{BREAKTHROUGH}

Over the past year I've been experiencing some sort of sleep disorder of sorts.  I've experienced it before, but this last year I've probably experienced it over 15 nights with multiple episodes a night on occasion.  Basically I wake up & I can't move, I can't speak & I become terrified.  It only lasts a few minutes at the most but there is the most terrifying feeling of an evil presence or something.  I'm fully aware of my surroundings.  I try with all my might to fight my way out of it, to scream & kick.  But I just lay there with my heart pounding.  Sort of how I would imagine what came over JS just before the first vision.  My mother & brother have experienced these as well.  My mother believes there really is a evil spirit or demon doing this to her when it happens.  (I'll let her know when she gets home what I have found.)  I have never believed this, nor has my brother & I just thought it had to be explained somehow.  But I've never remembered to mentioned it to a Doctor.  Well early this morning I had another episode & when I finally broke free of it I was pissed off enough to Google search it & do some research of my own.  Guess what I found!  Sleep Paralysis!  Here are just a few of the links I found helpful...

http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/sleep-paralysis-what-it-is-and-how-to-avoid-it/

http://www.world-of-lucid-dreaming.com/sleep-paralysis.html

http://www.persistenceunlimited.com/2007/05/7-tips-to-stop-the-terror-of-sleep-paralysis/

http://www.ehow.com/how_2043438_stop-attack-sleep-paralysis.html

There were many other helpful sites & also many many MANY other sights that try to convince the reader that this kind of thing really is caused by demons or aliens.  LOL!!  Here also is a great explanatory clip, it's 10 minutes long but if you have had this experience it's worth watching.  The last minute or 2 goes into the whole lucid dreaming or out of body experience which I have no idea about nor do I want to.  I will be trying to focus more on the tips I learned from the above sites listed to avoid having these experiences again though.

{Chore Chart}

I found this great template on Crafting Chicks blog for free a while back & I finally got around to using it today.  I've sent it off to the lab to have it printed on 12x18 photo paper & then laminating it so we can mark it with dry/wet erase markers.  My boys picked out the colors that they wanted on it & I found some great digital paper to make it look wonderful.  The boys had fun helping me set up each picture & they are excited to use their new job charts.  I hope the enthusiasm lasts!

{M'Fam}

{End of 2009 ~ Happy New Year}

Well, I've been majorly busy over the past month & super blessed.  After my car accident, the deductible to have the car fixed wiped out my entire savings.  I don't even get to keep the car (x-husbands).  A few weeks after the accident (December 2009) I acquired 2 new jobs.  The steadiest of the jobs is delivering the Standard Examinar in my neighborhood.  I'm up at 5am Sunday thru Saturday.  I gear up as if I were going out to ski.  If it's really windy I even put on my ski goggles.  Then I really don't notice that it's only 7 degrees outside.  I deliver to about 30 houses every morning & then I'm able to get home & shower & get ready for the day before my boys wake up.  Mind you m'boys are not being left in the house alone.  I have 2 brothers that are still home at that time & my mom is there for most mornings as well just incase m'boys ever did wake while I was gone.





I've also returned to Smith's... not in the photo lab though.  They have closed most of those down.  I'm a checker & I'm really liking it.  It's much more social than the photo lab was & I meet some very interesting people.  It's also the highest paying of the 2 jobs.  Also, in December I had 5 photography jobs that kept me super busy.  My boys have felt the difference with me working outside the home & have been more demanding when it comes to my spending time with them. But I've almost replenished my savings & should have my own car paid with cash by the end of March.  Cross your fingers for me!

{Bug} knocked his front tooth loose in the summer & it really got loose just before Christmas.  He would bite down on his lip so the loose tooth stuck straight out, it was hilarious!  I was almost sure that Santa & the Tooth Fairy were gonna come the same night.  But it held on a few days longer & when he was eating Captan Crunch for breakfast at his daddy's house it came out.


I sure love the way he looks without that tooth.  It's so adorable & I hope it takes a while before that next tooth comes in. 



Santa brought {Bug} a snowboard & {Skunk} a sled.  We've been having fun outside & {Bug} is such a natural snowboarder.  I'm so proud of him!





New Years was really nice & quiet this year.  I worked at Smith's till 9pm then {Twinkie} came to pick me up from work & we picked up a bunch of yummy food before we left.  We went back to his place & snacked on a green onion cheese ball & crackers while we grilled steaks, steamed king crab legs, & cooked then chilled shrimp.  It was all so good!!!!!  I really tried to make it till midnight, but I fell 30 minutes short.  {Twinkie} woke me with a New Years kiss & New Years wishes.  He is such a sweetheart!