Jlybns Daily Adventures

Emotions...

2010-07-08T23:11:00.003-04:00

I often think that I was ripped off by being made a female. And no, not because I'm gay or feel that I shoulda been of the male gender, but just because even I believe that us females are complicated as hell!!! Tell me why we have to be so complex? Why do we have to ALWAYS overthink things and just worry in general about every little thing? Why can we NOT sit down to relax without our house being spotless? Why can we not roll into bed and just shut off our brains like men always do? Why do we lie there thinking about the bills, the laundry that didn't get finished, and 12 million other useless things that really don't even deserve to be fretted about??? Why do we get emotional and wanna cry when we see something on TV that a man would laugh at? Tonight, I was watching Hell's Kitchen of all things and when Gordon Ramsey met the contestant he just kicked off the show at her cab and told her he was proud of her and she started crying...oh yeah, I was right there with her!!! WTF??? It's Hell's Kitchen...I thought to myself..."are you serious, you are crying over that?" This is the shit I'm talking about! While I know that we have a nurturing side for a reason....the extent of this hormonal, blubbering, worrying side of us just sucks ass sometimes! LOL If only we could remove our heads when we needed a break from our crying emotional selves...this woman thing might be a whole lot easier!!

Happy

2010-07-08T00:19:00.001-04:00

That's it, I'm just happy and relishing in the fact that I don't 'need' anyone to make me feel that way...I just do...

Letter to my son...

2009-12-12T01:14:00.004-05:00

I know that at your age you think that you know everything and that I know nothing. I know you see it as me holding you back and just wanting to "control" you, as you put it...but that's honestly not the case. Believe it or not, I was 16 once too and remember what it felt like to be in your shoes. I remember my friends and boys being so much more important than my family...heck, they would be around forever...I really needed to impress my friends, they might ditch me or make things rough for me at school, if I didn't follow in their footsteps. The problem with that whole scenario is that MOST, not all, of those so called friends will not be in your life 10 years from now. Most of those people you won't talk to after you graduate next year. Or if you do, you probably won't a few years after that. I know that you are a kid and that you just want to hang out with your friends and have fun but my problem with you is that you treat me with no respect in what used to be our home...you act as though you could really care less about me. I will NEVER forget the things you said to me the day you left. And you know what's hilarious about you leaving, is that the last straw for you was getting your hair cut. Something I was doing because I wanted to make things easier on you...I wanted you to be able to SUCCEED at getting a job and looking like a respectable kid. I'm sorry for wanting that for you. I'm sorry that I had a car for you and just asked that you get a job to pay for gas and help pay for insurance, I'm sorry that I asked that you take the trash out and do dishes every once in a while....I really am...because maybe had I not expected anything from you, had I just let you do everything you wanted...we wouldn't be in this mess right now. Had I just put up with the lying and the viruses in my computer and you taking things that weren't yours and treating Tyler like he was the most meaningless person on this planet...everything would probably be okay.

I truly hope that you are happy and that some day in the not so distant future you may stop and realize that I really did love you, that I saw great potential in you and that I knew in my heart of hearts that if you reached for the stars......you could grab 'em!!!!

One year later...

2009-12-06T22:55:00.002-05:00

I've barely thought about this blog for months now and what are the chances that I'd decide to log in exactly one year later and just feel the need to write?! lol Hard to recap one year but that's what I'm gonna do.

As per usual there have been some major ups and downs. For a while there, I'd almost given up on my relationship with Brian. Things were pretty bad between us. We could barely have a conversation, let alone do anything constructive. There was a point where I was actually looking at apartments and I was going to move out of the house. I couldn't see how things could even turn around. We had both become angry and resentful and it was just not a relationship I could even contemplate staying in. I finally told him that I was moving out and somehow it turned everything around. I can't say that we haven't had our moments since then but that was definitely a turning point. Somehow we have found a way to work it out and I think we are stronger for it. He truly is my best friend and I know in my heart that my life just wouldn't/couldn't be the same without him in it. It's nice to have a happy healthy relationship again. I don't take it for granted.

There have been major changes with the kids as well. My oldest started getting in trouble in August and decided that he didn't want to deal with the consequences of his actions and that he'd be better off living with his dad. While I certainly didn't want him to leave, at the same time after getting into a huge argument with him over HAVING HIS HAIR CUT and him telling me that he's always wanted to live with his dad, I decided to let him go and see if the grass really was greener. Our relationship is still strained and uncomfortable, which just kills me inside but I know it is for the best. The house is so much calmer without him and his brother fighting constantly, Tyler is doing much better and is happier and my relationship with Brian is so much less strained because there just isn't constant animosity and stress.

I did have to go to court last week because my ex was petitioning for custody of my youngest as well, but it didn't go his way and no change was made. He did get actual custody of Corey, which is fine because there isn't any turning back with him now. There's no way he could come back here and everything just work out. He's far too used to not having rules, he is disrespectful to his dad and tells him to F*** off when he doesn't get his way, all of his grades have dropped from A's to B's and C's and he's already had a car accident and left the scene. Thank goodness noone was hurt and he said it happened because he was scared and didn't know what to do but the point is...he has no guidance and has made it quite clear that he has no respect for me and my opinion so I pretty much keep my opinions to myself. Hopefully, he can look back on all of this and realize that I truly was trying my best to do what was best for him...I pray for that day. In the meantime, I will spend every other weekend with him and just do the best I can at sticking to my guns and being a mom.

We acquired 2 dogs about 3 months ago...they are black cocker and britney spaniel mixes. Adorable, but tons of work at the same time. To this day, they wake us up at 6 something in the morning HOWLING at the top of their lungs. It isn't pretty...just like having babies but I'm hoping that they will mellow out in time. One is very mild mannered, while the other is just crazy! lol

Well, I think that about wraps it up for now. It's been nice to write again, since it's been so long. I hope everyone is doing well...not that anyone probably even looks at this anymore but if so... :0) just for you!!!

How the time flies....

2008-12-06T17:47:00.002-05:00

It's been ages since I have posted. Time really seems to escape me these days. Since I have last caught everyone up to speed...there have been so many changes in my life. Last post was about my mom but before that was about the annual boat trip, the one that I never ended up going on....

So, here is a very abbreviated update on everything that has been happening in the past 15 months....

8-21-07 Brian and I broke up

From that moment on...I was losing my marbles and acting like a fool. I didn't hardly ever stay home...was too hard to be there with my emotions. I walked 3 miles almost every single day, barely slept, worked and could not find a way to get a meal down. I partied like a rock star and did anything and everything I could to never be alone.

11-26-07 Brian contacted me and we talked about reconciliation. It was one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make. He walked out on me...something I thought that he would/could never do and there was so much hurt and pain, I didn't know if I could get past that and move on with him.

Of course I did decide to give him that chance and I'm really glad that I did. I was truly a mess without him in my life. As much as I hated him for the hurt he caused, I knew in my heart that I didn't want to try living without him for another second!

2-21-08 We bought a new house and started fixing it up. We got a good deal on it and it needed lots of love, but it's been well worth it. The house has turned out beautifully!

For 7 months we painted every room, tore out old carpet, installed new carpet, laminate floors, picked out countertops and sinks, etc. (You know the drill).

8-12-08 My best friend's dad lost his battle with cancer! Was very hard to handle but I'm glad that he's no longer in pain!

8-20-08 Went on the boat trip...it was great, and we had a wonderful time!!!!

9-20-08 We finally moved into our new house! Woo hoo!

11-26-08 (Thanksgiving) was spent in our new house...it was a great day with much to be thankful for!!! My side of the family came over and it was a tradition we really hope to keep going for years to come!!!

And here we are....19 days before Christmas. Everything is coming together and I'm in a happy place!!!

I've literally come full circle in the time since Ive last posted. Been at my worst and now just happy to be where I'm at....doesn't get any better!

MY MOM! XOXOX

2008-07-31T12:11:00.003-04:00

Today is the 14th anniversary of my mom passing. I know I haven't written in a very long time and I will have to catch up on this past year at another time. What I want to write about today, is of course, my mom.

I was trying to sleep last night and just couldn't. Even though I was exhausted, my mind wouldn't/couldn't stop. I looked at the clock at 11:44 pm and realized that it was only minutes away from the time 14 years ago when I got that call.

It was my sister-in-law who woke me around 12:40 am to tell me that my mom was gone. I don't remember exactly what she said, I just remember screaming at her and calling her a liar! I remember gut wrenching sobs escaping me and just being furious. Not knowing what else to do...I cried and cried until I fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion. I honestly couldn't believe any of it was happening...

I had talked to my mom the morning before...it was just like any other day. She said that she was going to bingo and I had planned on bringing my son over there to visit later. She said..."Okay, I'll see you then"! We said our usual 'I love you' and hung up. That was the last time I spoke to her. The last words spoken between us.

Until I lost my mom, I really took a lot for granted. I really never stopped to think that I should savor every moment and make the most of every single day and to never let a day go by without telling the people you love, just that. That you love 'em!

Now I really have a different view, a whole new perspective. You never know what tomorrow will bring. Before losing my mom, I had never even been to a funeral. (Yes, I was sheltered!) And I had never lost anybody close to me. Since then, I have been to far too many funerals. I've watched my dad take his last breath. I've said goodbyes to both of my grandmothers, 3 uncles, and many more.

What I'm getting at here, is that while I think (actually, I know) I will always have a void in my heart and will miss holidays and many other 'little' things spent with both of my parents and others I've lost...I'm going to try and celebrate all that I do have and not wallow in the past.

Today, I will make my usual homage to the cemetary. I will kiss my kids and tell them I love 'em and make sure to give Brian an extra hug and kiss too.

Life goes on....and I'm gonna live it. I know my mom would approve of that!

2007-08-26T23:44:00.000-04:00

I made it through...

2007-08-16T10:19:00.000-04:00

Last post I was a little distraught about my mom. I did wind up taking a trip to the cemetary and it was just what I needed! I really do miss her! Holidays, her birthday, Mother's Day and the anniversary of her death really still bother me, even after all this time...but it has gottten a little bit better. I miss my dad too, but in a different way than I miss my mom.

It's really funny how most mother's seem to be the foundation of families. I miss her courageous strength, her laughter, her guidance when there was something I was facing that I just had no clue how to handle...etc. I miss her sauteed cinnamon apples, her roast and fried chicken and pork chops. Kinda funny, that I would miss something like that...but I just can't help it. I miss her looking at my little boy with unconditional love. And regret so much, that she never got to spend time with Tyler. However, I know that there are reasons for everything that happens and even though I still have no clue what those reasons could possibly be...they are there. Maybe I will find out someday...

Anyhow...on to other things.

Only 5 days until the yearly boat trip...I really look forward to it. The ex is actually stepping up and taking the boys during this trip. I think it's only because it was an agreement that was made during the last court adventure...but still, it will be nice to not have to worry about the kids while I'm gone this time. The previous 2 years, I've had to beg, borrow and steal to arrange for people to watch the kids for 10 days straight. Isn't an easy task, trust me.

I'm already very much in vacation mode and feel like just chilling, but have so much to do to prepare for this. As always, laundry needs to be caught up, I need to pack and get a bunch of food/things together for the time we are gone. It's always kind of hard to try and think of everything that you could possibly need for 10 days...always something that's necessary, but forgotten. Making my lists!!! Checking them twice!!! Wish me luck!! ;0)

On the home front, my kids are doing well. But they are reversing roles...where I was having tons of issues with Tyler....Corey is now the frontrunner for needing an ass whupping!! Why is that we even have to go through these teenage years??? Anyone know??? If you do, could you share it with me??? I want my sweet baby back, but I know that is unrealistic. I guess I will just work with the little monster I have and see what happens! For now anyhow. But I'm thinking that he should be A-F-R-A-I-D, very afraid...cuz mom is really done playing!

Well, I'm off for now...I have lists to write and too many things to think about. I hope ya'll are good (yeah, I'm brushing up on my Tennessee accent). Will try and check in when I get back after 9-1!

13 years!

2007-07-31T11:34:00.000-04:00

Today marks the 13th anniversary of my mom passing! It is weighing on my mind heavily and I think I might be paying a visit to the cemetary after work today! I think I need to...might clear my head a bit...

LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU MOM!!!

XOXOX

What are the chances?

2007-07-26T09:52:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday July 17th, Brian's dad went in for elective back surgery. We arrived at his house around 6:15 that morning. We were greeted by his sister Gayle, who told us that it wasn't such a good morning. Just as she said that, I started to hear some moaning coming from the bathroom. His mom was in there, standing in front of the mirror trying to put some makeup on. I could tell she was in a lot of pain. Gayle said that she had gone to the basement to look for her cell phone and winded up tripping. When Gayle got there and knocked on the door and nobody answered, she pulled out her key and went in. As she got through the door, she saw her mom at the top stair leading from the basement...crawling. She was telling Gayle to be quiet, "I don't want Bill to find out!" LOL Gayle says, "Mom, unless you make a miraculous recovery, dad's gonna find out!" She tripped over the cord for the iron, and said that she tried to just shake it off, but she couldn't put weight on it...she crawled halfway across the basement and then all the way up the stairs. Ugh.

So, we get his mom in a rolling chair, take her to the front door. From there Brian and his other sister Cindy take over and practically carry her to the vehicle. We pile in and head to the hospital. Bill walks in (mind you, he's the one actually having surgery), and we get a wheelchair for Wanda. Up to the surgical floor, Bill gets prepped and surgery is due to start at 9. Around 10, we say our goodbyes and his surgery is started. We are told it will be at least 3 hours, so we head to get some breakfast. After eating, we convince her that it would be a good idea to just get an x-ray, "just to have some peace of mind". After trying to maneuver in the restroom and being in lots of pain, she finally relents. But not after coming up with several excuses and wanting to brush it off...excuses like...I just jammed it, I will sit and soak in a hot bath tonight, I probably just pulled some ligaments, I will go tomorrow. It was truly like dealing with a child or a man!! LOL

Anyhow, after a small stint in ER and much speculation about what we really thought was going on...her doctor came in and delivered the blow. Wanda had fractured the head of her patella and would require surgery and pins to correct it. She was devastated. Here she thought that she could be there and help Bill recover from his surgery and now is told, that she'll be recovering from surgery as well. She feels like she has let him down and is just beside herself. Meanwhile, Bill is in surgery and has no idea what is happening. His surgery winds up taking almost 8 hours and it's almost 9 that evening, before we can even go in recovery and see him. Even at that point, he probably didn't even realize that we were there, due to him being overly sedated. At the same time, Wanda was being admitted and scheduled for surgery. At least they put them in the same room, which was nice. When Bill woke up the next morning, they pulled the curtain and she told him the news. His mental status hasn't been that great since the surgery, so who knows how much he really understood, but I think by now, he's gotten the gist of it.

It took them almost 2 days to get Wanda's surgery done, but she had it done around Midnight on the 19th and was transferred to rehab on the 21st. She is doing great, better and better everyday. Things with his dad have really been touch and go though. He developed a blood clot, they worried about seizures or a possible stroke. For days, he wasn't coherent, would mumble stuff all day long. He didn't eat anything for the first 5 days. It's been an uphill battle, that's for sure. But he is doing somewhat better. He can sit in a chair for a few hours, he can make some conversation, and is eating a lot better. They were talking about transferring him to the rehab clinic where his wife is today, but I don't think he's ready for that. He really can't do much of anything on his own yet. Hopefully soon...Wanda gave him the window view and is literally almost counting the seconds until she can see him again. That will be a sight to behold...

Will try and keep you updated....

Sharing...

2007-07-12T14:22:00.000-04:00

Just had to share this.... Nice, huh?

I am still here...

2007-07-10T22:54:00.000-04:00

Yes, I am still around...just been absorbed in working, many graduation parties, weddings, and wedding showers. We have been on the run for the past few months and time has just kinda slipped away from me...

Last week we were supposedly on vacation, and while it was very nice. We had all 4 of the kids and were basically on the run then too. We did hit the pool a few times and also the lake for our first jet-skiing trip of the season...that was lots of fun. We also went to a bonfire at his sister's, to the drive-in (where everyone was sound asleep, not long into the second show), to a BBQ on the 4th and also took in the Tigers game in a suite with some fireworks too! I went and saw another movie with my sister and Brian actually spent our last day of vacation at work. They called him in at 4 a.m. because they had gone through the whole list and no one else would work. (Of course he shot out of bed, with dollars in his eyes...it winded up being 14 hours of double time!) LOL

This week, I'm just trying to get back in the swing of being back to work and we again have tons planned. Tomorrow is my oldest sons birthday...he is turning 14. Friday is Brian's birthday and also we are expecting a handful of friends and family over for the fireworks that night. On Saturday, it's yet another graduation party and a fireworks display that evening; with all the food you can eat, karaoke, and plenty for the kids to do. On Sunday, we got coupons for $5 wrist bands for unlimited rides at the carnival, so that is where we will be. I'm sure next Monday will be here before I know it and though we will have lots of fun...I don't think there will be any rest for the weary.

The kids are sucking up bigtime. Hoping for everything their little hearts desire for their respective birthdays. (The youngest has one in just 2 weeks, and I mentioned that Corey's is actually tomorrow.) I usually see their best behavior just before Christmas and their b-days! LOL

Brian and I haven't set a date to get married as of yet. Our plan is to take off to Vegas, with or without letting everyone know ahead of time, still not sure. His mother insists on having some sort of "party" when we get back, but it's not something that's truly necessary for me. He says that he wants to plan it and just surprise me, with everything already done. (Not much of a surprise, when he's already told me about it). But I think it's just a ruse to stall the whole thing until he's good and ready. Not sure.

Peanutt's dad seems to be doing better...all done with chemo and they are saying that his results look good. He still has some more testing to go through and possibly more treatment...but so far, so good.

That's about it for me...will try and stop in a little bit more!!! Hope everyone is doing well.

Free Netflix Drawing!

2007-06-07T15:36:00.000-04:00

Head on over to 5 minutes for mom's site to get in on a free Netflix drawing! Good luck!

Hey Baby Let's Go To Vegas...

2007-05-11T12:31:00.000-04:00

As of 12:02 a.m. 4-28-07, we were officially engaged! I never actually thought it would happen, but he pulled through! It wasn't at a restuarant, or on the beach...he wasn't even on one knee...but it was a night that I will never forget and sweeter and more heartfelt than anything ANYONE has ever said to me!!!

(See the hearts looming over my head, the clouds floating around me, the bells ringing??? Do ya?)

It's been almost 2 weeks now and yes, I still have to pinch myself at times...still hard to believe. We've come a long way in these past few years. And yes, there are many issues still to work on...but I'm glad to be working on them with him and really do look forward to growing old with someone I feel I'm just meant to be with!

Just try and wipe the smile off my face! =0)~~~

You won't believe this!

2007-05-09T11:22:00.000-04:00

It took almost 3 1/2 years, but I finally got Brian to change his mind about the whole marriage thing. He has been the first to say that he will never go down that road again, that anyone getting married is a "sucker" or various other similar things...but something in him has finally changed!

A few months ago, I met a friend of his from work. After I left, that friend told Brian that he really saw 'love in my eyes' for him, but added that that would certainly change after we got married. When Brian relayed this to me, because I was tired of months of trying to talk to Brian and sway him the other way, and trying to rally for him to feel the same way about marriage that I did...I gave up that day. I told Brian to tell his friend that I would always have love in my eyes for him, because we were never getting married. He didn't say a word and we didn't speak the rest of the day...I had no idea that he was mad or upset. Not a frickin' clue.

