Monday, November 30, 2009

1000 Wishes

I cannot seem to get into the holiday spirit. At first I thought it was because we were so sick over Thanksgiving and we kind of missed out on the food. But I don’t think that is it. It’s more of a financial issues thing. Now don’t get me wrong, I get paid enough to pay all my bills and eat and put gas in my car. But that is pretty much it. It seems like every time I get a little ahead something happens. Last year put me in quite a hole. Sure, all the bills were being maintained, but nothing else was being taken care of. No clothes or household items. Once I started working we started taking care of that stuff… and if it wasn’t one thing it was another… Car repairs, broken appliances, broken TV’s, more car repairs…

Every time I would get a little ahead so we might enjoy a little money, something else happens. Like this time, the bank issues. In case you hadn’t read before, I had always gotten paid every other Saturday. So two weeks ago, on the Saturday I normally got paid, I had set up several bills to be auto paid and sent David out on some errands for me. He didn’t get far, because there was no money in the bank. The bank then charged us overdraft charges for all those things. Just over $130 in fees! Now, the money got to the account on Monday so I don’t see what the huge deal was, but they refused to reverse the overdraft fees. Anyway, I didn’t realize there were over draft fees until midweek, so those over draft fees caused more over draft fees. So I was short. Now I have to play catch up. At Christmas. When I could have used some of that money to buy presents… or pay for car repairs.

Yep, my car needs new front wheel bearings. Repair shops estimate $300 to $500 to fix it. Woo. Just another added expense right at the holiday season.

Anyway, I love the holidays usually. I love the decorations and the baking and the food. I love Christmas music and shopping for gifts. Thankfully, I had already purchased most of the girls’ presents. I also got a great deal on a huge artificial tree. But I just am not feeling it.

I figured it out… I don’t need a million dollars to be better. Just $1000 dollars. It will fix the car, and make some bills go away. Leaving my next paycheck available to pay more bills, buy groceries and baking goods and have some leftover to buy some gifts. I don’t have piles of debt. I have no credit cards. I just need one extra paycheck or so. Maybe I should play the lottery.

I am going to try to combat this holiday depression. After all, it isn’t about the presents…

Tomorrow I am wearing a Christmas shirt. My mom bought me a whole bunch of Christmas shirts last year. I think she was trying to fight off the Christmas blues I had last year when I was unemployed and miserable. So tomorrow I am wearing one. I made a Christmas playlist on the iTunes and loaded it on David’s computer so I could play it on his speakers. (I love iTunes home sharing!) David put up the tree. I haven’t decorated it yet. The Thanksgiving decorations are still out. I am making a Thanksgiving feast for dinner tomorrow. And I will give two hours to bell ringing at the K-Mart. Maybe that will put me in a Christmas mood.

Wednesday we will do the Christmas decorating and maybe watch A Christmas Story. I always love that one. I even have my own leg lamp. Also, on Wednesday night maybe we will have another game night. That always cheers me up and I remembered to buy a bunch of snacks to keep on hand. I know it is mid-week and all, but I have Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday off this week.

Anyways, if anyone is interested in game night on Wednesday, let me know. You can come check out my leg lamp in person.

And this concludes this year's NaBloPoMo. Thanks for reading!

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Time For Bed

Yes it is. And I have nothing much to talk about tonight. I have to work tomorrow. That's it.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Friday, November 27, 2009

Black Friday

I was thinking it might have been busy at work today. I am working in visiting and this was an extra visiting day. (We usually only do visiting Saturday, Sunday and Monday plus all federal holidays. Today is not a federal holiday.) But it was quiet. I understand it was quiet yesterday too. I am thinking tomorrow and Sunday are going to b packed. I will be working visiting for the next few weeks, so I am thinking it will be a busy time of year for visiting prisoners. The best part is the three days off every week. The down side is the 10 hour days.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving. (Duh.) We had a good Thanksgiving. We went and spent the day with our friends Mary and Tonya. The food was so good. They made a huge turkey and all the proper side dishes. They made rutabagas, which I don’t remember ever having before in my life, but were good and tasted familiar. Carolynn liked them too. The down side to our fabulous feast… The stomach flu.

Monday, Catherine was sent home from school sick. Really early Wednesday (or late Tuesday depending) I came down with it. David didn’t make it through Wednesday before he got it too. We were all feeling pretty much better on Thursday, but I didn’t eat much of anything and neither did David. Thanksgiving is all about the food! And it was so good, but I just couldn’t do it. David felt worse than I did and he feels worse about not eating it. He hates that.

The company for the day was wonderful though. This was the first time we had been to Mary and Tonya’s house. We really haven’t known them very long. But I really liked them right from the start. Usually, I don’t like people. People as a whole are crazy. I get uncomfortable around new people. I am never sure how to act. I am basically anti-social. Weird? Yep, especially for a gal with a degree in communications… yeah that is public speaking. I can speak in public. That is different than making friends. Yeah, I work in a prison and have to interact with people all day… but they are prisoners. I don’t have to like them. In fact, it is discouraged in a big way. (Besides, who wants to befriend a felon? Really.) It’s still not the same and making friends. Mary and Tonya are great people. Their kids are super. We really enjoyed hanging out with them. Heck, we didn’t get home until nearly midnight. It really was a great Thanksgiving. Thanks Mary and Tonya and the kids for sharing your Thanksgiving with us.

