A day in the life of...

Dear Diary

2009-10-28T09:57:00.002-04:00

I don't know what prompted me to look up my old blog today but I can see it has not been updated in quite some time. Let me see if I can fill you all in on what has been going on in my part of the world.

-Jarrett went to summer camp and had a great time.
-Mikey moved out when school ended.
-Ricky had the cops called on him several times for punching holes in the walls, breaking the windshield of my car, punching holes in the walls.
-In August, I started talking to an old boyfriend James for 20 hours a day cause he is an over the road truck driver.
-After three weeks of phone calls he came down to Florida and we got married on September 25th.
-The cops were called again for Ricky and we talked to his Dad and he is supposed to go pick him up and take custody of him.
-On the 13th of October we left Florida without Ricky and headed to North Carolina.
-Within four days we both had jobs and Jarrett started school.
-Chase turned five.
-Ricky is staying with Grandma cause Rick can't take care of him.
-Ricky talked Grandma into changing his school to where Mikey goes and he got arested on the first day for fighting.
-He is currently serving ten day suspention and has court on Nov 23rd.

So thats where I have been. I love being Mrs. James Pifer. He is wonderful and without him I would be sitting in a huge house with no electric and abusive kids.

Life is good!

2009-05-26T19:02:00.002-04:00

this is not being edited for punctuation or caps or anything so beg my pardon! I just want to get this writen down cause i dont want to forget the way things went down.
so in my last post i noted that my brother came over to check on me and to make sure ricky would behave the rest of the night, which he did. Kevin told me to just call the police if anything happens again and that they dont do anything anyway that they would just talk to him and leave. all of that is fine with me, i mean all i want is for ricky to be calmed down once he gets into one of his moods.
So the next night, i think thursday, ricky starts bugging jarrett about the x box. he wants to play and wont take no for an answer. well, jarrett was playing and needless to day they started fighting. all of this while i have pink dye in my hair that i just put in and its in a bag on top of my head. so, ricky gets a punch in and i get them separated. meanwhile jarrett comes up behind me and punches ricky. then both boys run outside. after a bit they come back in and are ok for the time being and i take the oportunity to wash out my hair. while im doing that they start up again and i hear jarrett and chase screaming. i run out there and no one answers me when i ask what was wrong. jarrett demands that i call the police so i grab the phone and call. meanwhile jarrett is throwing furniture and ricky is trying to console chase.
the police come and talk to jarrett and ricky separletly and while they are talking to ricky they go in his room and see he has fuck the law on his wall. they take statements from everyone and then ricky gets put in the squad car... i'm like what happened here? they both were fighting, you were just supposed to talk to them. I'm told that someone other than me has to pick him up and that he cant come home for 48 hours, or till he has court. wtf?
So his dad picks him up at 2am and he stays there till i pick him up in the morning for court. guess who his judge is? yeah the same one he has for truency court. he knows ricky has been failing drug tests and not takeing his meds. so we try to figure out where ricky can go for five days till he comes back to court and with no luck. 1. he cant go back to his dads cause of the restraining order and 2. he cant go to my parents house cause a. my grandma is 94 and has hospice coming to the house and b. my mom has so many pain pills hanging around the house that it would be too tempting for ricky to take them and try to sell them or something.
so he ends up staying in jail for five days. i dont think he will ever forgive me for that. seeing that it was me that called the police in the first place and it has gotten him in more troube that he was already in but I have to live with that too. he only called me once in the five days he was in and then he said if i'm still in here by sunday i will never talk to you again. i was pretty hurt by that but i totally see his point. i honestly was going by what kevin had told me, that they dont do anything. that they will just talk to them. in no way was i trying to get my son arrested for battery and domestic violence.
then on tuesday when he had his court he was allowed to come home under my supervision. and he was told to search out some counceling. then on wednesday, yes third time to court in six days, he failed his drug test again and he thought he was going to go back to jail. but no they just reinstated that he seek out counciling and see him in one month.
since then he has gone out without my permission and not done a single chore at the house and still thinks i'm a bitch. im sure this will all work itself out in the end. i mean i love him and i care about him so things have to start looking up in the future.

meanwhile, jarrett is getting ready to go to summer camp in less than two weeks. he finished his personal fitness and his citizenship in the community merit badges and should get those at the june 1st meeting.
i hate that i cant plan a trip for all of us to go somewhere and be a happy little family again. they should make something like that. just go and be at peace with everyone around you. that would be so so so nice. till then...

2009-05-13T22:33:00.003-04:00

Where has Heather been? I haven't a clue as usual. We have had good days and we have had bad days thats for sure.
I had a pretty good mothers day, saw Star Trek with Jarrett even though he did not really want to go. He ended up liking it anyway.
Also got in some community service hours with Jarrett last Saturday. The mail men picked up donated for at the mail box and then it all got brought to a central location to be sorted and boxed. Thats where jarrett and I come in. we were sorting and boxing the food as it came in. we got there about 11am and stayed until 1pm then chase was getting tired and kept screaming "take me home" which got people starring so we left but only after agreeing that we would come back later. we went home and got someting to eat and then took chase to grandpa's house. then we went back and stayed another three hours till 7:30pm. So Jarrett got in 5 hours for his citizenship in the community merit badge. He still needs 3 more hours which he wants to do at the humane society.
I went on Monday to fill out an application at a uniform shop. wish me luck.
Right now I am waiting for Ricky to come. His curfew is 9pm on school nights and it is now 10:50pm. He's a little late and I have talked to him but he was not ready to leave yet cause they were watching a movie which he apparently had no idea what the name if the movie was. He has done this several times over the past couple of weeks. it is really anoying. His lack of respect for me is out of control. Last night he blew up about his phone again. My brother had to come over to make sure everything was alright. I wish i knew how to get through to him...

yesterday happy pics and today this...

2009-04-20T13:41:00.002-04:00

Ricky was gone all weekend and the rule in the house is I don't do laundry if it's not brought out to the laundry room. When he realizes this morning that he has no clothes that are clean, he pitches a fit and refuses to go. (need I remind you that he has been going to truancy court since last June) He brings out his clothes and they get washed. I leave him to take Jarrett to school and when I get back he tells me he's not going to school and that his "friend" is coming to pick him up. After tirelessly trying to get him to change his mind a car pulls in the driveway. I inform the occupants that he is not allowed to go with them. I ask why they are not in school with mumbled answers they leave with my son anyway. I follow and they end up turning onto a road and pulling over. He proceeds to yell at me and tell me to leave him alone and he's not going to school anyway. I wave the other car goodbye and they leave him in the dust. He makes the baby cry so i too had to leave him there. Hoping the other kids would be smart and stay out of it. I drive into town and gas up. While there I see they are not smart at all. They picked him up. I went to the school to inform them of what happened and now I am sitting here realizing that it's fucking 420 and that is why he has done this. I know I may be considered a hypocrite and I'm ok with that. But I hate that drugs have made me not trust another person. I most definitely (and probably naively) blame pot for his problems. He stopped taking his anti-depressants and started smoking. When a mother spends 15 years raising a person, only to have some kid influence him in a negative way, it hurts. I am competing with ppl half my age and that are way freaking cooler than I ever was in school. I am outnumbered and I have lost this battle today...But I am not quitting this shit just yet. I know he has good in him. 4 fucking 20! Yeah, not a fan, sorry.

2009-04-19T22:47:00.003-04:00

My nephew, Joey came over today to play with Chase. I don't know why Chase is only wearing underwear and cowboy boots but they seemed to be having fun doing stunts in the mustang.

They also thought the hammock was a sinking ship.

Jarrett, Chase and I went to visit my brother Kevin at his fire station. Here is Jarrett all decked out and ready to jump on the fire truck.

They even had a smaller uniform for Chase. Although he thought it was cool at first, when Uncle Kevin suggested we get some pictures inside the truck he immediately thought is was stupid and wanted out of it. Then later he was in the back seat and Uncle Kevin jumped into the front, Chase demanded that he don't take him anywhere. He must have thought he was not experienced enough to do the job.

I like to make things that are somewhat made already. I mean like I like when I can see the final product and work toward that. So I spotted this bag at wal-mart that came with iron on stuff. I thought that was perfect for me to do. So here is the front of my bag.

And this is what I put on the back. Its the start of my favorite song in the whole world...God I sound like I'm 12 years old. But I can bet you that If you ever say these words to me I will smile and start to bob my head and sing the rest of the song right then. FYI it's blister in the sun by the violent femmes. Just a coincedence, I was watching some movie previews and I heard my song. Turns out that the movie Rocket Science uses it and another favorite; kiss off. I tried to watch it on the computer, but the vidio thing is not working, so then I went to the library. They have it but when I tried to check it out they told me I owe $66.00 in fees cause they had to replace four movies that I checked out in December of 07. So finally I went to Hollywood video and just rented the darn thing. I also rented Juno. Both are good. Juno had me crying like a baby and Rocket Science had me singing. God I really need help ;)

This is what dinner looks like at my house. The green stuff is spinich. I like it but the boys don't.

This is my Dad posing with the Easter cake.

And here is Chase posing with the Easter cake...Ya know, maybe I should buy him some clothes or something. He's going to have a hard time when he goes to school and has to keep them on for more that an hour.

So thats some of the stuff I've been doing.

2009-04-12T23:27:00.002-04:00

Happy Easter everyone!

FYI...The spider was put to death by shoe.

Last week my Mom invited me and the boys over for Easter. Then she calls me on Friday and lets me know that plans have changed and that I will be doing lunch at my house and only Dad will be coming. Someone has to stay with Grandma and mom doesn't drive anymore so dad is coming. But I needed to come over on Saturday morning to take Mom shopping for food and stuff for baskets. I loved the idea of getting Mom out of the house so I agreed.
So I go out to Moms on Saturday morning and we head out to the craft store Joann's. Mom hangs out in the scrap booking section while I wonder over to the fabrics and get some backing fabric for a project that I want to start on. Next we head over to Party city to find almost nothing left for Easter. I did find an egg tray and a hat for Chase. After that we get some lunch at Arby's and then Mom says she is finished for the day. We were supposed to go to Wal-Mart but I ended up going solo.
I finally finish all my shopping and I head for home at about 4pm. When I got home I hunted for the Easter baskets everywhere. I did finally find them after I remembered I was going to sell them in my yard sale. So I got the baskets all made up and the 120 plastic eggs all filled with candy and put away on top of the fridge.
Jarrett finds his way home and I go round up the other two boys and we end up watching a movie before going to bed. About 3am I woke up and hid the baskets. At 9am Chase wakes up and he finds his basket and he gets the other two boys to find theirs. We then colored five dozen eggs and I start working on getting lunch ready while cleaning up after Chase. I so wish he would not touch and move everything in sight.
Dad comes over and I put him to work on cutting the ham. We had a great lunch and even had cake for desert. I showed him my new toy, the DSi, and we had fun taking pictures with it. It has a feature that lets you know if you're related to the other person. Ricky and I are like 23% related, siblings. Jarrett and I are 12% cousins. Dad and I are 1% and unrelated. I always thought I was adopted, lol. Anyway its fun to play with.
So Dad heads home and the boys are nagging me to take them to gamestop. So we head out and back and thats when I came to the conclusion that someone forgot to hide the plastic eggs for chase to find. Darn it.

Maybe tomorrow...

2009-03-30T10:01:00.002-04:00

OMG, this morning Ricky comes running out of the bathroom and calling for me. I ask him whats the matter and he tells me there is a huge spider in the shower. So I look and the thing is the size of my hand, huge! He goes to get a shoe but by the time he gets back the thing hides in the closet where the towels are. That closet is behind the door so you can't even get to it without going into the bathroom. Ugh, what am I going to do?

My washing machine had broken down and would not drain the water about two weeks ago. I had thankfully done the last of the clothes before that happened so I was set for the week. I had the boys take the hoses off and see if there was something stuck but we didn't find anything. So last weekend Jarrett went with me and we did the laundry at the mat. Finally on Friday I called around to see when someone could come out. Sears said in 10 days. Whoa! So I called some other random company and he said he won't come out my way but he knows of another guy who lives out here that could help. Sure enough that guy came out on Friday afternoon and it turns out that there was one of Chase's little socks stuck in the pump. He charged me $75 to pull out a sock but I'm not complaining. I was able to do all my laundry last night and fold it today so we are good again!

Chase and I went to the beach last week. It's a beach called Clam Pass. It's owned by parks and recreation but there is a huge hotel right by it and they provide golf cart rides down the mile or so of boardwalk. The hotel also rents out boats and has a cafe and restrooms right near the beach.
So Chase is playing in the water and we walk down to the pass, where the fresh water empties into the gulf. I was only wearing my one piece bathing suit and beach shoes cause we were in the water most of the time.
Chase decides he needs to use the bathroom and so we head up that way. Noone was in line and we got right in so Chase is in one stall and I'm in the other cause I can't go near a bathroom with out having to pee. I soon realise that there are girls outside waiting and I hear that Chase is done. So What does he do, he peeks under my door and tells the lady waiting in line that his mommy does not have any clothes on and is going potty.
Nice. I mean for the most part I was covered up, even though it was a one piece down to my knees, I had pulled the bust part up to cover myself, but when he said that I realised that the cracks inbetween the walls and door of the stall I was in were very wide to say the least. OK now picture this: fat woman in little bathroom stall pulling up a wet bathing suit and trying to be descrete and hurry at the same time cause the girls outside are engaging in embarassing conversation with four year old son. I'll get over it I'm sure.

So today you got spider, wahing machine and beach. Nice mix I think!

2009-03-19T12:38:00.002-04:00

What is wrong with me lately? I have tried to post like every day but something keeps me from doing it. (Like a phone call, a misbehaving kid or something like that. Not like an evil force field around the computer...errr maybe...nah!)

Anyhow...whats going on these days? I would love to tell you that every thing is going great but that would be a lie. I mean, don't take that the wrong way 'cause like everyone is OK and all but there is something going amiss and until it is figured out and dealt with then there will continue to be the slight problems that we have been having. Clear as mud, right? Right!

On to other news... Chase has been saying "O God!" lately. as in when he gets frustrated with a game or a toy. I don't know where he picked that up at cause none of us bigger people say that.

I have some beach pictures I wanted to post but thats for another day cause Chase keeps asking me to play with him and I just can't resist...

2009-03-04T14:31:00.005-05:00

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So what's going on?

My Grandma, who will be 94 at the end of March, is
still in the retirement home.  She was at home and
my Parents were taking care of her.  Then she kept
falling. So my parents called hospice and they were
coming to the house. Well she was getting up one
morning and she fell again and complained that her leg
hurt.  So she went to the hospital and they had to
do surgery.  She was then sent to the retirement
home and she is doing therapy there.  I have been
trying to go see her when I get the chance.  Chase
and I went yesterday and she wants to go home sooo
bad.  She even offered to pay me to take care of her
so she can go home.  I sooo wish that that was an
option for her. I pray for her every day that she
can just be happy where she is so she can get better.
I love her so much.  She is the strongest woman that
I know.  She won't take any shit from anyone!  I'm sure
the nurses are figuring that out too!  I wish for a
magic fairy wand so that I can grant her wishes.  In
the meantime I will just keep visiting her and spending
time with her and keeping her company when I can.

We blew up the car!

2009-02-19T09:16:00.003-05:00

Ok, I know I have been taking my sweet ass time on posting on this blog. And I know also that it is soooo annoying to check someones blog everyday just to see the same thing everyday for like two weeks. And I have no excuses cause like I am not employed and I am on the computer like all the time. I have been looking up jobs and checking e-mail and playing Runescape...(lvl 86 thank you, and I bought my first whip! WOOT!) Anyway things are still going on and life is still turning. Ricky has been put on zoloft for depression and I love what its doing for him. OMG he is the sweetest boy ever! He is still going to court for truency but he hasn't missed school in over two months. He also has not gotten any referals. Yay! The judge wants him to bring up his grades though, so do I. Ok, now for the big explosion we had...