When we got home from work that day, he was acting kinda funny. So, I ask him what was up...he says, "what you said earlier really hurt my feelings!" I didn't even have a clue as to what I had said. He goes on to say that he's really been thinking about getting married and why would I say that that was never going to happen??? I told him that I was tired of feeling hurt that we would never have that bond between us, that I could see he wasn't willing to take that leap of faith with me...so I was done worrying about it.

Well, that's when the tables really turned. Suddenly, he was willing to look at rings and marriage wasn't a forbidden topic any longer. But I stopped worrying about it too. If it was gonna happen, it was just gonna happen. We took a day off a few months ago and we looked at some rings then. We didn't find anything worthwhile and just left it at that. We took another day off, about a month ago. Went to lunch with his parents and had some errands to run. After getting everything done for that day, out of the clear blue, he was asking if I wanted to check out some rings. Of course, sucker that I am...I said "yes!"

We just headed to the mall and in the very first store, after trying out several...we found "the ring". We both fell in love with it and after discussing it, and him applying for some credit there, the ring is mine.

More details to follow....

My daddy...

2007-04-22T18:59:00.000-04:00

Yesterday marked the 2-year anniversary since my dad passed away. It had been weighing on my mind all week. I was dreading the day, knowing that I would probably be a wreck and just wanna lay in bed and do nothing but cry. But actually, it didn't even hit me until about 7 last night. Oddly enough, I got up and did my cleaning, got dinner in the crock pot, went and played some basketball with Bri and the kids...all before noon. (For anyone who knows me, this is certainly a record.)

See, I'm not much of a morning person and usually don't really motivate until 10:30 or 11 on a weekend! I like my chill time! But for some bizarre reason, I found myself right up out of bed doing laundry, scrubbing the bathroom, kitchen, windows, etc. I just wanted to get everything out of the way, so I could actually enjoy the rest of the day. After playing basketball, I was dying for a deli sandwich...so that's what we had. I sat on the porch with my next door neighbor and we talked and were swinging away for a good hour. I laid down and took a cat nap late in the afternoon and then got up and finished dinner. Roast, mashed potatoes and green beens...all of which were wonderful. I chilled with Bri for a while until he took the kids to his parents house for the night. Once he got home, we played Party Poker for about 45 minutes, and we called it a day.

I never cried! Not one tear! And still today, I have not cried. I'm actually proud of myself for this! Instead of hiding under my covers crying and refusing to face the day....I lived and actually enjoyed my day! This is a major accomplishment!!!

While I miss my dad so very much I couldn't even put it into words...I know that he's okay. He's spending eternity with the woman he loved more than anything in this world! His life was never right, since the day that my mom was taken from him and now he has her back. He isn't in pain, he doesn't have high blood pressure, diabetes, his legs aren't swollen...he doesn't have to take the strongest pain meds to mask the pain that was caused by his cancer. He doesn't have to sit in the middle of a livingroom, with us around while he uses the restroom...or carry oxygen tanks. I'm glad for that! I'm happy for him!

I miss him so very much...but know that he really is where he belongs and there will be a day when I can see him again!

RIP Daddy!!! I love you!!!

Tinker!

Good feelin...

2007-04-07T23:01:00.000-04:00

It doesn't get any better than just chillin' out after a day of utter chaos! I'm so very tired right now, and know that if I laid down, I would just be done...out like a light. But I really don't feel like doing that. Just wanna be alone with my thoughts, for the moment.

The past few weeks have been a blur....with a sewer backup and my youngest having some major issues. It hasn't been pleasant, but I truly believe that the worst of it is over.

Seems that there is a select bunch, eight (to be exact), that are picking on my son at school. They have made him so miserable that he's been spending his lunches sulking in rooms by himself and pretty much not communicating with anyone. He just totally shut down. Several times, I've almost wished that he would have just knocked their blocks off, to let them know that he's not just gonna sit around and take it...that he's actually had enough! (Now I know that you all might be thinking...'wth is that loser mom saying'...but I just can't help it. Ty shouldn't be the one getting in trouble/being totally sad over this.)

We finally got a few of the teachers, principal, Tyler and myself all together to come up with a school/behavior plan. Hopefully this will serve to meet all of our needs and he can resume just being a kid and being happy when going to school!! Without getting sad or mad!

I am all set for Easter and am so glad that I decided to go to Peanutt's house to color eggs last night, instead of waiting until today. Since the kids no longer believe in such a thing as the Easter Bunny...I let them make their own basket this time around. They also made one for Bri's kids. They did a really great job. If my camera worked correctly, and I could actually dump my pics on here...I'd share! But I guess you will just have to take my word for it.

Off to my sister's tomorrow for dinner! I went and made the potatoes today, so that all she'll have to do is put them in the oven in the morning! I still have devilled eggs and banana pudding to make, but that won't be nothing, to finish up in the morning.

Well, I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday, whatever you might be up to! Hope the Easter Bunny brings many wonderful delights!!!

TGIF!

2007-03-02T17:14:00.000-05:00

Haven't had a whole lot of things to really write about, but thought I would give a shout out anyhow. Here's the latest....

* My niece just had a bouncing baby girl...Isabelle. She weighed in at 8 lbs. 3 oz. and almost 20 inches. I haven't had the chance to go see her yet, but I did listen to her cooing, while on the phone with her momma. Can't wait to see her!!!! Gonna try and make my way to the hospital after work.

* Brian just turned in his truck, his lease was up. Lucky for him, he had another vehicle, so he didn't have to lease or buy anything...but we are now finding out, that he probably should have. We took it to our friend/mechanic for some 'simple' repairs...fixing a latch on the back door, the cruise control, getting the a/c running, etc. We are now looking at almost $4,000 in repairs. He has replaced almost everything except the engine and transmission. All of Bri's overtime hours (which has been about 40-60 per week) are now going to the mechanic. Sucks.

* My best friend's dad has just been diagnosed with bladder ca and has started his chemo. On the bright side, this is day 3 and he's doing great with absolutely no symptoms. I hope and pray that it continues to go this well.

* My kids are with their dad this weekend...I have some alone time with Brian to look forward to. Oh wait, that's right, he works continuously....and yep, there are 4 water main breaks going right at this moment (Friday 5pm)...if he stays to work them....I won't be seeing him until tomorrow morning or afternoon. LOL Never fails.

Well, that's about it. I'm getting ready to leave work and head home to the boys. I'm sure it will be a peacful and uneventful evening. Everyone send a prayer Peanutt's way for her daddy and have a wonderful weekend!

NOTHING MUCH!

2007-02-27T11:43:00.000-05:00

Not a whole heck of a lot going on here, but I thought I would check in, regardless. The kids are on winter break and I think they are enjoying the time off. I know that momma is...because it means that I can sleep for an extra 1/2 hour, every morning. That's definitely a good thing.

Brian has been pretty much missing in action. He has been working up to 110 hours a week with all the water main breaks that have been popping up around here. I really miss spending time with him. At this point, it pretty much feels like a luxury, when we actually get to do something so mundane as eat dinner together, or run to the store...silly I know, but I'm stinkin' lonely. I can say that we have been getting along pretty well though. LOL

Work is the usual. Nothing too exciting, at all. Just putting in my time and going home and forgetting about it at the end of the day. People are extraordinarily rude lately, but whatever! I'm used to being treated like a dog! LOL

Well, I really think that's about it. Gonna shop for a while and then maybe get around to some of your sites!

Have a good day!

Just a fantasy...

2007-01-30T20:14:00.000-05:00

Have you ever counted the days, minutes, and seconds until something was going to happen? Have you ever wanted something so badly that you felt like every minute was an eternity? Have you ever played the scene in your head a million times, knowing that when this monumental thing happened...it would make you happier than you could have even imagined?

Yeah, that was today for me....

Know what happened in the end????

Total and utter disappointment! Ugh!

Bad blogger, job interview, and organizing my life.

2007-01-11T21:23:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I know that I have to be one of the worst bloggers...evah!!! I've been disappearing for months on end...I lurk more than actually comment anymore, when I do actually take the time to comment, it's random...etc etc. But cut me some slack. I just haven't had anything all that interesting to write about, and at work, I was kind of getting addicted to MSNBC's peculiar news listings. Anyhow, I'm not gonna promise that I'm going to be sitting in front of my computer to blog every single night of the week...but I am gonna try and maybe be a little bit better about it.

Tomorrow at 1 p.m. I have a job interview. (Enter scary music here)...I haven't had an interview in 16 years, this is pretty nerve-racking! I'm not quitting my full-time job, but just trying to pick up some part-time hours in the evenings, at home. This way, I won't have to "leave" my kids any more than I already have to, and I really can use the extra cash!! Don't know if this is going to be my cup of tea...doing transcription, but I am certainly willing to give it a try, if given the opportunity.

Now onto the organization part. There was a time in my life, even after kids, when anybody could have walked into my house, (at any given time), and I would not have been the least bit embarassed about having you there spur of the moment like that. Well, my friends, that time is gone! I have become such a slacker when it comes to the way my house looks, that I would probably die if someone that wasn't related to me showed up here. Not that it's disgustingly filthy, or you would be afraid to sit down on my couch...but you will find the occasional dust bunny rolling over my desk, you will find that my kitchen table has crumbs on it, and don't walk into the basement...cuz it's just full of crap that really has no business even being there.

Well, I'm doing my best to try and revert back to my old ways. This week, I've been coming home and trying to accomplish at least one small task, clean a drawer here...rearrange stuff there...etc. In the next few weeks I would like to;

1) clean the basement, including the separate bedroom down there.
2) start moving my son downstairs
3) convert his room into an office
4) finish painting my bathroom (that's been half done for over a year)

Hopefully, I will be able to accomplish at least a majority of all of this stuff! We shall see.

Cross your fingers that tomorrow goes well for me!!!

2006-12-08T22:15:00.000-05:00

Some Vegas pics...yes I know, I'm late in posting! This is the crew with the Temptations at Legends! I have some Elvis pics too...will have to post later!

2006-12-08T22:14:00.000-05:00

Us with a mime in the Venetian Casino.

2006-12-08T22:13:00.000-05:00

Standing in front of the waterfall at the condo pool.

2006-12-08T22:12:00.000-05:00

In front of the Paris Casino!

2006-12-08T22:10:00.000-05:00

Brian and I at Lake Mead near Hoover Dam!

Gone too long...

2006-12-05T22:14:00.000-05:00

I'm sure that not many of you have even checked this link in quite a while, it's been dead for so long...why bother? LOL But I am alive and well...just been taking a much needed break.

Stress has been running rampant and really taking a toll on me. Life is a bit of a roller coaster ride and I'm hoping that my ride is about to end...but the gate isn't in sight just yet.

Finances have been pretty tough, I've been working to try and keep my kids on track in school, at home, and in the way that they treat each other and Brian and I are still working at living together and getting our financial ducks in a row.

The past month has also been filled with more deaths than I even care to think about. Our nurse at work lost her dad and grandma in the same week...so we had to take her shifts and add them onto ours to cover...no big thing and the extra cash came in handy, but it was very sad to watch her struggle through it. But she's back to work and doing well now, so that's definitely a good thing. Still very sad though.

My best-friend also lost someone very near and dear to her, due to the war. That hasn't been easy because she really struggled to deal with it and I was left feeling useless, because I knew that there really wasn't anything I could do to just make it better for her. She's also doing pretty well with it now...still has her moments, but she's better.

Now, a good friend of mine has just lost her brother, (who was only in his 40's), to cancer. He was a wonderful guy, with a great big heart and I'm truly gonna miss him! He was like another big brother to me, and even though we didn't see each other all that often...when we saw each other, it was always like a day never went by without us keeping in touch. I loved that about him. Just always happy and he had a way of making that happy-go-lucky attitude rub off on you...even when you didn't want it to! LOL So tomorrow, I head to the funeral home after work and see Mikey for the last time. Not something I look forward to, but isn't that just the way life goes?

So, now I am trying to get my Christmas shopping out of the way and get the gumption to get the tree up. Terrible, I know...it's almost mid-December! I'm banking on this weekend to get the job done. Pray that my weekend doesn't get too "hectic" with other useless stuff and that I actually get it done!

Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the holiday season!

My foot!

2006-11-01T22:02:00.000-05:00

I had foot surgery just under 2 weeks ago! Below, you will see the results...

Though it is healing pretty quickly...I still can't put any pressure on my heel or wear normal shoes, at all!

Lesson learned...never wait to get rid of something like this growing on your foot!

Viva Las Chicken?

2006-10-15T21:51:00.000-04:00

Well, we made it without a hitch. Okay, maybe there was one little hitch. You all know by now, that I can't do anything and have it just go perfectly! That would make it way too easy for me, and that just isn't in the cards! LOL

All in all, Vegas was a wonderful experience. I had a ball and was really sad to come home (except that I missed my kids and my feet will probably love the rest they are getting), but to tell you the truth...I would have stayed another week or so, if I had the opportunity. I definitely will be going back in the future!

Everything was just even more grand than I had imagined. My favorite places were...The Luxor with it's huge pyramid and sphinx in front and the beautiful interior, the Paris which really made you feel like you were in Paris...even the bathrooms were just exquisite, and Barbary Coast which wasn't by any means grand, but that's where we had a ton of fun.

We took in a few shows while there. Both were really great, though I'm sure Brian enjoyed the Folies Bergiere more than I did, considering he was staring at titties (from front stage), for over an hour! He had a smile on his face the whole time! But I must say, those almost non-existent boobs just weren't making me feel the slightest bit self conscious! LOL The Legends show was awesome...Elvis, Garth Brooks and The Temptations, couldn't have done a better job.

His mom and dad did pretty well on the slots...his dad was the big winner and won about $2,100 in one day. Not bad, for a few hours of fun!

As for Brian and I, the biggest we hit for was $500 in one of the first nights we were there. The last night, we put $40 on red and $200 on black on the roulette table and just let it ride...we ended up doubling our $200 and walking out of the casino for the last time with $400 in our pockets..that was nice. So, I'm trying to remember all of the casinos that we hit....

1) MGM Grand
2) Rio
3) Palms
4) South Coast
5) Hooters
6) Imperial Palace
7) Circus Circus
8) Luxor
9) Barbary Coast
10) Venetian
11) Paris
12) Red Rock
13) Gold Coast
14) O'Sheas
15) Mirage
16) Tropicana
17) Four Queens
18) Binions
19) Golden Nugget
20) Fitzgeralds
21) Fremont
22) Wynn
23) Excalibur
24) New York New York

We tried to get to 'em all, but there was just no way that we could! I guess we will have to hit the rest next time we go!

As for the one little hitch...we rented a 2007 Suburban for the trip. It was beautiful and people would stop and ask us about it, "how's it drive?"..."do you love it?", etc. On our 5th day there, we stopped at a 7-11 to get a newspaper before heading out for the day. Upon trying to back out of the parking spot, Brian kinda didn't see a 32 foot motor home that was sitting at one of the gas pumps and he backed right into it. His sister and I were in the 3rd row of seats, and had no idea what was happening when there was a huge commotion, and glass started flying everywhere. Yep folks, Brian who's never had an accident in his 36 years, took out the entire back window of a brand new Suburban, while on vacation in Vegas! Nice!

As for the title...Viva Las Chicken? One night (I should say morning, because I believe it was about 3 a.m.), we were heading back to the condo and were all exhausted and a little loopy...out of the blue, his mom (who had been singing 'Viva Las Vegas' for days), says..."I just saw a sign that said Viva Las Chicken!" We thought that she was just a little overtired and were accusing her of seeing things and laughing histerically at her. We told her that we would be looking for that place the next day. And we did! The next day and the next day and the day after that. On the day of the accident...we finally spotted it. That became our favorite place for sweet tea and a ritual before heading out for the day, the rest of the time we stayed in Vegas! Their chicken wasn't bad either! LOL

So, that's the gist of our trip. I had a ball and it was definitely something that I would want to do again! Wish you could have all been there! Now that would have made it even more fun...

The hand in the cookie jar and Vegas...

2006-10-05T13:33:00.000-04:00

I had a long heart to heart with Corey the other day. After a few minutes of cajoling him, he did admit to taking the fundraiser money back out of the envelope.

While I was upset with him about doing that, I'm relieved that he at least told me the truth...albeit after having solid proof (and a mad mom) staring him in the face. I'm still glad that he fessed up. I did tell him that I think much more of an honest person, than someone who I know lies all the time, and that how can I believe anything he says to me, if he's only rarely honest??? I hope that got through to hit a wee bit! Probably not, but at least I'm trying.

THE COUNTDOWN TO VEGAS, BABY...

Okay, I think it's safe to say that I have most of my ducks in a row and we are off to Vegas in less than 24 hours! I'm finally getting a little bit excited and am confident that we will have a great time on this vacation!!!

If not, there will be hell to pay! LOL

Have a great week, and will catch up with everyone soon!!!

xoxox

The beasts are back in town...what would you do?

2006-09-26T17:00:00.000-04:00

As you probably already guessed....yes, I'm talking about the boys. It's not even that they've been terrible lately. They really haven't. It's just this feeling I have of discontent, when it comes to them anymore. I hate to even allow myself to think along those lines, but it's just always something. Always issues, and lies, and drama with them. Always into something or doing things that they just shouldn't be. It's so frustrating!

So, this weeks fiasco involved fund-raiser candy. I agreed to do a fund-rasier for Corey for his band class. This would cover his fee for using the instrument for the year. Ok, no problem. We are given a box of 52 assorted candies, to be sold at $1 each. That should give me a grand total of $52 dollars...correct? I sit down the other night to count the money and make sure that the correct amount is there. Well, guess what? I'm $7 short. Now I know darn well that I have collected all the cash for everything that I have sold. So, where is the other money missing from? As is the custom, when something like this happens...I call the kids over....

First was Tyler...he comes strolling out of his room, in his usual nonchalant manner...

Ty: "What mom?"

Me: "Well, I'm counting up the candy money and seem to be short. Do you have any idea why?"

Ty: Scratches head and diverts his eyes.....

Me: "Tyler, did you take any of the candy out of the box without paying for it?"

Ty: Weighs his options for a few more seconds...and then finally proclaims..."Yeah, I did!"

Me: "Okay, how many?"

Ty: "Ummmm.....1."

Me: "Just one? Are you sure, because I'm short by about $7!'

Ty: Diverts eyes again...looks over the whole kitchen and livingroom...never stopping to actually look at me..."Well, 3! Yeah, that's right 3." Is pretending to count them off on fingers...like he's remembering the exact moment he had those 3.

Now, in walks Corey....he had no idea, he was about to be blinsided as well.

Me: "Hey Corey, you wouldn't happen to know why I'm short on candy money, would you?"

Corey: He looks puzzled and proclaims right away..."NO!"

(Note: Corey is a teenager and nothing is ever his fault, nor does he ever know how anything ever breaks, falls, gets dented, comes up missing, etc. Teenagers don't have to take responsibility for anything.)

I go on to tell him that Tyler has already fessed up to 3 of the missing 7 and Corey says that he has had 3 total, and even paid for one of Tyler's the day before. He even goes and shows me the bills he used, because one had his name on it, (yes I know, that's another lecture), one had red ink on it, etc.