Now that I am feeling better, I so want a turkey dinner. So we are going to cook one on Tuesday. It will be fun. With my job, we are going to be flexible with our holiday plans. I may have to work on Christmas. I don’t know yet.

Our volunteering at the Salvation Army isn’t doing so well. David and I each rang one evening and I did the morning count one day. But we have been so sick it has been impossible to keep up. Hopefully next week we will be back on track.

I think there was more I wanted to say, but I can’t remember it. I am tired and going to bed.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all. It is late and I have to work tomorrow so I will have to tell you all about our adventure tomorrow. Until then...

Don't Eat Too Much Turkey!

Good Night!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

It's Time To Play The Music, It's Time To Light The Lights

The first show I can ever remember watching was The Muppet Show. I loved that show. I can still see my little brother with his Muppet Show jammies. I loved The Muppet Movie and A Muppet Christmas Carol. I love Sesame Street. Muppets are totally cool. I saw this today on Nikki's blog. I absolutely had to repost.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Sickening

I am feeling a bit better. I still have a cough. My voice sounds all graveling and strange. It makes me think of Phoebe on Friends. You know the one where she gets a cold and likes her voice.

I got home and found Catherine and David both asleep. Guess who else is sick? David was unable to go do his volunteer work today because he is sick. (He is achy, has a stuffy nose and a fever.) He ended up hang to go out anyway when Catherine’s school called and said she was barfing.

I now have the next three days off.

Thursday is Thanksgiving. We are planning to spend it with some friends. I haven’t spent a Thanksgiving anywhere but home since 2000. It should be a super fun time. The only thing we thought of… no leftovers. But then I figured, not necessarily. Who says Thursday is the only day to make a turkey dinner? Maybe I will cook one tomorrow… or Wednesday… or next week some time. Who knows? The point of Thanksgiving is not the food, but the company.

Well, that is it for today. It is Monday. Nothing much to say.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Let The Bells Ring

Last night David and I did our first night ringing bells for the Salvation Army. He took the first two hours and I took the last 2. It was nice. I did find a distinct advantage to last year…

Last year, I didn’t know anybody. I didn’t want to know anybody. I was jobless and poor and I didn’t want people to know. So even if I might have known anyone, I pretended I didn’t. This year, I know a lot of people. People I know can’t walk passed me and not give a little change.

Today I worked the first of my four 10 hour days for this week. I work tomorrow too, then on Friday and Saturday. It will be fun to have the whole middle of the week off. Working in visiting is fun. But we have to treat regular people a little like inmates. For example, I did a pat search on a baby today. He couldn’t clear the metal detector. He was only about 8 months or so. He had metal buckles on his pants. But I wouldn’t have been shocked really if his parent had tried to hide something on that baby. Very little surprises me about inmates and the people who visit them. Most of the visitors are fairly normal people. Some have some questionable choices in clothes and make up. One girl particularly had a TON of pink make up on. Women come in teetering on high heels, barely able to walk. It is amazing.

Anyway, that is all for today. This everyday business is getting harder. Only a few more days of NaBloPoMo.

weekends

im at mii friends house hahah funn we r so weird but we are just alike lol we took some really cute pix and found some awsome music like the band owl city HAHA GREAT times lol i lovethis ttly byez ;}
FROM:MARISA

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Friday, November 20, 2009

Totally Tubular



It was game night at our house tonight. Tabi and Kathy and Jackie and Alan and Jackie’s friend, who’s name I can’t remember, came over. We had dinner and played a bunch of Scene It! games. We played 80’s Scene It! and Scene It! for Xbox. It was fun. We really should do this regular. We have tons of games. Four Scene It! DVD games, 2 Scene It! for Xbox, three Trivial Pursuit games, plus so many more. A long time ago, I was a military housewife and when the husbands were not there, we would get together and drink margaritas and play these games. It was fun then too.

Tomorrow I go back to work. Only three days, then three days off. Woo.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Some Good, Some Bad

Well, the bad news… we ended up getting hit with a bunch of overdraft fees for the bills that came out Saturday when I thought I would get paid. It really blows. But there was nothing I could do. I tried talking to the bank, but banks are cold, heartless organizations. The good news… The TV company decided I didn’t have to drive my TV all the way to Yucaipa to have it repaired. They arranged for us to return it to Wal-Mart and get a new one. David and Carolynn are out on that mission as I type.

I am off today and tomorrow. I am using that time to recover. I thought I was just coming down with a cold, but it kept getting worse. My chest hurt and was coughing and coughing. It got to the point that I actually called the doctor. If you know me, you know I HATE going to the doctor. But I couldn’t breathe right and I could barely go two minutes without hacking up a lung. I really had little option. So today at 2:00 I went to Dr. Sawan’s office. He is a very nice guy. He said I have a mild bronchitis and gave me a prescription. I picked up cough syrup and cough drops while I was at the pharmacy too. I will be fine in a day or so.