So I had to get a different car. I say different cause its not new and not even newer than the one I had. The station wagon was having problems with the transmission and it left me stranded one day. So I needed a different car. I found one for $300.00 and bought it. So now I am driving a Pathfinder. I know you want to hear about the explosion, right? I'm geting to that!
The wagon was sitting in the driveway with no tag on it and I wanted to move it to a different spot in the driveway so I would not have to park behind it all the time. It was decided that we were going to junk it anyway so we took it out back to do some doughnuts and figure eights. Well, the car got a little hot and caught some pine needles on fire and we could not get it out. I ran into the house and called my brother cause he's a fireman at the station up the street. They came and put out the fire and here is what the car looks like now...

I know, it looks so horrible. But everyone is safe and no houses were in danger.
The next day (Wednesday) I went to clean a house for my friend Angie cause she just had a baby and when Chase and I got home we see the smoke and fire are back. The fire had restarted and I called my brother again and he called the station and they came back out again. This time it burned a little bit further and they ended up bringing out a dozer to circle the spot where the fire was. I'm almost positive that it won't light up again, but I am keeping an eye on it.

So what have you been up to lately?

I have pictures!

2009-02-02T13:06:00.004-05:00

So here is Chase in the car. I think I'm at a stop light!???

This is Jarrett on Christmas morning. He just opened his new water bottle for camping. He just got to use it this weekend when he went to the camporee with scouts. Ricky and him thought it was a great event and Jarrett got tapped out for OA so thats cool.

This is Chase on Christmas morning.

Oh, here's the tree on Christmas morning.

Now I will show you some of the things I do to keep busy. Please know that I do not consider myself artistic or creative in any way. I just like to make things.

So first we have Chase's changing table that My Dad and I built while I was pregnant with him.
(and by him I mean Chase, not my Dad.) It used to be white with some zoo=y type stick-ons. Now I have repainted it yellow and green and painted a scene on the inside. So here's the back wall...

And here's where he plays with micro machines. It has two parking lots (told you I'm not artistic) and a long curvy loop of a road. He LOVES this thing.

Ok, now we have a bag that I made for chase. He picked out the fabric at the craft store and I used the same pattern as the brown bag below.

This was the first of my sewing items to make. It came printed on a yard of canvas type material. So I just had to cut out the pattern and follow the instructions. However on the pirate one for Chase (above) I had to change things around a little cause the pirates would have been sideways.!

This train bank came as a kit from the scout shop. Chase and I worked together on this one but I ended up doing the final paint job.

My Turkey. God I love this thing. I can not believe that I made this. Again it was cut out the pattern and add some batting and rocks (for weight) and follow the instructions. I want to make another one! But I feel kinda funny with two birds.

This is Betty, my sewing machine. Lucy (My ex-mother-in-law i guess) gave this to me. Not that it is a hand me down or anything...her husband found it in the dumpster where he works and they asked if I wanted it. Took me a while to figure her out but Betty and I are good friends now. (although that bitch could have told me that I put in the wrong needle when two of them broke today) (and by bitch I mean Betty the sewing machine, not Lucy).

This weekend I went to the craft store and was browsing the books when I see a book about roving wool or something. I kinda scan through it and thought wow that's neat, whatever it is. Well I paid for the items I had and then asked the lady at the counter where they kept the wool for felting stuff. I had no idea what I was talking about but apparently she did and she pointed me back toward the yarns and wool. A couple of bucks later I was able to make this... (its a cat not a squirel)

And this butterfly...Well anyway you take wool, felt and a special pin and fuse the two fabrics together so there is no glue or sewing. I attempted to make Chase a monkey but it looks more like a black voo doo doll right now.

And finally I made this apron. I was so excited that I made a flounce that I was singing that word all morning. Its quite a funny word if you ask me.

She looks great in my kitchen doesn't she?

I look just like her huh? ROFLMAO! See the flounce at the bottom?

Ok thats enough for now...

I can see in that last picture that Chase has left the milk out so I better get.

Oh and see the ice cream container on top of the fridge? That has a real snake in it. The boys caught it outside the other day. I think I will have them let it go this afternoon.

2009-01-09T10:45:00.002-05:00

Wow where has the time gone? I haven't a clue.

We had a nice visit with my brother Kevin and his wonderful family on Christmas eve at his house. In past years the kids were always excited to go to Kevins for christmas eve cause there were always plenty of presents for everyone. This year it was decided that there would be no gift exchanges. Most of the kids are over 13 and know why that tradition has come to a stop. Even the two youngest boys in the family (who are my Chase at 4 years old and Kevin's son Joey at five) had a great time at the party anyway. Joey picked out a puzzle for Chase and Chase could not wait to give Joey his present. I did make candy baskets for all the kids though. And Kevin and Rita gave my boys some cash. I guess we are finding it hard to break tradition. lol

New years was busy because of taking down christmas decorations and such. But I slept through the actual event cause the boys put on a movie and wern't watching the time. 5 minutes after 12 we had our own little countdown from 10 even though Ricky thought it was dumb. I gave the boys a new years kiss and went to bed.

The fish named Little that Chase got at the snow fest has since past on to greener pastures, errr maybe bluer waters? He was a trooper non the less. Chase always "dumped" food in his bowl and I think the changing of water every other day was too much stress. Chase loved that fish named Little, he really did!

My car is almost not drivable. There is something seriously wrong with the transmission. At times the car is fine but mostly it will not go over 35 miles per hour. Which has become a problem since the closest store is 15 minutes away. I need to get it looked at soon but I am waiting for some money to come in first.

Some brighter news is that I have not talked to the ex for several months and I think it has had a very positive effect on my future outlook. I love not listening to him and his opinions!

Just checked to see if any new pis are on the camera but there are none so I spared you that much at least! lol

Ya I know, more pictures of the kids. Deal with it!

2008-12-18T07:09:00.004-05:00

This is Chase at the mall. This is Jarrett doing his science fair project. I had the wonderful idea to make him cut onions and make him cry. His project was to find out which of eight defenses actually work. So out of: having a fan blow on your face, a piece of bread in your mouth (shown below), freezing it, boiling it, wearing goggles, no protection at all, and running water over the onion. Which one do you think is the best defense? It's the running water! There is my cooking tip for the day.
For those of you not on my Christmas card list, here is the picture of the family that we sent this year. Of course I cropped out the messy floor before I sent them. This is Ricky, Mikey, Jarrett, Chase and Heather. This was the 28th picture taken...some of them had full moons and missing people but we all agreed on this one finally.
I have been asking the boys what they want for Christmas for weeks now and Chase has always told me he wants a little dump truck. Thats it, just a little dump truck. Well, Chase and my Dad go for walks around the block when Chase visits them. Chase is very friendly with all the neighbors and will even help them out when they ask. Well, one of the ladies bought him a Christmas gift, the dump truck and a small snowman. So very nice of her. He was so excited he wanted to go home right then to play with it. These are pictures from the next morning. Whats funny is Chase hates to get dirty and he got plenty dirty while playing with the dump truck.

Just a side note: Mikey is a kid that got kicked out of his house for fighting with his brother Timmy and so now he moved in with us. We have known him and his family for a long time, like eight years. Ricky and Mikey's brother Timmy made their first communion together and before that their mom Beth knew two of my brothers and didn't even know they were brothers. (She worked for my s-i-l's moms flower shop and she did girlscouts with my other brothers daughter.)
When I lost my job, the ex could not figure out where I went. He went to my friend Angies house and asked her if she had seen me. She told him no. Then the next day his buddy Danny and his son (also Danny) show up at my parents house looking for me. What a coincidence huh? They convinced Mom to call me so I talked to Little Danny for a few and took down his number and told him I would call him later. That was on the 6th and I did not call him. I just figured that he was going to tell Rick-the ex.
So on the 16th they show up at moms again. She calls me while they are there and I tell Little Danny that I would call them on Wednesday. So on Wednesday I go to Target and my car is not running right. I call Little Danny and see if they want to chat. He says ok and I proceed to wait around for freaking ever for them. Chase was getting ansy so we made our way home. They show up at Moms seven hours later and ask what happened. WTF.

2008-12-06T14:12:00.005-05:00

Chase being goofy about the gingerbread man and lady that we made.
Tho outside of the house.
My wonderful palm tree all lighted up...I'm so proud of myself!
The tree and many many stockings. And yes, we have a star and an angel on top of the tree. Cause thats what Chase wanted.
The tissue paper wreath that we made this year cause I remember how pretty the one was that I made in 2nd grade.
This is my stocking that I made from scratch for the four of us like three years ago.
This is Chase petting a goat at the snow fest today.
Look it does snow in Florida. See!
Chase just threw a snowball!
He made it to the top!
A raindeer, elf, snowman, and Chase holding his new fish named "Little".
Chase riding in a horse drawn sleigh!

Today was the Snow-fest here in town. It always snows here the first Saturday of December! There are so many people that come that they have you park at the high school and they bus you over. You can make ornaments and sit with santa for a picture. They also have carnival rides and tons of fair food. This year Chase thought his time in the snow was a little too short.

On a side note they started this event when I was 12 years old and I have pictures of me in the snow too! Although it used to be a way smaller event.

Jarrett is camping this weekend with the scouts. Just a one nighter but thats good enough for them. They are panning for artifacts on the Peace River so that should keep them pretty busy.

2008-12-04T14:35:00.002-05:00

Wow, where have I been...I don't really know to be honest.

I have decorated my house for Christmas. The tree is up and it has tinsel and ornaments on it. I even did a palm tree that is outside. Which I will take pictures of soon...

I decorated a hotel in Marco for Christmas.

I decorated two separate residences for Christmas. One of which was entirely santa clauses on the tree ranging from 6 feet tall to 3 inches tall, on the tree. Very santa clausy!

I got laid off.

I made a wreath out of tissue paper just like I did in 2nd grade and it looks fan-freaking-tastic if you ask me.

I painted some cute masks for Chase to play with, a kitten, an elf, and a puppy all with santa hats on.

Tonight I need to help Jarrett with a science fair project, and find the courage to tell the boys that I'm not working. Eek!

Wish me luck.

2008-11-07T16:16:00.002-05:00

OMG that took me like 10 hours to do. I can't stand it that the pictures dont line up with the words and yet I tried everything to fix it. Maybe I will learn how to do it one of these days. And another thing... while I'm ranting...why oh why do the pictures come out in a backasswards order? That pissed me off too!

Ok I'm done complaining... try to follow allong with my post below...

(sarcastic grin)

See I told you I would do it. Oh ye of little faith...

2008-11-07T14:38:00.005-05:00

This is my Mom and Dad's mailbox.

I snapped this picture so I could send it up to my aunt in NH just for fun.

The next day it looked like this. So I had to snap another picture to send up to her. It kinda scared me cause I thought I was seeing things.

Next we have Chase at the Swamp Buggy Parade. The kids always get lots of candy and coolie cups at this event. Chase is holding up an airplane and wearing beads that he got. And of course the pumpkin is full of candy and advertisements.

The swamp buggy races were started right here where we live. at the end of the race weekend the winning driver and the Swamp Buggy Queen jump into the mud pit together. Always a good time!

Here is Chase with his birthday cake for his 4th birthday. I let him pick out the cake, can you tell? He is so proud of his pumpkin cake.

Here is my nephew Joey, a friend Michelle and Chase being pulled in a wagon for trick-or-treating. This was their second go round when Uncle Kevin took them.

This is really funny...for Chase that is. One day he pointed to this sun beam on the floor of the kitchen and called it a toothbrush. So here is the picture of the big toothbrush. Also one day I was getting out of the shower and Chase was on my bed and he called me over and showed me some dust flying through the sunbeams. I was amazed that he slowed down enough to notice it. A minute later he was jumping on the bed again being a boy.

This is what my yard sale looked like before everyone came and took stuff. Do you like my huge dinosaur?

After the yard sale Jarrett and my nephew Nick (not Nicholas) were having fun counting the money!!!

And finally this is Chase with his birthday present from his Dad that his Pappy dropped off. He was very happy to get a Thomas the train play set.

One thing I don't have pictures of is Rachel and the girls. They came down the day I was having the yard sale a visited a bit at the house. Then we got together again for a great seafood dinner and we didn't even have to change tables this time! I am so thankful that we had kept in touch over these long years.

This weekend we are having a hot dog sale fund raiser and a pancake breakfast for the scouts.
Oh and I talked to my friend DeeAnn and she misses me too. Her and her son left the troop just after summer camp and I have not gotten to talk to her.

Ok thats enough for now...

2008-11-06T15:07:00.002-05:00

I keep saying to myself

"Man, I gotta put that on my blog!"

Don't ask me why I call myself a man, I just do it as a saying. I don't really think I am a man.

Anyway...I have stuff to say and I have pictures that I have wanted to post but darn it if I can find some time to do it.

I wanted to tell y'all Happy Ween. Cause that's how Chase says it.

And I wanted to tell you about my yard sale and about Rachel's visit.

And about other cool stuff too and I will do it all but just not right now. You will have to wait for a bit. Cause I need to get more that five minutes to do it. M'kay?

I will do it. You don't mind if its late do you?

Thanks

2008-10-23T06:32:00.003-04:00

This warning sign is located in my car and every time we use the cupholder we laugh cause in order for you to hit your head on a can that is in there, you would have to bend completely over and touch your knees with your head. It's pretty low to say the least.

My sister in law Becca sent all the family members a little cloth square so we can decorate it and send it back to her. She is then going to put them all together and make a quilt to send to my brother Brad who is deployed. She said we could use fabric paint or thread. I chose thread. The little pictures represent the twelve months of the year. (really hoping I didn't have to explaine that part!) I know my mom did one with a nativity scene and my aunt did one with a moose, she lives in NH. I also sewed one for my grandma. Meaning she also got a square and I put some pictures of snowmen and raindeer and christmasy stuff and her name on it. Can't wait to see the finished project.
I know its a bit early...but check out the new sheriff in town. We finally found a pair of boots and so Chase's holloween costume is now complete! I was having him try on the vest that I made and he really thought he was a cowboy. Yes, that is a sheriffs star on the vest. It is metal and adorable!
He started posing up a storm once we got started. I took about ten pictures of him. He is so cute.
Oh, see the black picture next to him? That is a picture that we drew while Jarrett was at one of his scout meetings. It's a witch with a cat by her feet and she is holding a broom and a toothbrush. I guess she wants to take care of her teeth while she is flying through the night! Of course I drew the picture but it was Chase's idea of what to draw.

I got an e-mail from Rach saying that she is really coming down to see me. (well she told her brother she was coming down to see him, but thats ok I know the real truth, wink wink!) I can't wait to see her! It's been tooooo long.

Hope you all enjoy my pictures. Have a great day!

2008-10-16T17:35:00.002-04:00

I am blank... I know I havn't written in a couple of days yet I can't think of one thing to write about. I have a picture to post but I didn't bring the cord with me. I could tell you that I have been playing Runescape alot more these days. Like in my spare time, and when the boys are not on the computer, which is not really that often. I would play while I'm at work but this computer won't even load up the log in page.
Right now it is 5:45pm and I am still at work waiting on a truck to make a delivery. I normally get off at 4. I talked to the office and they said that the truck should be here about 5. When I called my boss 15 minutes ago he asked if I could wait till 6. This is all very interesting, right?
Jarrett did go on a campout last weekend. It was a fishing campout. They stayed on Panther Key which is an island. The troop got some free pontoons rented to us so they could get out there. Jarrett found out that he likes fresh snook! He didn't catch it but one of the other boys did. They had it for dinner. He also said that one of the boys almost got bit by a shark. It was inches from his feet. It was a small one, I think he said a black shark.?! They also went hunting for treasure and found some really good Calusa Indian stuff. Shells used for tools and pottery. He really liked the campout even though it was very primitive and was only one night.

Well its now 6pm and no one showed. I'm going home!

2008-10-08T13:38:00.003-04:00

This is a plant that started out as a twig that I thought was just stuck in the gutter at work. But We have been at this location for a year now and it seems that the "twig" was actually growing. I don't know how but it does.

A little like my life, huh? I mean some days I don't know how I pull through and come out the next day. I was just in a situation this past weekend that oh myI did not know where I was going to end up.

