Todd had to make a choice between his family and his job. His family won; he gave his two week notice two weeks ago.
With the economy being what it is, it doesn't look like he will go from one job to another. We stand to lose everything we've worked so hard for but material possessions truly mean nothing at the end of the day. Nonetheless, it's incredibly scary.
After all these months (and it's been a lot of months) I want a smoke sooo bad. The cravings usually pass but this one has hung on all day. Don't worry, I will not smoke. Instead I'll be bitch. ha!
Both of my car doors were froze shut this morning. In a totally unrelated Monday morning fit, if I see one more thing about Michael Jackson this morning, I'm going to throw something.
...
Click the images for larger versions.
We can never get a picture that accurately portrays the size of Dozer so tonight Todd held him and finally, you can all see how massive this dog is. Unfortunately, you can also see how stubby his poor little legs are.
Let's see... we really didn't have Thanksgiving per se. Todd is working in a different capacity at his job now which was supposed to afford him more time at home. I guess it has so far but he still had to work Thanksgiving Day. It wasn't our holiday to have kids so I spent the day cleaning the hell out of the house to keep my mind off another holiday apart.
Friday we made a quick dash to Des Moines with the kids to see some of his family. Anytime Mitzi and I get in the same room, it's a good time. Didn't have any money to take part in the Black Friday shopping.
Christmas tree is up, lights are on the outside of the house and I'm outta time. Have a great week!
According to my quitmeter, today I passed 5,000 cigarettes not smoked. That's an amazing number. Sometimes I surprise myself.
That'd be me trying to get into my pants. Every week without a cigarette means another pound or two here and there. Mostly there. I've gone from size one to three to five to seven to sweats. People say it looks healthy on me. I'm not in danger of developing an eating disorder but I have to disagree. Jiggly parts are only good in certain places and I'm afraid I'll never jiggle in the right spot.
Decatur County - Winter storm warning in effect until 9 am cst this morning.
Snowfall will continue until mid morning then diminish. Total snowfall potential of six inches expected.
I can still see grass!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Christmas, that is. I really want to skip it. Every year I feel less and less festive. If not for the kids, it would be just another day.
Tonight Todd is in his fourth hour of trying to put an alternator on his car. No big deal except he's in a parking lot in Des Moines, it's cold, it's dark, it's snowing, and he just discovered that there is another broken part that he does not have. There are no words to describe how tired I am of bad news with a side order of more bad news. I am really good at picking around until I find a good thing. This morning I thought the good thing was that he made it into Des Moines and didn't get stranded along the interstate. The only good thing I can come up with now is that the car didn't slip off the jack when he was working on it. I mean, that's a pretty big thing to be thankful for but seems kind of teeny in the big picture of the happy freaking holiday season, eh?
Now there is a ten year old in front of me popping his shoulders like I have told him a thousand times not to do. My friend Lori has always said he is just so cute. She puts a ton of emphasis on cute just to drive him nuts. Nothing cute about deliberately antagonizing mom when she's stressed to the max. I am off to find some twine to tie his arms down to his side.
I was going to complain about how much life sucks... HOWEVER... if Brett Favre can lose his dad and still show up to play football, then I'll just shut up and take my hat off to Brett. What a man.
Go Packers!!!
I was up at 3AM and posted a really good entry. I see it didn't show up. Dammit.
I have a terrible migraine that will not go away!! Tonight we celebrate with my mom, aunt, and the kids. I am trying to will this stupid headache away so I don't ruin it for anyone. I have about another hour to do that. Wish me luck.
I finally got rid of my headache about an hour ago - turned out Todd was the one not really enjoying himself. He doesn't do well with the concept of kids being loud and having fun. He sure screwed up when he hooked up with me because I'm all about bringin da noize!
I removed all evidence of the holiday this morning. Everything is boxed up and ready to be hauled to the shed where it will be out of sight. Hopefully it will be more cheerfully presented next year.
Todd is at work, C. is with his dad, and I'm doing some work that I didn't get to earlier in the week. The best gift this year: FX is playing Edward Scissorhands right now. I love that movie! Todd hates it so how wonderful it is to find it on when he's gone. I can watch it in peace. Yay!!