Anyway, I mentioned that last weekend, and the weekend before, I spent time having game nights with friends. I also mentioned that earlier this week I got a new Scene It game. So why not put them together and have people over here for game night this week? Is anyone interested? I promise not to cough on you. Should we do it tomorrow night, Friday night? Or should we do it Saturday night? We got the new 80’s Scene It, plus we have 2 Xbox Scene it games. We will have snacks and it will be fun. So who’s coming? Let me know what day works so we can get it planned! I am sure it will make me feel better. Get back to me soon… via Facebook or Twitter or text, or you know, call. (I know, that last one was a novel idea wasn’t it?)

So that is about it today people. Let’s get this game night started!

Thursday Thirteen





Thirteen Things About My Job


1. I like that I am a federal employee. It comes with health benefits, life insurance, retirement and more.

2. I don’t like that my schedule is so varied. After all prison never closes.

3. I love that I can work overtime for extra money when I need a little boost.

4. I hate it when they mandatory overtime me. Sure, the money is good, but sometimes it can be so inconvenient.

5. I love that I wear a uniform every day. It makes it easier and saves me money on clothes. Plus I get a clothing allowance.

6. I hate “gunners”. That is what we call inmates who feel the need to whip their business out at female officers. I don’t know where they got the idea that women enjoy that. And they always say lame stuff too… “I was tying my shoe, she must have been mistaken.” “I had a rash and I was itching.” “I can’t help it if I like women.” “She must be new and just couldn’t handle seeing one that size.” And my favorite and the most popular… “You should have expected that. You work in a male prison.”

7. I enjoy getting attention for all my hard work. It never happened at my last job. I work very hard and get the recognition I deserve. I will admit, I am kind of a suck up and a rule follower, but that is how I will get those promotions.

8. I don’t like the way that place smells sometimes. Mostly the penitentiary. The mediums are usually pretty clean, but the penitentiary can get pretty smelly. Men are pigs. Then there are times when they over compensate and wear six gallons of stinky cologne.

9. I like how it is flexible. I get sick time and vacation time and there are so many of us, I am easily covered. Not that I call in sick all the time, but it is nice to know that if I really need to, it’s not the end of the world.

10. I don’t like that there aren’t many females working where I do. There are days I am only female I see. Don’t get me wrong, the guys I work with are mostly nice guys.

11. I like that I get paid every two weeks. (Mostly… I don’t want to talk about this last time.)

12. I love that I have job security. I don’t think we will run out of prisoners anytime soon.

13. I like that they trust me with deadly weapons. Not that I shouldn’t be trusted, it’s just that never in my life did I ever think that I would be in the position to be trusted with one. I also carry handcuffs and a radio. It makes me feel cool.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

I'd Like To Recant The Previous Statement

I found out today what my schedule for next week will be. After the scheduling issues I had this week, I was expecting the worst. Turns out, it isn’t too bad. I get to work visiting. I like working visiting. First, the schedule is nice. Visiting works 4 ten hour shifts instead of 5 eight hour shifts. So I get three days off next week. The extra good part is I get Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday off, so I get Thanksgiving off. Woo Hoo! That means turkey and all the trimmings. Of course, that means no day after Thanksgiving shopping. Oh well.

I have a terrible cold. I cough and wheeze and am losing my voice. My nose is stuffed and my head hurts. I have pockets full of cough drops. I have been taking Formula 44. It helps. I will be all better soon I hope. It makes life much more pleasant when I am not sick.

I made a big pot of chili for dinner. It was yummy. We ate it with cheese on top, sour cream and tortillas. I bought a bunch of small containers and made a bunch of lunch sized portions. I put some in the freezer for later and some in the fridge for this week. That way I don’t spend a lot of money on frozen dinners and other convenience foods for my lunch. And I froze some so I don’t have to eat the same thing all week. Later this week I will make homemade chicken noodle soup and I will do the same thing.

Catherine has been cleaning out her room. There are bags and bags of toys and clothes in the garage to take to the Salvation Army. We will take them on Thursday when we go there to fill out some more papers for volunteering there. Next week we should start the bell ringing. We are signed up for Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday nights in front of the Stater Bros. They are always short on volunteers and it is a good cause. If you have time, donate it. For every hour a volunteer rings that bell, $8.00 is saved. Without volunteers, the Salvation Army has to pay bell ringers minimum wage. Sure, some people really need that $8.00, especially at the holiday season. But then there are people like these folks, who get to benefit from this. But in the end, it is for a good cause and you get to have experiences like this. (By the way, the BIG interview I mention in that post is at a certain prison I know of.)

I need a haircut. As soon as it gets a little long, it starts looking limp and is hard to manage. Then it starts getting in my face and annoying me.

Carolynn came home with raccoon eyes again. I took her iPod. I give her makeup. I don’t approve of her hooker look. She also tries to go around wearing these little undershirts as shirts. Not happening. I do not work my ass off to raise a white trash hooker. Also not happening. Nope.

Anyway, I guess I did have stuff to say today.

Another Fantabulous Day At The Office



I couldn't think of much to write. I have a cold and I still have to work. So instead, I bring you some work related news articles.

People I Meet

And Another One

A Hero I Never Knew

Puppies For Prisoners

********************


And on another subject...