Hey, I'm falling into his little trap...hook, line and sinker. I am his mom! And even though mom's claim to be much smarter than our children, we are still gullible as hell! LOL

After this exchange, Corey runs in his room for a minute and comes back out...he has a bit of an attitude and says..."Well, I guess I WILL JUST PAY FOR THE MISSING CANDY BARS!" He takes 4 dollar bills and shoves them into the envelope. I'm taken back, and say, "wow, that's very nice of you Corey!" He's like, "yeah", and walks off.

So, it ends up that I tell Ty he is going to work off what he owes me. He is ashamed for a few minutes and runs and cleans up his room some, trying to calm the waters, appease me for the moment. By the time this weekend came, it was pretty much pushed to the back burner of my mind...I had other things more pressing to think about..

This weekend, I've been trying to stay on task and get as much done as I can. Vegas is just days away and I don't wanna be scrambling to do everything at the last minute. Which brings me to the near conclusion of this story...

While doing laundry yesterday, I pulled a pair of jeans out of the dryer. They were Corey's jeans and while folding them $4 happen to pop right out of the pocket. I didn't really think a whole lot about it at the time. My kids are always leaving rocks, money, shells, bottle caps in their pockets. No big thing.

Tonight, when the kids got home, Corey and I started doing a jigsaw puzzle on the kitchen table. The fundraiser money is due tomorrow though, so I stop working on the puzzle and start to count this money. In going through it, I'm right back where I started from....$7 short. I never replaced the $3 from Tyler and once again...the $4 that Corey gave me, was gone once again.

I said to Corey..."Geez, I'm short $7 again...how can that be?" He looks at me quizically..."What?" And he goes on to say..."How is it that we keep coming up short?" I tell him that I'd like to know the same thing and he says..."well, I have absolutely no money at all right now. The only thing I have is is half of a $5 bill that I found at dad's this weekend!"

I just found $4 in HIS jeans pocket, he wore them about 3 days ago. Tell me a 13 year-old doesn't remember his last $4???? That sounds like a crock of shit to me!!!

I let it go for now, but am in a predicament where I just don't know what to believe. I know that Corey may feel like it wasn't his responsibility to put his $4 in there in the first place, if he didn't do it. And then he went and took it back. If that's the case, then that would be very hard to tell me. But I would understand that, if given the chance.

Or the other scenario is that Tyler is lying, and actually took all 7 of them and was just standing there letting Corey take half the fall. Which really really upsets me too.

These are the kinds of almost daily struggles that I have with these two. The story almost never adds up and neither claim to have done anything wrong. It's maddening!

So, what would you guys do in this case?? What do you think is right? Who do you think is telling the truth???

Doing well! =)

2006-09-24T13:56:00.000-04:00

I posted the other day, that my brother was having a pretty serious surgery. He came out of just fine and is improving each day. He's still in the hospital, and may be for a few more days....but he's certainly on the mend, which is a big relief. It hasn't been without some minor mishaps, but all in all, everything has gone well!

Thanks for all your support and well wishes, it was appreciated!

Wish us luck!~

2006-09-21T12:35:00.000-04:00

As I type this, my brother is in surgery to have a bowel resection! I probably won't be able to go up and see him today either...just too much going on. So hey, if anyone would like to send a prayer his way...we'd both be pretty grateful!

Have a great day!

Still walking the line!

2006-09-14T19:08:00.000-04:00

Well, I reported that the kids would probably fall off the wagon soon, but they haven't. Things with them, have been relatively calm. They have been doing their chores without question and getting along pretty well. I haven't heard them bickering and fighting, nor have they been doing any yelling and screaming, which has been a great thing. Now that I'm putting all of this in writing, it's sure to backfire on me...but hey, I'll take my chances!

I want so badly to believe that something good has actually come out of this and hopefully, them working together instead of butting heads and trying to get each other in trouble all the time, is all part of the past! (No, I'm not counting on it! Do you think I'm that stupid?)

My sister still isn't really speaking to me, but I'm working at not letting that get to me too much. This too shall pass, I believe!

Otherwise, things are okay...could be better, could be worse!!! I'm possibly looking at a little foot surgery in the near future and the countdown to Vegas trip 2006 is commencing (soon)! It was definitely a struggle to try and find someone to keep my kids for me...but after a small amount of bribing, Bri's sister has agreed! Woo hoo. I'm still not getting my hopes up too high about actually going because you just never know, and I'm my life, I can usually always count on the most whacked shit happening, so I won't actually start the countdown now, but will wait until the week before! That might be a little safer.

Well kids, that's about it for me...this is Jellybean signing off! Have a great night!

And P.S. Happy belated birthday to my good friend Liza!! Love you bunches and hope you had a wonderful day!!!! (oh, and miss you....you little bugger!)

Overcoming...

2006-09-07T21:57:00.000-04:00

There has been so many things that have transpired over the course of the past few weeks, so much stress and just plain overload, that I don't even know where to begin.

I may or may not have told you about the arrangements that I had made for my kids, while I was to go on my boat trip. It wasn't easy to coordinate at all, (a big thank you goes out to the ex for that), but I thought that I had everything covered.

I was to leave on a Wednesday and they were gonna be staying with my sister until that Friday. On Friday, they were going to my brother's house and staying there until Sunday. Unfortunately, my brother went into the hospital on Friday night, so my sister got them back after only 1 day. They stayed with my sister until that following Thursday night, and then went to stay with two of their friends from school until Sunday morning, when we got back into town.

For some reason, which I can only conclude is since I didn't threaten them with their lives, they thought it would be okay to destroy everything in their paths. They tore off a cupboard door in my sister's kitchen, they ripped off her railing leading down her basement stairs, they de-magnetized my nieces tv, my oldest busted his brother's lip, got chocolate pudding on her carpet, had a food fight with cheez-its, and also managed to break down the center panel of my brother's couch.

After being gone about 4 days, I had my sister calling me just furious. She was telling me that I needed to call and talk to them and try and put a stop to all of it. She's also telling me that my bro's in the hospital and that he looks very frail and hadn't been able to eat anything in 4 days and that they might be doing surgery to drain an abcess and that he will have to have a colostomy soon, once his diverticulitis heals up some.

I can't even tell you how frustrating it is to look forward to a trip for a year...have to scramble to find someone to watch your kids for that long of a time, only to have it turn out the way that it did and then to learn that you are hundreds of miles away and your brother is really ill. There was nothing that I could really do about any of it and it just sucked.

I did talk to my brother, when I could. Phone calls weren't even an easy task because where we docked the boat, of course we didn't have service. What I had to do every time I wanted to use the phone, was to jump on my jet ski and head out of the cove we were in, to the middle of the lake. That wouldn't be a big deal, if it wasn't raining the past 4 days we were there. So there I sit, in the middle of the lake on a waverunner, in the rain...only to hear news that just kept getting worse!!! Not to mention, hearing that the dog was peeing all over Tina's house....RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER!

There were a few days of total rest and relaxation, and I did try and make the best of the time that I had...but let me tell you, I've certainly had better vacations!

Since coming home, the boys have been doing tons of chores daily in exchange for cash....cash that will be handed right over to my sister, for all the crap that they pulled, I have lit up both their butts (talk about making them feel humiliated), and we have "discussed" at length about how they WILL start behaving! So far, their tails are still tucked between their legs and they are walking on eggshells! I see this lasting about another week or so...

Let the good times roll...

2006-09-06T06:50:00.000-04:00

Vacation would have been perfect if:
1) My brother had not been hospitalized for almost a week
2) My kids would not have been total/complete monsters
3) My dog wouldn't have peed all over my best friends house!

Ever feel like somebody is just trying you to see how far they can go before breaking you?

Explanations to follow!

Out of here!

2006-08-22T15:51:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm leaving work in about 1/2 hour and won't be back until Tuesday September 5th. Hope everyone has a good couple of weeks!

Dale Hollow here I come...

Can you help those who won't help themselves?

2006-08-21T20:54:00.000-04:00

Well yesterday I bit the bullet and did it! I went somewhere I hadn't been in a very long time. It may have seemed like one of the longest hours of my life, I was very uncomfortable, and it kind of gave me an "eeeewww" feeling, but I went there anyhow.

No, it wasn't the gyno's, or to a nasty drug dealers house. It wasn't anything of the sort. Actually where I went was about 5 minutes from my house and somewhere that I know I should go much more often, but just can't! While it really should also be somewhere that I enjoy visiting and hanging out, in all actuality, it's one of the places that I dread the most!

It's my oldest sister's house! Going there usually makes me sad and just plain depressed. She isn't quite the person that I used to know. Of course I love her very much, but her whole aura just irritates the shit out of me. She is ALWAYS, (and I mean that very literally), crying about how bad everything is for her. She is ALWAYS down and depressed. She is ALWAYS drunk, or on something. It just really makes me sick.

On the one hand, I would love to be the one to walk in there and tell her that I love her, that I worry about her, that I know that she can do so much with her life, and that she deserves so much more. To be there for her, to comfort her when she has a bad day, to pick her up off the ground..but on the other hand, it's like I truly believe that she's somehow content with things as they are.

I'm grateful to her for many things; for being the cool sister when I was growing up, someone that I could always turn to when things got really hard or confusing. For taking care of my dad when he was nasty and mean to her every single day, as soon as she stepped foot in that door. For showing up again the next day, to do it all over again. For giving me 2 beautiful nieces and of course for just being my sister. But even after all of that, I still have resentment towards her.

There are many reasons for it, but at the forefront is; for putting herself before her kids, even when they were very little. I babysat more times than I could count, so that her and her husband could go out and party. For always just "settling" for things, when she could have done so much better. For taking trips to visit my dad (before we knew he had cancer) and going out and getting drunk WITH him, basically condoning it! For blowing her exhaled pot smoke in his face, when she knew that he would get irate and call her a loser and shit for it! And my number one reason; is for yelling and screaming back at him, when he'd say the things that he said to her while on his death bed!!!

Now, I know that it took alot for her to drag herself out of bed and head over there to take the abuse that he would dish out to her, but I just can't fathom, EVER EVER EVER talking to my dad in the way that she talked to him, NO MATTER WHAT would come tumbling out of that mouth of his! I didn't live it, so I can't say exactly how it would have felt to be treated the way that she was. Just the opposite held true for me. No matter how bad my dad felt, when I walked into the room, a slow smile would spread across his face and melt my heart each and every time. They, on the other hand, were worse than an old married couple and would just bicker back and forth. My other sister would sometimes walk in the door from work, and just turn around and get back in her car and just drive. She couldn't take it.

I'm kinda getting off topic here, but what I'm getting at is this...
She may sit around crying to this day, about the relationship that her and my dad had, but when I really think about it...it was her own doing. She doesn't like authority (which, I can relate to that, I really don't like it too much either), but she really likes to do things to shake things up. At my niece's graduation she rolls up on a Harley, with Kahlua on her breath and a man 20 years her elder. He's drunk as a skunk and trying to make conversation with each and every one of us as we are all trying to plot our escape route because we don't want to be around the two drunks. It's just pathetic.

Her boyfriend right now, you know, the one that she kicked her 2 girls out because of? Yeah, you heard me right! He's the biggest most obnoxious loser I think I've ever met. He can't hold down a job, or even try to get one. He always seems stoned out of his mind and he has laid his hands on her, on more than one occasion. Yep, she says he's out of there, "in 2 weeks", says that she's just done with him. But she won't be! That's what I'm talking about. She has no love for herself!!! She would rather stay with someone that has no job, no ambition, treats her like shit, doesn't do anything for her, than to just be by herself. There is no way that I can comprehend this!

So, on the one hand, I really feel compelled to step in there and help her change things up a bit. To do things to show her that she is worth something, that things can get better, but I know in my heart of hearts that some people just are what they are, no matter how much you want them to change or to see that there is life out there that is so much better than the one they are allowing themselves to live right now! And I'm pretty positive that she's one of those latter people!

I know that each and every one of you will say that she is still my sister and that I should do everything in my power to stop her from destroying herself, but unfortunately I know that it's a losing battle. That it won't ever work...Ugh!

Off for now! Laundry and a cute boyfriend await!

Stress no more!

2006-08-17T11:47:00.000-04:00

I have made a decision! I'm done stressing out. Whatever will be, will just be and I'll deal with it as it happens. Money is very very tight and I'm sure that I will find a way to make it. I've done it before and made it through, and will again. So, that's that!

That's all for now.

My life!

2006-08-15T13:29:00.000-04:00

Last week I probably would have written much more, had I not been stressed to the max. It seemed that everything that possibly could go wrong, absolutely did! I was frustrated and stressed to the point that I was starting to have major anxiety attacks. My brain, no-matter how much I told it to, just would not stop, and it was literally making me sick! My ex has lost his girlfriend and his house and is now determined to make my life a living hell, once again. I am leaving for a 10 day vacation in a matter of 9 days from now. Last week, he drops the..."I have nowhere for the kids to stay while your on vaca", bomb. I was furious, and we ended up reverting back to our old ways with much screaming, yelling, and me hanging up on his loser ass! I was mortified that he knew about this for a year, reassuring me this whole time that it was no problem, and now just 2 weeks before the fact, he was doing this shit only because his life sucks and he wants me to be miserable too. I know he COULD have made arrangements if he wanted to. The fact remains, that I am his EX-WIFE and he feels that I should live as miserably as he is at the moment, and that really pisses me off. His life affecting mine at all, pisses me off! I thought him worming his way into my life was all a part of the past. Funny how he will always find a way! So, I had that to contend with. To top it off, money is very tight right now (due to lack of child support and income taxes being due soon). So what that means, is that Brian is gonna have to foot the bill for both of our upcoming vacations, and to help out by way of utilities, the house payment, etc. Now I know that there's nothing wrong with him contributing, while the fact remains that he does live there. What's really bothering me, is having to ask for his help. Of course, he says that he doesn't mind at all...that it's absolutely no problem. But I still feel needy, for some reason. Kinda like a charity case. It takes me back a few years ago, when I was ready to beg, borrow, or steal in order to just get by. (While the divorce was going on). When often, I had to rely on everyone else in order to stay afloat. I DO NOT LIKE THIS FEELING! It really messes with my psyche and my ego. While I realize that it's necessary right now, it still eats away at me. Am I wrong for feeling like this? How would any of you feel?

~~ON THE LIGHTER SIDE~~

Last week I said that I had another funny to tell about the trip. So, without further adieu, here's my story...

I already mentioned that Bri's nephew and his gf came up for a few days. On the first day that they were in, we drove to the little BP that's about 10 minutes away. It has racks of magazines, that are all bundled and sold in packs of 3's for like $4. They are good magazines, but they are a month or so old. We didn't care, it was reading material for the week. We got a few packets of magazines and that was that. There was redbook, cosmo, allure, oprah, etc.

Well, the following day, Brian's mom starts reading Cosmo. You know what kind of articles are in there, don't you? I'm sure that I don't need to draw a picture for you...most of you know that lots of their articles are sexually oriented. So that next afternoon, she's in the cabin reading, we are out on the jet skis. We come in after a few hours and here comes Charley's gf, she's laughing hysterically and saying, "Oh my gosh, you guys just missed it!" I ask her what she's talking about, and she says that Brian's mom has "done it again". Now this woman, while one of the most loving people that I've ever met, she is possibly one of the blondest (if that's even a word) women too! She does some really funny shit on a regular basis!

Apparently, she was reading Cosmo and had the book open on her chest when she fell asleep. They didn't think much of it, but happened to glance over at the article that the book was open to. It happened to be, "Does your relationship need a vibrator?" After seeing that, they were all trying to contain their laughter (and failing miserably) and running around trying to find their cameras, without much luck. She woke up from all the ruckus and was wondering what was going on. When she looked up at the article laying there on her chest, she figured it out pretty quickly and slapped the book shut.

Pic

2006-08-14T23:36:00.000-04:00

1-06
Originally uploaded by jlybn1234.

Just a pic of us taken on Superbowl Sunday that I wanted to upload to my profile. I'm having serious issues with trying to do that though...any suggestions?

2006-08-10T11:56:00.000-04:00

~~BROWN SNAKE SIGHTING~~

I don't know how it slipped my mind, but while recounting everything that was happening while on vaca, I forgot to mention our brown snake sighting. Talk about scary.

One day while on the lake, Brian and I take off to beach the skis and check out what's on the other side. There was a sandy area, where no houses were on either side for a ways, so we decided to go there. We were walking around; pondering over how large the deer probably were cuz of the tracks we were seeing, checking out the shells and marveling over how large the sandbar was. When all of the sudden Brian says to me, "Oh my gosh, I'm in pain!" I was a little scared for a second, until it dawned on me...earlier in the day, he had told me that he hadn't been to the bathroom in days and that he was really starting to feel its effects. I ask if he can make it back across the lake to the cabin, he says that he can't. Great! I start looking around the beach and see this huge log and tell him that he can go perch there. He walks over, sees that it's literally covered in carpenter ants, and decides to come up with another plan. He tells me to start walking the other way, which I do. I really want no part of any of this and didn't even really care how he was gonna take care of business, I was really grossed out!

So, I'm walking along the shore for a while and decide that I'm gonna take a peek at what he is up to. When I turn around, I am appalled to see that he is perched on the ledge of the back of MY MACHINE! I start screaming..."get off of my machine!" I could see, even from a distance, he's cracking up. He says, "this is perfect!" So yes, I'm standing there watching the man I love and adore, pooping in the lake. Just the vision, makes me shudder! So, I turn around and keep walking, still with nightmarish visions of him putting his bare hiney on MY MACHINE, and a few minutes later I hear him calling my name and saying something about a snake. I turn around and he's motioning me over, so I start running through the water over to him. I get about 5-6 feet from the scene and he's standing there with a huge satisfied grin. I ask what he was saying about the snake and he turns, right arm extended outward and says..."look". I turn to look (like a dumb ass), and see something floating on top of the water. I was freaked out that a snake was swimming around in the same water that we had been playing around in for days, and then it hits me..that's no snake, that's his poop! OMG! How gross is that? Not only do I know that he was using my machine as a perch for his butt, but I get to see the end results too?

I really don't think that I want our relationship to be this close!

Ok that's it for now, but I have another up north funny for tomorrow. Stay tuned...

2006-08-03T22:00:00.000-04:00

~~LAKE MILAKOKIA~~

Well I know that it has taken me forever, but I haven't had too much time to get on here lately. As I said before, vacation was wonderful and just what we all needed. We stayed with Brian's sister and bil at their cabin on Lake Milakokia. I was a little hesitant about going at first, because there were supposed to be a ton of people headed up there and I just didn't think it would be too relaxing with too many people stuffed into one cabin, but it actually worked out great!

We left on a Sunday morning and arrived about 3:30 that afternoon. The weather was beautiful and we immediately got the jet skis in the water and went out on the lake. The lake isn't huge, as you can see if you checked the link...but it's big enough that you can ride around all day and not get bored with your surroundings. I have some beautiful pics, which I may try and download at work. But my camera has been having serious issues and I don't know if it will work or not.

The cabin is all log and surrounded by a huge wrap-around porch. There are floor to ceiling windows that look right out onto the lake and it has a nice sized loft upstairs, that also gives you a great view of the lake. Brian, the kids and I, all slept up in the loft all week, which was perfect. Sitting up in bed in the morning to look out at the lake, was one of my favorite things about the whole trip. It's just so peaceful being out there on the water.