Sad news over at Moosie's. A friend who was a local police officer in her town was shot and killed. I hate to hear that. I feel so bad for his widow. When Todd worked nights I always waited for that knock on the door. For some reason I don't worry about him so much when he works days. I guess because statistically, the loonies aren't out during the day.
Farewell 2003 and take all the heartache and misery with you on your way out.
Today I was talking to my coworker and she asked if I liked Guns n Roses. I told her that I used to listen to them alot and told her about a boyfriend from over a decade ago who just loved them. He used to be a bulldogger and he would listen to GnR before his event to get pumped up.
It FINALLY snowed enough to count. I think we have around a foot although the wind has blown it around so it's not deep in some places and very deep in others.
We took the kids and the dog out to the big hill at the lake. I wish I'd had my camera. The snow on the hill was deeper than Dozer is tall. He would be totally swallowed up and then explode out of it in a poof of snow. I don't know how many times I had to trudge down the hill to rescue Ben. Emily fell victim to cold toes so we had to leave early. Got home and held her for over an hour while she cried. Guess the fashionable socks aren't real warm. I found her a pair of 20 below snow boots on ebay. Luckily I sold some jeans last week and had just enough in my paypal account from that to pay for her boots. Next time we'll be prepared to stay all day. It's been over twenty years since I played in the snow all day. I'm ready.
The kids are staying later than usual so I need to get moving. They want lasagna for supper. I am so tired that I can barely keep my eyes open so better get that started before my brain gives out.
Tae Bo for butts and abs = Yeeeee-oowwwwwww!! I have read some reviews where people say the can't stand the grunting and groaning of the people in the videos. If you put any effort into it at all you can't help but groan.
The kids did a set last weekend. Emily was awesome at it and wanted to keep doing it all day. C. had to call it quits after about ten minutes. He's not real flexible. Little Ben did about five minutes and fell on the floor into a position that can only be described as a frog that has been flattened on the highway. He said "Is this guy trying to kill us?? I think we could die in the night from this."
Every time I hit that "AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!" point I think "I could die in the night from this."
That's all.
I got three hours of sleep before my nose decided to clog up and run all at once. My boss is right; kids are walking petri dishes. Due to even more sleeplessness, I'm crankier than normal and Todd decided to split hairs over garbage.
It's just a wee bit above zero and I knew there was a ton of garbage to get to the curb. We go through a bag of trash a day when all the kids are here. Amazing. Anyway, I asked if he could get it on his way out to work. Now, when you ask him to do something, you must follow up on it because he will never divulge whether he actually did it or not. So I asked, "Did you get the trash?" I put out two cans. "What about bags?" I put out the cans. "Are there any bags that I need to get?" I SAID I GOT THE CANS! THEY ARE AT THE CURB! At this point I'm mad and I think I said "Do you need a f-ing psychologist??? I didn't ask you about the cans! I asked if there are bags I need to get!!"
Ugh!! It went on from there but you get the drift. After 3-1/2 years of this, I'm quite convinced that he does it to push me over the edge. You know those people who answer a question with a question? He does that too.
My boss, being the man that he is, will also gauge my mood and poke at me accordingly all freaking day. MEN!!
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go carry out the rest of the trash.
Now, in addition to the round and round about getting a roof, I'm going round and round trying to eat healthier. Healthy food costs more so I need to go to Des Moines for groceries. Don't have the money for gas to go to Des Moines to get cheaper food. Have to keep eating crap that is cheaper and available here. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
While balancing the checkbook this afternoon, I did a comparision of the past twelve months to the twelve months previous to that. We paid over $1500 more in gas even though I drive less. We paid over $3000 more for groceries even though I used to get my cigarettes at the grocery store so in my bookkeeping they were counted as groceries. In the last year I've saved over $1000 by not smoking so technically the groceries are $4000 more. Our real estate taxes and insurance and health insurance also went up by larger than expected amounts.
Random Monday morning brain dump:
Couldn't sleep last night for a whole new batch of reasons. I need a switch installed on my brain so I can just shut it off. I have buyers remorse on my tires. Thinking winter is about over so maybe I could have/should have put it off until fall.
I have to reconfigure a router at work this morning and come up with a plan for moving some sites around. That's always stimulating thinking material at 3AM.
Ralph Nader is going to keep me awake from now until November.