Check this out... Holiday Mail For Heroes

Monday, November 16, 2009

Mostly Worked Out

The TV will be fixed. Like I said, it’s under warranty so as soon as I take it to the repair shop in Yucaipa, I will be all set. The paycheck came today so luckily all was well in the bank account. Unfortunately, I was unable to get to see Angela sing. I was supposed to get off at 2, giving me plenty of time to get down there. You know what time I got home? 5! If I would have driven there, I would have missed it. Plus I would have been in traffic the whole time. I feel really bad because I promised to be there and I really wanted to be there. Chris and Sherri have a couple of extra TV’s in case we need one when ours is in the shop. That is nice of them. I had ordered Taylor a video game for his birthday and it comes out tomorrow. He ended up wanting a different game, and I already bought it for him and he is already playing it. So when the other one comes tomorrow, I am saving it for Christmas. Hopefully he can wait that long. He did just get the other one I bought. He should live. I did a little Christmas shopping tonight since I didn’t go see Angela. This is going to be a great Christmas. I also got us a new game for game night… 80’s Scene It. TV, Movies, commercials and other pop culture of the 80’s. It should be fun. We are thinking about game night on Friday night. Anyone interested?

Well, that is all for today.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

It Can Only Get Better

The TV breaking last week, was just the start of things to go wrong.

Due to some banking thing, my paycheck, which is direct deposited every other Saturday like clockwork, didn’t get to the bank. Of course, my bills are set to come out the day I get paid, so unless my paycheck shows up tomorrow, we are in trouble. It should, but until it does… I can’t buy groceries, put gas in the car or anything else. Luckily, we have food in the house and David has a full tank of gas, so I can use his truck to get to work. I drove it today. It was an experience.

Another bad thing… If my check isn’t in the bank tomorrow, we won’t be able to go to Angela sing. I have been looking forward to that for weeks.

I have had a nice steady post at work for a while. I worked hard for it and worked hard doing it. But in reality, I was just filling in. The guy I have been filling in for was out with a knee injury. Well, he came back. I am glad for his knee, but it really messed with my schedule. With his post, I had Thursday’s and Friday’s off. That would have meant all holidays off. But now, I have no idea. I won’t know my Thanksgiving schedule until later this week. They were kind enough I give me Thursday and Friday off this week since that it what I had before the other guy came back.

Last night we went to Tabi and Kathy’s house for game night. I made cheesy potatoes to take. But I didn’t have time to bake them. I decided that I could just bake them there. As we pull out of the driveway, I asked David to hold on a second (we were in his truck) so I could take another look at the address. I put the casserole on my lap. He didn’t’ hear me and went, so I was now covered in cheese sauce. We go back in the house so I can clean myself up and regroup. We get back in and I am trying to be as careful as possible. But when I get out of the car at Tabi’s, I am again wearing cheese sauce.

Other than the sauce, we had a great time. We had so much food. All of it was good. We played games and talked and just had fun. We played Disney Scene It, Scene It, and Trivial Pursuit. Next time we should have game night here. We have two Scene It games for X-Box. We have a whole closet full of board games. (All of last night’s games were ours.)

I hope you all enjoyed yesterday’s Blog Swap. Thank you Rammi for switching with me.

Until tomorrow…

Saturday, November 14, 2009

A Guest Post By Rammi

All the way from London, England... Today's post is bought to you by Rammi!
**********


Hello. I'm Rammi, and I shall be taking over Jennifer's blog for today... I feel the power already! I've been ranting and raving all NaBloPoMo about random things like my laziness and my inability to give proper directions, and today seems to be no different. For some reason, I decided it would be a good idea to write about mummy bloggers... As if I didn't need any more enemies. ;)

I'll admit it. It might be sort of a blogging faux-pas to do this, but I generally have an aversion to mummy/mommy bloggers. The phrase "married and babied" (or something similar) usually sends me running for the hills. Out of all the things a girl can say about herself, is her marriage and how she squeezed out a couple of kids really the most interesting thing she can say in all the years she's been on the planet? Does she not have anything else to say than "I married [blah] and my kids are [blah] and [blah]?

A person's hobbies, views on life, her relationships with her family and friends, all the things I like to read about in a blog... These seem to be lost in a sea of "Thomas just did his first poop today! I'm so proud of him!" I mean, besides being extremely TMI - for some people like to snack whilst they work at the computer, and this can be off-putting - of all the things in the world to read about, why would I care about someone's son managing to do a basic human function that everyone needs to learn eventually? I would be worried if he *didn't* poop!

["My son is severely constipated" is a better blog title than "My son finally did it in the potty!!!111!!"]

...I think you can tell by now that I don't have any children (and probably won't for quite a long time after this post). ;)

Anyway, after reading some of the blogs that fall into this category for a while, I've started to realize (albeit a bit late) that "mummy blogs" are more than documenting their child's accomplishments and milestones, which I, as a stranger on the internet, lose interest in quickly.

One blogger I follow talks about the pain of losing her first child, the impending birth of her second, and all the feelings she has on the way. She is the only blogger that manages to move me to tears with almost every post, and I admire her strength and bravery in sharing all of this to the world.

I've also looked through a lot of Jennifer's posts. When she does blog about her children, I'm struck by how good her parenting skills are; she seems to know how to handle every situation her kids throw at her.

[I'm mentally making notes for my future kids; they have many groundings and amazing birthday parties in their futures.]

When in doubt of what to do, I've found that there are always people online who have done it before, and bloggers, whatever they blog about, are always willing to share their wisdom.