The days were filled with jet-skiing, tubing, lots of sun, great food and company. His mom and dad came up, along with his nephew and girlfriend. Most of our nights were spent playing euchre late into the night and on one night we actually made it to the Kewadin Casino. His nephew recently turned 21 and had never been before. So, that was kind of exciting. None of us left there with any type of profit, but we had a great time playing roulette for the first time ever. I had a ball.

There was one "incident" that I will not soon forget. One day in-between swimming and tubing and all of that, we were letting the drive around on the 4-wheeler. (This is a small kid sized 4-wheeler, at that). There really isn't much to it...you push the throttle to excel and hit the hand brake to stop...no big thing. Well, Tyler jumps on this thing and decides that he's not gonna slow up very much to go around the curve...in doing so, he just missed running right into a tree. I run over there, give him the dangerous "talk", and send him on his way, hopefully a little more careful this time. He makes it about twice around the loop and does the very same thing again (only with a different tree). At this point, I'm grateful that nothing happened to him, but quite perturbed at the same time. So I get him off the thing and say that I'm going for a ride. Keep in mind, the kids are only allowed to basically do circles on the driveway.

So, I take off down the dirt road, which leads to a little side street. I figure that will give me lots more room to turn around (and I wasn't about to just do a circle in the driveway). So, I'm making my way down the road, make a right turn onto the side street head down a little ways and decide that I'm gonna turn around. I cut it as hard as I can to the right and then start making my left turn. I look across the street and see there are probably waist high weeds and figure that I can turn a little ways into them, it won't hurt anything. YEAH, AND THAT'S WHAT I GET FOR THINKING!!!

While turning into the "weeds", I wasn't aware that under those weeds, was actually a 3-4 foot ditch. Before I can do anything about it, I was too far over and the 4-wheeler was falling right on top of me. My leg is hurt, I am 5' tall and up to about my boobs standing in a ditch IN A FRICKIN' BIKINI WITH NO SHOES ON!!! OMG!!!! My head was racing. My leg is pinned and there's absolutely nobody around. I heave the 4-wheeler off my leg and then am left with the dilemma of how to climb out of this thing. I look around for a log, a thick root...nothing. Duh, I need to stand on the 4-wheeler. I stand on the sideways 4-wheeler and climb right out. As I'm hobbling down the path to the cabin, I'm thinking..."man is he gonna be pissed off". Instead, I come hobbling up and he is freaking..."where's the 4-wheeler?" "Are you okay?" "What happened???" I tell him what happened, we check out my leg, him and his nephew grab the video camera and head down to what they call the 'scene of the crime'. They are laughing all the way. I show them where it is and it takes all 3 of us to pull it out. We catch it all on video and I get right back up on the horse and drive it back to the cabin without incident. LOL

My dear sons words when I first pull up..."I thought you told me to be careful mom, and look what you did!" Out of the mouths of babes! I think we all learned a little lesson that day. The last few days of the trip...I was way more careful of that little "kids" machine and Tyler banned himself from it completely, stating that he's a 'bad driver'. LOL

So, that's the gist of my little vaca. It's been just shy of 2 weeks and I still have a slight bruise on the inside of my left calf and a red burn on the opposite side. Daily reminders of my 4-wheeling stint. Will keep you posted as to just how long a bruise can actually last. (I'm thinking maybe another week or so.)

2006-07-29T22:54:00.000-04:00

~~HOME SWEET HOME, BABY!~~

Just got home a few hours ago...took a hot shower and now don't feel like doing much of anything. Vacation was wonderful and I have the bruises to prove it!! Will fill you all in later, when I have a little more energy.

2006-07-19T15:26:00.000-04:00

~~HEAVEN~~

That describes my past few days! Work has been busy, but at home, I have taken the time to chill. My sister and nephew have been over the past few days and Tyler and I have swam until our hands and toes are all wrinkled and we just can't swim anymore. It's definitely a great way to relax and I am truly loving it. I do have tons of things to do before leaving on Sunday, and probably won't have another day this week to just hang out at the pool, but these past 3 days have sure made me feel much better! (Tyler has been a very happy camper to boot!) Wish I could share some pics/videos of the dog trying his hand at swimming, can't though...it's all on my phone.

Hope that you all have been getting some down time too!!!

xoxox

2006-07-17T15:36:00.000-04:00

~~DUNNO WHY I WANNA CRY!~~

It’s been a fairly busy and productive day here at work. It hasn’t been too bad, crabby people wise (though there have been a few of those too). Lunch was great…Jet's Greek Salad. (Peanutt and I are so addicted). So, why am I sitting here feeling kinda sappy and blue all the sudden??? I got pretty good sleep last night, my man and I are doing just fine, I’m down one kid all week (the other is at camp), my pool is finally up and running, and I have the urge to sit here and bawl! Isn’t that always nice? I so love being a woman!!!!

Things have been really hectic for weeks now; I think I’m getting quite burned out from it all. Maybe that is what’s making me feel kinda blue. I miss my weekends where I could just hang out for one of the 2 days and watch movies or nap and just watch Lifetime girlie movies all day. I miss just having some down time before going to bed every night. Now, things are so busy that I fall into bed, only after doing a million things that just ‘have’ to be done!

Tonight (and all week), Brian is working late and I am changing my pace. I promised Ty that we would go swimming as soon as I get home from work. It’s smoking hot out and he is so excited, he is literally counting the minutes. I’m talking to him as I type this and he just sounds miserable. Says that 2 hours is way too long to wait for me to get home! LOL I do have laundry and packing to do, we’re leaving this weekend for a week, but you know what???? Do ya??? All of that crap will eventually get done and I’m just finished worrying about it!

So hopefully after relaxing tonight, I will be in great spirits tomorrow! Cross your fingers for me!~

xoxo

2006-07-11T21:44:00.000-04:00

~~VACATION RECAP~~

As is the trend for the summer I guess, the craziness has pretty much been relentless. I did take Tuesday through Friday off last week and had lots of fun! But at the same time, it's really catching up with me too. Going back to work Monday, I kind of felt like I needed more time off, just to chill a little bit.

On Tuesday the 4th, the kids and I went with my sister and a few other friends to the wave pool. It wasn't the prettiest day, but very very hot. We then met Brian and his family for a pool party.
Corey ended up getting really burnt. Ugh, talk about feeling like the worstest mommy in the world!

Wednesday, we took all the kids, (meaning mine and his twins) to the zoo. It was a perfect day for it, about 74 and sunny. I don't know how we did it, but we ended up missing a few of my favorite exhibits, (the polar bears, and the aquarium), and by the time we realized it, we were almost to the exit and we were just too tired to turn back.

Thursday, we all packed up and went to the lake. We laid in the sun and did some waverunning and took the kids tubing for the first time. They had a blast and absolutely loved the tube.

On Friday, Brian took his kids home and mine went with their dad for the night. I can't even remember what we did that day, but we did go to the Taylor Fireworks that night. Afterwards, he had to take his mom and niece to their condo 8 tenths of a mile from my house....took him almost an hour! Traffic was terrible and lots of streets were closed. While I love the festival and fireworks, the traffic is chaos. When he got back, we attempted to make our way to Meijer for some electrical tape...let's just say, even after midnight, it just wasn't happening! They still had way too many roads blocked off and there was just no way of getting there, ugh!

Saturday, we headed to the lake with 2 of his sisters. We went waverunning again, had a picnic lunch and also all tried our hands at tubing. His sister got thrown off backwards, almost immediately. She wasn't hurt at all, and it was hilarious. She's very tall, and to see her long lanky legs fly straight up in the air was definitely a sight to see! When I took Brian out, he actually got the choppiest water of the day...it was like a wavepool and it beat him up good. His sister Cindy rode without incident. Now, I've saved the best for last...my ride. At first he was really gentle with me...then I guess he decided that I could take a little more! Yikes! He started going pretty fast at one point and then took a turn a little too tightly...at first, my body flew off of the tube and then as it came back down, the tube starting flipping...I didn't see this coming at all, and it took a minute to orient myself...all I kept thinking was, 'just hang on'. The tube did flip completely over, all of the sudden I was taking water in my lungs, I felt my bathing suit bottoms slipping down into the water, and I was still holding on to those damn straps. It finally dawned on me that if I let go, I would be able to get a hold of my bathing suit and would pop back up out of the water and be able to breathe again. After gasping for air and yanking up my bathing suit, the first thought in my head was, "ouch!" My right thigh and the bottoms of my legs felt like I had run into a brick wall! After getting back on the tube, he drove me into shore and I didn't dare ask for another ride. I think I might be done tubing for a while. Waking up with new bruises every day for a week, really doesn't do much for me! LOL

Sunday I must admit, was somewhat relaxing. Brian and I went out to lunch (all alone), and to see the movie RV (all alone too). We came home and watched another movie and just cuddled and spent the day chilling out. It was one of the best days I can remember in a long time.

So yes, vacation (except for one day), wasn't all that relaxing and I'm tired as hell but I admit, I did have some fun!

I'm packing Corey for a week up north with the scouts, he's leaving on Saturday. The day he comes back, we are leaving to go to a cabin in the Upper Peninsula for a week. There are supposed to be many people going (plus our 4 kids), I don't know how relaxing this will be, but I'm gonna try and make the best of it and make it a point to have at least a few, "do nothing" kinda days.

Might try and post a little next week, not sure. Until then, have a great weekend and hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

xoxo

Edit: Okay, for anyone who saw that there was typing below my closing line before...please forget you saw that...I'm having lots of blonde moments lately! LOL

2006-07-02T19:09:00.000-04:00

~~THE WEEK THAT I THOUGHT WOULD NEVER END...~~

As the title suggests, this has been an endless week. I think I've had about 2 hours to relax in the past 6-7 days. Today is Sunday, and as it stands right now, my house is still a wreck...my kitchen table is in the middle of the livingroom, my stove is also in the livingroom, my microwave cart is sitting in the middle of my hallway and everything is just a mess. I've picked up as much as I possibly can, but it's still driving me crazy! It will be pure bliss to have everything back to normal around here!! As I type this, he is finishing up the last of the grouting, which after allowing it to dry for a few hours, will allow me to put things back where they belong. Yay! I so can't wait!

On Tuesday our clinic closed at noon, due to some possibly harmful fumes coming from the roofers working there. We started smelling some pretty powerful stuff on Monday afternoon. By Tuesday, it was making most people light-headed at the very least and some people were having some problems with their asthma. They told us that we had to call all of our patient's for that day and just head home! Bonus! Peanutt and I headed to lunch and then I headed to home to try and catch a few winks...couldn't, wouldn't, didn't happen! Instead, I ended up doing a bunch of stuff around the house and worked on the pool.

Wednesday was my birthday and I worked and then went out to dinner with Brian and the boys. We also did some running to get everything we needed for the floor the following day. His parents came over for some cake and then we called it a day.

On Thursday and Friday, Dennis came over to work on the flooring and my sister, Brian and I worked on the pool. We got the pool to change colors from deep sludgy brown, to a light greenish. Woo hoo. LOL We have shocked and vacuumed the crap out of it with days of this left to go. I'm hoping to have it finally ready in the next 4 days or so.

I did have a little time yesterday to take the kids to the pool at Brian's mom and dads house. We then ate dinner and came home, I was done. Today, I haven't had much energy or motivation, but I did still manage to wash all the walls in the kitchen and to help Dennis with the final buffing of half of the floor in there, along with a little laundry and running once again to Home Depot. Yikes. I'm tired and still need to get out and attend to the pool.

After working tomorrow, I will then be off for the rest of the week. We don't have big plans really, just going to the wave pool one day and maybe to the lake a few times. Corey's birthday is also coming soon, with Brian's the day after and then Tyler's 2 weeks after that. Oh yeah, and Corey's going to camp in a week and a half and then we are on vacation in the Upper Peninsula the week after that!

My oh my, these days are flying by....while it's a little hectic and stressful, I know that it will all be worth it in the end!

Don't know when I will be able to update again. I hope that all of you have had a wonderful weekend, and if I don't get the chance to check back in here...a beautiful 4th, as well.

xoxox

2006-06-26T14:57:00.000-04:00

Very icky! That describes how my sinuses are making me feel today. All day I have had horrible sinus pain and pressure, and even with meds, it just isn't helping. It usually rains when I feel this way, and it has. It usually goes away with Advil Cold & Sinus, and it hasn't. This isn't nice!

On to bigger and better topics...

The weekend was very busy, but it was very nice too! I had no time to relax and the days were virtually a blur, but I still had a good time all and all.

On Saturday, we did end up going to the lake. It was an adventure, for sure. It was my sister and niece's first time on the wave runners. Can we say hilarious???

I decided that I was taking my sister out first. My machine is a 1997, and a little topsy turvy to say the least. My sister is about double my weight. It was far from easy staying righted and my upper arms are still a little sore from compensating for the extra weight and trying to keep this thing right side up. I managed to get us around the lake without falling over, we pull up to shore to jump off, what does she do??? Instead of backing off of it, no...she decides that she will just jump off from the side. Well, she kind of takes the machine with her as she goes, and we both go falling into the water, the waverunner almost flipping completely over on top of us. I have never seen it do that!!! We were flailing and laughing, she was spewing water that she swallowed on the way down. I could have beat her! My niece, she was whining and moaning the entire day. She's very ungrateful! (Though she talked to my other sister yesterday, and told her that she had a blast!) She never once thanked us for taking her, she never acted like she was even enjoying herself. It was whining and complaining the whole day. 'It's hot, I'm baking'...etc. etc. Regardless of what a whiner she was, I still managed to have a good day!

Oh, I didn't tell you about the best part of the day! My sister decided that she was brave enough to drive, but of course, wanted me on back. OMG!!! This had to have been how my face looked for that ride! It sure isn't easy to give up control of a machine that big, to someone that doesn't know how to drive it...AT ALL! Brian suggested that we take his, it's bigger and easier to control. We climb on, she's asking a hundred questions, I'm explaining how to excel and how to stop, what to watch out for, who has the right of way, etc. She goes to take off and is doing about 13 miles per hour. At that speed, the waverunner likes to rock back and forth. I'm telling her to give it some gas, so that it won't shake so much, she floors it and scares the crap out of herself, so then she stops. This is how we rode around the entire lake. Sudden bursts of speed, and then her getting scared and stopping. Finally, when we get close to shore, she speeds up to almost 40mph and then we coast in. She claimed today, that she was scaring the shit out of herself while driving too. Nice! Put your sister's life in danger and don't even have the balls to tell me that she was afraid she was gonna kill us until 2 days after the fact! LOL

The weekend was non-stop from there, one thing after the other. I won't bore you with the details of all of that. What I will tell you about, is that I got my oldest son's report card Saturday, and was pleasantly surprised to see that he had straight A's for the second card marking in a row. I'm very proud of him for that. Even though he has been such a booger to me recently, he is still doing excellent in school and I'm so so grateful for that!

My puppy has still been having issues with more seizures and I don't think that the meds are going to ever control them. I just have a feeling that he is going to decline pretty quickly. I see him walking kind of funny, like his back legs just don't want to work all of the time and I just know in my heart that whatever is causing these seizures, isn't a good thing. I'm also very scared to add any more meds than what he is already taking, I've heard such horror stories about mixing meds and things like that. I guess I really need to do some research and see what I can find out on my own, before I just give up on that possibility. We shall see. All I know, is that it will truly break my children's little hearts, if something bad happens to their puppy! That will kill me as much as it does them! Ugh...

Well, that's about it. Hope everyone has had, or is having a great Monday! (Well, as great as a Monday can be!)

2006-06-23T08:49:00.000-04:00

Good morning everyone! Hope that your Friday has gotten off to a good start. Mine has been nice so far, (it's only 8:45). LOL I'm very glad that this week is coming to an end, it has seemed like an exceptionally long one. The weekend is totally booked already as well, but at least I can get up at a reasonable hour and I won't have to come into work. That's always a bonus.

As everyone has already noticed, I did change my layout. I've already gotten comments that it isn't showing up very well for some of you, and I'm sorry, but I really like it and spent lots of time on it yesterday. I'm giving it some time before getting rid of it!

We are planning on getting up around 8 tomorrow and heading out to the lake with my sister and niece. This should be fun, since neither my sister or niece have ever been on a waverunner before! At 6 tomorrow, we have plans to meet his family for a birthday dinner for his dad. (His dad and mine were born 4 days apart, same year and everything.) I've been racking my brain, trying to come up with something that we can get for him....not an easy task, when the man seems to have everything that he could possibly ever want or need! We are doing all that and then have a boat-trip meeting on Sunday evening. We go on this trip with 5 other couples and just found out that one of the couples dropped out. Should be fun, trying to come up with more people on such short notice.

The kids are alive and well, but the oldest is certainly giving me some grief. We had a knock down drag out last week that almost sent me over the edge. He lied to my face, and then had the nerve to tell me that I need to give him more respect! Oh, was I furious! What also really got me, was that he was lying to me, for his dad! Nothing like putting the knife in and turning it. His dad has changed jobs, he no longer works for $6 an hour anymore, and he doesn't want me to know it. I was trying to get in touch with him, so that instead of him coming and getting the boys at 4 last Friday, I would take them to the lake with us and then bring them to his house after. I couldn't get in touch with him and Corey wouldn't give me his work number. He said that he 'forgot' it. I could tell by looking at him, that he was flat out lying to me. Not to mention, that I just know better....Corey knows his dad's work number by heart! It was just a big fiasco. Now, he has been trying to make amends and things are pretty much back on track, but I still can't help but feel hurt knowing where his loyalty lies. It's pretty sad actually, considering all that I went through during the divorce, trying to protect and shield both the kids from all the heartache and grief that their dad was putting them through. But I do realize that my children will eventually see who had their best interest at heart. I'll just try and be patient and wait for that time to come.

Finally got the last of the parts for my pool last night. This has been no fun, at all. We started off at the pool store that is just 4 minutes or so from my house...they are useless. I'm considering calling there and lodging a complaint with a district manager or something. I've been to that store at least 4 times these past few weeks and have come out empty handed each and every time! They carry the pool filter that I have, but never have the parts in stock, and don't want to order them for us either. They tell us that it will take from 2-3 weeks to get them, and that we should probably check other stores before having them put the order in. We go right down the road, (about a 10 minute drive), where they don't even really sell my brand of filter, and they have the part sitting right there on the shelf and they are always very helpful with anything we ask about! Needless to say, I won't be going back to that other place, I refuse to give them any of my money or my business. So, I'm hoping that next week I will have my pool in order and we will be able to get a few weeks out of it, before the summer ends! LOL

Well, I hope ya'll have a great day and weekend!

2006-06-20T12:49:00.000-04:00

~~HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!~~

Today would have been my dad's 72nd birthday! I certainly wish that I had the chance to talk to him, but that isn't in the cards for me. It's been a year and 2 months since he passed away and days like today, are certainly still a little tough.

Father's day wasn't very easy either. While I tried to keep myself busy all day, idle time still came eventually, and I was left feeling pretty upset. I know my sister is having a rough time as well, and I can relate to exactly what she's going through. Time does heal some, but it can't possibly make the emptiness go away completely. It's still a challenge sometimes!