I have no idea how much money we have in our accounts. The laptop knows and it's not saying. A couple of nights ago it went up in smoke. Literally. Nothing like the smell of a motherboard melting down. I used to back it up across the network but the network is wonky and I've not had time to fix it.
Say a prayer or think a little thought for Miss Emily. She is at the dentist right now getting a front tooth pulled and a couple of caps installed.
Five minutes into the door and C. has told me enough to keep me mad for a week. I tell him and tell him "Please do not talk about your dad's house when you come home". My mom thinks that is not good because I may need to know something that's happening. If I thought something really harmful was going on, I'd want to know. This is more just the little aggravating things and sometimes I think C. tells me just to see if he can get my blood pressure up. I had no idea that his dad and I's co-parenting arrangement would grow to be so difficult. Oh well, you work with what you've got I guess.
Once again I am reciting my favorite prayer... Dear Lord, keep one hand on my shoulder and the other over my mouth. Being an adult is hard sometimes.
State high school basketball tourneys almost always mean one more big snowstorm. I think the boys tourney starts today and sure enough, we are to get six inches of heavy, wet snow by days end. Yesterday the kids were outside playing basketball and riding bikes. We even went fishing last night... and now snow. Of course you will not hear me complain about that.
Todd is out picking up worms for fishing. The last few nights they have been so thick on top the ground that you can hear them wriggling around. Kinda creepy but exciting to think that spring must be here. In addition to the worms, the butterflies are showing back up. Good signs of warmer weather abound. I didn't get my 2' snow again this year but that's okay. Most people are getting tired and grumpy from being so cold and blah. Bring on the Spring!
It's going to be a crappy day and I decided about three hours ago that I'm not in the mood. Not even going to put on my happy face and try to change it. Just gonna say take a number and put your boxing gloves on.
I put out my last cigarette 365 days ago.
Yesterday I didn't do much besides try to fight this cold off. Todd and Christopher were gone to a Boy Scout campout so I had the place to myself. Did the usual housework and some things outside but not too much.
Today it was gorgeous and I felt a little better so I raked leaves and cleaned flowerbeds. When the guys got home Todd mowed the front yard and burned the dead stuff I'd cleaned from around everything. Early this evening we pulled the boat out of winter storage and took a quick run around the lake. Ran like a charm. Yippeeeee!!!
Now tonight my cough is suddenly back worse than ever. Just in the last ten minutes or so. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!! I've taken Nyquil and it's off to bed for me. Hope everyone had a great weekend.
Last night was Em's spring concert. She was a cute little ladybug and actually sang and smiled this year. C's concert is a week from Monday. After those are out of the way it seems like the remainder of the school year just flies by.
C. starts baseball practice tomorrow morning. Of course it's his dad's Saturday so not sure how that is going to shake out yet. It's going to be a very busy summer I'm afraid. Baseball, swimming lessons and Boy Scouts will fill all the spare moments I'm sure.
Posting this at 5:30AM. Another night of not being able to sleep. The night before I took some Nytol and it worked fairly well. I wont be taking it again though as I cannot do my job with that hung over feeling lingering through half the day. I just need another hour in the day to set aside to solve the world's problems then I wouldnt have to lie awake at night doing it.
I have the good fortune of having had the same two best friends for practically my whole life. Crystal and I met when we were five and she moved in down the street from me. She had a nicer bicycle than me. I hated her. 32 years later she calls from 1,000 miles away on my birthday and leaves a message on my machine, "Hey you old hag! Happy birthday! Boy, I bet you have some gray hairs now don't you? Lord have mercy you're gettin' old! Anyways, happy birthday. I love you and I miss you!" I hate her.
We went to Des Moines yesterday and didn't even realize it was Todd's nephew's prom night. I think Dustin was a little surprised to see the whole dang family waiting for him and his date. Finally, a time when I should have had the camera and actually did have it!
Other pics from the day including Laney who gets more adorable every time we see her.
Last night I went to bed at 10:45, read until 11:30 and was wide awake again with a terrible stomach ache by 1:30. Now here it is 4:30 and I can't go back to bed as I'll just have to get up again soon to officially start the day. I hate this insomnia but it's particularly bad to start a week like this.
Just say the words "we're gonna pour concrete" and it will flood. We were supposed to get backfill for our new garage on Saturday morning and the concrete was coming Tuesday. When I went to bed Friday night, the rain chance overnight was 20%. Instead, all hell broke loose around the state.