Last Thursday I was at work and as usual I end up hanging up on a certain decroted piece of crap that calls me every day. (Rick, for anyone that needs to know.) Finally at the end of the day I made the decision to put him to rest. I answered the phone again and told that piece of crap that I would not be taking any more of his calls and I will report him to the authorities the very next time he called. He informed me that he had some interesting information about me and a certain faulcification that he thinks I used on an application for some gov't help. I told him to screw off and hung up the phone.

Turns out that he thinks that I lied on the application about my address. What a jerk. 1. How did he see any information on my application? and 2. Well lets just say that two is that fact that he is a real piece...ok Heather calm down already.

Anyway, He (or someone that uses the same words and phrases he does) ends up calling the department of childrens and families on me saying that I am "not motivated enough to take care of the kids". among a few other useless and stupid statements.
So my Mom calls me on Friday and says that a very nice lady came by and she wants to talk to me. I finally meet up with her on Saturday (after I took Chase to the zoo of course). She talked with the boys and checked the house for food and beds and that sor of stuff. When she left she said she did not see any type of abuse at all and she will be in touch with my other contacts I gave her.

Ricky sent Rick (his Dad) a message that stated he was a stupid stupid man and that if any abuse was done it was by him. I told Ricky not to waste his time on him. Rick's step-dad Pappy called me and said that rick does not know what Ricky is talking about and wants to get together to talk. I told him no.

So, even though it was very time consuming, its good to know I came though with flying colors. I am a good mom and my kids don't think I abuse them...

YAY

2008-09-30T13:40:00.003-04:00

Here are some of the key words that people have used, and found my blog with... and my comment on them.

camp bob hardin...This one is mentioned alot, thats where the boys went to summer camp.

writhing pain...must have been one of the few times I was sick.

gumby scout,...Huh, this is weird, I mean who wants a gumby scout? Whatever!

wood badge ticket...Oh someone needs wood bagde ticket ideas and they thought they could get it from me, ha!

long time no talk letters myspace... someone is lonley.

personals that don't suck... Still have not found that.

funny wood badge critter jokes... There are some great ones out there but not on my blog.

how to straighten a walking stick...This must be about my dads walking sticks, glad I could help.

that's a neck...An old saying that the boys thought was cool. So last year though. Now it's "That's what she said"

my boss has cut my hours need help to see what to do...So do I, my dear, so do I.

wood badge walking sticks...Yes my dad made me one with my eagle critter on it.

yahoo personals suck...I know!

we wear rhe same size shoe...How do you know what size shoe I wear?

beaver cheers woodbadge... Those crazy beavers can't cheer, they're teeth get in the way.

what have you been doing for the past 45 years...Uh I'm only 34.

does baby water moccasins come in multiples...you mean can they have twins? Sure I guess.

Well that was fun.

Saturday was kinda buzy. Jarrett, Chase and I

2008-09-28T21:34:00.005-04:00

went up to Ft. Myers to the scout shop because he needed new scout pants for an event later that night. On the way back we stopped at Best Buy and Bass Pro Shops. We caught some cute pictures of Chase wrangling an alligator. It would be an odd day if we didn't see real alligators everyday in the various canals and lakes we have down here. Also at Bass Pro they have the crosswalk that goes to the parking lot made out of fish instead of lines. Yes Chase is a daredevil sitting in the middle of the road. It was for just a second and I'm sure that hue truck did not run over him on purpose. just kidding...
Next we have just a couple of pics from the Scout event that Jarrett went to. It was the travelling Vietnam Vetern Was memorial wall. I had not seen it before and I must say it is a very moving thing to see. Our boy scout troop did the candle light ceromony part with some girl scouts. I havn't figured out how to take pics at night so the one of the whole wall did not come out but I did get this one and ...
I found my moms cousin Anthony P. Palumbo who died in 1969 when he was 20 years old after he had been in Vietnam for over a year. You can see his name in the middle. During the ceremony we learned there are 58,000 names on the wall and they are listed in the order that they past away. I seen men sobbing and there were teddy bears and flowers and pictures left as small memorials. If you ever get a chance to see it, I would recomend it highly.
I know that I am sending a letter to my brother tomorrow for sure. He's given so much for me, and I don't think my one letter is enough, but I also know that he appreciates hearing from his sis. He has been in Afghanistan since January, but I think I may have mentioned that before.
Hope ya'll had a great weekend.
P.S. I had an interview for a part time job but I didn't get the position. I am still looking and not loosing hope...

2008-09-25T09:05:00.003-04:00

Sorry that I have to be the one to tell you all this. But Chase is the "winner" of the priceless poster you see him proudly standing next to.

See about two months ago I took Chase to our local drive-thru Checkers. He got a kids meal and I probably got some fries smothered in cheese and bacon and ranch and a banana shake cause I don't care about my health at all.

Anyway to get back to the priceless poster that he "won"... On his kids meal bag was an entry form. For a trip to "Space Camp". This has been a dream of his for like five minutes so when we got home I filled out the entry form and actually mailed it in the next day.

Then we moved.

And I thought his Space Camp dreams would be crushed forever.

But alas, We received an envelope in the mail at the new house from Rally's/Checker's. Could it be the ticket to Space Camp? I called all the boys into the kitchen and we all waited as Chase tried to figure out how to open an envelope (He's only three people, com'on)

We waited and gave directions without helping him. He finally got the contraption open and... and... Yay, Chase is a winner of a poster.
A priceless poster at that.

A poster of a robot that, if he had gotten to go to Space Camp he could have met in person and had him bring him a coke or something. But Chase is a winner and I made sure to make a really big deal out of it and we hung it in his room and everyone that has come over to the house has gotten a grand tour of the priceless poster.

Yes, Chase is a winner.

He loves his poster and he knows it means a lot to me that he's a winner. So much so that one day this past weekend, he got mad at me for not letting him have a popsicle right before lunch (homemade this time) that he tore his poster off the wall and brought it to me and said "I'm not a winner".

I gave him the popsicle and we hung his poster back up in his room.

2008-09-18T15:00:00.002-04:00

I found this in my local newspaper... It's about where I live and its kinda funny I guess. To help you out I will bold the funny parts as I know them...

NAPLES — Money Magazine has ranked Collier County fourth on its "Best Places for a Long Life" list.
The magazine studied regions across the country. The highest rankings identify areas where residents have some of the highest life expectancies.
In its report, Money stated that Collier County "is the picture of Florida leisure. By land area, Collier is the largest county in the state and 80 percent of it is devoted to parks and nature preserves. Any kind of water-related recreation or exercise you can think of is readily available."
The magazine also recognized the area's many arts and entertainment offerings.
"Our ranking among the 'Best Places' confirms what we are working to develop in Southwest Florida, which is a robust business climate for growing technology, life science and corporate headquarter enterprises. Couple this with a warm, natural climate and a well-educated workforce and you have the formula for business success,” said Julie A. Schmelzle, chairman of the Economic Development Council of Collier County, in a news release.
The complete list of "Best Places for a Long Life" appears on CNNMoney.com
At the top of the list is Montgomery County in Maryland, which includes the towns of Aspen Hill, Bethesda, Calverton, Colesville, Fairland, Gaithersburg, Germantown, Montgomery Village, North Bethesda, Olney, Potomac, Rockville, Silver Spring and White Oak.

I find this to be really funny. The part about highest life expectancy is a hoot! And you know that they really did their research well too cause every one that commented on the article said that Naples is great for bingo, bridge, driving slow, bingo, church groups...etc...
Ok maybe this is a joke only I can understand. Cause I do live here. And consider myself a native even though I have only lived here for 29 of my 34 years.

We don't call them "blue haired ladies" cause they are punk.

The boys

2008-09-16T19:57:00.004-04:00

Jarrett

Jarrett and Ricky

Ricky

A few pics for you to muse over...

2008-09-16T19:49:00.004-04:00

Chase going up

Chase coming down

One of Chase's Lizard Kings

Chase fishing in pond behind the house.

Ricky says "Top o the morn'in to ya."

2008-09-12T10:31:00.003-04:00

Couple of things going on. Today is my son Ricky's 15th birthday.

Happy berfday sweetheart. You mean the world to me. You are growing in so many ways right before my eyes. You amaze me every day we are together. I luf you honey.

I got the pictures back that I told you about earlier. You know the 18 rolls of film that had not been developed yet. Well, I was right there were four rolls from the early 90's when I was in high school. They came back very grainy but you could make out some of the faces. Most were from a track meet. Another roll was from the beach down by the pier. Yet another roll was from when I went to visit my friend Rachel in Atlanta. Although there are no pictures of us, there are a couple of cute ones of my two boys at the Atlanta zoo. A few rolls were from when Ricky was 5 and first starting school (ten years ago). A couple more rolls were from 3 to 4 years ago when I took the boys camping at the Peace river and Chase's first bath.
Ricky needs to put the pics on his computer and then I should be able to post a couple of them.
We have been trying to figure out a way to get Jarrett's computer to have internet. I think we finally got it figured out and I need to go get the router today. But when I woke up this morning I was feeling really hot. Like sweating and stuff. I took my temp but it was 96.1. Then as Ricky was going to catch the bus, I started vomiting the water that I drank to cool myself down. I have felt lousy ever since. Hopefully I will feel better. Maybe later I will jump in the shower. Yeah a shower sounds good.

2008-09-06T21:21:00.002-04:00

On Thursday my boss came up to me and asked if I wanted to go to Miami tomorrow...(which was Friday of course). I said sure and got all the info I needed and loaded my car with a piece of glass. Friday morning I left the house after the boys both caught their buses. Chase and I had packed a lunch and drinks and headed out the door.
We took 41 instead of I-75 cause my car does not do too well over 60mph. I love going the scenic route. You see all the gators on the side of the road and this time I saw lots of wild rabbits. They were brown and cute.
We got to where we were supposed to be about 11 and had to wait about 2 hours before we could head home. We found a McDonalds close by and played on the playground a good part of the time.
Then it was time to head back and Chase fell asleep before we hit 41 again. For those that don't know 41 is about 90 miles long and pretty straight and it goes right through the everglades. There are Indian Villages and swamp buggy/air boat tours the whole way through. And you have to watch out for the Miccassukee Indian Police cause they will lock you up in little huts and never let you out...Well maybe thats just what my brothers always told me so I won't speed though that part.
I mowed the lawn today. Ricky and I split it up and we got the whole thing done in one day instead of two. Yeah!
Lately, I have been going out and laying on a hammock that my brother left here. Around 6pm when the sun is past the trees and its a little cooler out is the perfect time to do it. I almost fell asleep out there today. It is so relaxing out there. There are lots of lizards that keep me entertained and any of them that are one the hammock Chase has decided that they are the "Lizard King" because they are so high on the post.
Rick saw Chase today and he thinks we are staying at my moms house. I'm not going to tell him any different. He was supposed to give me some money but we all know how that goes, the guy was not home all day that he was getting paid from. What ever.
Well the boys want to check their myspace so I better git...
oh that reminds me...when Chase wants to use the computer now, he asks to "go on my space". And we say "myspace" and he says "no, my space!" It's really cute, but I am refusing to allow him to get a myspace account, cause
I'm a good mom like that. Maybe when he turns five...

2008-08-31T18:25:00.002-04:00

My mail is not being forwarded yet...I sent the form in like two weeks ago and then I find out that the mail that I should be getting is going to my brothers new house. I'm sure it will work itself out sooner or later.

I have spent the better part of the last two days going through all my photos and sorting them by year then by month and finally they are pretty much done. About eight years ago I had taken all my photos out of the mix matched albums with the intent to sort though them then and put them in matching albums. Well I got all the pictures out but never got around to putting them back in anything.
Now after I have them all sorted out I am realizing that I have even more pictures on the computer and disks and even 12 undeveloped rolls of film. Oh boy, I am really in trouble there. Who knows what I will find on those. They could date back to high school even. Maybe I can do one or two rolls a week and see what I find. Should be fun. Or maybe I can just get a disk for all of them and only print the ones I need to...hmmm...I still need to find the right albums at any rate.
It's Labor Day weekend and I kinda feel like I am abusing it. Like I should not be taken off work. But in reality I don't work on Mondays anyway which means I won't get paid for this wonderful holiday either. Bummer. Either way I have nothing planned at all. How about you?

2008-08-27T13:02:00.004-04:00

I finished the back yard too. I am so proud of myself. now Chase can play on the "playground". All thats left is one side of the house and the long driveway on up to the mailbox. Maybe on Friday or over the weekend I can get it finished. Not today though. I'm showered and smell like roses sprinkled with ...gas. Lol!
I'm so glad that grass does not grow very fast down here. Wait, what's that you say? It needs to be mowed every two weeks until October. Your kidding, right? OMG I'm gonna need the riding lawn mower, DADDY!

2008-08-27T08:05:00.002-04:00

I am sweaty. I just mowed the front lawn. With a push mower. I don't know if I stink yet because when I put gas in the mower about half-way through the front yard, I didn't put the spout on correctly and gas spilled all over my hand and shoe. Good thing I quit smoking two years ago. Must drink water and put a mole skin on busted blister which I got when I used Jarrett's sneakers to mow the front lawn.
p.s. I borrowed the mower from Dad so I could start with the back yard so Chase could play on the "playground". But now I think I might die if I attempt to go back out there in the blazing heat of south Florida.
p.s.s. Yuck! I just picked up my arms of the desk and there is a puddle of sweat. Maybe I should wipe the desk down now. Naw, maybe a little later. It's Ricky's desk anyway. He should wipe his own desk. And he should take out the garbage. And maybe he can mow the lawn.

OK I think I've rambled enough. Sorry about pouring gas on your shoe Jarrett. And for making them all grassy and dirty. And no, Ricky you don't have to mow the lawn. And yes I will wipe off your desk. I'm feeling a little better now. Maybe I will try to restart the mower. Did I tell you that I mowed the front lawn today...

2008-08-22T07:59:00.003-04:00

Finally settled in the new place. The boys have started school and so far they are doing OK. They have complained but I think it may be just nerves. They are happy that the bus picks them up at our mailbox rather than down the street.
School started one day late this year due to hurricane Faye and I think that is a good thing. The first week is always exhausting for the kids. As for the storm, we just had a lot of rain and it was windy enough to bend the flag pole over. Other than missing a day of work (and pay) and school, it was pretty uneventful.
Chase loves the new house. He can ride his three wheel bike through the whole place and not bump into too much. He has a room full of his toys and a t.v. for his game cube. He likes to play Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on it. He likes the playstation too but the boys have limited him to only playing Jak and Daxter cause he has scratched or broken most of their other games. Yes, we do educational stuff too, but don't tell him that.
I am still hoping I have done the right thing by moving. The driving is taking some getting used to. And I'm hoping the bills will even out. Another thing is getting used to the spiders that have found their way into the house somehow. Huge spiders.
Speaking of bugs I can't get rid of, Rick is now really off limits for all of us. On Monday I needed to take Ricky to get some school clothes and thought that Rick could watch Chase for me while we went to the mall. He was calling every ten minutes. I answered the first couple of times then I stopped cause he was really being a pain in the ass. Wanting me to come pick up Chase stating that I was just using him. Whatever! Anyway, when we went there he was upset that I didn't want to stop and talk to him. Again, he wouldn't get out of the car so I started to pull out of the driveway with him halfway in the car. He got pissed and slammed the door so hard that it broke and now the door does not open and shut correctly. You have to yank on it. So, He's been calling and calling and finally on Thursday I told him that I am not bringing the baby over told him to stop calling me. He had his step-dad call my work asking if I want the door fixed. I told him no. He does not know that we moved and will be quite surprised to find that out, which if I know him like I do, it will be soon cause he will try to send Pappy over to find out about the door or something. I'm not even going to answer his calls anymore. I promise!

2008-08-05T14:54:00.002-04:00

So I may be moving shortly. My brother and his family had moved out of his house a little prematurly and now his house is sitting empty for a few months. He let me know that I can live there for about nine months but then I will have to move.
I'm a little nervous about my brother (Kevin) being my landlord but I can't pass up this opportunity. Both the boys want to move to the new house. It's a four bedroom two bath with a garage so they would each have their own room. It's like two and a half times as big as my apartment now. I am ready to do it but as always I am not confident enough in myself to know that this is a good idea. I am really worried that the kids will do something to the house that I can't fix or something like that.
Also, both of the boys will have to start in new schools with out knowing anyone. Ricky is trying to think of a way to go to Naples High but I just don't see that happening. He will have to come to terms with it. Although the house is in Naples it is on the oppisite side of town and neither of the boys would know anyone at the schools besides their cousins.
It's also an hour drive from where I work and where all the classes are for this court thing with Ricky. Which means I will be spending alot on gas.