Yesterday I went into my backyard and cut some roses to take to the cemetary. When I got there, I saw that my dad still didn't have any grass on his site and my mom's stone that I got for her, was broken right in half. I then went to pour some water into a vase that is in-between their two head stones and all the water poured right back out. I was none too happy, but it was nice to visit them.

I tried to post a letter to him and Blogger ate my post! Do I have great luck, or what? I also tried to get a pic of him in there and that didn't work either! I give up.

So anyhow, this goes out to my dad...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY...LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU BUNCHES!!

Tinker

2006-06-09T10:54:00.000-04:00

~~IT'S BEEN FOREVER!~~

I know that it has seemed like I have forgotten about my blogging responsibilities, and I'm so sorry! I just haven't had the time or the incentive to write lately. There hasn't been too much going on to report, other than the same ol' stuff, only on different days! Such is my life.

Tyler has been back to school for a few weeks now, without incident. That's a good thing. We did meet with the dean and the principal before his return and we were warned that if anything like this should happen again, there is no more chances, he will be expelled. They aren't just talking about this year or next either, this is throughout his graduation! So yes, I have some stress and trepidation over all of that. Tyler isn't really the type of kid who weighs the pros and cons of things before he does them. Unfortunately, it just isn't a part of his genetic make-up! I'm sure that I will be on pins and needles for the next 7 years or so...until he walks down that aisle, donning a cap and gown!!!!

I'm on the hunt for a pool filter right now. Not having much luck so far, but I'm bound and determined that I will have the pool up and running soon. It's even kinda late to open it up, but I don't really care. As long as it's going in the next few weeks, I'll be pretty happy! (Not to mention how happy the kids will be.)

See there, two paragraphs in and I'm already racking my brain, trying to come up with something to type. That's pretty bad. Is my life that boring??? I think it apparently must be!

Work has been bearable, the kids have been into a little minor mischief (not doing their chores, stuff like that), my sister just kicked out her loser boyfriend. That's really about it!

I guess I will report back when I got more goods!!! Have a great day all!

2006-05-11T09:43:00.000-04:00

~~LET THE DRAMA BEGIN...~~

Well, I knew that it wouldn't be long before craziness would ensue in my life. My stomach is churning and in knots right now, I will probably have a killer headache before the day is through and it's a good thing the ex is picking my son up from school because I might have had to beat the shit out of him!

I got a call from Tyler's principal about an hour ago stating that he had Tyler in the office because he had apparently sent a pencil whizzing by one of the teacher's heads. Of course this was witnessed by several people and Tyler admitted to doing it, because....(you ready for this one?)...."I don't like her! She always gets me in trouble!"

I haven't talked to Tyler yet, but my first question will certainly be, "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING????" Of course, they are talking about taking this to the dean and the principal says that it is completely out of his hands. I believe that there may be a hearing with the school superintendant and the dean. Still waiting to find out for sure.

Talk about frustration...

Edit: I have since found out, that we will not have to go through a hearing, but instead he will be suspended for 10 days and will have to meet with the dean before re-entry to school!

2006-05-08T22:27:00.000-04:00

Things around here have been pretty busy. Even though summer is over a month away, it seems like it is already in full swing. Work and home have kept my engines running full steam ahead and has left very little time to relax at all.

I have a long list of things to accomplish, in and around the house. Getting the pool up and running, laying a new kitchen floor, working on various parts of my bathroom, etc. etc. The list goes on and on. To add to the mayhem, we have several trips planned within the next six months.

The kids are doing well...both got great report cards. The oldest, straight A's. Tyler doesn't get grades yet, but he either stayed the same or improved in everything. I'm a happy camper in that respect. Corey's hormones seem to be relenting just a bit and I'm seeing maybe a smidge more of the kid that I know and love. (That's not to say that he and his brother get along, AT ALL!) but you get my drift! LOL

Brian and I are doing very well! We've had our share of ups and downs over the past few months but I think that we are actually growing and our relationship is stronger, as a result. He just bought a new motorcycle, so we have been going out riding whenever we get the chance, that's been lots of fun. (Though, I was very opposed to him getting a bike at first!)

Oh, and I almost forgot to tell you....I went and saw Tim McGraw and Faith Hill over the weekend. They put on a spectacular show and I had a ton of fun! Going to see Rascall Flatts in a few weeks...can't wait for that one either!!

Well, I hope everyone is well and I will try to make my rounds and check in on everyone as soon as this posts!!! =)

2006-04-25T13:05:00.000-04:00

~~I GOT NOTHING~~

There hasn't been much of anything to really talk about, these past few weeks. Everything is pretty much status quo, thankfully.

The weather has been very nice and I've been enjoying it immensely. We have taken up tennis and try and get out there at least 4 days a week. I love it, love it, love it. I'm not very sports inclined, and to actually find a sport that I'm pretty good at, makes me very happy! LOL We dropped the boys at scouts last night and spent the full 1 1/2 hours on the courts. Since we had no kids with us we did really great and were dripping with sweat by the time we finished. (Was almost as exhilarating as a great sex session!) LOL
Wink wink...not quite!

The boys have pretty much been staying out of trouble. Though, now that I go and publish this, they are bound to get into some big bad stuff! Always happens like that. It's hard to believe that my little boys are gonna be 13 and 11, in a few short months. Also hard to believe that the school year is almost over and they will soon be on vacation. Ugh!

Easter was very nice, spent it with Brian's family and then mine. The time I spent at my sister's was great quality time...we played a few games and then all napped. LOL Was a nice break from the constant running though.

We've taken the 4-wheelers out a few times now, and that has been lots of fun. Brian and I went by ourselves last week and I ended up getting covered in mud from my feet to my knees and also covering the 4-wheeler. I pulled into the marshiest area around...I have that knack. See there, not athletically inclined, but it did make us break out into a fit of laughter.

So, that's really about it. My life in a nutshell. Not too much happening! I hope that everyone is well.

2006-04-14T14:10:00.000-04:00

~~Happy Easter!~~

Hope that everyone has a wonderful holiday!!!

2006-04-09T17:13:00.000-04:00

~~GREAT WEEKEND~~

Other than the passing of Peanutt's grandma, this has been a pretty nice weekend. It feels like I have all my ducks in a row right now, and that really leaves me feeling at peace. It's not about every little thing being perfect either. My house isn't perfectly clean, my kids aren't the biggest angels, etc. It's just a relaxed, calm feeling from within.

Don't know where it came from, or how long it will stay, but I'm sure making it a point to just sit back and let it just be. Not going to spend the rest of my Sunday afternoon making the beds, or griping at the kids that there are things they need to do, I'm not going to sweep the kitchen floor, or dust. I'm just going to do what mommy wants. Yep, that's definitely my plan.

Anyone wanna join me????

2006-04-04T21:33:00.000-04:00

~~Referee~~

As you may be able to see from my lack of posting, nothing much going on around here. These days, my primary roles have been...employee, referee, and maid. That's about it and mama's not too happy about it...

Dats all folks!

2006-03-17T13:14:00.000-05:00

~~HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!~~

I know that many of you are probably already sipping on some green beer, as I type this. Hope that there is no upchucking in color this evening! LOL As for myself, I don't have a whole lot planned for the evening...we are headed to Canada to have some all-you-can-eat Perch with a bunch of friends and family and then I think just heading home. I'm really not in the mood to get wasted or anything and don't feel like stepping foot in the bar, on a night like tonight. So instead, I will just eat til I gain a few more pounds and then go and sit my arse on the couch and veg. Yes, that sounds mahvelous!

~~HELL WEEK~~

As you know, (from reading my last post), the week didn't start off too well for me. That trend has continued, it's really been a stressful, exhausting week.

I have been running really late for work, every single day. Today was no exception. I fell asleep on the couch last night and Brian woke me up to head to bed. In my haste to get into bed, I hurriedly brushed my teeth and fell right into the bed, forgetting to set the alarm. I normally get up at 6 a.m., and this morning it was 6:22. I decided that I'd let my son take a shower before me, so that I wouldn't get him running behind too. I guess I should have told him that mom was running late and he should hurry, but was so out of it, I neglected to do that. I wound up taking a quick shower and making it in to work only 5 minutes later than usual, which wasn't so bad considering everything. However, the morning at work, was pretty bad. Lots of people calling with major issues and problems, the nurse had the day off and the one doc we had working, was completely stressed out from all the problems and demands that were being placed on her shoulders. We've tackled all the problems that have come up, thus far and things are running much smoother now. (It's also nice that big mouth has left early...woo hoo!) So hopefully, the rest of the day will be pretty uneventful and we can just chill out! I think we are deserving!

~~CASINO OR NO CASINO?~~

My aunt and sister are headed to the casino tomorrow night! Still wondering if I should go, or not. I'm kind of getting the itch...what to do????

Okay, that's about all I have for now! Have a great night and weekend!

2006-03-13T12:01:00.000-05:00

~~WHAT ARE THE CHANCES?~~

So, when you start your morning off with one kid missing the bus and the other plugging up your toilet and making you late for work. What do you think your chances are of having a great day?

2006-03-10T18:29:00.000-05:00

~~UNDER MY SKIN~~

Yes, I am about to rant a little bit. The loud mouth at work is stressing me out beyond belief. I have talked about this before, and things have only progressively gotten worse since. Not only is she loud to the point that you simply cannot think ANY thoughts while she is talking, but she also has this way of acting "busy" whenever she sees a patient of hers coming her way. It's making all of us nuts. I am stressed to the point where I need a good masseuse to sit behind me at all times so that I may get through the day without the need for a Motrin 600! My neck and shoulders are so tense while at work, that I feel like my head is just going to explode, (either that or my temper), neither of which will be pretty!

I am honestly getting to the point where I might turn into this! Actually, the look on his face describes the way that I feel in her presence every single day. Something has to give before I start taking screwdrivers and jamming them into my eardrums, just so that I don't have to listen to her big mouth anymore!

(By the way, we are also logging how many of her patient's that we check in on a daily basis. Yeah, today she had a total of 28 patient's and we checked in/or out a total of 23 of those!) If that's not totally taking advantage of a situation, then I truly don't know what is.

What would all of you do, if you found yourselves in the shoes of Peanutt and I?

2006-03-05T18:41:00.000-05:00

MONSTERS, CARS, AND MALLS OH MY!

This has been an eventful weekend, to say the least. For starters, we went to the Autorama yesterday and saw a bunch of these...........

We walked around there for a few hours and then headed to the Monster Jam at Ford Field. Where we saw lots of these...........

Last but certainly not least, was my favorite of the night....

Today, we had to head to a birthday/anniversary party and then to the mall to get these.....

So maybe they aren't exactly like these shown, but it was as close as I could find to them. I have actually been searching for shoes for weeks and ended up just settling on these because I'm way too frustrated to shoe shop anymore. They are just for work and will mostly be hidden under long scrubs, so why do I care anyhow??? All a part of being female, I suppose! LOL

To sum it up, this has truly been a very busy weekend full of adventure...I'm glad that we did everything that we did (even though I did whine about it a little), and I'll also be very glad to chill after I get done with this last load of laundry for the day!

Hope everyone also had a wonderful weekend!!!

2006-03-02T09:33:00.000-05:00

Please visit Poop and Boogies. They are in need of information and would appreciate all the help that they can get!

2006-03-01T10:32:00.000-05:00

~~THE GAMES WE PLAY~~

While it's hard to understand why there are little games that have to be played in a relationship....I'm certainly learning how to play them. Men are vastly different from us (the emotional beings that we are), and I think part of it, is just understanding that they are NOT going to respond to things the same way that we will.

So, I have come to the conclusion that I don't want to be a sappy, emotional being anymore. I don't want to have a heart that breaks and bleeds because some harsh words are said, or I'm not thought of in the way that I think I should be. I have found the perfect solution, I'm gonna become a man! LOL

2006-02-25T12:43:00.000-05:00

~~BLAH~~

The day started out good, I slept until I felt like waking up, right around 9:15. It was amazing that there were no phone calls, the dog was being good, etc. After having such a rough time sleeping last weekend, this was just what I needed.

My morning has been pretty productive, getting up and doing a few loads of laundry, cleaning and showering long before noon. This is all a miracle in itself, as usually I'm am not the most motivated person in the mornings.

So, after sleeping in today (which I rarely get to do), and then getting quite a bit accomplished this morning....why am I so blah right now???? Normally all of the above would have me in a great mood....not right now. Nope, not so much.

2006-02-22T10:25:00.000-05:00

~~WHERE OH WHERE ARE MY MOLARS?~~

Question of the day from Tyler.....

"Mom?"

"Yes, Tyler."

"If I'm almost 11, why haven't my 10 year molars grown in yet?"

"Well buddy, everyone grows at different rates. Not everyone is the same."

"Hmmm...I still don't understand."

LOL

2006-02-20T07:08:00.000-05:00

~~MEET MY MOM~~

This weekend I spent some time with my sister and Aunt, and we started going through some old pictures. I have been busy since, trying to scan all of them and make some copies for my brothers, sisters, and I to share. We found some really old black and whites of my mom during a time, when obviously she didn't mind having her picture taken. We don't really know the story behind these, but we think she may have been looking into modeling. Something that takes all of us by surprise.

So here she is, my mom....

These pics just literally amaze me, as my mom was never one the least bit interested in getting her picture taken. She was always the first to hide her face or run out of the shot. I guess there's a part of her that I just never knew. Well, enjoy!

Happy Monday all!

2006-02-18T09:17:00.000-05:00

~~THE SLEEP GODS JUST DON'T LIKE ME~~

Yesterday at work, all I could think about was how much I couldn't wait to get home and just chill. I didn't feel like making any plans, I didn't even feel like going out of the house, I just wanted to relax. About 2 o'clock Brian calls to see what we were gonna be doing later...I said I didn't know, 'we'll talk about it later'. The last few hours of work I'm preparing for him to say that he wants to go to the casino or out to dinner, something like that. I call Brian when I leave the office, he's getting his hair cut, says he will be home in a while. Wow, he's not home, this is my opportunity, I rush home and throw on my terry capri pajama pants and a big ol' tee shirt, grab my biggest blanket, my pillow, and a book and to the couch I run. He calls to say that he is on his way home and asks what I'm doing...I tell him that I'm pooped and in my pj's already. He broke out into fits of laughter. He says he's by the video store and will run in and get some movies, we can order a pizza and just hang out at home tonight. 'That sounds GREAT!' I'm amazed that my plans for the evening haven't somehow been disturbed. Now I can just relax.

We watched a few movies, one was Flightplan with Jodie Foster. The beginning was a little bit slow, but I didn't want to stop watching. About half way through there is this twist, that you just never expect and then I COULDN'T stop watching. We got our pizza and then put in the next one. This was one with Cameron Diaz called, In Her Shoes. I made it through about 3/4 of it and was out like a light. Brian woke me around 11 and said, 'let's go to bed'. Great! I really am gonna get some good sleep tonight! That didn't happen...

Around 11:30, just as I was falling into a deep sleep again...his phone rings. It's work, they want him to come in to run a Vector machine. This is a machine that he hasn't run in about 10 years, and it's used for sewer back-ups. Brian tells them, 'no thanks' and that's that. I fall back asleep after a few minutes and was having a great night of rest when Brian's phone starts going off again. I look at the clock, yeah it's 5:40 a.m. It was work calling again, this time for a main break. Now that's his cup of tea. He's out of bed in about 2 minutes flat and is kissing me goodbye and out the door by 5:57. I figure, I can probably fall back asleep until at least 8 a.m. when 2 minutes later, Max is outside the bedroom door barking his freakin' head off. I get up and brush my teeth, let the dog out and figure this will do the trick. I'll go back to bed for a while. (I guess I'm a glutton for punishment).

I let the dog in, crawl back in bed, pull the covers up and realize, I'M WIDE AWAKE! I turn the tv on and watch for a little bit, there were so many choices at 6 am on a Saturday morning. I settle on a program, (World's Worst Drivers--3), and start getting drowsy again. I shut the tv off and actually fall back to sleep. I start having this crazy dream....my son (who's 12) is little again, maybe about 5. We are near my aunt's house about an hour and a half away. We are at some place where there are millions of lizards running around and you can get right in there and walk around with 'em. We leave this place to head home and when I get home my brother and my mom (who passed away years ago), are at home waiting for me. When I get in the door, we are all talking and my mom and brother are telling me that I shouldn't be so choosy, I should have accepted Brian's ring. (Brief history of me and my mom needed here...she used to refer to me as her blister on her side, because I was always either right next to her, or laying on her lap.) In the dream, I had just laid down on her lap and was talking to her when, my cell phone (in real life) started blaring. WTF?

So yes, that is when I decided that it's not in the cards for me to sleep anymore. I've done a bit of laundry, ran the dishwasher, headed out in the frigid temps for a cappuccino and am now gonna finish watching, the probably crappy movie that I couldn't hold my eyes open for last night.

Maybe tonight will be the night that I get some real sleep...or maybe I'm just destined to be tired forever. Who knows?! All I know right now, is that even when the conditions seem to be perfect for rest and relaxation, the sleep gods don't seem to like me very much!

Have a great day everyone!!!

2006-02-15T22:21:00.000-05:00

~~MOVING ON UP!~~

I finally broke down and made the switch from dial-up! I love my modem! LOL Thank goodness that dial-up is gone forever. It was extremely frustrating trying to blog, download pictures or just read e-mail from home. In order to post a pic on this, I would have to start it and literally just walk away and do something else. There was no way that I could go on to something else online, that would just hold up the process even more. Grrrr! Not to mention, when someone would try calling the home phone and it would slow it down even more or just boot me off. How did I live with dial-up for all this time???Another great thing about all of this, is that I have bundled the internet, phone and cable into one nice neat little bill for the month. I have 12 windows up right now and am still moving with the speed of a cheetah...it just doesn't get any better than this!

~~MY DOG IS ON DRUGS~~

Yep, I made the decision to put my dog on seizure meds. He started having them around Thanksgiving and they only seem to be progressing in severity each time. It was really something that I wanted to avoid, but after seeing this last one from start to finish, there was no other option. What scared me most about the meds were 1) the vet said that once we start, he takes them forever and 2) some people were scaring the crap out of me about it.

I've been talking to other dog owners and some say that it's probably the best thing to do, while others, claim that their dog was "never the same again", or that they felt "she would still be with us today, if we hadn't done it!" That's scary shit! I'll tell you what though, looking into his eyes while he was posturing and shaking and half paralyzed, was something that I really don't wanna have to go through again! He's taking the meds and I will just pray that he does fine!

~~VALENTINE'S DAY~~

I'm really not one to get too into the celebration of Valentine's Day, anymore. It really is just another day to me. Yes, I feel that you should tell those that you love, just how much you love them. But honestly, I do that every single day. I think that is one of the most important lessons that I have learned from the loss of my parents. You just never know what is meant to happen and shouldn't take your loved ones for granted. Evah! So, here are some random pics of a few of my fav people.....

This first has to be one of my favorite pics of the boys. It was taken last spring, with me telling them to pretend that they like each other. They really pulled it off, it almost resembles two children who might not fight like cats and dogs 24/7! LOL

Posting this one of Brian might piss him off a bit but I really like it and this is my space, so bummer. It's just one of him first thing on Christmas morning. His hair is messy and he's in his pj's, hence the reason for him possibly getting pissed off at me. Sowwy hun!