Thanks to everyone who called or emailed to check on us. The tornadoes were a couple of hours north of here thankfully. We just got the thunderstorms. I see this morning we are under a flood watch with locally heavy rains expected again today. It's almost funny because when the city showed up to approve our garage location, the guy said "Boy, we can't even buy a rain, can we?" A few nights later when they finished the concrete forms, the rain came and won't go away now.
I totally dislike holiday weekends. People ask "What are you doing for the long weekend?" We don't get them because of Todd's job. It's always been that way and I should be used to it but I'm not. These are the days I am angry all day over the fact that we don't get to see much of each other, we don't get the same family time as other families, and when we are together, it's a hectic pace.
This summer - or at least June - is baseball, tee ball, boy scouts, band lessons, swimming lessons, basketball camp, and we're building a garage. That last one is a biggie as it's subject to everyone's schedule AND the weather. It's taken about a month to get the concrete floor done. Now it has to dry out so we can finish the driveway and the approach. After that comes hammers and nails. Due to budget constraints, we're going to have to build it ourselves. As tired and pissy as we are, it should be crooked.
Did I mention how sick I am of severe thunderstorms??? And stinky, stagnant water standing around. Ugh.
I don't think my page has ever gone blank before. Yikes! Sorry about that and thanks to everyone who checked on me. We're fine - just busier than normal even.
My uncle passed away last week so had family visiting from out of state. The garage building cannot stop because of the rain that is sure to come. My mom is moving to a house that needs a ton of cleaning and fixing up. Late nights with cousins, early mornings building garage, days at work, moms in the evening to scrub - doesn't leave time for here.
The garage is coming right along now. Early Saturday morning they put the roof trusses in place. I was worried that they'd fall or someone would get hurt. I ended up with 6 kids here and that kept me out of the backyard for the most part. Good thing or I'd have been in the way, waiting to catch someone.
Yesterday Todd and Ron put sheeting on one half of the roof. I only had 4 kids running around so was able to be there when it seemed Todd was about to step off the roof backwards. I'll be so glad when this building is over and all the power tools are tucked safely away again.
This was going to be my relaxing summer. Maybe next year.
6AM work on the garage (which I need to post pics of), afternoons and evenings scrubbing and repairing and moving things around at my mom's house in the hopes that we'll be done with the work and truly ready to hit vacation mode on Thursday and part of Friday. Friday evening we'll have to gear up for three kid weekend. Like my mom said, "When you own a home and have kids, don't expect time to yourself for vacation." I can hope to squeeze a day and a half out of it, can't I?
Aunt Rose, I know you are working long hours but I am hoping to bring Todd up to see everyone in that neck of the woods. As is always the case, we'll play it by ear and if you see us, you'll know we're there. HA!
C. is at a week-long Boy Scout camp and tonight is family night. We'll be making the drive over to see how the boy is coping without his mommy. Probably lots better than mommy is doing without the boy.
Garage pics are up-to-date again if you're so bored you want to see a building go up. Kinda cool to watch in slideshow mode. Hard to believe we've been working on that dang thing almost three months. Labor of love?
In a fit only the Crazy Neighbor Lady could understand, I painted all my kitchen cabinet hardware yesterday. Quick, slapped together page of before and after from that can be found here. Top pic is the only before I could find. Way before... like three and a half years ago when we moved in. The hardware was nasty hammered copper stuff with 40 years of grime. To replace the hardware would have been well over $300. Ten hours and a can of hammered effect spray paint and it looks mucho better.
Oops.. gotta go. Tonight may be the only vacation part of vacation I get.
For the last two weeks, whenever I look at a clock the time will be something noticeable like 11:11 or 12:12. Not just a couple of times a day but more than a dozen times. It's getting freaky.
We had severe thunderstorms that started right as we went to bed. I looked at the clock as they were stopping to see how many hours of sleep I might get. 3:33AM. Of course that's too close to insomniac time for me to actually fall asleep so I flopped around, trying to find a comfortable position. Finally gave up and got up. Time: 4:32AM. Just looked at my computer clock to see if it's time for Todd's alarm to go off. 4:44AM
Cue the Twilight Zone music....