I can't understand how moving to a huge, beautiful, less than five year old house can cause me so much stress! I wish I knew! This month is going to be rough, I know.

2008-07-24T13:00:00.002-04:00

I tried to post from home last night but I had kos (kids over shoulder) and then we got into a conversation about putting music on my gps that is supposed to have a mp3 player on it but we never figured out how to get the music on there. Still havn't figured that out by the way.

Rick called up to my work a few minutes ago and said that he was going to have his step-dad drop chase off at my work because I was being a bitch. He said I was being a bitch on tuesday too. I asked him if he is seeing a pattern there. He thinks I am being a bitch because I am screwing around with someone. He tells me that he is going to call dcf and have the kids taken away from me by the end of the month.
Now trust me I am no more worried that the boys will get taken away than I am worried that a comet will come shooting out of the heavens and land on my house. I do not fall for his stupid antics and silly games that he thinks work with me anymore. What I hate is the fact that he knows the phone number here at work and he gets to call it whenever he wants to. I hate that he has the option to try to piss me off. I hate the fact that he knows that I won't report him for violating the injunction when he is taking care of Chase. I hate that Chase is sitting there listening to him call me and continuing to harass me. I think I will report him. I really need to do something.

In other news, I have been doing laundry like crazy since yesterday. I must have been in laundry mode. I mean I usually do at least one load a day. But between yesterday and today I must have done four loads. I don't even know where all the clothes came from. Oh well at least its done.

Ta ta for now cowboys!

2008-07-17T14:30:00.003-04:00

I dislike going this long between posts. Its almost two weeks! Sigh.

Ricky and I went to court last week and they wanted to know if everything was getting done. He took a drug test which he passed (more on that later) and they informed him that he should join the Explorers to finish off his eagle requirements in Boy scouts. Which I think meant that he is kicked out of the troop he has been in for five years. So much for knowing the judge.
Anyway, on the way home he was pointing to some sort of bottle in his pants pocket. I had no idea what he was doing and then he came clean and showed me a lotion bottle that had pee in it. I was furious. I asked him why he would bring that to the court house. And he told me that he needed it so he can test clean. I asked who's it was and he told me it was his brothers. I then asked him when and with who did he smoke with. He just told me that he did it the week before and he was not going to "rat" anyone out. I then calmed down and realised that my heart had broken (again). My son was no longer the innocent boy who didn't keep secrets from him mom. I then explained to him that I only want the best for him and that I love him no matter what but that I had a right to be disappointed with him. That it was my right as a mom to be able to feel disappointed. There was much more said but that was the jest of it.
He has not been out of the house since except when he had an appointment the next day for a family assessment. I was with him when the woman asked him if he had ever used drugs. I was there when he said yes. I was there when she got him to tell her who he was with and when. I was there when he had to explain to her why his test came up clean. I was there when he found out that she is making him do a 12 week group therapy session titled teen survival skills. I was there. I had to sit there and have my heart break over and over again.
This woman also saw that I was due for some one-on-one with a therapist to help with my domestic violence past. I went to my first session today. I feel good about it, I think it will help out alot. My therapist seemed to know exactly what was going on and had some great resources for me. I'm looking forward to going and getting "me" figured out.
I hope Ricky will start to see the benifits of his group too. In all due time I guess.

2008-07-05T22:31:00.003-04:00

I wish my camera worked. My Dad came with Jarrett, Chase and I up to see fireworks on Thursday night. Yes, I know Thursday is the 3rd but they do it every year. It's a shopping center and the ice hockey rink (yes, we have Hockey here in Florida. Ever hear of the FL Everblades?) Any way between the two buildings is a lake where they shoot off the fireworks. They also have live music, water ski shows, and people have family BBQ's and company cookouts at this event.
Chase plugged his ears the whole time. Then when the fireworks started he screamed bloody murder. I took him to the car which was only a hop away from where we set up camp and we stayed there till they were over. He would not even let me in the car with him so I stood outside and watched the show. Each time I turned to check on him he inched himself closer to the window until one time I looked and he smiled and gave me a thumbs up. OMG it was such a mom moment. He found his safe place to witness a great show and was finally happy and enjoying himself.
The next morning we met up with Grandpa again and he could not say enough about the fireworks he saw. He still plugged his ears for the floats with the load music though. And I just had a thought, there were no marching bands in the parade this time...hmmm.

I made some simple chocolate cupcakes yesterday. Except that they are so de-lish and yummy. I hid a cherry inside the cupcake and then on top I put whipped cream and two each of blueberries and raspberries. OMG they are so cute and yummy. And of course they are red, white and blue for the Forth!

Today, Jarrett, Chase and I went to the zoo. We had a great time there as usual. I think the boat ride to see the monkeys was the best part, oh and the two foot fish that where is the lake. We did see a baby water moccasin in the wild. Chase wanted to play on the playgrounds again, and that kinda sucked again. But Jarrett was more than happy to help convince him to see some more animals.

For dinner tonight I made Chicken noodle soup. I love it. I use the bow tie noodles and fresh carrots and celery. Then I cook up the chicken and cube it. I toss in some green peas, corn and chopped onion and spice it up with some salt, pepper, parsley and Italian seasoning to finish it off. I mix it all together and add some chicken broth and Wa-La! A hearty chicken noodle soup that my kids won't eat. Of course they nibble at it but they don't like the celery. Too bad!

My stimulus check has been put to good use. I got my car and license all legal. I got insurance, got my License re-newed, payed two tickets, changed my address, and got my car registered. See my birthday is this month so I had to do most of those things anyway. Now I have a shiny new license with a current picture of me on it. Yay! But that means that the check that the government sent to me was used to give money to the government. Wait, what? The rest of it is going to my landlord for rent so I still have somewhere to sleep!

2008-07-03T14:30:00.002-04:00

My, my, my, where has the time gone?

Ricky finally went to court and I have to go to parenting classes for six weeks. I'm sure it will do me good but I hate being under a microscope. (Whatever that means).

I woke up so late this morning that I only had an hour to get ready and take the baby to his Dad's house.

I love the 4th of July...Tonight we are going to see fireworks. Tomorrow morning is the parade. Then more fireworks tomorrow night. Then the zoo again on saturday, with my parents this time.

I got one of those new singing cards for my brother in afghanastan. It's his 40th birthday this month. It sings "Your unbievable" by EMF. Love it. Hope he gets it in time.

I know I am forgetting some things that have happened in the last couple of ...Oh, oh guess what? The baby is officially potty trained! Not a baby no more! Yay! Any way... I guess thats it for now...Did I tell you all that when we went to court this last time the judge was none other than Ricky scoutmaster. How embarassingdo you think it was to have one of his scouts tell him that he skips school while mom is at work.

Ok thats it for now.

2008-06-24T14:51:00.002-04:00

The boys are home. I was really happy to see them. However, we are not on the same page. I'm not sure we are even reading the same book.
Ricky came back with a bad additude. Jarrett wants to be left alone. Chase just wants to play games with them and they keep kicking him out of their room. They have not picked up anything that they use. They are leaving plates and cups and wrappers everywhere. The clothes are not making it to the baskets and the shoes are not making it to the bin. They get mad when I ask them for a little more detail about the trip and Ricky keeps correcting Jarrett and won't let him tell me anything. I think my heart is breaking because of it all. I can't seem to get a grasp on it.

I want a re-do. I mean I deserve one I think. I wanted them to come home ready to be a family again. But it's not happening that way.

In other news, my sister-in-law Becca came down with the two boys B.J. and Hunter. They live in Kentucky now and my brother Brad is in Afghanastan (He's in the Army). We all got together yesterday at my brother Kevin's house for a Bar-B-Q. They kids (all 10 of them) had a great time playing and socializing. Then this morning I had Becca and the kids and my Dad meet me at Chase's favorite Park. Chase wanted to play with Grandpa more that the other kids this time. Was kinda cute. Then I had to work so Becca took my three with her and I will meet up with them after work for dinner. She is here till tomorrow afternoon. I need to do some research for something to do tomorrow...

2008-06-17T14:35:00.002-04:00

I got postcards!

I also talked to both the boys on Sunday night about 10 pm. I was so happy to hear from them. They are having a good time and were looking forward to going to D.C. on Monday.
Jarrett wrote on his postcard, "Hey, remember me? I used to live there. Well, I remember you!" Then he went on to tell me about Old Rag Mountain that they climbed. Ricky talked about Old Rag too and he admitted that he was "kinda homesick, but who isn't!" I really enjoyed hearing from them.

Of course, with them being gone I have spent a lot of time thinking about some changes that could be made in our family. Things could be done better to make things easier on me and less stressful for the boys. I hate that I want them to be the best ever. I know they will never live up to all my expectations. I need to try to accept them for who they are and what they can do. But I don't know how to do that yet. My emotions get in the way sometimes. Like with scouts. I am not happy unless they are both at the meetings every week. I do ask them if they want to go to events or not. They always say yes but then they give me a hard time when it's time to go because its the weekend and they want to hang out with their buddies or go to the movies. Again and again I have to explain to them that they made an commitment to something and they need to follow through. Like with this football camp, I could not get him to go the last two days before he left for summer camp. He made it seem like I was the worst person for trying to make him go. He tried to tell me that his body was not ready for intense training yet. He needs to work up to it. He needs to start out slower and then maybe he could do the two hour death camp training. Yet, I was still trying to guilt him into going. Telling him that he wanted this, not me. Saying that sure you are going to hurt for the first week but after that your muscles will get used to it and it will get easier. Pushing him to argue with me about not going. Just making him feel like crap for not going, and not really supporting him like a parent should. I just want him to make an effort and try something new. Maybe I am doing this all wrong, but I am trying. I have not given up yet.

2008-06-12T14:58:00.002-04:00

Ok, I went to court yesterday to explain to the judge why my son was not in school for 31 days this past school year. We were all (there were about 100 people there) told to be at the courthouse at 3pm. They do drug tests on the kids and that took about an hour. Finally at 4pm they moved us into the courtroom and there we sat for another 1/2 hour before the judge came out.
They start with the people who have lawyers. There were maybe five or six of those. Then it goes alphabetically so I was able to see a couple of the cases before I went up there. I was shocked to find out that a couple of the kids had a test come back "dirty". One kid tried to tell the judge that he hadn't smoked since april. But the Detective explained that if he last smoked in May that he would have been clean. The kid would not fess up and he has to come back again.
When it was my turn, the judge realised that my son was not with me and he asked where he was. I told him he was in Virginia at a Boy Scout summer camp. He asked if it was a local troop. I said yes and he asked who the Scoutmaster was. I told him his name and he looked at me and said "you realise that he is a magistrate of this court." And I said "yes, I know that very well". Turns out that this judge knows the scoutmaster. Very well. And he informed me that he will check into it. Anyway, they agreed that they need to do some background search on my son and to come back in two weeks.
For some reason I don't think I am off the hook yet...

2008-06-09T18:09:00.002-04:00

OMGosh, The boys have left and I am at a loss for what to do.

Chase and I went to the local zoo on Saturday.

Note to self: ask the zoo people to take out the play grounds.

I let Chase play for what I thought would only be a few minutes. But in reality turned into an hour and a half. There are three areas in the zoo where a child like Chase can forget that there is nature and wild animals just beyond his reach. And Chase had to try them all out.

I was so board watching him play on the playground equipment that I started naming the other kids who came to play. I seen a Jordan, an Emily, a Johnathan, a Shiloh, and a little red haired kid I named Tommy.

Tommy was as pale as egg whites and had large brown freckles all over the place. The cutest darn kid I've seen in quite some time. Chase was drawn to him. He followed Tommy around every turn and up every stair and down every slide. Then Tommy left with his Mommy and Daddy and so did Chase. I was with them too but I don't think Chase knew it. He was too busy playing with Tommy.

Anyway we finally lost the Tommy family and made our way to the line for the Monkey boat ride. That was so fun watching Chase find the monkeys on the little islands. He loved it. And I loved that he loved it.

2008-06-03T15:33:00.002-04:00

Still looking.

For a job.

Have had no luck.

Not yet.

Still looking.

The boys are an inch away from leaving the nest for Virginia. They had a pack-your-bag class at the troop meeting and I think they are both prepared enough for the trip. They know what they need to bring and they know what they need to do. They know.
I know they will be safe and I know that if they let themselves, they can have a great time.
I wish this was something we could all do together. Like last year. But it is not happening this time. This time I will stay with Chase and we will do lots of great things together. I already have plans to take him to the zoo. And of course there's always the beach and the park. We can do those things without "the boys".
Sure wish we could have all gone together though. But you know what they say...wish in one hand and crap in the other, which one weighs more? (or something like that).

Ricky started football practice yesterday. It's actually strength and speed training. He went again this morning but when I picked him up he was even less excited then yesterday. I really don't know if I will be able to talk him into going tomorrow. He was really upset that he is not a great runner. I tried to tell him that I was the worst runner on my cross country team but he either didn't believe me or didn't care to listen. It will be hard to get him to go tomorrow I know. But I won't let him not go. I will support him I will.

2008-05-29T13:50:00.003-04:00

CHOP!

I really thought that it was just my son and his buddies that said "CHOP". I was so wrong.
Yesterday I volunteered to accompany my son's 8th grade class to the beach. We are walking down the halls to his homeroom and like thirty kids are high fiving him and calling out his name. Which is funny cause he always says he has no friends. Anyway, we finally make it to the beach and he eventually ditches me and hangs out with his buddies. I find a nice little corner out of the way and relax for a couple of hours.
Around lunchtime, I seek out a shady spot by a lake on the other side of the parking lot and eat lunch and watch the ducks. (For those familiar with the area - it was Laudermilk Park - where my family + Rachel, once had a photo shoot when we were about 13)
I stopped by the consession stand to buy a soda and I hear the girls behind me talking. Then I hear it. CHOP! A bunch of times. I turn to look at them and they were not even from Ricky's school. They had on t-shirts from the other school that was on a field trip at the same time.
About 1pm I caught up with Ricky and his buddies all talking to some of the teachers. We left shortly after that. It was a good time for all the kids.

I have not felt like cooking all week.

My boss did not pay me for the memorial day holiday. He paid everyone else so I called him about it and he said that because I am part time, I don't get it. He also added that I normally don't work on Mondays anyway.
Thing is though, he never informed me prior to this that I would not be getting holiday pay. So I looked on the calender and I see that I also won't be getting paid for the forth of July but I should get Thanksgiving and Christmas beacuse they are both on Thursdays. But wait there is still the idea that I am only part time. Shucks. (He didn't even use the "company has no money" excuse this time. Guess he didn't want to have to apologize this time.

2008-05-27T12:07:00.002-04:00

Had a nice Memorial weekend. I think the boys are just realising that school will be out this Thursday. They are being nice to each other lately. Or it could be that I posted two new rules on the fridge. No hitting and No cussing. 30 minute timeout. I have had to put them in timeout only twice each in the last week or so. And not at all in the last couple of days. Yay.

Remember when I told you about "That's a neck" and how my son Ricky used to say it a lot. Well now the word is "Chop" and he finishes that off with a chop to the back of your neck. His friends all do it and this morning my three year old Chase did it too.
I asked Chase if he needed to change his diaper. He said "No". So I came back with "But you have been wearing it all night." He says "Chop". I look down at him and he realises that he was on to something and he says it again "Chop!" And I'm like *"Awe - H E double hockey sticks - No" and as soon as Ricky got out of the shower I told him about it and he goes and gives Chase a high five and knuckles. As if!