This last one, is Peanutt @ http://thepeanuttgallery.blogspot.com

She has been there through thick and thin for almost 27 years now and it goes without saying just how much I love her.

So there you have it, those are my most loved and cherished peeps!

Have a great day everyone...and don't forget to say, "I love you", even though today is just another day!

Love you all!!!!!!

Fits me like a glove...

2006-02-11T11:23:00.000-05:00

~~FITS ME LIKE A GLOVE...~~

Now with that title, many of you might think that I might be showing some pics of me scantily clad in a tight pair of jeans, or maybe some hot nightie. But sorry folks, that isn't something that I would share here, and isn't at all what I'm referring to.

What I'm talking about, is the man that I love. Sure, we've all thought that we've met Mr. Right, probably a time or two. (Some more, some less.) But I honestly think that I have nailed it this time around. We don't get along perfectly, in fact, we fight like cats and dogs sometimes. Arguments may turn into harsh words, days of not speaking to each other, wondering if this could even be the end, but then one of us relents and we make up because we just can't stand it anymore!

He certainly has his faults (as all of us do), but those are easily overlooked, due to the numerous ways that he makes me feel more loved than I ever have felt before. While going through my divorce, I honestly didn't think that I would even want something serious with anyone, EVER! He instantly changed that feeling for me. While being at my lowest point, he brought me to highs that I never thought were even possible. Two years later, I still can't get enough of this man. I think he is funny, wildly sexy and that he just fits me like a glove. Looking into the future, I can't see a day without him and I hope that's exactly how it stays.

So, there you have it. The thing that fits me like a glove, is Brian. Sweetie, you are my sunshine and the love of my life! Don't you ever go doubting that even for a minute! I love you hun!

2006-01-29T00:17:00.000-05:00

King Max laying on my leather couch, like he owns the place! LOL

2006-01-29T00:10:00.000-05:00

Just me....

2006-01-27T10:54:00.000-05:00

Did some quizzes today, here are the results...

You Should Get an Abstract Tattoo

Artistic and uniqueYou're the most likely type to personally design your tattoo

What Tattoo Should You Get?

Another one....

The PJ's You Are Most Like: Comfortable PJ's

You're a bit conservative, traditional, and tend to follow conventions
You have an understated, easy sexyness that men love
People instantly find comfort in you, and you're a "best friend" to many.

What Kind of PJ's Are You?

How blonde?

You Are a Strawberry Blonde

Men see you as flirtatious, but they also see you as a challenge
Because you're totally fearless and carefree
You've got the lightheartedness of a blonde, with the attitude of a redhead

How Blonde Are You?

Is he hooked they ask?

You Have Him Totally Hooked

Your guy is all yours - and happily so.
He loves being around you, and he totally sees you as a couple.
It looks like you two have a great future together - if you want it!

Do You Have Him Hooked?

Well, I think that's all I'm gonna do, for now! Have a great Friday!

2006-01-20T23:37:00.000-05:00

~~AS PROMISED, THE CONCLUSION TO THE POST FROM A FEW DAYS AGO...~~

While I feel really bad for posting this, or even saying anything at all....I'm gonna lose my frickin' mind if I don't get to vent about it!! Here's the scoop....

Some of you may or may not know Peanutt and I work together and had to move from one office to another about 3 months ago. The office that we moved to, is one that I actually worked at for about 8 years. In that time, I of course made many friends and hung out with quite a few people that still work there today.

One of those people was "Spaz", or S for short. While, I knew her pretty well; we often had lunch together and chatted whenever we could find the time during work. I thought of her as a very hard worker and just a great person all around. When we were told that we were moving back, I couldn't have been happier that we would be sharing an area with S. I was grateful that it was someone that I had actually gotten along so well with in the past. (Not to say that I had enemies or anything there, but there is one particular person who was one of the biggest factors in my decision to leave that clinic in the first place, I feared being matched up in an area with her.)

Anyhow, when we moved in everything seemed great. She was willing to work with us and seemed very laid back about sharing her space and even giving up some of her space, just to accomodate us. I had no problems, at all!

I can't really determine where the problems began, but I am now to the point where I think I'm about to go nuts! Here are the things that Peanutt and I encounter on a daily basis....

1) She calls to confirm her appointments EVERY SINGLE DAY, for a few days in the future. While that would seem as though it's no big deal to all of you, it makes us wanna rip our hair out and our ears bleed, from all the screaming that she does into the damn phone! When S, Peanutt and I are all on the phone at the same time, during said confirming (i.e. making the patient's ears bleed too), I almost have an anxiety attack, because it gets so loud you can't hear who you are talking to, you have to try and yell over her so that they can hear you on the other end, and if more patients are standing at the desk at the time, it's all over for me. Instant anxiety and bad mood!!!!

2) When a patient comes to check in at the front desk, they reach me first. She takes full advantage of that and will pretend to be busy, even when she knows that they are seeing her doc and not ours. Now don't get me wrong here, I'm all about pitching in and helping out when she needs it, but I think we do about 80% of her work, on any given day. This also applies to the people when they are checking out, and have to make return appointments, or need reminders put into the computer, or even when the phone is ringing! (Her phone btw!)

As I said before, I'm all about pitching in...especially when the favor is returned, but IT NEVER IS!! I can honestly say, that Peanutt and I probably check in & out at least half of all her patient's every single day, while she checks in & out probably 3-4 of ours. It's like we are literally running circles around her when things get busy!

3) She will get right in your face to talk to you, (I'm talking close encounters of the wierd kind here). I'm sorry, but I really don't like random people getting in my personal space like that. And it truly trips me out, when people ignore body language like they do, (totally turning away from them, backing up, things like that). Do they not percieve that as a sign???? Now if I know someone very well, like my kids or Brian, even Peanutt, that's fine. But not S...I want so bad to just say to her, "back off Jack, we really aren't THAT close!" "Give me my fucking space, cuz I can truly still hear you from a few feet away...YOU YELL EVERYTHING, how could I not hear??"

4) Recently, she was told by the doc that she works with, that she was being way too loud. She was appalled and couldn't believe that he would say something like that! Oh my gosh, Peanutt and I wanted to die laughing as she was ranting and raving about it ALL FRICKIN' DAY LONG! Saying, "there is no way that he can hear me from all the way in the back of the clinic!!!" Uh S, I have some news for you....your big mouth is about to seriously drive me stark raving mad!!! I am to the point where just hearing her voice is about to make me crack. I see me crumbling sometime in the very near future. I JUST CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!

I really do try to walk into work with a halfway decent attitude every single day. Granted, I can't ALWAYS do that...but I do put some effort into it. That effort is all in vain, because the first time that I have to scream over her to talk to a patient stading at my desk (less than 2 feet away), I'm done. Bad mood! Bad bad mood!!! That mood does not go away until I either go to lunch or she leaves for the day, (which she rarely ever leaves before me).

If anyone has any suggestions to help us cope, we would really appreciate it. And no, it isn't just me being tempramental either, Peanutt feels the same way! We are losing our marbles here. What should we do???? Help!!!!

2006-01-18T22:40:00.000-05:00

~~COMING OUT OF HIDING~~

Hi everybody...hope your week is going well! I haven't been hiding on purpose....just caught up in a bunch of nothing, I guess. Work has really been too busy to linger on Blogger for any amount of time and I just haven't had the energy, by the time I get home at night. So, sorry that I haven't even been keeping up on my usual reads...will try and get back at 'er!

~~TO MEDICATE OR NOT TO MEDICATE~~

One thing that has been going on for about a month and a half now, is that my puppy has been having seizures. He has had 3-4 that we have actually witnessed. Hard to tell if there have been more, while we are gone all day. I've only seen 1 of them, and that was enough to totally freak me out! It's not like I haven't seen plenty of seizures; my ex had them almost on a daily basis for quite some time and I've witnessed quite a few at work. But it's still something that is pretty disconcerting.

I took him to the vet and he expressed concerns that his symptoms during the actual episodes, point to a possible brain tumor or lesion. While I certainly would love to find out for sure what is wrong with him, I don't have an extra 1k laying around for me to have an MRI done on my dog. It looks as though medications are the answer, but there are risks involved there too and the doc says that once we put him on the meds, it's for life. (I haven't even asked about the cost...but have heard that it isn't too bad....ugh, I hope that's true!) I have to run out and get them within the next few days. Hopefully, before he has another "episode". Wish us luck!!!

~~DIET SCHMIET!!~~

Okay, I'll be the first to admit it.....I H*A*T*E the diet thing! This shit sucks. I have totally fallen off the wagon this week. I have had a french dip, a burger and fries, french onion soup (with the cheese baked on top). And I'm pretty sure that my fingers and belly can't bloat any more, without getting some unsightly stretch marks. I have not worked out in days and have had absolutely no extra energy for anything.

I was doing great for the first few weeks and was actually taking off the pounds pretty easily. Iwas enjoying working out, and feeling like I was really making headway towards the goal I had set. I don't know what the hell happened to me! I think the weekend was what happened. Brian says, "Let's go to the movies!" Me, "Okay, but we're getting butter on the popcorn...we've been good, we deserve it!" I think that's where it all started. All my hard work has now vanished into thin air. What an idiot!

Oh well, back to the grind. I will be looking trim and fit for bathing suit season!

~~ON AN EVEN KEEL?~~

That pretty much explains the kids and how things are with them. Corey has been working really hard to bring up 2 of his grades from D's to B's. Hopefully he will do good on his exams, and his report card will be great! I have collaborated with his counselor and teacher's and am really glad that they have been so willing to work with him on all of this. I guess it's all about staying on top of everything.

Tyler seems to be doing great. I haven't had any calls or letters from his teacher since we put him back on his ADHD meds and his report card should be coming next week. Hopefully, I will have a glowing comment about that soon.

~~WOUND UP SO TIGHT~~

I have a whole bunch of things to say about this topic, but have to go to bed. While I shouldn't even say anything at all, period...I feel like I have to! Not that it's my duty or that it's going to resolve anything...but I will feel a whole lot better after writing in length about this. (Peanutt also feels my pain!)

Stay tuned for the conclusion....

Have a great night everyone!!! Hope you are snuggled up warm and cozy in your beds right now!!! That's where I'm headed.

Good night!

2006-01-03T22:28:00.000-05:00

~~THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS~~

Just 2 days until the children go back to school and start resuming a normal life once again. I KNOW that it is time, as the youngest informed me that he already beat an entire game! (One that he just got for Christmas). He has been like this for a long time now, and really takes the fun out of giving him any games, because he masters them so astutely, within an inhuman amount of time. It's ridiculous how quickly he flies through all of the levels. (And here I was proud of myself, for getting further on Pac Man World 2, than him.) Yeah, that's only because he's been concentrating on one game and now I've challenged him into playing MY game...the one game in their arsenal, that I really like. You know what's going to happen here, don't you? This will require that I keep going back for more, becoming an addict just like him, just to stay ahead of the game. A vicious cycle it is...LOL

~~WHAT? VACATION'S OVER?~~

It's funny how quickly the days fly by, when you don't have to work! How does that happen? The usual work week can feel like eons and yet, take a few days off, and they rush by in a blur.

I didn't do much on my time off, did a lot of chillin' with the boys. We did manage to get out there and see the movie King Kong. Word to the wise, DO NOT TAKE CHILDREN TO SEE THIS MOVIE! The first hour, I could hardly keep my eyes open...the next 2 hours, barely held my attention. My children were bored to tears and asking what time it was, at least a million times. Tyler no longer refers to the movie as King Kong, it's now, "the longest movie EVAH". LOL

Other than that, we honestly didn't do a heck of a lot. Shopped a few days, watched movies, went to the arcade. Nothing too spectacular. I did manage to scrub the house from top to bottom. Though, I truly procrastinated doing that for almost the entire vacation! LOL What a loser I am! But sometimes, it truly feels good to lounge around in your jammies until YOU FEEL like getting up and showered, instead of HAVING to do it. Honestly, one of the things that I enjoy most about vacations is getting away from the mundane day-to-day routines, that you have no choice but to do while working. For me, that in itself, just does my body good.

~~NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION!~~

As is with a great deal of us, one of my resolutions is to lose a little bit of weight and start a workout routine. (Wasn't I just talking about routines??? LOL) Not a whole lot, maybe 8 pounds or so. I'm hoping that will be enough to make a big difference.

Yesterday's food intake; coffee, bagel, cottage cheese, yogurt, small piece of spinach pie, and an apple (with a few walnuts and touch of vinaigrette dressing). While I don't want to deprive myself too much, I definitely want to get back into healthy eating habits again! Another thing I'm very bad about is my water intake, and I'd like to try and start drinking more water again. We'll see how long this lasts!

I actually just did a weigh in and so far, I've lost 1 3/4 lbs. Like I said, we'll see how long it lasts! Wish me luck!

That's about it for now...nothing much going on upstairs at the moment! Have a great day everyone! (Okay, my 3-4 readers!) LOL

2005-12-28T09:05:00.000-05:00

Merry belated Christmas to all!

I hope that the holidays were wonderful for everyone! I know that my kiddies are certainly very happy with their spoils, as they've barely shown their faces in 2 days. I have to walk into their bedrooms and remind them that it's time to eat or shower or maybe get a drink, go pee...stuff like that. LOL And there's no losing Tyler, I can hear the slaying sounds of his light saber being thrusted and jabbed into his imaginary opponent for about 4 hours of my day. We will go through numerous batteries this week, I'm sure. Their gaming chairs were a big hit, as well. Corey sat greasy haired, in his chair from the time he woke up yesterday, until it was time for bed. As I said, I had to remind him to eat and shower! Today, I'm taking them to use their gift certificates and just do some running around. Get us all out of the house for a while.

I found that the 3-4 days preceding Christmas left me feeling very melancholy. It's the first Christmas without my dad, and though I really tried not to let it get to me, it hit me with a vengenance. My kids were with their dad, my boyfriend was constantly working, (he put in about 120 hours last week), and being home by myself every night, just wasn't a good thing. I felt really bad, for not truly being in the holiday spirit, but I was dealing with a ton of turmoil in my head. So eventually, I just gave up the fight and allowed myself to whimper, whine and cry until I couldn't whimper, whine or cry anymore. It was truly relieving, to an extent. At least I got it out of my system!

It's kind of funny, because I thought that I was dealing with everything pretty well. My sister had actually been really sad and "down" for weeks, I was there to help and try to pick her back up...had no clue that I was spiraling down myself. I kept thinking that I just wished that we could all have the holiday together, just one more time. Don't know why that was my main focus, but that was at the forefront of all of my thoughts. Every single time that would pop in my head, tears would pop into my eyes, and there was just no stopping it.

By Christmas morning, I was doing better and very excited for my kids. I went to Brian's in the morning and watched his kids open all of their gifts, we exchanged ours, and then we sat down for breakfast together. I realized then, that even though my parents aren't around anymore, I truly do have the love of his parents, and that was a huge comfort. My kids got home shortly after, ripped through their carefully wrapped packages in record time and then we all trooped over to my brother's for a wonderful dinner, a few drinks, and a ton of laughs.

It came out that every single one of us had been going through the same exact struggles this past week, about dad and that also left me feeling that at least I wasn't the only one. My brother came out with this picture of my dad, has to be one of the best ones ever taken of him. He was fishing that day, and there's a whole story behind the huge grin on his face, but it's truly a picture worth a thousand words.

On top of this picture, we all got a gift from my aunt. I don't know where this came from, but all of the sudden a package was handed to me and I was told, "open it". What I found inside almost made me crumble...here it is....

I know that you probably can't read what it says, so here it is;

Merry Christmas From Heaven

I still hear the songs
I still see the lights
I still feel your love
on cold wintery nights

I still share your hopes
and all of your cares
I'll even remind you
to please say your prayers

I just want to tell you
you still make me proud
You stand head and shoulders
above all the crowd

Keep trying each moment
to stay in His grace
I came here before you
to help set your place

You don't have to be
perfect all of the time
He forgives you the slip
If you continue the climb

To my family and friends
please be thankful today
I'm still close beside you
In a new special way

I love you all dearly
now don't shed a tear
Cause I'm spending my Christmas
With Jesus this year!

So, with that, I put aside my selfish tears and was happy that I had my kids, my brothers and sisters, my boyfriend and all of my friends, to make new memories with. I'm truly doing okay, I think I've already gotten past the biggest hurdles. I am very thankful for what I did have then, and what I do have now.

On that note, I'm fixing breakfast and then me and the boys are off to hang out and spend some gift certificates!

Have a great day!

2005-12-21T23:27:00.000-05:00

~~I AM A LURKER!~~

I don't know how it happened, but I've come to the conclusion that I am a bonified lurker these days. I have been trying to keep up with my usual reads, and comment on very few, but just haven't been in the mood to write very much.

This is what's happening these days;

My oldest has been having issues at school and home...I'm trying to get him straightened out, which has been no small task. For those of you that don't have teens (or pre-teens), talking to them is similar to talking to a wall! Yikes! I'm doing everything I can to work out all of his issues, but this ain't easy! We are spending next week together and I hope that having more one on one than usual, will be a stepping stone in working out these issues.

Brian has been working day and night, barely sleeping, and I've really been missing having the quiet and intimate time that I'm used to having with him. While I'm trying very hard to be patient and understanding, it's wearing on me a bit. Tonight, we actually got a few hours of "alone" time, and we spent it sleeping. When we woke up, I made some dinner and then we took some silly pics, we were just getting ready to go to bed, when he got called in to work....again!

This is the way I get to "see" him, for the most part lately....

This was one of the pics from tonight, it was after several other pics had been taken. By this time, we were laughing so hard that our bellies hurt and we almost had tears running down our faces! (And those are underwear laying near his head...don't ask!)

Only a few days until Christmas...it's hard to believe, it feels like Halloween just passed. Here is my Charlie Brown tree....

I let the kids decorate it, and didn't even rearrange it after they were done! LOL I hope ya'll are proud of me because normally, I would wait until they go to bed and then go to town moving things until I am satisfied! This year, I thought they did a pretty good job and just left it at that!

You will notice, that it's very bare underneath...that would be because the children will search through the house to find their gifts! Nice, huh? I'm not taking that chance again. All of their gifts are at my sister's house, which is where they will stay until the night before the kids open them. I'm not having them ruin their Christmas this year!

I'm heading off to try and sleep now. I hope everyone has a great holiday, if I don't write before then!

Merry Christmas!

2005-12-06T10:28:00.000-05:00

~~THERE SHE BLOWS~~

I have felt it gurgling within me, for a while now...I have held back more times than I can count.

A few days ago, I walked in the door after work to find; one child kicking a bedroom door and the other one yelling at the top of his lungs. I lost it. Yes, mommy had a severe meltdown. Many tears were cried, and they didn't come from my eyes. While I really felt bad for also yelling at the top of my lungs (thus acting as childish as them), I needed to let them know that I'm tired of them walking all over me! It was actually refreshing.

I warned them that if their disgusting rooms were not cleaned by the time they left for their dad's this weekend, that mommy would clean them however I saw fit. I also warned them, that whatever I found on their floors, I would assume was something they didn't care about and would be put in a trash bag and thrown out. They freaked! Both were in tears with Tyler laying on his floor, I could see how overwhelmed he felt, but I didn't care. A mommy can only take so much, before she loses her ever loving mind...and I did. There, I have admitted it. Isn't that the first step? LOL

Now, this isn't just coming out of the blue though. I have asked them (very nicely), several times, to just clean their rooms. Simple as that...'just clean your rooms and you will have a happy mommy'. But they didn't heed my warnings and have now paid the price. They were both a wreck and you literally couldn't even walk in them. Most of their belongings had no "place" and were just thrown all over. How they can find anything at all, is beyond me!

