I Need a Nap

It's 8:48 in the morning, and I've been up since 12:46 a.m. I had a migraine last night so I went to bed early and fell asleep before 9. I woke up in the middle of the night and took more Excedrin, and then I couldn't sleep so I watched Lost on Tivo. Finally stumbled back to bed after 1:30, but then I kept hearing noises (thought it was the cat). After 20 minutes of restlessness, I realized the kitchen light was on. A quick investigation revealed that my son, who is almost 3, was wandering around the house. Returned him to his room only to discover that he'd thrown up in his bed. Seven hours later, and I still haven't slept. I've done three loads of laundry and have a day's worth more. Poor David is lying pathetically on the living room floor because I don't want him to christen the couches with urp. (I'd put him in bed, but both sets of sheets are in the wash. Besides, and it's a TV-watching kind of day.) I'm off to search the garage for the Little Green Machine so I can clean up the carpet.

Here's hoping this is short-lived and that the girls don't get it. Kendra's 7th birthday party is in 49 hours, and I'd hate for her to miss out on her celebration.

Please Pray for My Dad

If you're a praying person, please consider praying for my Dad. He's had a long history of illness, strokes, and increased disability. As a result, he's become severely depressed. He's currently in the hospital and hopefully will receive proper treatment. He's also in the process of selling his house and moving back into the retirement community where he was last year, so pray that he'll adjust and accept his new situation better than he did last time. Also, pray that I'll have the right words to offer him. He's lost hope.

Opening Day

Yup, it's official. Today was opening day -- for catalog season. I found half a dozen catalogs in my mailbox today, and I know from experience that the number will only increase as we inch closer to Christmas. Normally I just toss them into the recycling bin, but this year I think I'm going to take the effort and actually call the companies and request to be taken off their mailing lists. It won't make much difference, I know, but I hate to see all that glossy paper wasted.

I like giving and receiving presents, by the way. Generally, I like stuff. I just don't need to see examples of every single thing that I could spend money on. And I certainly don't want companies to waste time, paper, and money sending shiny catalogs to me when 99 times out of 100 I won't even look at them. And I really like my mail carrier, so I'm hoping my efforts will lighten her load, too. At least for my mailbox; I'm sure her truck is filled with catalogs headed toward the neighbors' houses. Sigh.

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UPDATE: One hour later, and I've called a few companies. One company happily took me off their list and said they appreciated the feedback. The second company could not find me in their system, even though I had the catalog in hand with my correctly spelled name and the customer ID number. I guess I'll just pitch those catalogs when they arrive on a semi-weekly basis.

Yippee!

I love Target. It's the happiest place on earth for me. And today God has blessed me with a $100 gift certificate to Target!

The education program at Trinity University (my alma mater) is celebrating its 15th anniversary of the master's program. They sent out surveys to all the MAT graduates asking for current information and career stories. As an incentive, they said they would have a drawing for two $100 gift certificates to either Barnes & Noble or Target. Today the education department sent out an email saying that I was one of the winners -- yippee!

On top of that, I scored two mystery shops this month at Target. I get reimbursed for $50 for each shop. That's $200 of Target money this month! Now is the real test: Do I use the freebie money for something practical for the house, or for birthday gifts for Kevin and the kids, or for something extravagant for me?