Ok I am the worst person to have in the car when you get pulled over. I imediatly tell the officer everything I was doing wrong so he can write the tickets up faster. Seriously!
I was rushed out the door this morning so I just grabbed the keys and Chase. I drop the boys off at school, literally one block away from the house and was on my way back home when the cop makes a u-turn and flips on his lights. I realize that I don't have my seatbelt on, so I know I am doomed.
I pull over (on my own street) and roll down the window. I smile really big and say "I'm not wearing my seatbelt." To which the cop says " No and you were speeding in a school zone." I say "Really" He says "Yeah, 30 in a 25!"
So after I confess that I don't have anything with me like my license or my registration and that I don't actually live where my license says I do, he finally comes back to the car and gives me a ticket for not wearing my seatbelt. I swear the next time I get pulled over I will try to keep my mouth shut.

That stupid GM at work is an A-Hole. He actually came back from a job today with a new red truck. Like we would not have known that he was using company time to go and pick this personal equipment up. Not only that but he had to go to the bank to get the cash to pay for it and he tells me this like its no big deal. He gets 50% of the entire payroll for the entire company and he uses company time to do personal things too. Not only that but during his lunch he had his helper follow him home so he can drop off his harley and then they stopped at subway and ate here in the office for 1/2 hour. WTF! I really don't know whats worse, him bragging about the stupid truck of him using company time to buy it.

*I did not really say awe hell no to my three year old are you kidding me. That was just for story sake. Really!

2008-05-22T15:46:00.003-04:00

The hooking thing is not working out. I keep loosing track of the number of tricks and my pimp is taking all my money. I have to find something else to do. Maybe the library is hiring?

Rick is out of jail and up to his old tricks again. I refuse to let him come by the house and he is still throwing idle threats my way. He called me today to apologize for the way he acted on Tuesday night. He says he got a job but of couse its a holiday weekend and he don't start till Tuesday now. Gee, have I heard that before?

I have talked to Doug quite a few times now since he found me on myspace. He sounds exactly the same as he did way back yonder. He told me that I broke up with him on Valentines day and never gave him an answer as to why. I really have no recolection of that at all. And since it was about 17 years ago I don't think I will have an answer for him. I think he is over it though. lol. It's been really nice talking to him and I hope to continue our friendship.

School is almost out and the boys will be going away for summer camp two weeks. Ricky wants to sign up for high school football and they start practice next week. He has to get a physical before then though. This weekend we are having a hot dog sale at a hardware store to raise more money for summer camp. A last ditch effort. Should be a good time since its a holiday weekend.

Wish us luck!

2008-05-06T14:57:00.002-04:00

I have been plugging along.

Sunday was Jarrett's 13th Birthday. Yay! He wanted to take his friend Tyler and Ricky to the water park. So after deciding to forgo my wood badge reunion we headed for the water. Chase and I went to the kiddie part of the park for most of the day and we met up with the boys when it was time to eat. We had a great time and I was the only one to get a sunburn. I made sure to spray down all the boys and they were supposed to do my back...they must have been in a hurry cause I am toasted.
Later on we went back to our house for pizza, cake and ice cream. Jarrett was pretty happy about everything.

I have to go to court with Ricky about him missing school. And guess who is home from school today...Yep both the boys woke up this morning with belly-aches. What am I to do?

Rick has been writing the boys letters from jail. Ricky threw out the first ones without even opening them. Jarrett never even saw them. Their Nana asked if they wanted to go see him and they both said no.

I think I am going to take my co-workers advise finally and start hooking. I am about to be evicted and again find myself with no where to go. So I need some serious money quick!

2008-04-24T15:15:00.003-04:00

I need a new job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My boss came in to my office and informed me that he had some bad news. He said he is going to have to cut my hours again cause we are so slow. So he tells me that he wants me to come in from 11:30 to 4pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays...(I hear crickets) and he says thats it. I ask when do I start doing that and he says well today is Thursday so I'll see you on Tuesday.

Thank you!

No really I mean this is so much better than letting me go. It has not hit me yet but I'm sure later I will be a blubbering mess. I mean, rent is due in one week and I was hoping to take my vacation pay to pay it. But now he says that that may not be available for me.

FUCK!

What am I to do now...I know cussing won't help me. So I need to not loose my head about this!!!

I'll be fine, really, I always come through!

2008-04-21T10:05:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday!

It is both my oldest brother's 41st birthday, and Rachel's birthday today.

Yea!

I'll just let you know right now that I did not get you anything this year, sorry. But I am making a cake tonight and I'm sure the boys would totally understand why we are singing Happy Birthday to people who are not in the room with us. I'm also sure that they won't mind blowing out your candles!

To another year...

In other news....this was the first week without the ex around and I think it went pretty well. The boys are just starting to test me again, trying to see how much they can get away with. But that's ok, I will deal with it.

Chase, Jarrett, Ricky, his friend Timmy, and I went to the beach yesterday. It was dangerous trying to get a parking spot. I finally found one but I don't have a sticker on my car so while the boys got out I was gong to find another spot, the parking police rushed over and was going to write me a ticket. Needless to say I had to move the car and park across the street.

Timmy, Chase and I dug a huge hole in the sand. Then Ricky and Jarrett got buried and Chase threw sand at thier faces. Fun times!

2008-04-18T14:47:00.002-04:00

I have a Myspace so I can keep track of my two teenage boys. Well low-and-behold I get a message on there the other day that is from a very dear friend who I have not talked to is a very long time. Doug, is married now and has a cute baby girl and lives in Indiana. I have known him since high school. It has been fun playing catch-up, and his wife is a sweet heart too. She even gave me permision to talk to him!

I was shocked to get a message from somebody so I quickly cleaned up my Myspace page and added some new applications. (Kinda like sweeping through the house when some one drops by.) I think it looks kinda cute now. And most importantly I put my favorite song of all time on there. Go check it out Here.

I have been keeping busy with work and the kids. Had a little problem with some of them going to school but I think we straightened that out. I have also been busy with the Boy Scout Troop Website. You can see that here. I did most of the ground work and Ricky did most of the pictures and figured out how to let people download the monthy newsletter (that I did from scratch) and he shortened the address from something . com at fl backsplash really long name here to troop325.tk. I am really proud of myself. I learned HTML!

2008-04-16T14:12:00.003-04:00

I'm trying to adjust. But I am really tired today. This week I have been going to work at 8:30am which means I have to get up at 6am and leave the house by 7:30. Chase is not an early bird by any means and he won't leave the house unless I say he is going to the store (something that Rick did all the time). We get to Mom and Dads around 8 and he cries cause he wants to go home with me. Then I get home between 5:30 and six and cook dinner, do the laundry, and sweep, and pick up toys, and, and, and,... Most nights I don't get to sleep till after 11. I'm tired and it's only been three days. Ugh!
His mother came over last night and told me that if I didn't try to help Rick that he was going to "tell all". Whatever that means...and thats what I told her, is that I have heard it a thousand times like its on a recorder. She acts nice but I know Rick is feeding her garbage. She sticks up for him all the time and she knows how he treats me. Hell, he treats her bad too. She expects me to just brush it off and save her son. She even told me that she told him to move away from me so he won't get into trouble. She asked me to drop the restraining order so he won't go to prison. I told her that my plan was not to get him in trouble but he put himself there. He should have took the high road and kept his mouth shut if he didn't have something nice to say. He was always so negative about everything, except being with me. That was "the" only thing that mattered to him.
In other news, my sister-in-law Rita told me to file for unemployment cause I have only been working part time. So I did and they sent me all the paperwork. I called in my first two weeks on the 8th and then I called today to see where my check is. Well, I have been misled. See they will only pay you if you are actually unemployed. If you make over what they were going to pay you then you don't get anything. That sucks and I told the guy on the phone that it is not fair. He said he understood my problem, that due to the economy I had been reduced from full time to part time but he said that there was nothing that he could do to help me. Shit!

2008-04-14T11:16:00.002-04:00

How can a weight be lifted off your shoulders and at the same time a huge cloud looms overhead?

I'll tell you how.

Rick goes to jail = weight lifted.

Rick goes to jail = huge mfing cloud.

See, Rick used to watch the baby while I was at work and did scout stuff. Now Rick is in jail and I don't have a real plan for a backup babysitter.

I am glad I don't have to hear his negative attitude for a long while. He brought this on himself. I am thankful that my kids are smarter than I am. Don't worry it was really an uneventful thing that happened. No hitting or slamming doors.
Simply this...I was cooking dinner and the boys were just home from a weekend camping trip. They were on the computer along with Jarrett's friend Tyler. I could hear some profanity from whatever they were watching and I asked Ricky to either turn it off or use the headphones cause I didn't want the baby to hear it. A few seconds later, Rick comes out of a bedroom and starts yelling at Ricky, telling him he has 2 seconds to turn it off or he will pull the plug. Ricky tells him to back off and then Rick pulls the plug and goes back to whatever he was doing.
Next, I hear Rick asking me who Ricky is on the phone with outside. I tell him we don't have a phone and I peak outside knowing full well who he is talking to. Rick begs me to go out there and stop him. Then he kind of runs around the house trying to figure out what to do and where to go. Finally I tell him that he needs to calm down and figure out what to tell the cops when they get here. He takes off out the door and attempts to hide in the ditch. But he must have seen the police car by then and came out to talk to them. They run his name and find out that there is a no contact order. They take a statement from me and took him to jail.
Ricky says he's happy about what he did. And later that night he came and sat by me and asked me how I felt. I said fine and he said "No, what I mean is, don't you feel more relaxed now that Dads not here."
"Yes!" I do feel so much at ease, even though there will be hard times and things will be more difficult, I still feel like this should have been done a long time ago. I mean he has only been watching Chase since about January. I seems sooo much longer than that. A lifetime.
I can't seem to think a solid thought, sorry. I know I am rambling...

2008-04-11T11:23:00.002-04:00

Life is funny. I have been reading other blogs and wondering why nobody is posting, only to realise maybe it's because I have not posted for a week and a half. Duh!

Moving on. I can't tell if my world is going to the dogs or it's just a bad day. Not today in particular, mind you. Today is fine so far. Last night we realised at 10pm that we had not packed for the two boys to go camping and they are leaving right after I get off work today. So we (the two boys and I) did not get to sleep till midnight. I think this weekend I am going to rearange some things in the storage/camping area of my porch. Everything was everywhere and I don't like that!

We survived spring break! Jarrett was at Tyler's and Ricky was home most of the time. He went to Timmy's a couple of days and Lewis' for a day. It was kinda not their choice not to be home cause the car was being crappy, again.
See on Monday the 31st I had to call a tow truck cause the car would not start. So it gets fixed (new starter) on Tuesday (in the pouring rain) and after it was fixed, Rick put some air in the tire cause it was flat and the tire blew out. It was time for a new tire but I had just spent all my extra money on the starter and have no spare. So Dad came everyday to take me to work and pick me up again. Till Thursday, when my Grandma decided that she would buy me a tire. Yay Grandma! Now the car is fixed.

I got my water bill this week. Its twice as much as the first month I was there. I told Rick that he needs to cut back on the water and he agreed. See he has to watch Chase for me and it has been easier for him to do it at my house. I have not paid him anything except for buying him cigarettes. And he fixed my car. I still hate him though. But I try to be civil.

We'll see what happens next month...

2008-03-31T15:06:00.002-04:00

You would not believe the weekend I had. It was the second of the the two weekends for the Wood Badge SR-879. The weather was great, the food was great, the people were great, the whole experience was great!

I laughed,
sweated,
sang,
yelled,
lost my voice,
taught other scouters how to tie the monkey fist,
cooked in a dutch oven,
got scared by something moving in the woods,
rode in a canoe,
participated in a funny skit,
hiked in everything I would need for a three day camp-out (and did not pass out when we got to the destination),
wrote my ticket and got it approved,
survived not bringing our patrol flag to Gilwell (always bring your flag!),
got our patrol flag approved by the scoutmaster,
sang "Lean on me" with over forty-eight other scouters all swaying in a big circle with arms around each other,
ate strawberry short cake with whipped cream,
put together a program for a sunday service only to have someone question why I did it the way I did and then actually answered them with confidence that what I did was the best way to do it,
put on a presentation titled "It's KNOT hard" about how knots are used in every aspect of scouting advancement and then later had people remember it and quote things I said in it,
had the staff request to use the knot presentation in future leader trainings,
cried when the scoutmaster walked over to me and shook my hand and said my name and let me know that I was important.

Give me a T! T

give me a R! R

give me a O! O

give me another O! O

give me a P! P

give me a ONE! ONE

What's that spell? TROOP ONE

Who are we? TROOP ONE

2008-03-24T14:10:00.002-04:00

I thought the weekend would never end. Both of my older boys went to friends houses from Friday through Sunday.
Jarrett went to Tylers and Ricky went to Louis' house. At Tyler's, they fished and went on the boat and then headed to Marco to visit his grandparents. Louis' Dad playes on a semi-pro football team and Ricky went with them up to Ocala to watch the game.
Chase and I stayed at home and made Easter decorations. We were going to color eggs on Saturday night but of course I forgot that you need vinegar for the dye. Also, when I boiled the eggs, the first batch came out perfect. But the second batch not so much. Most of the eggs broke open as soon as I put them into the water. Now I know to not add eggs to boiling water. I ended up using the broken ones for an egg salad for lunch on Sunday. So all was good in the end.
Chase loved coloring the eggs. He even used a wax crayon on them to decorate. He liked the pictures that showed up after he used his hands to pick the eggs up out of the dye. He ended up with mostly pink fingers cause that cup was on his side of the table. He even tried peel the eggs but he could not wait to peel the whole thing so he would take a bite into a half peeled egg and then hand it to me while he spit out the shells. I peeled the rest of it for him.
He had a great time finding his basket. And finding the twenty or so plastic eggs all around the living room. Later in the afternoon he took his car out for a spin and then the boys started to come home. He showed them his treats and was surprised that they got baskets too.

In other news: about scouts of course... I got an E-mail from one of my patrol mates for the wood badge course. He is informing us that he will not be able to go this weekend due to a health problem his father-in-law is having. I'm really bummed. There are only four of us Eagles to start with and he was a big part of our group. I don't know how we will manage without him...

My brother Chris is making his way down here from NC with Tina and the kids Kelsey and Colin. I can't wait to see them, however I will be at camp for the weekend and will only see them on Thursday night. Hopefully someone will take the lead and pick up my boys while I'm gone so they get to spend some time with them.

That's it for now...

2008-03-21T16:13:00.002-04:00

I woke up last night in writhing pain. My stomache in knots. My head banging. I got a charlie horse when I atempted to get out of bed to head for the bathroom. I tripped on a large stuffed dog and hit my head on the closet door. I finally make it back to bed to find out that a toy airplane has found its way underneath my air bed and it has sprung a leak. So now I'm literally lying on the floor with a blanket and I grab the stuffed dog and wrap my arms around him and fall back to sleep. Chase wakes me up this morning by stealing the dog from me and proclaiming that its his. I think I told him to run into the wall for me, of course he did not listen. After two advil and a shower, I think I finally feel better.

It's my 200th post!

2008-03-18T12:18:00.003-04:00

Can you imagine that I have posted 200 times. Wow! I'm really excited!

Ok, Now what?

Ummm...

Ah heck I don't really have anything.

My car is running, Rick is still a pain in the tush, scouts is still going on, kids are still funny, school is still school, work is still work, we still do lots of stuff, and the only thing I have to revue right now is the St Patricks day parade we went to on Saturday. (two words: Hot and Beads!)

So, thats all I got. I know, pathetic for such a monumental post but really thats it.

Sorry...

2008-03-07T15:41:00.002-05:00

A little rant about my car, again...

Earlier this week my car was kinda misbehaving. It was sluggish when starting.
On Saturday after the scouting for food thing, Jarrett and I stopped at office max and the car would not start at all. It was a good bonding day for Jarrett and I. I gave him all the options available and he made the desisions on what to do. We called my Dad and he came to the rescue.
Then on Monday night when I went to leave work it would not start. So I called triple A and they sent a tow truck out to help me. It started up. I went home and then went to the scout meeting with the boys.
Tuesday morning I had to go get insurance on the car and go to the driver license place. The car was fine for all that. But I forgot something at home, (no, I lie, I had to pee) and when I got back out to the car it was off. Tried to start it and, nothing. So I had to call a cab and spend ten bucks to get to work a half hour late. Ugh! In the mean time Rick gets a battery for me and puts it in the car. (even though my dad told him it was the starter)
So car is ok till last night I wanted to get some milk. Won't start. By the time I get it started its too late to get milk. So hopefully I can get the car started when I leave here today.
Oh and I forgot, I have been leaking power stearing fluid and now I have no power stearing, at all. Really hard to turn without power stearing. So, now I need a power stearing pump, the hoses, and a starter.