My house may not be perfect, and I certainly, "let it go" from time to time...but this was way beyond that! When their doors would be ajar and I would walk by these monstrosities I would literally cringe. That's pretty bad! For a few weeks now, I've actually considered going in there and doing it myself, but what will that teach them? That they can keep it as messy as they'd like, and I will just march right in there and pick up their mess? Nah, I don't think that will work!

Tyler did a great job, while Brian and I ran out for a bit, he really worked his butt off, (with a bit of instruction from my next door neighbor), but regardless, he has cleaned it and kept it very neat for the remainder of this week. I am happy! Corey however, hasn't heeded my warning and his just, "picked up" a bit and thinks that is suffice. Little does he know, that mommy is sticking to her word and going in there this weekend while they are gone and seriously going through it with a fine tooth comb! He will not be a happy camper when he returns to find that I have gone through ALL of his belongings! (insert evil laugh and grin here) I think there might be a bit of pleasure in this and actually look forward to it!

Well there you have it, that's my rant for the day! Have a great one!

2005-12-01T07:10:00.000-05:00

~~HODGE PODGE~~

*Cooking has never really been one of my strongest points, but I get by. The other night while making dinner, I had a shelf in my cupboard fall and glass rained down, all over the stovetop. It just so happened, that I had JUST taken dinner out of the oven, and glass was everywhere! I cleaned up the mess, salvaged what I could, recooked some veggies, and we ate whatever hadn't been right in the line of fire.

The next day I decided to cook something light for Brian and I (my kids were with their dad). I made some Velveeta shells and cheese and baked potatoes with all the fixings. It turned out good, a pretty fool proof meal, or so I thought.

I was done with mine, and gave Brian an extra helping of mac n' cheese. He's a happy camper and gets about 2 bites into it, and I hear him crunch on something very hard. All the sudden he starts sputtering, and spitting his bite of food onto the plate. He finds something white and hard in there...yeah, it was a nice hunk of glass. There was one pot on the stove when everything fell the other night, it was clean and I didn't even think about checking it before cooking with it. Ugh! What a dumb ass!

**My man has been MIA lately.

Work, work, work. Last Sunday he was called in at 2pm and worked straight until Tuesday. No sleep, nothing. I was pretty upset, because he is working on heavy machinery digging around gas lines with no sleep. That just doesn't make sense to me!

I've been having a hard time sleeping too. I wake up every couple hours feeling around, to see if he's there or not. So needless to say, I feel pretty whipped by the end of the day.

Will be glad when he doesn't have to work all hours of the day and night anymore!!!

***The basement is flooded.

Yesterday, I woke up at 6 and made my way to the basement to get some laundry out of the dryer. I didn't turn the laundry room light on, I know my way around. Well, I should have...I stepped in about an inch of cold water. Blech!

Water was flowing out of the top and bottom of the tank, and it sounded as if I had a waterfall in there! LOL I woke Brian and had him turn off all the water, got the kids ready for school and then cleaned up the mess.

Things went as smoothly as they possibly could. His cousin came over and had it replaced by about 1, yesterday afternoon.

I still have bags full of wet clothes, that I have to wash ASAP, but all in all, things are back to normal now.

****Christmas shopping.

I've done pretty well on my shopping, thus far. Actually, have tons more done than I normally would by this time. Can't believe that there are only 24 days until Christmas though! Yikes!

Well, that's what is going on around here! What's new and exciting on your end???

2005-11-28T18:17:00.000-05:00

~~HAPPY BELATED THANKSGIVING~~

Here is my second attempt at this post...yes, frustration is starting to take hold here. It is teaching me a lesson though...SAVE EVERY 5 SECONDS! lol Back to the issue at hand...

Hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! =) I was without my boys, which kinda sucked, but Bri and I still had a nice day. My family usually gets together for the holiday, but it just didn't happen this year, with everyone kind of going their separate ways. We ended up going to Bri's sisters for the day. It's about an hour drive and the roads weren't great, once we got near her house, but it was worth it. I've tried uploading some pics (twice today already) and am not getting any cooperation so far. Trying again!

Viola, above is a view of the table before our feast! The day was very relaxing...we feasted and then played some Hold 'Em and proceeded to feast some more. What could be better than that?

Here are some before and after's of "the turkey". They raised six in all this year...and one just happened to be our dinner. (Kinda made me feel bad, but at least I know it was a well fed turkey that I ate!)

The blur in this pic was Bri's bil Chris, who was very slowly inching his way out of view. I tried several times to get him next to his bird, to no avail!

Here is Brian and I, caught totally off guard by his sister who had no idea how to work our camera. I was mid sentence, trying to tell her what button to push...I don't know what he was doing. I just know, if you ever have any pics you need taken...don't let MaryLou take them for you! (And she thought this was a good one!) lmao

And last but not least...here are 2 pics taken last week at his parents house. This is Max showing his love and adoration for Bri's dad....

Yes, I'm making an appointment to have him fixed...ASAP! lol But this is him after...you think he liked????

Have a great week everyone!

2005-11-16T12:50:00.000-05:00

~~Kids, the blues and recent happenings.~~

Well, Tyler made it back from camp last week. He had a great time and when asked if he was good while there replied, "not the best, but I wasn't too bad either!" LOL I was almost afraid to inquire about why he wasn't the best but, I'm a mom and it's my job, I asked anyhow. He said that he just got a "little wild", from time to time, "that was all!" I can deal with that, the kid does have ADHD and isn't on any meds for it! He also informed me very gently, that he didn't want to hurt my feelings, but that he really didn't wanna come home. Said that he was just having so much fun and that he really missed me, but he still wanted to stay. LOL Gotta love him for being so sweet and honest all at the same time!

~~Funky feeling!~~

Don't know if it's just a matter of the time change, coupled with the fact that winter is fast approaching, but I've been in a funk. I'm cranky and crabby, don't feel much like dealing with anyone and just want to sleep, sleep, sleep. This past weekend, I had Friday off and actually took 3 naps throughout the day. WTH is up with that? Brian has been sick and joined me for each one of them, (which is very unlike him to nap once in a day, let alone 3 times) but this cold has certainly taken the wind right out of his sails.

Friday night, we finally managed to get ourselves out of bed and get ready for the Wing's game. The trip there was smooth, even with massive construction and to top it off, we got great parking. The seats were a different story. LOL While we could certainly see great from the upper bowl...and I'm talking the UPPER BOWL, the walk to our seats was brutal and left our legs burning from the exertion. While at the game, we really had a good time and the Wings won, of course.

Saturday was another lazy day, we didn't do anything to speak of. Until that evening, when we went to that Hold Em tourney at our friends house. The tourney was fun, the company good (though Bri and I weren't getting along too well), the food was also very good. All in all, it was nice.

Sunday, I got up and met my sister and my niece for some shopping. Didn't stay out too long, had too much to do at home. When I went back home, I got through a bunch of laundry and then just chilled for the rest of the day. It was the most lazy weekend I've had in a long long time. I kind of liked it, but then felt guilty at the same time, for not being more productive! Ugh!

I also forgot my son's parent teacher conference yesterday, isn't that nice? Turns out, his dad didn't forget and raised a big ol' stink about something going on between my son and a neighbors little girl. From the sounds of it, it was more a misunderstanding than anything. Nothing to go all ape shit about, but that's just the way he is. Ugh. Glad he's a part of my past and not my future.

Just found out too, that one of my sons best friends' mother passed away this morning. It's a total shock, as I just talked to her yesterday and even saw her the week before when I went to pick Ty up from camp. It just blows me away that this has even happened. It's really hard to even contemplate what might have transpired from yesterday afternoon when I talked to her, to this morning. My son isn't usually one to be too emotional either, not that he isn't loving, but he's not the touchy feely type at all either. When he calls me at work in tears, I know something really bad has happened. I think that this has hit home as I went home to have lunch with him and he already had everything set up. I wish I had taken pictures...it was great. He had bologna sandwiches, with shredded cheese for each of us, they were adorned with cheez-its in the shape of smiley faces, napkins, pillows on the floor, and he even got me some juice. It had to be one of the sweetest things he's ever done. Awww!! Yes, it is one of those mommy moments when you know everything you've ever done and every bad moment you've ever had, has all been worth it, for something like this. As a reward, I made him a strawberry, banana smoothie before coming back to work. He loves me! Awww!!!

When I get home, will have to call and find out what arrangements have been made for Nate's mom and might go up to the bowling alley to watch Bri for a while.

Bon Jovi is also tomorrow...that should be fun. Will let you know!

Have a great weekend everyone!

2005-11-10T12:40:00.000-05:00

~~Nothing much.

Not really all that much to report here. No more outrageous phone bills or anything of the sort. This week has pretty much been uneventful...just the same ol', same ol'.

Although, my youngest has made his first unchaperoned trip to camp. He left on Monday, and comes home tomorrow. I was fearful that after a day or so, that I would get a call telling me to pick him up, but all has been quiet, so far. This camp is an "outdoor" schooling type environment. My oldest went last year and absolutely loved it, I'm hoping that Ty feels the same way about it, but we'll see.

Tomorrow, Brian and I both have the day off work and are planning on going to see the Red Wings. This will be my first hockey game in years. I'm really looking forward to it. Go Wings!!

It's looking like Saturday we are going to a friends house for a Texas Hold 'Em tourney. There are going to be 3 other couples. Should be fun.

That's really about it for me. Like I said, nothing much here!

Have a great day and weekend!!! =)~~

2005-11-03T12:36:00.000-05:00

~~GOOD AFTERNOON!~~

Hi everyone, and hope that this finds you all well. I think I am definitely getting back into my blogging routine now. Things at work are mellowing a bit, and although we still have our "bad" days...we are getting into our groove a bit more.

Now don't get me wrong, doc's are still having little temper tantrums on a daily basis and people (patient's) are still rude as ever, but screw 'em! LOL We are just trying to do our thing and go home...nothing more, nothing less.

Things at home, are the usual daily chaos but it could be worse. Kids are kids and they make mistakes. Here's just a small taste...yesterday, I'm sitting down to eat dinner and decide I will open my mail, bad move. The only bill in there was for the home phone, no big deal, it should be about $30. Yeah right!!! I open it and see under current charges....$250! I'm thinking to myself, "there is no friggin way!". I turn it over, to look at the long distance charges...there it is, in black and white....7 calls to Canada, made by my dear son. One of them was for 81 minutes and cost about $150! Oh yes, I was fuming! I maintained and didn't yell or scream, like I really wanted to...but oh, was I furious! Brian and I went downstairs and discussed it for a while...it just blew me away. Wasn't prepared for it, at all.

When I finally came back up, his brother says to me, "well mom, Corey says he knows it's no birthday and christmas presents for him for a while!" Of course, being the smart kids that they are...they are always pulling the, "make mom feel guilty", card! So, this spurred a long convo with Corey. I asked Corey how he thought he would feel, had the circumstances been reversed??? He replied that he would probably be really angry. I told him that it was also a little stressful in that, there are many other things I could spend $250 on! Yikes! Life goes on!

Today, I should have a chance to get to each and every blog on my sidebar, we have no patient's here at work and it's downright boring already. So, I think that is what I'm going to do right now.

First, I'm going to try and include a picture of the sunrise from this morning. Let's see if this works.

2005-10-30T22:10:00.000-05:00

~~BLOG NEGLECT!

Okay, I know that I've been slacking bigtime, when it comes to posting but I've even been too pooped to blog. To make matters worse, it's kind of difficult to blog, when I feel like there are spies all around me! Our new digs at work are not even near as private as they used to be. It's not like we can really "hang out" reading blogs and go unnoticed doing so. It helps that I used to work there prior, and can figure out who some of the spies might be. But it's still an uneasy feeling, knowing that the big kahuna can walk up at any moment! Ugh!

So, the big "move" has had me a little out of sorts and I'm still trying to get back into the swing of things. Will try to make my rounds tonight and to be a better blogger from here on out! ~

=)

2005-10-11T10:33:00.000-04:00

Taken from Mt. Peace of Mind at Leeza. I'm not going to tag anyone, but if you'd like to play, go right ahead and let me know you did! =)

Directions: Go to Google and click on the images link. Type in the following and post the first (or your favorite) picture the search engine finds.

~~The name of the town where you grew up
~~The name of the town where you live now
~~Your name
~~Your grandmother's name
~~Your favorite food
~~Your favorite drink
~~Your favorite song
~~Your favorite smell

2005-10-05T23:28:00.000-04:00

WAY BACK WEDNESDAY!

I'm very excited because this is one, I actually get to participate in! For those of you that don't know, this game is brought to you by Mama Duck, and if you choose to play, you should let her know that you have. This week's theme, is pictures of you with pets!

While, I don't have anything from long ago, (hence the reason I can't usually participate--my ex husband actually took ALL of my pics from my past!), I can show you the one pic I have of my dog, without me in it!

Her name is Tamika, she was a siberian husky and the most lovable dog I've ever had or even known! She was ALWAYS gentle with the kids and just loved everyone, up until the last days of her life. Unfortunately, I had to put her to sleep just this past March, but there is certainly no forgetting her or what a great dog she was.

Next, is my newest edition Max. Most of you have already seen pics of him. I got him in April of this year. Was kind of looking for a dog, but not really truly looking at that point. He more or less fell into our laps and we all just adore him. He is a puppy still, and has his moments...but he's so cute, you just can't stay mad at him for long.

First one is how he looked up until yesterday, when we shaved him. (And yes, I was having a bad hair day, so what!) LOL

The next one was taken tonight, did the best I could trying to hold a puppy and take a pic in the mirror! LOL But this is Max sporting his new do! Took some getting used to, but I really love it now!!!

Well, that's it for me! It's time to catch some zzzz's!!! Have a great night and sweet dreams! =)~~

2005-10-02T19:25:00.000-04:00

WORKING OFF THE CHEX MIX????

Ok, so this is our Chex Mix endorsement. Didn't plan on it being, but obviously he couldn't rip himself from the bag even long enough to take a picture!

As you can see from this pic, he is sporting a small spare tire...(mine is carefully hidden, thank goodness.) As his mother says, we must be very "happy", to both be putting on so much weight! Ugh!

This next one displays how we are coping with the weight gain and trying with all our might to, "work off the Chex Mix". Now these are some aggresive aerobic maneuvers, you probably shouldn't try this at home!

If anyone needs any guidance on how to lose that spare tire hanging around your waist, just ask! As you can see, I'm working hard at it! Ok, well not so much, but it was one of the most relaxing days of the summer, and I loved every minute of it! Gone are the hazy, lazy days of summer! Miss them already! I have that same spot resered for next year though! Can't wait!

Night all! Off to do what I should actually be doing, instead of this! =)~~

2005-09-30T10:22:00.000-04:00

ONE OF THOSE DAYS!

Yeah, you know those days...the ones where you just KNOW upon waking, that you shouldn't even get out of bed! My first clue was when the alarm went off at 6 a.m. I got up to shut it off and immediately felt pain to the left side of my face. My sinuses are S-C-R-E-A-M-I-N-G!!!! With every inhaled breath I take, they feel like they are going to explode. The pain and achiness extends from my upper cheek, back towards my ear and even a little behind my eye. I honestly think I would allow someone to shove a needle into my cheek and drain fluid, if I were guaranteed relief right now!

To top things off, I had to really run around like a chicken with my head cut off to get ready this morning. Had to do laundry, pack the kids for the weekend and get myself and both of them ready...all in about an hour. I showed up to work about 6 minutes late (7:51 a.m.), notice the nurses car isn't here. We have patient's due in 9 minutes. I rush in; unlock doors, turn on the lights and computers, get the schedules ready, etc. By 8 I'm pretty much prepared for the day ahead. There's only one doc here, it shouldn't be too bad.

Around 5 minutes after 8, two patient's come walking in. Both say that they have appointments and that they've been waiting outside for me to get in, for about 10 minutes now. Been here, but whatever! The first one was the 8 am appointment, the other one was 8 am yesterday! I get today's 8 o'clock checked in, and talk to the other one about rescheduling. Ok fine, he aplogizes for messing up and coming on the wrong day, and leaves. Since the medical assistant still hasn't showed up, I take and weigh the other patient and get her in the room. I then come back to the front, answer the phone, and it's the assistant...she's in tears, saying that her brakes went out this morning and she didn't know if she could make arrangements to get in. The nurse calls immediately following my hanging up with the MA. I tell her what's going on, and she informs me that she has a meeting she forgot about, and won't be in until later...probably this afternoon. I'm on my own! Fun!

The very early part of the morning went well...nothing too earth shattering. Around 9-9:15, all hell broke loose. Phones started ringing off the hook. I had 2-3 people on hold at all times, for the better part of an hour. I also had to check in/out all patient's and continue to weigh them and put them in the room for the doc. She was also getting very bitchy and would just start ranting as soon as I'd walk the patients charts back to her. I decided I'd do the drop and run thing, for the rest of the day. I have enough to stress about at the moment and can't sit around listening to her, while I could be getting rid of the ringing phones.

Since I started typing this, it has mellowed dramatically. Maybe I've gotten past the worst of it. I've also taken some Advil Cold & Sinus and my face isn't hurting quite as badly. Thank you
Peanutt, for leaving me some of your stash! Love you!

I LOVE MY MECHANIC!

I picked my car up yesterday and it really is purring like a kitten. My brakes are also waaaaaaaayyyyyy better! He also fixed all sorts of little things; replaced a bulb for the interior light, cleaned the whole engine, new plugs/wires, new belts. My brother told me he was pretty anal, but I had NO idea! LOL He made me a receipt that detailed every single part he bought, everything that still needed to be done, etc. I was really impressed by how thorough he was! He also wants me to bring it back next week, just so he can check the lugs and make sure they haven't loosened up any. Yay Wayne! He will definitely get lots of referrals from me.

BOYS WILL BE BOYS!

My oldest son started band this year and he loves it! He picked the saxaphone and finally got to bring this huge contraption home this week. I showed up at the house Monday afternoon, to find him and 3 of his cronies, all with instruments in tow. I went into the house to make dinner, and after about 15 minutes, thought I was going to lose my mind! OMG! The sounds that were eminating from their instruments were A.W.F.U.L! He played every second that he possibly could...and even had very chapped lips by the end of the night!

I love that he has shown an interest in music and is trying. I love that he is excited about it and wants to learn something new. However, I don't love the pounding in my head when he plays his instrument. I see a script for Valium in my immediate future! LOL

NO CUDDLING, NO INTIMACY, JUST GIVE ME SLEEEEEPPPPP!

Gone are the days where we will stay up until 3-4 in the morning on a work night, so that Brian and I have, "our time". I've been barely able to hold my eyes open past 9-9:30 lately! What a loser, eh? He has stayed with me every night this week, showering and grooming just before bed, with high hopes of us maybe heating things up a bit...HASN'T HAPPENED! While this is a very new trend, he is none too happy about it.