From weather.com..... thunderstorms with large hail, heavy downpours and strong, gusty winds may continue across southern Nebraska/northern Kansas into southern Iowa/northern Missouri this morning. That's the weather we should've been having a couple of months ago. It has stormed overnight the last two nights and this morning it is darker than dark outside and raining like crazy. If I hear one more crash of that BOOOM!! kinda lightning, I'm outta here. ACK!!!
Last night weather.com said southern Iowa/northern Missouri would feel like they were in a football scrimmage today. Have I mentioned I HATE thunderstorms? And that I have no basement?
We're all okay but holy crap!! was I ever scared last night. I have perfected my calm mother mode when it's storming. The last two, maybe even three summers I've remained calm and stuck to my mantra "It's okay baby. Just a little wind. Go back to bed." Last night that was replaced with "Holy shit! Get out of your room and shut the door!!" C's room is the only room with west windows and in his room I could feel the pressure like they were about to blow out.
Todd was sound asleep and I was just locking up the doors when the air changed. People who have been in these storms will know what I mean. It's an ear popping, skin tingling, pressure change where the whole world goes quiet for a second or two. Then BAM!! Wind and rain and hail and more wind and roaring and crap sailing through the air. Ugh!! Hate it. Cannot remain calm when it feels like the house will blow apart.
Finally was able to wake Todd up but by then the worst was over. Don't think he believed me when I told him how bad it had been minutes before. It was dark when he left for work this morning so he didn't get to see it but heard it about it at work from people who saw our town on the news. One neighbor has a tree on the garage, another has a boat under a tree and one had a tree on her house. It was a total mess and nearly noon today before people could really navigate around to see what was still standing.
Anyway, of course I took some pics. It was hard to get many because I still had to work all day and it was a trick to get around most parts of town before that. After work most of the worst of it had been cut up and stacked like we'd had a city wide tree trimming contest. Saw a few cars smashed flat due to bad parking decisions. How much would that suck to get up and see your car under a tree?
At any rate, the thunder is rolling around again tonight so think I'll breeze off to bed and maybe get some sleep.
"I cant wait to get some sleep tonight."
And then we changed the box springs to alleviate some of the squeak that wakes me from time to time. Made my to do list for work so my mind would not be filled with that. Went to bed and fell straight to sleep by 11:30. So why am I up now at 2:30AM again?
MORE FREAKIN THUNDER!!!
My friend NT told me yesterday that this site is boring. Somehow I managed to let the front page go blank again. This pesky little thing called work keeps getting in the way. The boss' new baby arrived six weeks ahead of schedule and I became an octopus with many tentacles wrapping around the things that needed corralled.
This site and the others hosted on it are in danger of going dark. Hosting is due again. In addition to not having the money (did I mention Todd's car blew up?), I am not sure it's worth it. I mean, it is worth it because it's been a steady part of the last 5 or 6 years but in the bigger picture, it's nothing really. Todd has pretty much abandoned his site altogether and I can't be as funny as I'd like to be here anymore. Which brings me to....
Good morning Hometown, USA. Yes, lots of locals read here and although I've nothing to hide, it's just uncomfortable when you think you've written to a select few and someone you barely know walks up and says "Say, I read ...". Also, I can't tell you how many people said "You're going to put this on your site, aren't you?" when they saw me taking storm pictures. It's just weird. I can't get any more descriptive than that this early in the AM.
In closing, why did I ask the band teacher to teach my son Taps on the trumpet? It's hauntingly beautiful but mostly just bone chilling at 7AM.
Tropical Storm Lisa churned to life in the Atlantic yesterday. I wonder if that was at the same time the HUGE deer smashed down the side of my Buick?
Sorry that my last post freaked some people out. The longer but still very short version of the story is this: We spent the day in Des Moines, walking the new mall, taking advantage of something fun that didn't cost money. Stopped to see two of my dearest friends who are like parents to me. All in all a good day. We were less than two minutes from home when a very large doe saw her chance to wreck my Buick. That is the way I look at it. My beautiful car is a deer magnet. It sucks them right out of the ditches and into the side of it.
Anyway, we're fine other than the usual sore spots you get when a large animal plows into you. I am so thankful Todd was driving. I think my instinct would have been to swerve which would have meant hitting a farm drive and launching into the corn field. He's been trained to control his initial response in every situation. He very calmly hit the brakes and let the deer do her thing, which was dance down the drivers side of my car. Three years ago the same thing only down the passengers side and not near as much damage.