These blogs also have a ready-made audience. For close friends and family, this is a quick and easy way to keep updated with how their friends/relatives are doing, what mischief they're getting up to, and what to buy them at holidays.

[Btw, my birthday's 14th December, a month from now. *cough cough hint hint*]

But what sells mummy blogs to me after all is that there is always something to blog about, whether or not the kids are being infuriating or angelic.

Coming from a girl who spent ages at 1AM – because I don't want my family to think I'm weird or anything – taking detailed pictures of her microwaves for a future blog post due to a lack of inspiration, always having something to blog about is a good thing.

Thanks for letting me borrow your blog, Jennifer! Hopefully, I haven't managed to offend too many people...

Friday, November 13, 2009

Another One Bites The Dust

Catherine joined the grounded crew this week. Her grades are not the problem, her room was. It was nasty. Dirty dishes, old dirty clothes, nasty old trash. It was awful. The strange part is she is willing to clean everything else. She’ll scrub the toilets, clean the kitchen, and take out the trash. But she just refuses to clean her room. So there went her shot at NaBloPoMo, since her computer has been taken. I had a parent teacher conference with Catherine’s teacher today. She made the honor roll, of course, but she is slacking off on doing her work. Apparently, she thinks she is so smart, she doesn’t need to do more work. She has also been slacking on her reading, so her teacher and I discussed upping her reading time from 30 minutes Monday through Thursday to 90 minutes every day. That way she can finish her larger books. Also, her teacher would like her to expand her selections from just Harry Potter. Overall, she is a good student. Her teacher says her social skills are getting better too. She does need to learn to match her clothes. Maybe if she could find them in that mess of hers. We are getting it cleaned out this weekend.

Carolynn’s grades improved this week. She also did all of her chores and homework. So she is being permitted to go to her friend’s birthday party tomorrow. She is still grounded from internet, her phone and going anywhere else. If her behavior continues to improve, the grades climb, and the chores get done, she could be ungrounded before Christmas.

Speaking of kids in trouble… Tabi and Kathy’s son Ethan is with us tonight. Apparently, he didn’t do some school work and was told he would not be permitted to go on a family outing this evening to his brother’s choir performance if he didn’t get it done. As you can guess, he didn’t get it done. So he spent most of the night sitting at our kitchen table reading. He read all the books he brought with him, and two we had here. He ate some macaroni and cheese and now he is helping Catherine burn old school papers in the fireplace. It’s our first fire of the season.

If you’ll remember, last year at this time I made a deal with the world… If I promised to volunteer, the world would give me a job. (Check it out here.) Anyway, I went then and volunteered at the Salvation Army. Last winter I spent many of my hours ringing a bell and collecting donations. And the world provided me with a job at a prison. All was good. Not too long ago, the prison gave me a special award for my volunteer service. That is when I realized that the world didn’t think one winter of bell ringing was worth the amazing job. So when Gary from the Salvation Army called last week, I knew I had to go. Yesterday David and I went down there to fill out the forms. So starting soon, you will find me ringing a bell in front of the Stater Bros. on Saturday nights. You will find David there on Monday and Tuesday nights. You will also find us down there several days a week, counting out the kettles for deposit. We are doing a good thing.

Our TV is broken. We just got it in March so it is still under warranty. They are very willing to fix it for free, but I have to take it to the nearest repair shop. The nearest repair shop is in Yucaipa. So it’s kind of a pain, but what can you do? I can’t afford to buy a new TV. (This is what my Grandpa would probably do. But I love him.)

Yesterday was Aunt Chris’ 60th birthday. We went over for cake and took her a present, despite the fact that she specifically said no presents. Mary and Tonya (some wonderful friends of theirs, and now of mine too) were there and their friend Connie (who I have met a couple of times). It was fun. I hope she had a nice birthday.

David is sick. I have been pumping him full of medicine and he has been asleep most of the day. I have been making him drink orange juice and take vitamins too. He has no health insurance, so he needs to stay healthy.

If you recall, I am doing a blog swap for NaBloPoMo this year. I did it last year too. (Check it out here.) So for tomorrow, look for a post from Rammi right here on Tropical Fruit. And head over to her blog and look for a post by me. There are four other sets of swappers joining us in the swap for tomorrow so check out these great blogs tomorrow and see the results.

Stacey of Say Something Stacey will be swapping with Brandi Hassouna of The Day After

Bonnie Kaplan of BK's Reviews and Reflections will be swapping with Miranda of Compost Happens: An After School Special

Aurora McBride-Moore of Tales Of A Frumpy Mocha Princess will be swapping with Roxy Adams of ...snippets...

Katie Conrad of Gnomes At Night will be swapping with Johnny Pez

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Thursday Thirteen





Thirteen Super Heroes

1. Spiderman- Spins A Web, Any Size, Catches Criminals Just Like Flies
2. Batman- If I only had half his gadgets and lived at Wayne Manor...
3. Wonder Woman- Just for the hot pants and those bracelets
4. Aquaman- What exactly is his use?
5. Superman- Just to be able to fly. Think of how much we would save on gas.
6. Ironman- That is one cool suit.
7. The Flash- Another gas saver
8. Mr. Incredible- I also love Elasti-Girl.
9. Captain Planet- Gonna Take Pollution Down To Zero
10. Bionic Bunny- Getting kids to read and wear glasses
11. Optimus Prime- He's a truck... He saved the world. He rocks!
12. Incredible Hulk- He's mean, green and kicks butt.
13. Thor- He's a viking with attitude. Always makes me think of Adventures In Babysitting

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Wordless Wednesday



A little late, but better late than never, Halloween 2009!