I am not one of those people that beleive in omens or superstition. (I work for a mirror company and we break mirrors everyday...I can't be) With one exception...I strongly believe that if I have to defend my car three times or more than it kind of gives up. Stay with me here. Rick says that I need a new car and I tell him I love my car. Jarrett says that I need a better car and I tell him that there is no better car than one you own. Rick says again that I need a new car and that mine is a pile of crap. Again I defend my poor 16 year old baby. Bingo, car won't start...dah dah daaaaaaah Maybe its just me...

2008-03-04T14:37:00.002-05:00

Still buzy as ever... This past week had flown by. Ricky went to an Order of the Arrow Ordeal campout and really enjoyed it. He is looking forward to more time in the OA. We picked up bags for Scouting for Food. So many E-mails flying around about the wood badge course. Go Eagles! I still need to come up with a skit for the campfire program, a prayer for the Interfaith Worship service, and my TICKET! I did get some great feedback from the committee members of my troop about what I am planning to do, so that was good. I have a few skits in mind, and a few prayers down on paper. I think the hardest part will be getting my Ticket down on paper.

There was a garage sale down the road from us this past weekend. Ricky saw that they had a go-cart frame there so he went to check it out. The kid wanted $20 for it. So now Ricky is the proud owner of a go-cart frame! It needs a seat and an engine. But its something for him to work on...

2008-02-25T16:18:00.002-05:00

What an AMAZING weekend I had at my first of two weekends for wood badge. I can't say too much about the program itself but trust me, it is worth the trip. I was put with four other people whom I had never met and we became an Eagle patrol. We ate together, went to classes together, played games together, sang, joked, and even whistled together. It's only been one night away from my fellow Eagles and I miss them already (sob sob). lol!

More on that later...

When I got home I found out my dryer had dried its last pair of socks, My oldest son Ricky is sick, and all Chase ate was potato chips and M&M's. But we will all be back on track real soon (I hope).

Ta Ta for now...Back to Gilwell happy land

Edit 3-4-08 I did not realise that this was not posted, sorry...

2008-02-21T16:20:00.002-05:00

I am Wood Badge bound! I leave early in the morning and don't come home till sunday night! Yippee! I have been waiting for this for a long time. It should prove to be a great experiance for me. I hope to meet new people and see some familiar faces. Deeann and I are driving together so it should be fun. I wanna be a critter!

Not much else going on. The boys have a hot dog sale to go to at the Ace hardware on both Saturday and Sunday. As long as they actually get there they should be alright. Hopefully the community will help these boys out. They have a great trip planned and they all know where they are going and what they need to get there.

Ok, hope ya'll have a great weekend...Ta ta for now

2008-02-20T11:23:00.002-05:00

My two boys have always known I had a blog. I never offered to show it to them and they never asked to see it, until last week. They can't beleive that I would write about the stupid stuff that I do and they think its boring.

They did have one suggestion for me though. They want me to change their names. My 14 year old hates that I call him "scout". He thinks I call him that because of him being in scouts but the real reason is because I have always wanted to call him Scout since he was a baby but it never took hold. I read a book once when I was in middle school and the main character's name was scout. That's where that came from.

And Feret is only Feret because it rhymes with his real name. His dad calls him Beaver, all the time. I like that too, but he doesn't. He calls him that cause we used to love to watch "Leave it to Beaver". (not cause he has a flat tail or buck teeth) Most of the time he leaves off the "er" and just calls him Beav. I think its an endearing nickname.

Baby on the other hand has had lots of nicknames like Baboo and Hercules. My Grandma and my Mom gave him those names. And the boys and I add endings to his real name like "y" and "er" I joked with the boys that on my blog I could call him Follow. They really think that is dumb.

So for now Scout will be Ricky and Feret will be Jarrett and Baby will be Chase (not Follow but sometimes Chaser or Chasey). I feel better now.

One of the walking stick my Dad made

2008-02-17T10:04:00.004-05:00

This one is 42 1/2" tall and the widest diameter is 3 3/4 at the top. The JL in the second pic is his initials.

He has about 18 of these walking sticks. He started making then for the grand kids 'cause they liked to watch him balance them on one finger and they used to see who could do it the longest. Even my three year old has one that he can balance!

My dad spends a lot of time making these out under his carport. He has to strip the stalks of all the berries and stems. They are curved when they fall off the tree so he has to weigh them down and straighten them out. That takes about a week. Then he carves a figure on the handle. Some of them have eagles, elves, faces (like the one pictured), suns, etc... Then he lacquers them at least three times. They all have a cap on the bottom to protect the wood.

I took mine to NC this past summer for the boy scout trip. Our camp was on the side of a mountain and I used this cane every day, all day. I am also planning on taking it to my Wood Badge course this coming weekend.

2008-02-15T09:10:00.003-05:00

Back in August I posted that it was the twins birthday. I just now found my memory card from my camera so I thought I would present to you the PINK cupcakes that Baby and I made for the occassion.

I had to force feed him in order to get him to eat "PINK" cupcakes.

We even sang Happy Birthday to Lily and Em.

It must have been torture for poor Baby. He looks so miserable about the whole experience. Cheers!

(P.S. I know the date is wrong but I swear we did this on the girls B-day. It's the camera that was wrong!)

2008-02-14T11:33:00.002-05:00

Happy Valentine's day!

Hope yours is better than mine...ha ha

I think of today as a Thursday with a twist. I get to hug and kiss my three boys a little bit more today without much of a stuggle!

I did get some chocholate and a bear from my ex. He is much mistaken if he thinks that it meant anything to me. I even offered the bear to Feret to give to his girlfriend but he said she didn't want anything. Boy is he in trouble!

Anyway, I wish you all love...

2008-02-12T16:13:00.001-05:00

Well, two of the thousand or so activities are done and over with. On Saturday I went to the pine wood derby with trophies in hand. The boys looked really excited about them. They all weighed their cars in and then we all headed over to the garage where the track was kept. It only took about ten minutes to set it up and the races lasted about as long. The boys had a great time. I even brought three of the cars that my boys made just for fun. Turned out that one of the cars that Scout made his first year in scouts won. All the boys wanted to race that car. Really great day, the boys had fun.

Then on Sunday we had the pancake breakfast at the church. However, Feret had stayed over at his friend Tylers house (he's also a scout) and his mom was going to bring them to the breakfast. They did not show up at all. We were there from 9:30 to 1:00. I was so upset cause during church they were going to do the court of honor and I wanted Feret there. Ugh! The fundraiser was a huge success. We beat our highest earning by $400. Wow! We need $5000 for summer camp and we raised $1100 so far. Yeah!..Then I went to pick Feret up and he was on his way home. When I got home he felt really bad about missing the breakfast. But then he told me that his friend went to a birthday party and left him at the house to ammuse himself. What? I don't get it. Your friend invites you over even though he was not there the whole time. I can't imagine doing that to any kid. I have not talked to his mom yet but I sure have some questions for her. They did not show up at the scout meeting last night either.

Rick is begining to be a royal pain in the ass. He says things like "we are getting back together" and "stop being such a bitch" and (I love this one) "we are soul mates" It is making me sick. I am doing my best to stay strong and stand up for my feelings but he crushes me with his knowledge of me. I say something and he counters it with something else that he knows from 10 years ago. It is getting harder and harder to get out from under his thumb. I need to break away completly before I loose all hope.

I know your wondering how I can post about boy scouts and my ex in the same thing but thats just me. Deal with it!

2008-02-08T14:47:00.000-05:00

My calender has somehow gotten full. I have something to do every weekend for like the next two months. Most of it is Scout related in some way. There are: my two weekends for that leader training I told you about, there are two hot dog sale days, a spagetti dinner night, scouting for food bag drop off and another day for the bag pick up, one troop campout and one OA campout, a pinewood derby race, and a pancake breakfast and a scout stuck in poison ivy. (read that as: partridge in a pear tree)

Not to mention we also have St. Valentine's Day, President's Day, two nefews B-days (shadup), day light savings time, St. Patrick's Day, Good Friday, Easter, and spring break! Whoa! Thats a lot of stuff going on. It does not even include going to work, getting kids to school, getting Baby to the sitter, grocery shopping, going to Wal-mart, taking a shower, changing diapers (still doing that, ugh), helping with homework, buying beds, doing laundry (at the "mat" still for now), doing dishes, keeping the boys from killing each other, cooking an edible dinner, taking out the trash, reading Duma Key by SK, and watching a little boob tube.

As you can see not one of the things above include anything that has to do with R I C K. I have been a very good girl in the sense that I have not let him get at me. Lordy knows there are days that he is at the house chit chating with the boys and he says something like "now that your all high and mighty with an apartment..." yadda yadda yadda. I just turn the other cheek and say nothin'. Hit me baby one more time 'cause I didn't hear it! Yep a good girl. Aren't ya proud of me? Thanks!

Now if I can only keep every thing in the right order...I don't want to show up at a 'few's birthday party with my tent and camp chair do I?

2008-02-04T16:26:00.000-05:00

The boys went camping this weekend.

I was ready for it. Ahhhhh!

Ready for some me time.

I got some on Saturday ...

but then the washer broke. It won't spin. So On Sunday after I picked up the boys I took all my laundry to the mat. (reminder to myself: find out why they call it a "mat") And shoved my last $23 (in quarters) to those darn machines.

I really like going to the "mat", I really do. It takes less time and all but, the clothes are not as clean as when I do them at home. I think it has something to do with the aggitate cycle. Am I right?

Anyhoo, can't wait for my income taxes. Can't wait for new beds. Can't wait to find Mr. Right. Can't wait to get it all together at once!

2008-01-31T14:06:00.000-05:00

I can't believe I didn't tell you about my boss. I came to work on Monday and everything was locked up. I made some phone calls and found out that My boss had an accident. He fell down some stairs at his house and dislocated his shoulder and had to get about thirty staples in his head. Yeah, I know, scary! So Tuesday, Wednesday and today I got in 8 hours a day. So the boss came in this morning looking tired but decent. Now he tells me that I am back to only five hours a day. Ugh! Does he not know that I have three kids to feed!

Maybe you have done this already, but its kinda cute. Go to Google (after you have finished reading my blog entry, of course) and type in "find chuck norris" then hit the "I'm feeling lucky" button. And for the record I do not, nor have I ever wanted to find chuck. Although I appreciate what he has done for the industry, I myself am not looking for him. Sorry.

I watched National Treasure last night. And even though it was a Disney movie, it was not a cartoon, for which I was thankful. Baby (I have got to think of a new name for him, he's three already) has taken over the tv recently and won't let anyone near it unless you are changing the dvd for him. He has been very indecisive lately too. He will ask to watch Thomas the Train and then as soon as it gets to the main menu and your about to hit play he will ask to watch Finding Nemo or Spongebob.
Don't worry he's not sitting on the couch eating potato chips and watching the boob tube all night. He actually hardly watches it at all. He playes with his train set or with Ferets micro machine collection. He will read books and play with his Shake and Go cars on the big track. He also plays with the Hot Wheels cars. I will peek in on him in the bedroom and see that he has a snake-like line of 25 or so cars from the foot of his bed to the dresser.

Oh, he is doing the cutest thing now too, I just rememberd. Last night after dinner, Scout asked him if he wanted a popscicle for desert. He said "Sure". Just like that -Sure. I mean really. So we were asking him other things that would require a yes answer and he always said "Sure". I'm sure this is not as big a deal as I'm making it but still.

I'm kinda all over the place today so I might as well throw this one in too. I called tohe scout shop to see if they had my uniform order ready and they tell me that they had not recieved it. ahhhh! I absolutly have to have it by next Thursday. Luckily though they do have all the items I need.

So today I feel Lucky! Sure!

2008-01-30T15:11:00.000-05:00

Scout is working on the video thingy I told you about. We (meaning: he) has to change the way its on the dvd or something. He was working on it last night but it was taking a loooog time to load. He was also playing Runescape, checking his myspace, and listening to his tunes so I think he gave up. But I do know that we are going to (try) to put music with the Gumby part. By the way have you tried to look up "gumby" on you tube? I was not aware that Gumby and Pokey were smoking so much pot. They need an intervention.

The boys and I had a family meeting last night. We discussed all kinds of things. Ferret wants some new bedroom furniture, and he does not want Scout to spend too much money on the ps2 modifications. (I had no clue that you could put LED lights and plexiglas so you can see all the insides of it). Scout agrees that maybe the two wild cats that hiss at us was not such a good idea. (I believe that we all agreed on that one, I'm sorry to say).
We also all agreed that their Dad should not be welcome to the house anymore. He started to come over unannounced lately and it is to the benifit of noone. I had to take him home one day last week cause he was being an ass. And on Monday night he came over to do some laundry and the two boys got fed up with him and they took a walk down the road a bit. He got pissed tried to tell them it was my fault. Well, my boys know whats what and kinda told him off. Now he called my work wondering if he can come over tonight and I told him that he was voted out. He is playing the "we'll both go to jail" card right now. Next he'll move on to the "I'll see them in foster care" card. I know them all.
And I also know that your wondering what in the heck am I doing letting my ex over to the house, right? I don't know how it started. He just showed up one day. Scout may have accidently thought it would be no big deal if he knew what street we lived on. I do not blame him. He wants what any kid wants ..a normal mom and dad family. I wish I could give him that.

I think the Family Meeting #1 was a success. We wrote down all the important parts of the meeting and everyone signed it. I even talked to the boys about not doing drugs. (It was right after that Scout brings up the Gumby thing on you tube) I know the meeting had a happy ending (well, except for the kitties).

2008-01-28T14:57:00.000-05:00

Ok, so this weekend I was determined to label all the dvd's and sort all the games for the PS2. While I was doing that I came across an old home movie that my mom put on dvd circa 1992. I popped that baby in and resumed my labeling. Within five minutes I was laughing my ass off and Scout had his hand in my face saying "Look mom!" Now I probably noted this before but showing me your hand will always make me laugh. Just the thought of it makes me chuckle.
There was some other things on the dvd too. Apparently I was in some sort of singing, and look as clueless as possible class in school. Picture the auditorium of your high school. sparingly sprinkled with parents and siblings and movie cameras. Now picture the singers dressed in 50's pooddle skirts and slicked back greaser hair. Ok, now picture singers with really bad timing. Really funny for a look back in time. I'm sure our chior teacher (Mrs. Ross) is rolling in her grave (although I'm not certain she is dead yet but you have to think that teachers are older that dirt when you are in school so I assume that she has passed on but I think she may be only in her 50s now). There was also the one part where we are singing "yellow poka-dot Bikini" and a black kid (read that- boy)comes out wearing a towel and a bikini under it. Really cute. Also on there is a skateboarding gumby and a dinosaur named mange talking about butt pads.
I asked Scout if he could put them on the computer (like you tube or just my blog) for me but he hasn't gotten around to it yet. I'm sure y'all are die'in to see them, right?
I did label all the dvd's but I forgot that the baby can't read yet and by Sunday afternoon they were all in the wrong cases, ahh, oh well!

Brilliant idea?!!

2008-01-24T14:32:00.000-05:00

Back in December, when we decided to move, the boys and I had made a decision to get two kittens. We were waiting to find them in the free ads in the paper. Low and behold there came the ad on Sunday the 6th of January. "Cats and kittens many colors to choose from". Perfect! We jot down the number and call them up. "Oh, sure come on over." I was told. So I loaded up the kids to go get us some kittys.

Scout and I went in 'cause on the way there Baby had fallen asleep. The man explained that they were in the process of moving and apologised for the mess. Whatever, dude, just show us the kitties. He disapears into a bedroom and comes out a moment later with a calico about six months old. He shoves the cat at me and disapears again. The calico was terrified. It clawed at me even though I was atempting to calm him. The man appears again with a black and white long hair who did not want to be held at all. It clawed its way down the mans leg and back to the door from whence it came.