The insurance company tells me this may total it. That thought makes me cry. I love my car. I just want them to fix it and give it back. I don't have time to hassle with it.
If you do dishes by hand, you must have Dawn Complete. It really does make your hands look better and softer. I love it so much that I had Todd get it in every color in case they discontinue it.
Yesterday an insurance adjuster showed up to "appraise" the Buick. Too bad the Buick was 70+ miles away in Des Moines like I'd told them it would be. I told them it had to be our daily driver since Todd's car had bit the dust and the truck was too much of a gas hog. Somehow that didn't get put in the proper place on a form or something. I guess they are going to try to see it in Des Moines today.
I stressed repeatedly and firmly to the adjuster that the car was my baby and if they thought they could total it and screw me over, they were wrong. Others have told me to just let it go if it is indeed time to do so. Hell no! I've had two cars in my life that I loved. A '79 Trans Am that was fast and leaky and my Riviera. The first had to go because C's dad laid out the ultimatum when we found out I was pregnant. Something about driving fast and being with child. There is no reason the Buick has to go. I love it. It's mine. I want it fixed. The end.
I have the most colorful friends. Really. This post will be about the purple ones and the pink and orange one.
Thanks to this purple one and this pink and orange one, JustLisa.com and all the entities that encompasses will live on another year. You can either thank them or throw tomatoes at them, depending on how you feel about me I guess.
Then there's my other purple friend who got me big time. I came home to find a box on my steps. I wasnt expecting a box so I told Emily to pick it up and bring it in. Imagine my surprise when I finally sat down to look at the address. Moosie!!! She sent me a lovely card, my very own purple moose mascot to ward off hormonal deer, and a new car. I wanted to take pictures of the package contents but my camera card is full of pictures again and no time to download and sort them.
Back to the orange and pink one... go on over and say hi. Just do it. Give her a big, sloppy kiss.
I used to say that a lot in my 20s. Life is not a struggle. It's a wiggle.
Life in my 30s has proven to be quite the struggle. I don't believe in luck, catching a break, or that kind of thing. I think you reap what you sow, get back what you put out, make your own destiny.
As I speed towards 40 I have to question all of these philosophies now. We are good people. We put our children first, we give of ourselves, we do right by everyone. I try to keep a smile on my face and a positive attitude.
But seriously, how long will there be days when the truck keys are lost so I can't get checks to the bank, the insurance premium comes out too soon, the imac gift from the boss comes with an unknown password and no OSX cd to reset it, the house refinance company needs $600 for an appraisal, the car can't get fixed because they need it two weeks and it's Todd's daily driver, the paint won't stick to the garage properly because of the cool weather - yet the garage has to be painted before winter, etc. These are just the things that I'm willing to share here in this public place. There's so much more. I am tired of life on the slippery slope. It's not where I wanted to be at this age.
A great deal of the struggle is in facing these things and not lighting up a cigarette. Juggling everything and fighting to keep it from interferring with my work. This is where the true struggle lies. Not letting the whole train come off the tracks.
Yes, it could be worse. Outside of my headaches, insomnia and stupid things like that, we have our health. Please God do not take that. Our kids are happy and strong and well taken care of. I am proud of my accomplishments as a parent.
In closing, the good thing: I did not smoke today. That's a year and a half now for those keeping track of such things.
Now back to bed with myself. I hope I can sleep now that I've dumped more than you ever wanted to know here.
I get so pissed off every day when I go over to Michele's. I have a wealth of respect for her but some of those who comment there really get under my skin. Some throw around labels like liberal, leftist, idiot, moonbat, etc. Like you are either a proBush republican or you're scum on scum. I take it too personally even though I don't identify totally with the left.
To settle what I am, I went seeking a test. Am I a moonbat because I oppose the war? Am I a tree hugging liberal because I think respect and undertanding go further than a kick in the teeth? Anyway, I found a test and it says ....
I have so much to do today and can't get started since everyone is still in bed except me. If I were my mother, I'd run a vacuum until everyone was up and out. I'm not my mom so I'll drop some things here to keep myself occupied.
First on my mind, Al talks about his vote and ponders the Presidents health. Al is always thinking about something that I wouldn't give a second thought to.