Carolynn as Mrs. Lovitt from Sweeney Todd


Nicole, the pirate, my brother, the nerd, Allison as Dorothy and Nathan the monkey


My brother did the pirate flag, David did the Transformer, Carolynn's is Jack Skellington, and Catherine made a cat.


A tired little monkey.


Catherine as Dracula and Allison as Dorothy

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Social Ties

I am a fan of social networking… to a point. I don’t have a million accounts. Mostly I have this blog. And that is cool for me. I also enjoy Twitter. It’s like a mini blog. But let’s get into the point of this story…

Facebook.

Okay, I have a Facebook account, but in reality, unless someone sends me a message, I hardly go to Facebook. My Twitter automatically updates my Facebook status. My blog automatically updates my Facebook page. Sometimes, if I get on and remember, I add pictures. But if not for Facebook…

-I wouldn’t have connected with some old friends. Because of this, I have been out of the house more often. I have had friends over here and been out to theirs. I learned to play Bunco. I played trivia with a bunch of them just this past weekend.

-I can connect with a great person I met at training in Georgia. It’s nice to know someone else that does the same job.

-I have another way of chatting up my internet friends… From the blogging community or from my online book group.

-I hear from relatives I never saw before.

In reality, I think it’s a good thing in moderation. I just realized even my mom has a Facebook. She didn’t strike me as a Facebook user. I wonder what she has on her page. Do you think she’s a Farmer in Farmville? HA HA! Even my Grandma is a Facebook user.

I don’t use any other social media platforms. I don’t My Space, My Life, or anything else similar. Just Facebook. And everything else goes automatically to it. Carolynn has Facebook, but being grounded, don’t expect any updates.

So what do you use? Do you have a preference? Do you play Facebook games? Do you think all computers should be turned off?

Anyway, thank you Facebook for finding me some friends. If not for them, this place might get a bit lonely. Not for long…




Because I forgot to mention…



And this is the best and most important part of this random, stupid post (that I am just rambling through because it is for NaBloPoMo)…



This April…



A certain family that I love…



That currently lives in North Carolina…



IS MOVING TO CALIFORNIA!!!!!!!!

And that is all that matters!

Yeah this week!

All this week we have half days because parent conferences.Tomorrow is Veterans Day which means no school!My parent conference is on Friday.The tooth fairy still never came for my two teeth that came out on Halloween.
.50 per tooth
2 teeth=$1.00
10 days since loss
She owes $10.00!!!!!!!I'm getting tired of waiting.She sucks at her job.I have them in a old ring box under my pillow.She better come because it's going to be $11.00 tomorrow.It's 2 weeks until thanksgiving and pumpkin pie.I like pumpkin pie.

Monday, November 09, 2009

If Ever I Would Leave You

They came today and removed the dead tree form our front yard. It looks so empty now.

Catherine has minimum days all week, except Wednesday. Both kids have the day off Wednesday. Not me, I have to work.

Carolynn is mad. Some friend of hers is having a birthday party this weekend. Apparently, she didn’t think being grounded meant she couldn’t go. She begged. She offered to clean the whole house. I told her that cleaning the house didn’t improve her grades. So she is mad.

Today I am making cheese potato soup and corn bread. It smells so good in here.

Spelling words

1.The jewel sparkled.
2.If you use the shovel at an angle you don't get a deep hole.
3.I have a picture of a single,normal angel.
4.It is legal to whistle.
5.I want a fossil!
6."I like puzzles."said Allison.
7.I want a bushel of pie.
8.Let mortal toungs awake.
9.A panda is a gentle giant.
10.I wonder if level 83826906401 exists.
11.I want a labeler to label stuff.
12.Hey, that bike is missing a pedal.
13.My ankle hurts!!
14.We used to have several needles,but now we don't have any.
15.I was a devil one year for Halloween.

Sunday, November 08, 2009

All Things Great And Small

Yesterday Catherine had her team party for softball. They got their trophies and had pizza and cupcakes. I didn’t go because I was at work, but David went and took some pictures.





After I got home, we all went to Jackie and Alan’s house for a barbecue. The kids played video games and the grownups chatted and played trivia. We had a good time.

Today I was at work watching TV working hard. I just happened to see some of a football pre-game show. On this show, I saw Christopher, my sister’s husband. Yep. These football broadcasters were doing a show from Afghanistan and I totally saw Christopher.

Catherine seems to have a cold. I told David to give her plenty of fluids, so he has been pumping her full of water and apple juice. She may float away soon. Carolynn is still grounded and is on the verge of a foot in the ass. Nothing new about that.

That’s about it.

Camera Critters



Betty is a critter.

Friday, November 06, 2009

Friday

Its Friday and we had GATE.We drew pictures of seashells.My GATE teacher,Mrs. Poff thought mine was pretty.My mom calls Mrs. Poff, Mrs. Puff.
This is a Miltank.

