to work for the entire day which meant I had to drag all three with me wherever we had to be. That is not always easy. Ping had a sleep over that night at Trout Brook in Holden with the Brownies. She had a ball. I went out with friends for reflexology and dinner. Hard to believe that was three weeks ago. Feels like it was three years ago!

On Saturday, Bill was working at the station again which is fairly rare. So I got up and headed out with Manny and Yamira to pick up Ping at Trout Brook. She had a ball, but was tired. After an errand, we went home and I fed them lunch. I then jumped in the car with Yamira and went to pick up Skyler and Ashly for a Daisy outing at Build A Bear in Natick. The girls had a blast. We stopped by the Apple store after because I lost all of my contacts for some odd reason which meant I could not call or text a soul as I didn't know what their numbers were! We then stopped at the Cheesecake Factory for a quick bite before heading home. It had been a long day, so we were in for the night.

On Sunday the kids had Sunday School and then we were home up until 4:00 pm when Shayla had a softball game. Dinner, shower and bed followed right after.

On Monday, I helped out in Yamira's class. Bill took the Toyota in for a recall. I picked up the girls at 3:00 pm and then it was homework and Brownies for Shayla. Bill had school, so he wasn't able to help out at all.

On Tuesday, Bill worked at the station for the day and then had class that night. I took the kids to school, got Manny at 11:00 am and went and got the girls for 3:00 pm. The girls did homework and then it was softball time for Ping.

Wednesday was a busy day. Bill and I went to the Worcester Court House for a hearing on our accident last June. We were only in the room for a few minutes. Ashly picked up Manny for us because we couldn't be both places at 11:00 am. We went to get Manny and then we went to buy flowers for the cemetery. That night Katie watched the kids while I attended a seminar on the temperament of children. We had a tornado watch that night, but I felt comfortable that it would not be an issue. When I got home, Bill was already here and had relieved Katie.

On Thursday we did a few things around the house. I took Yamira to therapy after school.

On Friday, my schedule was less hectic. Bill took the kids to school and I slept in a little. That night Bill was on call and Yamira had Daisies. I did a lot of work in the attic.

On Saturday we had Sky's birthday party. The kids had a ball. Bill was on call from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm.

Sunday was an open day with nothing scheduled. I did a lot of work in the attic that day. Felt good to get a lot done. That night I took the kids to the fireworks in town. Bill couldn't go as he was working the bonfire and fireworks. So Rebecca, her husband John and their two kids came over and we all watched the fireworks at the cemetery. It was freezing out. I was chilled for the rest of the night.

Monday was Memorial Day. So the girls and Bill marched in the parade at our cemetery and then up through town. We then went to Meri and Joe's house for a bbq. We had a nice time.

I woke up on Tuesday feeling very sick due to my allergies. Meri and Joe have a fire pit and I am allergic to it. So I woke up feeling really miserable and so I had to cancel an important appointment. I stayed in bed for awhile. Once up and moving and medicated, I was feeling better. I got some stuff done around the house that afternoon.

On Wednesday I dropped the kids off at school and met Kirsten for breakfast. It was great to see her and catch up. We chatted for hours. It was nice to have a break from doing stuff. That night Ping had softball and Bill had school.

Thursday was a busy day. The guy who took my grandmother's cherry furniture was supposed to come back for the rest of the stuff. He didn't call and he didn't show which was very upsetting to me. I took the kids to school and then parked the car. I was a chaperone for Ping's second grade field trip to the Ecotarium. It went very well but man was it hot. It was in the 90s and I was melting. Not pretty at all. I had five kids in my group. It went well. I was home for the rest of the day after 2:00 pm.

On Friday, I took Manny to therapy after school. That night I took the girls to a beading night for the Brownies and the Daisies. It was very, very hot. I was melting in the auditorium, so I didn't stay long. That and Bill was on call and home with Manny. He got a call and went to the station, but two other guys went and so he didn't go. He was supposed to take Manny to Ashly's house in the event of a call, but he said he didn't have time!

On Saturday Bill worked from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm, so I was on my own with the kids. I took them to the bank to shred some stuff in the am. Then we went to Walmart and then home for the day. It was so hot. I didn't get done what I wanted to get done, but I got a lot of things accomplished in other ways.

On Sunday the kids went to Sunday School. We then went to New Hampshire to celebrate Meg's husband John's 50th birthday. We had a great time. It was super hot, but fun.

On Monday, I hit the pavement running. Ping was supposed to have field day, but it was cancelled due to the rain. Bill and I went to the bank to do a little shredding. We then picked up Manny and went back for a short time. Then we came home. I did a few things and Bill studied for his class. I got the girls at 3:00 pm and then it was homework, dinner, softball and the final night at Brownies! So we got home close to 9:00 pm that night. That is a very long night for all of them. Manny and Yamira were not well behaved and that was really frustrating for me. I couldn't wait to get home!

On Tuesday, Bill and I dropped the kids off at school and then met with the guidance counselor there to go over some things that have been upsetting to me. Bill and I then did a little shredding and headed off to get Manny. We then came home to do a few things. I had a doctors appointment for my leg in Norwood. So I went there and then dropped off some toys to my friend Maura before heading home. I picked up the girls. We came home and did homework. I then fed them and we were off to softball again! Long day. The younger ones were a mess. It wasn't a fun night.

Today was a busy day as well. I dropped the kids off at school and brought Ping to her eye appointment in Worcester. We then ran to Target and then to school where I dropped her off and picked up Manny. We came home and I did a few things at my desk while Bill did the trash and Manny had lunch. We then went to the Yankee Candle store to make a return. That was awful. It was a huge mess. So after being there for an hour, we left there and picked up the girls. Then it was homework and dinner. I put the kids to bed at 7:00 pm after we read several books. They are just so tired. They need the rest. I am here catching up on emails and the blog and now I am going to post a few photos and go sit and watch TV. I never did get done what I wanted to today. Maybe tomorrow? Tomorrow is a super busy day though. I do have Friday open. I hope to get a ton of things done then!!!!

I hope you are enjoying our spring weather.

Mama Out!!!!!!