Yesterday we took 380 pounds of junk to the landfill. It would have been much more if I had cleaned the old garage. Todd likes to hang onto things whereas I'd love to get rid of almost everything. Most everything I have is a hand me down or something someone else has gave me. Maybe I'll have a big sale in the spring. Maybe Hell will freeze over.
Also yesterday, my oven quit again. It's 15 years old and every so often the ignitor will quit. A hundred bucks or so will fix it but at what point is it time to say screw it and just get a new appliance? I'm sure it will just get fixed again as it never quits when I actually have money. That'd be too handy.
Like an anxious teenage girl, I've got acne from hell. My nerves are totally shot. Haven't really slept longer than a two hour stretch since Thursday night. I will be glad to put the crushing weight of the election process behind me. No more negative commercials, no more phone calls during dinner, no more watching friends seethe over politics.
I do hope when it's over, we can start to heal.
Just the two of us tonight and we're both so exhausted that we're headed to bed at 8:30.
Tomorrow morning we get the three kids so they can open presents. I should stay up and finish cleaning but I'm pooped.
Merry Christmas, everyone! and g'nite. *zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz*
I donated money today to the tsunami relief efforts. I don't usually donate money because I just don't have any. This is different for some reason. I think because it's just overwhelming. The number of people who were here on earth one minute, gone the next. The number of children. Every time I read about the children, I feel so sick. Sick enough I will skip our Tuesday night pizza night a couple of times if it will help.
Anyway, as I was trying to decide who to give my donation to, I kept coming across blurbs about employer matching. It got me thinking, why not friend matching? I gave $15. Will you match it?
Dang! It's cold. The news preview just said that we were going to spend the next week in temps colder than we've had in four years. Great. I had all of my hair cut off yesterday, exposing my entire neck for the first time in 20 years and now we're going into the deep freeze.
I can't even remember if I mentioned this but a few weeks ago, two dogs got into our rabbit hutch and tried to kill the rabbit. I saved him and he's been in the house since.
Monday our guinea pig fell ill and on Friday he died at the vet's office. The vet guessed the rabbit carried bordatella and passed it to the pig even though they were not in the same room. Of our small pets, Piggers was my favorite and I feel so terrible that I may have inadvertantly caused his death. At least he got a lot of attention and love in his last days as we all tried to nurse him back to health.
Thanks to everyone who has checked up on me. We're all fine. Just busier than normal.
Comments are broken again because I really cannot deal with spammers right now. I upgraded MT and set comments to be approved by me before they appeared here. However, I did not have time to add that fact to the comment template so people were not seeing their comments right away and assuming they did something wrong. It's not you, it's me.
I know, I could be adding wording to the template right now but actually, I have to go. I have a small disaster in the kitchen to clean up. Never start running dish water and then rush off to check your work email under the assumption you will get back to shutting off the dish water in just a second.
Today is my friend Lori's birthday. On my phone I have this picture of her that is so sweet but I don't have the software downloaded on here to post it. Today is indeed her lucky day because God knows I'd have that sucker posted really big right here for all the world to see.
Happy Birthday LoriLou. May you never act your age.
There is not much of anything left that resembles normal anymore. I do have a wonderful guy though. (So long as he can hold on through the nuttiness that seems to follow me.) As a surprise he bought me the Bambi DVD and a stuffed Thumper the day the movie was re-released last week. All because I said I loved the movie when I was a kid. Now how many guys would think to do that four and a half years into a relationship?
My friend Lori pointed out that I'd let the page go blank again. I've got nothing. Life is just flying by at warp speed. Oh, Saturday will mark my two year anniversary without a cigarette. That's a good thing.
Yesterday justlisa.com turned six and no one brought cake. No one brought cake for my birthday either but we did have pizza and the company of good friends and family.
Woke up at 2AM with this sense that something bad is heading this way and knowing that no matter what it is or on which front it hits, I will be the one to have to deal with it. Part of it I suppose is falling asleep thinking how unfair it is that Todd doesn't get days off if a holiday falls during the week. It's always been like that but still, it gets old and frustrating.
Maybe I'll nail down a summer vacation schedule today. I've taken three weeks of vacation in six years and only one of those weeks was a non-working vacation. Perhaps I should start using what I've accumulated and practice being a slouch.