So A Raccoon Walks Through The Door

Carolynn came home from school today with two black eyes. Nope, no one punched her. It was eyeliner. More eyeliner than anyone would ever need. And this was after her attempt to wash it off since she is not allowed to wear eyeliner. When I asked her about it, she said she fell and some dirt got around her eyes. Black dirt? No, asphalt. Yes, I totally believe her. Do you?

Carolynn was batting 1000 when she handed over her progress report. Yep, she is failing Language Arts and Math. Oh wait, no she is doing fine… She is getting a 61% in Math and a 69% in Language Arts. Is she having trouble? Not according to her teachers. She is getting 100% on quizzes and the work she actually does in Math, but unfortunately she doesn’t do much work. I am not 100% sure of her skill in Language Arts, but I am sure that it has much to do with missing assignments. Another problem, she is getting a C- in Band. BAND! According to the teacher, it’s because she refuses to pay attention, doesn’t play her instrument and talks a lot.

So what was her reaction to the grounding, the taking of her cell phone and the removal of her laptop? She doesn’t care. She has been a bundle of attitude all evening. I am about to shove my foot up her ass. I just love teenagers. Anyone want to trade?

I made chicken and dumplings for dinner. It was delicious. I had plenty to pack for lunch at work. We took down the Halloween décor and put up the Thanksgiving stuff. We did some cleaning. We got a new water heater. Our old one rusted and was leaking. They replaced it today. Our new one is bigger and works better. They came and looked at the dead tree in the yard. The gardener said he didn’t cut it down yesterday because he was hoping it would make it come back. He said it was once very pretty and gave the front of the house a lot of nice shade. I am sure it did. But now it is just a big dead stick. They will be by to cut it down next week.

Tomorrow it’s back to work for me. Catherine has her softball team party. Then we are going to Jackie and Alan’s for a barbecue. It should be a fun time.

NaBloPoMo

In case you hadn’t noticed, I am doing NaBloPoMo this year. For you noobs, that is National Blog Posting Month, which is November. So far, so good. That is why you may have noticed an upswing of posting this week. So look for a new post every day this month. Come hell or high water… No matter if inmates hit me with doors while trying to run away with a homemade weapon up their butt… No matter if I work 16 hours a day… No matter if the water heater explodes… No matter if a tree branch falls in the front yard onto Carolynn’s head… I promise to post everyday this month. (Just FYI, except for the hell and high water, all of those things may have happened this week.)

Plenty of my other blogger buddies are attempting this feat as well, so go and check them out and give them support during this month of fun.

Red Lotus Mama

Forgetfulone
In The Zoo
Tripping Over My Tongue
Snailbird.com
Making Things Up

Also, I am hosting a Blog Swap over on the NaBloPoMo site. Anyone who is interested should check it out.

Anyway, in other news, I am enjoying my days off. I had yesterday and today off. I am cleaning and cooking some chicken and dumplings.

Anyway, come back tomorrow for more exciting adventures.

Thursday, November 05, 2009

Dona Nobis Pacem

Last year, at this time, I posted here for last year’s Blog Blast For Peace. The post was sad and filled of lost hope and desperation. But it was still a cry for peace.

This year, there is no desperation. Only hope. No worry about how I will pay the bills, no living in a box behind K-Mart… Just hope.

Hope for a world with peace. Hope for a day of peace.

I know now how little peace there is. I spend every day with people who have no concept of peace, people who cannot even fathom a world full of peace. People who have murdered, raped, assaulted other and sold and used drugs. These people could care less about peace, which only makes me want it more. Despite the desperation of last year being with no job, wouldn’t it be super cool if the world was at peace and there were no more prisoners to worry about?

On this day, let us all take a moment and feel the peace in our lives…

Peace in knowing we have family
Peace in knowing we have jobs and can pay the bills
Peace in knowing that there are others out there sharing this peace today.

Today and every day…
Dona Nobis Pacem


Grant Us Peace

Harry Potter Reveiw

I finished my book!Harry Ron and Hermione went to Hagrid's house for Buckbeak's
execution.Hagrid was very sad about that.While they were there they found...Scabbers!They were going back to the castle then Scabbers jumped out of Ron's pocket and Crookshanks chased him.Ron chased them but got dragged into a hole at the bottom of the whomping willow's roots by a werewolf.That werewolf wasn't just a werewolf it was professor Lumpin!Harry and Hermione followed the tunnel under the tree until they got to the shrieking shack Sirius Black was in there and they found out that Scabbers name wasn't Scabbers nor was he even a rat!He was Peter Pettigrew.
Sirius was the good guy and Pettigrew was bad.Pettigrew,Sirius,and Mr. James Potter were animagus.Sirius was Harry's godfather.Harry and Hermione used a Time-Turner to go back in time and saved an innocent man(Sirius Black)and Buckbeak.Yay!

Thursday Thirteen



Thirteen Comforting Fall Foods

1. Macaroni and Cheese
2. Chicken and Dumplings
3. Vegetable Beef Soup
4. Roasted Turkey
5. Green Bean Casserole
6. Potato Cheese Soup
7. Chili
8. Bread Pudding
9. Pumpkin Bread
10. Chicken Noodle Soup
11. Corn Bread
12. Apple Pie
13. Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Life and Death

Today we held a memorial at work for an officer who passed away. Officer Solis was a nice guy. I only worked with him a couple of times, when I first started there. (He has been on sick leave for some time.) He was a little rough around the edges, but he gave me plenty of helpful advice that I still have not forgotten…

Always know your keys.