Scout shot me a glance that said "Whoa?!" and I agreed with a small smile. All the while the man is talking about the colors he has and every question we had was answered with a "I wish she was here to answer that." "She" turned out to be a roomate of his. The girl that rented the room, I assume. Finally after he got tired of getting all scratched up by the six or so cats he brought out he grabbed his phone and called her. I asked some questions and she thought it would be better if I came back the next day to talk to her in person.

It seemed to be that this girl had sixteen cats and kittens in that bedroom. None of the ones we got ahold of were tame. The smell of urine could burn your nose hairs right off. Although all the kitties looked to be in good health. The next night we hightailed it after work to finally make our decision on which ones we would save from that bedroom. We decided on a tourtise shell one and a simple orange one.

We get to the house and the girl is there and she simply asked which ones. Scout tells her he wants to see the two we picked and she brings out two totally different cats. Same colors that we wanted but not the ones we saw last night. She disapears and comes out with the right ones a few minutes later. I tell her that we would just hold them on the way home and she insisted on putting them in boxes. We said our good lucks and headed for home. Oh, did I tell you that the two kitties are mother / daughter? The orange one is the daughter and about 7 months old. (born June 4th). And her mother is the tourtise shell about a year old. The boys and I dropped the babies off at home and headed for the pet store.

For a whole week after we got them they managed to avoid us. I kept telling the boys "Oh, they are just getting used to their surroundings." and "It just takes time." But , I was the one who was awoken at 3 am in the morning to bells running around the house, hearing things get knocked over and kitties trying to creep into every room. See the boys thought it would be cute to buy collars with bells on them. Cute, yeah right. Finally I went online and determined that these cats are feral. No doubt about that. So I did a little reading and finally decided that I need to barter the big dog cage from my Mom and Dad. They abliged.

Kitties are all kinda settled in their new home. With the toys and two story cat condo they seem to be coming along just nicely. Well at least Butterscotch (the orange one) is. Babyluv is still not buying the whole "Oh, she brings me food so I should trust her." bit like Butterscotch. I have yet to get close enough to her without her hissing at me. And I think we found out at least one of the reasons.

She's pregnant.

I am such a 'tard. I should have known to check her out more carefully. That thought never crossed my mind. (Except for the day we brought them home and the kitties were in the closed up box, we all joked that she probly put five cats in there and we would never know it.) So not only do I have: two cats in the cage (and a silver spoon, a little boy blue, and a man on the moon.) Just had to, sorry. I also have some buns in the oven.
Oi Vey!

Just a couple of things...

2008-01-21T10:23:00.000-05:00

Rach, I love, love, love you. Don't beat yourself up at all about my situation though. I'm sure you've seen the movie Good Will Hunting, right. Well at the end when Will is not home and his best buds leave his house smiling cause they know he got "out". Yeah, it's like that. I am so proud of all that you are and have acomplished. And I am greatful that I had the time that I did with you. Anyway, (before I start tearing, again) I know that you are there if I need you and I hope you know the same.

Ok, I did the whole flea market thing on Saturday. What a disaster! I woke up at 4:15 AM to get ready and leave the house at 5:30. Scout and his friend came with me. We get up to Ft. Myers and pay the forty dollar booth fee and set up by 7am. Not one sale till 9:30. And its not that I had bad stuff either. There was noone there to buy anything.
The boys ended up sleeping in the back of my station wagon till 11:30. By then we had sold $17 dollars worth of stuff. And from then till 2pm I sold nothing. It actually cost me 23 dollars to go up there.
I did get a good chunk of reading done (currently reading Lisey's Story by Stephen King).
I did talk with lots of interesting people. Well I tried to talk to them, most spoke only spanish. But I think they understood what I was saying.
I like to watch what people are looking at in the booths. They like to touch everything. I thought it was very strange when a black man came over and right away offered to buy the entire box of sheets and blankets without even looking through the box. I told him ten for the whole thing and he said "seven?" I stuck with ten and he paid it. I then realized that he just took it over to his booth and sold them there. Oh well. I was happy to be rid of the box.

Scout had gotten some program to make beats and music on and last night him and his friend were up late makeing a sort of remix of that song soulja boy. Man, they did a good job. I am hoping they will finish it up today. They did a song a while ago called "intro" and I loved it but Scout didn't like it. He forbid me to even listen to it. But this one seems to be differnet. I can't believe all the stuff they can do on this program. Last night it was kinda funny. In my little dining room there were three boys with a mic taped to the cieling and two computers going. They were watching a guy/girl named Chris Crocker on one and doing the song on the other. Baby and I were watching Shrek 3 and all I kept hearing was the boys laughing and saying "If I was his Dad I would..." (about Chris Crocker)

Well thats about it for now. The boys have scouts tonight but other than that not much is going on.

2008-01-18T14:34:00.000-05:00

I have sent in my form.

So it is kinda official.

I will be attending Wood Badge.

For those of you who don't know what wood badge is...it's the top training course for Scouters. You have to be invited to take it and it cost $200. Thankfully the church who sponsors the troop is paying. I will be going with DeeAnn from our troop and maybe Robert from the Pack. I am really excited to spend two whole weekends over the next two months away from the kids...no just kidding I really, really love all the leadership training that the Boy Scouts offer. It gives me an extra umph of confidence that I need. I know a lot about scouting and it's something that I can do right.

I am going to try to bring some stuff up to the flea market tomorrow. I priced almost everything but now I have 18 boxes of stuff. I went through all the boys toys that were in storage and sorted through the babys stuff too.

I did not get around to doing the train table yet. I thought I had the supplies but I was missing a few things so it will have to wait. Till then he is playing on the floor. Problem with that is he steps on the tracks and they come apart, then he puts them together wrong and gets upset. I want to be able to glue the track down. Ah, just thinking about it makes me happy...see I'm smiling! I can't wait to build it. My only fear is that I will want to paint a scene on the table top. Like streams and roads. I suck at painting. Just thinking about that makes me want to slap down $80 buck for the one at target. Naw! I really want to pick out the wood and design it myself. Something to look forward to, I guess.

2008-01-16T13:15:00.000-05:00

Ok so it's been a couple of days since I last checked in, Oh now your going to say its been two weeks...Blame my wonderful fun-loving boss, please.

Have I told you that he cut my hours, and we are closed like one additional day a week. Yeah its that bad.

I finally got all my stuff out of storage and into my apartment. I must must must have a yard sale or take alot of stuff to the flea market. I had to go through everything. Good thing is that I found a lot of old memories. I can't remember what year it was but we were teenagers (Rachel and I) we had gone to the fair and had our picture put on a million doller bill. My son Scout found it and laughed. I also found tons of drawings of hands for some reason. I wish I wasn't neck deep in boxes (literally) so I could have spent more time looking through all the stuff I keep. I must have kept every single thing that the boys have brought home from school. Report cards, check. Clay pots, check. Paintings, check. Poem books, check. Referrals, check. The list goes on and on. I have four bins with just the kids school stuff. and its not separated yet either. And one whole 10 gallon bin for just photos. Overwhelmed, I think.

In other news, Baby has started to scream his head off when I pull onto the babysitters street. She assures me that he is fine after I leave. He playes very well with the kids and has no other problems for the rest of the day. But he is suffering from separation anxiety due to the fact that he has been home longer in the mornings and I get a little more play time with him then. The poor boy, misses his mommy!

We are closed on Thursday this week so I have plans to A. build a train table for Baby's train set. B. price the rest of the items for the yard / flea market sale. C. Go through the rest of the boys' toys. And then maybe I can relax for a minute or two. I wish I had a camera so I can show you some pics of the table progress. Oh, which reminds me, I need to get the sander from dads shed and...

2008-01-03T15:41:00.000-05:00

My friend Beth called me on Wednesday of last week and said she was getting married on Saturday. Baby went to his Dads and I took the two other boys down to Marco just before 3pm. Hoping that everything would be set up and I could actually enjoy a party of sorts with out having to decorate. Didn't happen. She forgot to tell me that the wedding was pushed back till 4. Figures. I had to fill the punch fountain and tape up streamers. There were table clothes to be put on tables and no one brought any hairspray.
While I was at the store I stopped at the flower shop that my brother worked for and chatted with Jerry for a few minutes. He was my brothers boss and has been to many of our family gatherings over the years. He was telling us about a friend of his that passed away and he has a couple of scout related items that might interest us. Most likely a merit badge sash and more importantly his Eagle badge. Scout told Jerry how he just earned Life and now needs to work on his Eagle project. Jerry assured him that if he asked, he would gladdly help him out.
The wedding took place poolside. He wore a nice suit and she wore a pretty cream dress. The best men were Timmy and Mikey (Beth's two sons) and the Maid of honor was Kathleen (Beth's daughter) The flower girls were twins Ashley and Jordan (They live across the street from Beth). After the ceremony they took pictures and then the entire wedding party and a few guests went down to the beach for more pictures. By the time I had to leave at 6 they were still gone. The twins mom, Yvone invited me to their house for New Years.
I had off of work on the Monday and Tuesday. Not paid for Monday either, bummer! I went to Yvones party and had a great time. Baby was really a hit. All those drunk women just gushed over him. I wish I would have found a sitter though so I could have drunk. I left there about 11pm and Baby and I went home.
I talked to my Brother Brad twice this week. He leaves with in a week for afganistan. I love it when he "codes" things like the answers to really top secret important stuff that I wanted to know like, How many bags was he allowed to bring? and Do they have army issue underwear? I really will miss him but I know I can e-mail him. Just a matter of when he will get the message.
Yesterday, Gary comes to my desk and explains the the guys have had to take off alot and now its my turn. He has to cut down my hours to five a day. Thats 25 hours a week. He wants me to come in at 11:30. Starting Monday. Great! I thought my life was hard enough as it was. Now I will have to find a part time job. I mean I just moved into the new apartment and now I get hours cut. Crap, I'm so screwed! After Gary left for the day yesterday, and Tom was about to leave, I started tearing up. Tom said he would try to talk to him and see if we can work something out. Today, Tom just stated that this place sucked! Great does that mean he won't talk to Gary. Hopefully we will pick up some business pretty quick. Maybe in my spare time I can pass out business cards to everyone in town!
What is this, like roadblock number 12!!!!

2007-12-26T10:35:00.000-05:00

I finally got the pics from mom's camera from when Baby got his car in October! Thought you might like to see them. Thats Scout and Baby at the top, Just Baby and his scout bear, Then Baby driving down the road, and finally Ferret helping Baby steer with Scout behind them.

I survived Christmas. Friday was bad, I was clearly not myself.

Saturday was clean house day and one last trip to Target.

Sunday I spent picking up kids, dropping kids off and finally resting day.

Monday, Christmas eve, I took the boys to the park downtown. We had a blast. Baby played and ran and hid till his heart content. He was so funny. He was wearing his shirt that says "Ladies man" on it. He goes up to some other mom and shows her his shirt. Then he says "Ladies man" like hes some kind of super hero. I about died. He is so cute. Then around 5 we went to my brother Kevins house. Had dinner and the kids played with their cousins. Then we opened girts which was mostly gift cards. I remember about ten years ago each of the kids would have two bags of toys and clothes to take home but now it has changed. Two of my brothers don't live here any more. And the kids are growing up. Times are changing too.

On the way home the three boys fell asleep. Just like always. But when we got home Scout and Ferret were wide awake. It was about midnight and I was tired, Scout kept asking he if he could help me put some gifts out. I really did not want him to, it was like official that he "knows", and I didn't want that to happen yet. But, he convinced me that he would not be damaged in any way. So I let him. He was surprised that I hid the gifts right under their noses without them knowing. Not that there were many but just the same.

Finally, after not sleeping very well and Ferret waking me up at 3am to open presents! The boys waited until 7:30 to wake me up. We tried to wake up Baby but he is a night-owl. He rolled over and pulled his blanket up under his chin. We tried to tell him that Santa came but he was hearing nothing of it. We told him that there are presents and still nothing. So the boys and I walked out and sat by the tree. Just waiting for him to come out. Not long after he comes out with his pillow in one hand and his blanket in the other. Still very sleepy he turns the corner to get a look at the tree. He stops. and all at once he drops his pillow and blanket and his jaw. He stood there wide mouth for a good 5 seconds then he woke up we told him "Merry Christmas" and he dove into the gifts. Scout helped him find one of his and he got the hang of opening gifts in no time.

Had to deal with the ex for two hours too. Went out to his Dad's house for a bit. Then he found out we moved. all hell broke loose. but we managed to make it home with noone getting hurt.

Finally went to mom and dads for dinner. I thought it would be weird. I still hate what they have done to me but I love them. Dinner was good then we made it home and I played with the kids. Did a csi game with scout and monopoly with Ferret. Baby had enough and was asleep in no time.

I'm back to work today and have to take scout to court this afternoon. Should be fun... Hope you all had a great weekend.

2007-12-21T14:02:00.000-05:00

Warning...please be aware...I am in a rant mode...depress the "next blog" button immediatly!!!!

I warned you!!!

I can't remember ever being this depressed. I have been crying all day long. I could not even tell the babysitter that Baby won't be coming anymore. My boss yelled at me for not pricing something right and I started to cry. He didn't even notice me. I have no clue what to do about christmas. I don't even want to go out to my brothers house on christmas eve. I hate what my mother has done to me. I feel soooo betrayed. Yet she acts like nothing is wrong. She calls me up this morning and asked what was wrong yesterday. She said that I looked mad or upset. Well duh, you stupid jerk. You forced me out a week and a half before christmas and I have no money to cover all the moving expenses. On top of that I don't have any furniture at the new place and I'm tired of standing and sitting on the floor. Dumb ass. I really don't think I can be in the same room with her at my brothers. Then she suggests that I check out these apartment on the other side of town that are apparently cheaper. You are a real card, Mom. I really don't know how I can get over this. I am so upset. And you know really, its not that I had to move out, it's that I don't have the money for any christmas presents for the boys now. You should see their list...They tried to make it easy on me. They each asked for ten things. Here are some of them...Help with homework...a new blanket and pillow...go eat ice cream with my family...new beds...for love and for my mom to be happy...They both want cable and internet, and clothes and shoes. None of which they will get any time soon. Ok I think this made me feel better. Wait, can I call her a stupid effing bitch one more time...no...ok then.

2007-12-20T13:11:00.000-05:00

And I thought my family was whack!

What is going on wit Brittney's lil' sis? It's a good thing that she came out with the story instead of the paps finding out first.

Could you imagine being sixteen years old and taking care of a baby? When I was sixteen I was a junior in high school, just trying to figure out where we were hanging out on friday night.

I most certainly could have gotten pregnant. The thought of getting on birth control never -ever- crossed my mind cause my mother would have strangled me if I went to (that horrid evil place that kills babies) like all my friends did.

I may have told you this before but, my mother once spent three hours in the guidence councilers office because they wanted to put me in a sex ed class (like all the other 8th graders). The GC told my mom that I would be knocked up before I graduate high school if I didn't take the class. I proved him wrong...I was out of school a -full- six months before I conceived Scout.

I have no doubt that Lil' Miss Spears can take very good care of a baby. But I wonder what will happen to her acting career? Will they write it into the script that Zoe gets pregnant or drop her like its hot?

God bless her...

2007-12-19T16:25:00.000-05:00

I moved in...

We picked up some air mattresses and have no where to sit except on camp chairs but we are there. We have watched all the dvd's in our collection, several times.

The boys walked to moms house on monday and my Grandma gave them a hard time about being there. So now they won't walk there anymore. They are going to the gas station instead. God, I hate when she does that. She never, never says anything nice to Scout. And only on occassion to Feret. Why does she have to be sooo mean? She said to the boys "What are you doing here? You don't live here anymore." Why?

Also on Monday night, we did the christmas caroling at the retirement home. Short and sweet. When we were walking out I heard a man say "All this for ten minutes." Well, excuse me, did you want a two hour concert...They are only Cub scouts, not the New York City Ballet.

Sheeesh!