My head is pounding. Not a good way to start the day. C's birthday swim party is tonight and I have done nothing to prepare other than invite people. I think he is old enough now to call around and confirm if people are coming or not. I'll get him going on that when I break for lunch today.
I am really excited about the party. I love getting together with friends and watching kids have a good time is a cure for about anything. I am a little concerned that one of C's buddies isn't going to make it due to some weird family dynamics. I normally stay out of stuff that doesnt concern me but I thought a lot about it last night and dammit, I'm going in if necessary. I hope it wont be becauses I get quite passionate about these things. By passionate I mean fired up. By fired up I mean loud. Loud = stupid. Dear Lord, please let this work out without me having to get stupid. heh.
I will elaborate more on this later when I have time but for now, if you have extra change burning a hole in your pocket, go to http://www.dropcash.com/campaign/justlisa/brazil_or_bust and do a good deed for the day, won't ya? Thank you SOOO much to my online friends for helping kick this thing off and being most generous. The world really is full of good people.
Thanks to everyone who has pitched in so far. We're just over a quarter of the way there. Eva is getting so excited and her excitement is certainly contagious.
Last night's swimming party went fabulously well. All of the invited kids, except two, showed up. I had hoped that all the parents would hang around and swim too but most of them had to go tend to other things. Ah well, I got in the water and was sprayed on multiple occasions with water guns. While in the water. I don't get that. I'm already in the water. I cannot get any wetter. Yet it's great fun to spray me and splash me apparently. Kids are weird.
Emily is trying to talk her dad into going swimming again today. She is so funny. She tells me she loves me a lot but her dad only hears that when she wants something. "Daddyyyy.. I love you." and then she pours out her heart or at least her requests. Hopefully her heartfelt pleadings will get us to the rodeo tonight.
First off, if you haven't given to the Brazil or Bust campaign, please consider.
http://www.dropcash.com/campaign/justlisa/brazil_or_bust
I have a great picture of Eva and two of the kids. Maybe I'll post it tomorrow if she and her mother do not care.
Okay, to the holiday. I cleaned house and did some laundry. Christopher rode with his baseball team in the parade. Todd worked. The End.
That pretty much sums it up. If a holiday doesn't fall on the weekend, Todd doesn't get it off. My cousins are back from Indiana this week so C's dad was nice enough to let C. come home early today to spend time with our family. It's scary when he is nice but seriously, I do truly appreciate no matter what the reasoning.
Short version of a very long, pathetic story about two people who cannot catch a break...
Were gonna go to Tennessee but Hurricane Dennis broke up into rain / t-storms in that area so we decided to stay closer to home and just roam around through some state parks. First one had a fish kill a couple of years ago, second one had so much grass you could walk across the water but you sure couldn't launch a boat, third one was a ski lake so sitting on a fishing boat was like being on a rollercoaster. By Wednesday we had done nothing but six hours or so of driving each day and getting nothing accomplished.
Back home again in time to go visit Christopher at his boy scout camp. As I suspected, he was fine and actually a little put off that I showed up after I'd said I wouldn't. We drove five hours from his camp to get as far down into Missouri as we could. Got up the next morning and hit Bass Pro Shops. Quick four hour drive back home and to bed. Fished our favorite pond on Friday (which we should've just done all along).
Saturday morning got the kids and decided to go camping. 100 degrees. No breeze. Yeah, let's camp. Sweat bees were stinging us all day and we were literally caked with a film from sweating and tromping around in dust. It's been a long time since it's rained around here. Gritty is the word.
Packed up this afternoon and got home in time to do all of C's camp laundry, our laundry, build a railroad tie wall for our driveway, construct a new flower bed, can some peppers, and a few other things. No one said I was smart but I have heard people say I am a hard worker. HA!
Now we can go back to work and rest.
The picture above is of one of my favorite people (my cousin Trent) and his wife, Jen. Jen is new to our family, having married Trent last year after meeting him while they were in the Army. She finished her Army career a couple of months ago and set about making a home for them in the house they just bought and were so proud of.
Jen died today in a traffic accident. She was too young to be taken and Trent is too young to have to deal with such a loss. I feel so helpless. There just aren't words to comfort someone in a time like this. Trent, I love you buddy.
I wish I had time to write in great detail here and get it all out of my head but I don't. It's been a week filled with sadn