Last night, for example, he goes to take a shower about 10:30. While in there, I was in bed trying with all my might to just hold my eyes open. I managed, until he turned the shower off, then I must have dozed off. I was startled by him just a minute later, peeking his head into the bedroom and saying, "oh good, you're still awake!" (Yes, he was very surprised to see this!) Little did he know, that him opening the bathroom door is what jolted me out of my little slumber. LOL I saw the giddiness on his face too...a fleeting moment of pure joy and happiness. I managed to stay awake for another minute or so, while he brushed his teeth and happily jumped into bed beside me. He then turned on some Ultimate Fighting show and immediately, it was lights out for me. I was snoring in less than a minute, he said!

I feel really bad for neglecting him like that. But goodness, I really am exhausted. I've been back to work just a few weeks now, I have to get up more than an hour earlier than I'm used to, and my body is obviously tired of staying up until 12 or later, every single night. Tonight we have a little date, and are heading to a nearby Apple Festival (weather permitting). Let's see if I can do that and then stay awake until 11 or so, and show my man the love that I'm too tired to express!

Have a great weekend all!

2005-09-27T11:34:00.000-04:00

HE GOT OUT OF JAIL...BUT MIGHT BE GOING RIGHT BACK...

Ok, not literally, but my brother did get out of the hospital on Thursday night. I went and spent a few hours with him on Thursday, he said boredom was really setting in. While there, his doctor popped in and spent about 45 minutes, explaining everything about diverticulitis. He told him what to eat, what not to eat, how to avoid future problems, and explained a little more about the surgery that will be in his future. It was great, it gave all of us a much better understanding. Or so I thought...

Yeah, Friday night, he was out drinking with a buddy of his. I'm pretty perturbed about the risk he's taking. This is my brother that I've always looked up to. I've always felt that he made pretty wise decisions and had a great heart, to boot. Don't know what to make of this side of my sweet, lovable brother. Don't know if I should broach the subject or just let it be. It is his life and ultimately, his body and his decision. Just think it's pretty careless after his ordeal.

Oh well, off to other things.

THE PEANUT BUTTER WENT DOWN GOOD, BUT...

I had just posted a pic of my dog eating peanut butter last night. While it was absolutely hilarious to see him in action, and I took many pics to capture his true adoration of his peanut butter. I now regret it, bigtime! Let me 'splain.

Last night I went to bed really early, had a splitting headache. I woke up at 4:49 this morning, I thought because my body just wasn't tired anymore. After glancing at the clock and laying there for a minute, I realized that there was a very odd noise coming from the hallway. It kind of freaked me out and I got up and peeked my head out into the hall. Didn't see anything unusual, except for Max. He usually sleeps under my bed, but I guess Brian forgot to put him in my room before going home last night. No biggie. I head to the bathroom, (which is only a few steps), and all the sudden there is something squishing between my toes. I turn on the light, and look down at my foot. It's red! Not quite the color of blood, or the consistency, but nasty. I turn around and look in the hall and there is a huge pile of vomit! To the right of the red pile, there is a nice brown pile! 5 a.m. exactly, I was gagging, tears rolling freely down my face! And that was how my day began!

THIS CAR HAD BETTER LAST FOREVER!

My mechanic gave me another friendly call yesterday. I now need calipers and new rotors...$170. My grand total is now $722! Joy!

On a good note, he says the motor is purring like a kitten and he is going to drive it for a few days just to be absolutely sure! And hey, my car will be like brand new, by the time I get it back. Woo hoo!

THIS SHOULD BE FUN!

This weekend, even though it's a weekend with the ex, he has agreed to let Brian and I have them all day Saturday. We are taking them to Cedar Point in Ohio for a day of roller coasters and very expensive greasy food! Does it get any better than that?

The kids have never been, and they aren't gonna know until we get there on Saturday. I have a feeling they might guess, when we get close, but that's okay! I can't wait to take 'em and have a blast, just the 4 of us!

I'm off for now. Lunch decisions have to be made, and that's serious stuff!

Have a great day! =)

2005-09-26T18:40:00.000-04:00

This is my dog on peanut butter! LOL

2005-09-22T19:06:00.000-04:00

~~RAIN RAIN GO AWAY....I TAKE THAT BACK, IT'S OKAY~~

On the way home from work today, the sun was shining bright and it seemed awfully hot. During my short commute home, the oh-so-accurate weather guy announced..."It's now sunny and 87 degrees, but with that humidity, it feels more like 90!" He goes on to say, "Way to take the last day of summer out with a bang!" He wasn't too far off, a bang there was.

I knew earlier, that they were calling for storms, Peanutt had gotten an alert while still at work, that it was headed this way. But the sunshine that was glinting in my eyes and the sweat that was beading on my forehead during my drive, sure didn't indicate what was about to come.

Not that this was one of the worst storms ever, or even remotely close to it...but it was a good one! It started with the oddly blue/gray typical pre-storm skies, then changed to a soft light green. You could see several small funnel clouds in the distance, but pretty far up there. To the south, there were still some bright blue skies with billowy clouds.

I stepped out onto my patio, and big, fat, perfectly rounded drops began to fall. While it felt good, they were hitting with a little bit of force, I knew what was about to come. I scooped up the dog and headed in.

I bet it wasn't 3-4 minutes later and the wind began to howl making the trees just bow. They were swaying back and forth and from side to side. Almost like the wind was coming from every direction. I ran to the front of the house, where you always get the best view (our storms usually always come from the northwest), and it was kind of scary. The sky had now changed to a sand-like color, almost like the color of dead fall leaves, there was now almost constant thunder and lightning, the wind had picked up even more, and the rain was falling fast, hard and at a severe angle. It was as dark as if it were midnight and didn't look like there were an end in sight.

This went on for a quite a few minutes, anxiety creeping its way in there a bit, when I saw the brightest blue light and heard a boom that would certainly wake the dead. It was a deep dark ocean blue in the center and ballooned out gradually getting lighter as it went along, until it was almost a white color and then disappeared. I can only assume that it was maybe a transformer blowing, or that lightning struck a little too close for my comfort, but yet, I could see down the street and around the corner, and they still had power. I was also talking to my next door neighbor during all of this, and when that boom hit, my cell phone went completely dead. I paced the floors and tried calling her back a few times, with no luck. When I went back to my watch, out the front window I could see light skies in the distance. It rained and poured for another 15 minutes or so and then the sun began to peek its way out.

That was a good hour ago, now it's dark and no longer muggy. The air feels fresh and clean. I stood outside for a long time, just enjoying how peaceful it is out there. The street was utterly quiet except for the chirping of crickets. I wasn't bothered by pesky mosquitos, I wasn't hot or cold...it was one of those times where it was just perfect out! Stars in the sky, and just a soft whisper of a breeze. I wish I could just stop my mommy duties and hang out there all night long, but I can't! Back to reality for me, I have laundry to do! =)

P.S. My neighbor came over after the storm passed through...she said when she saw that huge flash of light and heard the boom, it had her so shaken, she turned off all her phones and lights and went and sat in the back room in the dark, until it got quiet again. She was too scared to "storm watch" anymore! LOL (I guess I know who not to have accompany me, if I ever become a storm watcher!!!)

Have a great night!!

2005-09-21T21:23:00.000-04:00

~~NOT GOOD NEWS~~

Tonight my sister called to inform me that my brother went into the hospital some time yesterday afternoon. He has diverticulitis and has been hospitalized once before for it. I guess he wasn't feeling good on Monday and when his wife got home from work yesterday, he was doubled over in pain. Right now they have him really doped up and said that he's pretty badly infected, but that he may be able to go home as early as tomorrow evening. They also said that he should probably start considering the surgery to correct it, because he's running the risk of a bowel perforation, if he doesn't! Big decision to make because it involves a bag for 3 months until they can go back in and reverse it.

I feel so bad for him. Wish there was something I could do. Going to try and leave work for a while tomorrow and go visit him. May head up after work too.

So hey, cross your fingers and say a little prayer for us that everything turns out okay! Thanks! =)

Goodnight everyone!

2005-09-20T08:55:00.000-04:00

WHAT'S AN EXTRA $200?

In yesterday's post, I told you that I was having problems with my car and that it was going to cost about $600. Last night I got a call from my mechanic. He said that he had called around to several places, and it seemed like the parts were going to be very expensive. He said that we may be looking at $800 now. I'm sure you could probably hear my wailing, from wherever you reside, when I hung up that phone. (I think I will just avoid all other calls from him!) LOL

HERE, LET ME PULL THAT OUT OF YOU...

Now I know your dirty minds might be conjuring up many things with a topic like that, but just stop it! LOL I'm talking about my apology. Yes, I did get one! But not without a fight! We went all day yesterday without speaking. Around 5:30, he called me to ask if I was ever gonna call him??? LOL Come to find out, he was mad at me all day because I was "mad at him!" Long story short, after going back and forth voicing our sides of the situation, he finally called and said that he was really sorry and that he shouldn't have said what he did! Thank you! That's what I was looking for!

PLAYING IN THE RAIN CAN BE CONTAGIOUS!

A while back, I posted about the day that Brian and I played in the rain. (We were actually working in the rain, but we made it fun.) We were soaked and both looked like drowned rats, but we laughed and actually had lots of fun.

I had no idea about this, but my dog also loves to play in the rain! Now I was under the impression that small dogs were usually timid, and scared of water, other dogs, stuff like that. Not Max! He will walk right up to dogs 4 times his size, and bark at them. He is very cocky, and makes it known to everyone that he will not back down from anything. (Well, except the vacuum.)

Yesterday, my sister shows up and we let the dog out in the backyard, so he wouldn't jump all over her. She's looking out the window at him and just starts cracking up. I look outside, and see him laying right under the water spray. He looked as though he was taking a shower, rolling his furry head from side to side. It was hilarious! Did I mention that his fur is pretty much like a lions mane???? That there is tons of it, and if it gets the least bit wet, he smells rancid??? Time to make an appt. with the groomer! LOL Oh well, he enjoyed it!

HE'S FINALLY FREE!

I finally let my son be ungrounded, after about 1 1/2 weeks. He was very appreciative and said that he had learned a very valuable lesson and that he would never do anything like that again! (Remember the jewelry fiasco?) So hopefully, he means what he says and I can look forward to no more incidences like that! Can't help but wonder what will be next! ::groan::

So, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it. That's all I have for you today. (Wasn't that enough?)

Have a wonderful day! =)

2005-09-19T09:50:00.000-04:00

NEW CLUB!

I found a very nice club near my house. My sister and a couple of friends went on Saturday night. It's located right behind the hospital where I just had my surgery, on a drive that I thought was strictly for hospital access only.

This club was like a beach tiki bar. It's either indoor or outdoor. I never even checked out the inside, but the outside was awesome. The bar itself, was located to your right, as you walk in, and to your left was a huge dance area, with pedestals (for those who really like to be on display). There was a large screen that displayed a silhouette of a naked girl dancing to every single song they played. (Yes, the men were certainly drawn to this feature!) There were tables all over, no stools though. It's a stand up or dance kind of place. LOL All of this was overlooking the river and there was a full moon. The weather couldn't have been more perfect, probably around 70 degrees.

I had a really good time and will definitely be going back there in the future. I think what I enjoyed most was not only the atmosphere that the club itself created, but the fact that EVERYONE was extremely nice and there was absolutely no drama. A good time was had by all.

Will have to scan a few pics that were taken while there. It was a promotion for Bud Light and they took a head shot and let us choose what sport type we wanted our head planted on. At first, I picked football, just because Brian is such a big fan. Talk about frickin' hilarious! My pic came back and it looks just like my son...yes, I truly look like a boy! My sister asked if I could get it redone, which I did. This one was better. It was a female referree with huge knockers! LOL

MY CAR IS A HOOPDIE!

Brian took my car for a routine oil change this weekend. The guy took one look at my oil and refused to even change it! He said that there is water in it, which probably indicates a blown head gasket. I'm so completely illiterate, when it comes to cars and what all of that actually entails. (As is Brian!) So, I give my brother a call, to see what he knows about it...how easy or complicated it is...etc. The first words out of his mouth were, "Oh shit, Stace." That right there, told me what I needed to know. Oh shit is right...this is gonna cost me a bit. So not what I need right now, but just the way it goes sometimes. At least Brian has 2 vehicles, and I don't have to worry about getting a ride to and from work. From what I'm told, my engine will be "almost new", when this is all done. Let's pray for that to be true and that nothing else goes wrong any time soon.

OPEN MOUTH INSERT FOOT.

Everyone knows that there are certain topics that you just don't bring up to certain people. (Especially those who know you very well). It's just downright inconsiderate and can be very hurtful, to boot. While watching a movie last night, my beloved said something that pretty much cut me to the core. He was joking around and making fun of something that was happening in the movie. Something that I just didn't find to be funny, at all. Knowing me as well as he does, it's just a subject that shouldn't have even been broached, let alone laugh about.

When I said something about him being pretty inconsiderate, for saying what he had said, it didn't even phase him. After the movie was over, he called me 'crabby', and left. I haven't heard from him since. Like it was my fault, that I got a little upset about something that truly just crushed me! How frustrating!

So, I'm waiting for a bigtime apology. Will see what happens. Not going to stress over it.

Hope everyone has a great day! =)

2005-09-17T09:43:00.000-04:00

I MUST HAVE SOME BLONDE IN ME...

I was pretty sure lastnight, that I would be up at the butt crack of dawn, but lo and behold I slept until I just didn't feel like sleeping anymore! Yay for me! (It's 9:43 in the morning, and I just woke up about 10 minutes ago.) Gotta love that.

Lastnight we went and hung out with some friends. Before leaving the house, I let the dog out in the backyard. We were due to be over there at 6, and I was running behind. Brian and the kids were already here and waiting on me to finish getting ready, so I was pretty much rushing around. We got there around 6 and had some pizza, watched the video from our trip, and then started playing some games.

Around 9:30, I got a call from my next door neighbor. I didn't pick it up, because we were right in the middle of our game and I didn't think it would be anything too earth shattering. At 10:30 or so, she called again, I couldn't get to the phone in time. I finally picked up the voice mail from earlier. She had left a message stating that I needed to let the dog in because that barking was making her crazy, and she was about to strangle my pooch! OMG! I FORGOT ABOUT MAX AND LEFT HIM OUTSIDE! What an idiot! Needles to say, we had to finish our game in a rush, and get home to let my poor dog in! When we got home, Max was already in the house, safe and sound, and all of the neighbors lights were off. I guess she finally realized that she had a key, and could let him in herself! Oops, I guess my roots really should be blonde.

Well, I'm off to clean, do some laundry, go get an oil change and some new windshied wipers. Hopefully, will make it to the grocery store as well. But first, I'm going to let my dog in from outside!

Have a great day!

What comes around, goes around???

2005-09-15T14:25:00.000-04:00

WHAT COMES AROUND, GOES AROUND???

Do you really think that theory is true??? I'm thinking that it might be!

Remember that unfamiliar being that lives in my house???? You know, the one who has been getting into lots of trouble???? Yeah well, he started feeling really sick last night. Bad sore throat, uncontrollable runny nose, etc.

He woke up this morning feeling even worse. Even stayed home from school, which he never does, (well unless, this will become a new trend. Who knows, because I have no clue who this person even is!) Anyhow, he stayed home and looks, sounds, and feels awful. I ran home a while ago to dose him up with Tylenol and Benadryl Allergy.

I sure hope that he feels better soon, but can't keep myself from thinking that maybe there was a more divine reason he got sick....

2005-09-14T19:42:00.000-04:00

I'M SORRY BUT WE ARE EXPERIENCING SOME TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES

I know that comments aren't enabled right now. Still working out the bugs on this template. Can only cut and paste the code while at work tho...dial-up takes way too long to show me what changes have been made.

Hope to get it straight soon!

New look!

2005-09-14T13:05:00.000-04:00

Yes, I found a template that I like and decided to try it out. Still have a few bugs to work on, but I think I really like it. Hope everyone likes it as well!!!

Have a great day!

Where oh where has my little boy gone???

2005-09-13T11:28:00.000-04:00

The pre-pubescent stage has hit my household with a vengeance. It almost feels as though someone has come in and stolen my mild-mannered son, and replaced him with this unfamiliar being that I've never met before.

Here are a few examples;
Just after my having surgery last month, this unfamiliar being decided that it might be fun to start a fire, (in a wooden box, no less), in the next door neighbors yard. Mind you, this was only 3 days after my surgery and I was still hazy from pain meds. Both of my sisters were also at the house that day, looking after me, cleaning the house, and looking after the boys. What great mommies and babysitters we are! We had no idea! Corey even walked in with what appeared to be soot on his face. That should have clued me in right there...especially when I asked what was on his face and he got all defensive. But no, stupid mommy that I am, I blow it off as he must have just been playing in the dirt. Later on that day, my next door neighbor comes over and says that one of the other neighbors saw them doing a rain dance around a large fire! When I talked to Corey (aka unfamiliar being), he said that "Alex (next door neighbor) lit the fire!" Upon further questioning, he admitted to supplying the matches from MY BASEMENT! I hobbled over and talked to Alex's mom, we got what facts we could and gave all the kids a good talking to. I also called the ex and let him in on what had happened. The next day, he came over, we again talked to the kids about what they had done and the ex actually bent Corey over his knee and spanked him (hard too). Finally, this made an impact on this creature. He was crying like a baby now. This was the first sign of any remorse. The first emotion that he showed about any of this, and that pissed me off.

Actually, it pissed me off and scared me at the same time. My son isn't like that. He is the one, that for his entire life, I can just give him and evil look and he'd be reduced to tears. He has always been very easy to deal with, he has always been mellow and laid back and was one to go with the flow. NOT ANYMORE!

This past weekend, this wonderful trend continued. I was getting the boys ready to take them to the lake on Saturday. When I went to get unfamiliar being his swimsuit, I noticed something sparkly in his dresser drawer. Upon further inspection, I realized that those were diamonds sparkling away...my diamonds! (2 rings from my mom...who isn't here anymore). I was crushed. There can't be any excuse for this one. At first, I didn't know what to do or say. He didn't act disturbed or guilty that I was in his drawer. I was trying to gauge his reaction to my being in there, but there was none. I scooped up my jewelry, so that he didn't realize what I was doing, and pulled out his swim trunks. I walked into the bathroom, just trying to decide how to approach him. He actually followed, and I just blurted out..."I would like to know what these are doing in your drawer????" At first, he said that he didn't know...and then it changed to him saying that he was just "looking at them". Now, these are things that are left in my jewelry box downstairs...if he was curious or just looking at them, they should have been put right back. But they weren't!

We went ahead and went to the lake, but it was definitely on my mind all day. It weighed heavily on me. I'm just so disappointed. I guess this is what all parents of teens or pre-teens were warning me about. I just never imagined that I would have to worry myself with these things. Pretty naive of me, I know.

For now, he is grounded. He is coming home, doing homework and spending some quiet time in his room to think. I've thought of having him write an essay on the importance of respecting other people's property...something like that. Hell, I don't know! This is totally out of the realm of things that come in the parenting handbook.

I do know that grounding really didn't teach me a whole heck of alot, when I was growing up, but taking away his priveledges, is all I can think of right now.

So, fellow bloggers, I'm asking for your words of wisdom here...I'm just at a loss. Can I expect my son to return to me anytime soon? Is this just a small dose of bigger and better things to come? Am I a complete failure in the parenting department? What? Help!

Oh yeah, and wish me luck, I think I'm gonna need it.