Take your time and do it right.

Always keep doors secure.

Never back away from a challenge.


The whole complex stopped work and the department heads took over our posts so we could attend the memorial. It was very nice. His family was there. The chaplains spoke. We gave him a proper officer’s send off. They fired guns, sounded the bugle, and sounded the final call. It was very touching.

Good bye Officer Solis.

***************

Today is also David’s 22nd birthday. We ordered pizza and Carolynn baked a cake. It is cooling now. I want to eat it really bad.

It is Wednesday. I have already worked 50 hours this week. Tomorrow and Friday are my days off. I am tired.

DAVID'S BIRTHDAY!!!




Its David's birthday today.He's 22.

Happy Birthday David

Give me candy!

I have always wanted to sell candy from school like my sister did in 7Th grade.
Selling candy would be earning money for the school and I could buy candy from myself with my own money ,well that's funny but I think I'll let other people get the candy.To get the teacher to do that will be tricky.I would have to send the teacher letters that say:CAN WE SELL CANDY?PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!I would ask her every single morning.I would keep annoying her until she lets us sell the candy.Yeah maybe that will work.Ha ha

Wordless Wedsday



Tuesday, November 03, 2009

And On The Third Day She Worked

16 hours today. 10 yesterday. 16 the day before. I am tired. Still, it is better than last year...

Last year on this date... I didn't have a job, I watched a water polo match and froze and went to Winco. Mostly... I didn't have a job. I looked for a job. I didn't have a job.

Now, in three days, I have worked 42 hours already.

Now I have a job, but I am too tired for everything else.

But I have job.

NaBloPoMo... That makes three

Tuesday

I got sent home sick today from school because I felt like I was going to throw up. David picked me up earlier and I feel fine now. David gave me some pill and I fell asleep. When I woke up I felt great. I'm almost done with Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azcaban. Harry Potter is awesome.

Monday, November 02, 2009

Even My Boogers Are Spicy


It was a seriously looooooooooong day, filled of craptastic crap. I just wanted to come home, crawl in a hole and sleep.


Then…



Someone gave me some good news.



The best news I have had in a long time.




Probably the best news I have had since I got a job.




But…





I am totally not telling.


**************************************


Carolynn was hanging on the dead tree in the yard and a branch broke. She has cuts on her head and both arms. David is watching baseball. I don’t know when he became a baseball fan, but I kind of like it. It has a homey kind of feel, to have a guy in the house occupying my TV with sports. Catherine is in the shower.

But I am going to bed.

Look out NaBloPoMo… That was 2 days in a row!

Monday

Its Monday and Carolynn is was on a tree and the branch broke then she fell off and both of her arms are cut and her head got scraped.
Turtwig playing the drums.

Sunday, November 01, 2009

Camera Critters


ELVIS I MY CRITTER

A Halloween Surprise

On Friday, David, the girls and I were going to go to a pumpkin carving party at David’s Friends house. Unfortunately, David’s friend’s kids got the swine flu and the party was canceled. I felt so bad for them. Their party was canceled, the kids won’t get to trick or treat, and they have to be sick. Poor things. Anyway, since I had already taken the evening off, and we already had cupcakes and snacks we had made to take to the party, we figured we’d invite some friends over. Tabi came and brought the boys and Jackie and Alan came and brought their nieces. Taylor came too. There was video game playing and snacks and chit chat. It was a pleasant evening. Not exactly the evening we had planned, but it turned out pretty good in the end.

Yesterday, Catherine had her last softball game of the season. They had fun. They made it 4 innings before they called the mercy rule. After the game, Catherine’s friend Katelyn came over. There was pumpkin carving. David made a Transformer, Catherine made a cat, and Carolynn made Jack Skellington. After te pumpkins were carved, they got in their costumes. Carolynn went as Mrs. Lovitt from Sweeney Todd and Catherine as a vampire. Catherine’s costume was quite the predicament. We didn’t find out until Thursday night, that the collar was missing from her costume. On Friday, I went to Party City to exchange it, but they were all out of that one and out of all other vampire costumes. So I looked at Toys R Us, Wal-Mart and Target for a vampire cape. No dice. Then I remembered I had an old adult sized vampire cape in the garage. So I cut the bottom off of it. Done. Carolynn did the makeup and they were off. David took Carolynn to her friend’s house and Catherine to Joe and Nicole’s house so she could Trick or Treat with Allison. I hope they had a good time. I was at work, and I was up before them all this morning.

Today is the first day of NaBloPoMo. I am making another fabulous attempt and blogging everyday for a month. This will be my third year. And to start it off, I am working 16 hours today, so I can’t add any cool pictures from last night because I will be in prison. Way to start off. Better than last year’s start… Which was windy and rainy and I spent the day searching desperately for a job in the rain with my mom. (on the plus side, we had some really good coffee.)

Until tomorrow, unless I work another double… then NaBloPoMo will be over for me before it begins. But I will have extra money…