2007-12-13T16:15:00.000-05:00

I found Baby's belly button! He was hidding it from me this morning when I was getting him dressed. (Actually the dinosaur on his shirt was.) I checked under his feet, and in his hands. Then I thought he hid it in his ears, but no, it was not there either. Finally I found it on his tummy! We both laughed and he hid it again and again.

Last night we were watching Shrek 2 (for the thousanth time) and it came to the part where Shrek and Donkey meet Puss in Boots. Baby re-enacted the whole scene playing the part of Puss. And of course I was Shrek (who gets clawed and climbed on). He did that about four times, always at the end proclaiming that he was Puss (just like in the movie, where he writes on the tree with the sword). My favorite part is when Baby acts like he is hurling up a hairball! Very realistic, if I may say so myself!

Still have not moved into the new crib, but will get to do it tomorrow. My wonderful boss just gave everyone the day off (without pay) so I will have plenty of time to move things over to the new place. The boys will be upset cause there is no internet or cable yet, but hey. I guess I will pick up some air mattresses for the time being.

I can't wait to see what Baby hides from me today! Hopefully it will be the Shrek movie! Muhahahahahaha! <>"Somebody told me the world"...

2007-12-10T10:47:00.000-05:00

I found a place.

It's a small duplex at the end of a little street in the middle of town. The owners are nice folks who already tried to convert me to being Baptist. And preached to me about politics.

There is no way that all my stuff is going to fit in this little house but I am moving into it. Well, not yet of course cause I don't have access to any beds. Scout and I have gone over and cleaned the small kitchen and bathroom and we set up Baby's crib. (which is one of those convertable ones that goes from crib to day bed to headboard) It's now a day bed. At mom's we used the crib as a toy box so I'm hoping Baby will get used to sleeping on it.

I took Feret on Sunday to do his 10 mile bike hike with two other boys from scouts. We measured from a park to the main road was 2.5 miles so they had to go from the park to the road and back twice to make the ten miles. The first trip took just over 30 minutes. They stopped to take a drink and rest their butts. Then they started for the second trip. Two hours later they showed up back at the park. Turned out one of the boys did not want to go as fast cause when he got home he would have to do homework. So they walked some of the way. Oh well. Baby and I kept ourselves busy while they were gone with some bubbles and a couple of toys we found in the car. I also took him over to the playground briefly but it was behind the community center building and I could not see when the boys made it back so we didn't play long there.

My friend Angie called me this morning to ask me if I knew a Linda such and such. I told her I didn't think so and then she asked how things were going. I told her a little bit about me moving and she asked the dreaded question. "How are you for christmas?" I told her that we are putting up the tree but we wern't going to do the Santa thing. I told her that I'm more worried about getting beds to sleep on than buying toys for the baby. The two older boys know whats going on and they are pretty much ok with it. For now, but I'm sure I will go down in history as being the worst mother in the world for having a sucky ass christmas two years in a row.

But this is how things in my life go. I try to mind my own business and every turn I take it is only getting worse. Don't get me wrong there are some times that I feel like the luckiest girl in the world but those times are very few and far between. I keep wondering how a person (who has a full time job, does not drink, does not smoke, does not do any drugs, vollenteers in the community on a regular basis, etc etc..) could have such a messed up life. There are always road blocks in front of me. Why? I don't get it.

2007-12-06T11:53:00.000-05:00

What the heck is going on? Seriously? I am starting to really freak out here. I must be on some kind of sadistic t.v. show where everything is going to shit really fast.

Ya'll ain't gonna believe this shit...
I get home from work yesterday and start to cook dinner, preheating the oven, defrosting chicken legs, getting the fries out of the freezer and putting them on the pan, yadda, yadda, yadda.
My Dad comes out and says that mom wants to talk to me. So I go in and she has this serious look on her face and all. She starts saying something about
"Scout can stay in N.C. and Ferret can go to KY and the Baby can go to daycare with Joey...."
All the while I am thinking what is she talking about. She must has taken too many pain pills or something. She keeps talking...
"You can send them $50 a week and they can start school right after winter break..."
I said to her.. "What happened did you get a letter or something."
She says "No, but I can't afford to loose the house now in this market. I would loose so much money."
She then asked me if I called my brothers yet.
What, No, I just found out I'm being asked to leave.
Then she says "I'm not asking you to leave to be mean, you can stay but the kids have to go."

I walk away. I had to. I finish cooking dinner and while at the dinner table I ask the kids what they think of going to the uncles houses. They kind of think it sucked.

After a while she calls me into her room again. I take a deep breath and go in.
She says "Sit down here we need to talk."
"No, I'll stand, thanks" I say.
Then she rattles on about how she called both Brad and Chris, but Brad is in AZ for a training but Becca will talk to him about it. And Chris thinks its a dumb idea but he will talk to his other half.
I'm just standing there wondering what is happening. I'm 33 years old with three kids and I have absolutley no control over what is happening.
I ask her to give me a date when she wants us out. She says she doesn't know. But something has to be done. If the new neighbors find out that kids live here then she will have to sell the house and its not the best time to do that. Then she says something about getting money out of the 401k and me paying her back...
I could not listen anymore.
I wanted to cry myself to sleep. But I couldn't. Baby wanted to watch Shrek and he needed a drink and wanted to sit on my lap and Scout needed help with his homework and Feret wanted to go to the store to get a coke with the money he just made for taking out Grandma's mail. I couldn't even cry myself to sleep...

2007-12-04T16:00:00.000-05:00

Ok, breathe Heather. You can get through this.

Count to ten...1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10.

I feel better.

Really! I do.

My wonderful stupid GM at work just asked me the most dreaded question he could ask.

"Are you ready for Christmas?"

Are you kidding me? Is this some kind of joke? Am I on Punked?

I have not yet even put up the Christmas tree yet. Not one decoration has been strategically placed so all can view. (I have lied, Baby did find two train ornaments that he pulled out and ran around the house yelling "choo, choo!")

And then I'm thinking that I have only three actual paychecks of which I don't have any extra spending money in the three said paychecks.

What a bad man, a very bad man he is for bringing up that question.

Oh and he always makes it a point to mention taking off work too. Like because we only get off on Tuesday he says that we should just take the whole week off. Shaa as if. I mean he gets paid salery so it would not affect him but the rest of us would be like eating at the Salvation Army and getting canned goods and old bread from St vincent De Paul's.

He aggrivates me so.

Oh and guess who just stopped by as I was typing this. Danny. Although now he won't come in, he sends in his son little Danny. We had a nice talk and he seems to be doing well. I told him that I am still upset at his dad. He still wants to know where the bicycle is that he left at my house. I told him I would try to find out. Oh the nerve!

2007-12-03T15:49:00.000-05:00

I. Love. This.

I have been tagged by this person to share with you all what classes I would take to make my life better or easier or whatever.

Of course these would have to be online classes cause I have no real time to actually go somewhere and sit for an hour or two a week. Or maybe the professor could just come to my house...hmmm. Anyway here they are.

1. How to get free healthcare, including dental. This class would be only a week long cause I need to see a Dr quick!

2. How to keep up with a three year old. Also includes a bonus course: How to potty train a three year old who has no interest what-so-ever in the "potty"!

3. How to organise "me time' without feeling guilty. Not that I really feel guilty but...!

4. How to attract men who see the real you. A magic class, maybe?

5. How not to look stupid in front of your boss. Very important since I havn't gotten a raise in 3 years.

6. Beauty school drop out--Drop-in course. Open seven days a week for a mini make-up class.

And just so I don't feel lonley in this class I would like to join Deb in...

7. How to skip over bad relationships. We all know why!

So now I get to tag some people who will pick 5 to 10 courses of their own and remember to join me in one of my courses. I'll bring some coffee.

Raquel at Much ado about nothing
Miss Britt
(not) coming

2007-11-30T14:52:00.000-05:00

There is a new teller at the bank.
I hate when there is a new teller.
I mean she was nice enough and all but, sigh.

First of all, She did not even say the "How are you today?" thing. I passed the business deposit to her and she grabbed it up quick and went straight to the computer and click, click, click, "Here you go."
Then I passed my nicely signed and thumbprinted paycheck along with my drivers license under the window. She asks "Are you currently banking with someone else?".
I say "No."
Then she says ever so cleverly "What can I do to get you to open a checking account with us?"
To which her little partner in crime says "I've been trying for years to get her to open an account, and she won't do it."
Then they have the gall to say "Thanks for supporting our christmas party!" Meaning the effing $5 bucks I spend to cash my check at the bank the check is drawn from is helping them to buy a cake that noone eats and some tinsel for a party that these two same girls might just end up kissing each other!
Not likely but...

New teller then says "How do you pay your bills if you don't have an account?"
To which I shocked them by saying that I have no bills.
No credit cards, no loans, no car payments, no phone contracts, nothing that I have to mail anything. I pay all my "bills" with cash. Really! My babysitter, cash. My groceries, cash. My cell phone, (prepaid phone card) cash. Gas, cash. Storage, cash. Car repairs, cash. Rent, yep, cash.
I don't have to worry about being overdrawn, late payments, filing fees, annual fees, set up fees, or fee fees. (Hee Hee! fee fees)

They did not even call be by my name when I left. How can I open an account with people who don't even know my name and I am there every day on my lunch break. I hate new tellers! They make me feel like an irresponsible citizen. "No checking account and they still allow you to dwell with the commoners? The horror!"

-sigh-

Just what you wanted to know...

2007-11-28T16:40:00.000-05:00

Here are some facts about me...

one. I really hate to see any kind of road kill. I say a little prayer everytime I see something dead in the road and I hope that they went quickly. I always pull off the side of the road to move a turtle. God bless them little guys!

two. I haven't a clue on how to put on makeup or do my hair. I just copy what I see other people doing. I'm positive I am doing it wrong!

three. Every paper that my boss gives to me, I have to unstaple it and streighten out the papers then staple them back together. Every. Single. One.

four. I love to give directions. I am really good at giving directions. People tell me I gve good directions. I even like to say the word "directions".

five. I get shocked when its cold out. Both emotionally and physically! I go through this weird "touch metal" thing every fall and winter. And I never touch metal without wincing first.

six. Lately I have this undying urge to "spit" on my co-workers Harley. I don't know where this urge comes from but I will most likely do it. Maybe tomorrow, however I am terrified I will be caught!

seven. I like blue ink pens way more than black ink pens. Does this make me racist?

eight. I am a pimple picker! I can't help it. Some people are and some aren't, I definatly are!

nine. I just found out I may be anemic. Look it up I had to. I think the iron deficiency fits me best.

ten. I am a friend instead of a mother to the boys. No secret there.

eleven. Eating is considered a hobby for me. I love to taste food!

twelve. If I had another child (or pet for that matter) its name will be Rocket Science. Just 'causeI can!

So there you have it. Twelve things you never knew about Heather. err Tallyho..Whatever.

This is a post I found that had not been posted. circa Nov 07

2007-11-27T13:48:00.000-05:00

The boys have been asking me for a dog or a cat. This is the longest we have gone without having a pet in the house. Last night I had a dream about us getting a couple of puppies. And by a couple I mean twelve! There were two Huskies (Feretts fav) and a beagle. A Collie, A King Charles, Three weiner dogs, A Mastif, A Great Dane, A Cocoa Lab, and Sader (our Afaghan that passed away this summer). Wow, that many dogs..err Puppies in the house was not as crazy as I thought it would be. But I knew for sure it was a dream cause the boys were actually taking care of them. Feeding them and playing with them. Unfortinatly in real life taking care of a pet would be neglected just as all the other chores in the house like taking out the garbage. I can't seem to get my point across to the boys that chores are not optional. They are a part of living in my house. You are responsible for maybe two or three things and thats it. Work in progress I guess.

Last night the boys had a special guest at their Boy Scout meeting. Mr. Bill O'Quinn came down from Virginia to talk to them about Summer Camp. He mapped out some great thing for the boys to vote on. They would set up camp and do merit badges and visit civil war sites for about three weeks in June. I would have loved to hear all the important parts but I had Baby with me and he was being a three year old. Making all kinds of car noises and running around.

There are two pianos in the meeting place and he always wants to play on them, but he is strickly told not to touch. I ended up taking him outside for most of the meeting. While I was out there one of the other parents were talking to me. He asked me if I had watched the Dog Whisperer. I hadn't. He then went on to say that I should watch it and use some of the skills on the kids to keep them under control. Wow is it that obvious that my kids run all over me. Later on that night I ended up putting the leash on Baby. He was running all over the place. I finally remembered about my secret stash of bubbles. Wahlah! Peace at last. He was so busy catching bubbles that he forgot to be a pain in the butt for a few minutes.

Did I tell you the Scout will be getting his Life rank badge at the next Court of Honor? And if he does his ten mile bike hike, Ferret will get his second class rank badge. I am so proud of them.

Speaking of court (heh heh heh) Scout went in front of the judge and pleaded not guilty and then asked for a public defender. His next court date is Dec 26th. Yeah, the day after Christmas!

Hey, Hey, Hey!

2007-11-26T15:54:00.000-05:00

I had a good Turkey Day!

I had a thought that maybe I ought to cook something for the event so I asked my Grandma if she still had some of our favorite recipies. I found the one I wanted, Banana Split Cake, in her little cook book. She's 92 and does not cook anymore. She mentioned to me that her favorite one was the cream cheese cake. I checked our pantry for the staple foods and headed to the grocery store. It cost me $45.00 to make one 9 x 13 cheese cake and three pie sized BSC's. My Grandma still has not had any of her cake yet. I'm not really bothered by it. I really enjoyed making it and it tastes great.

The three boys and I went to my brother Kevin's house and rubbed elbows with his wife's family who really had no idea why I was there. I mean really, I was there for about four hours and when I was leaving people were asking me my name for christ sakes! And there were not that many people there. Thirteen adults including myself, and thirteen kids. I spent a majority of the time with the kids. Although I did get to sit at the big peoples table when it was time to actually eat! And when it was time for desert I proudly placed my BSC (pie) on the table next to the pumpkin and cherry pies that someone else had brought. It did pretty well. What ever was left I brought home and Scout ate in the car.

I also brought the game that I made from scratch. I think its called ladder golf. Anyway when I presented it to the kids they all grabbed the balls and flung them at each other and at the game thing. Most of the raquet balls flew apart but the golf balls were intact. I found one adult to play with me and he won. He was Paul who is now married to Shalom who is Rita's sister who is my brother Kevin's wife. (whew) So he is my sister-in-law's brother-in-law! Yeah that's it!

I did not do any shopping on Friday, really bummed about that!. Saturday I did laundry and Sunday I took Baby on a nature walk and we found all kinds of need animals and bugs and trees. He had to be carried a couple of times but it was ok. Then we saw an art show on tenth ave. So we found a parking spot and strolled over there. He was so good at not touching anything! Thank God! The least expensive item was $45 bucks. Then we walked over to the Train Depot. Its now a Museum, cause we don't have any trains that come down here. They have a small kid sized train that goes around the building and when I showed it to Baby he almost freaked. He was so excited. They were not running the kids train either, he was just excited about the tracks! We walked all the way around. Chug chug chugging! He liked the real trains too, there are three of them. Anyway then we went home and the boys wanted to go to the beach so we went just as the sun was setting and that was my holiday weekend!

Ta Ta for now!

I found this post that had not been posted circa 07

2007-11-20T12:09:00.000-05:00

I am a procrastinator. Call me The Pro Crasti-nator. I will put stuff off like no other.

It will get me fired I'm almost sure of it. I know that when the first of the month comes around I need to tell the big boss man that we need to pay the rent. Either by handing him the Payable list or just a note with some scribbling on it. Either way he needs to be told. Period. Just tell him. Let him know whats up. give him the what for. Even write the check and have him sign it.

I can not seem to get the words out. It's like he is always doing something more important that gets in the way of me telling him.

2007-11-13T13:39:00.000-05:00

Brad has come and gone. And like I have said before he was a breath of fresh air. He's always joking and telling stories that you want to hear. We were all watching tv one night and Mom asked who one of the charecters were. He told her it was Tom Cruise when it was actually Vince Vaughn. Then he kept doing it with all the people. Really funny when Mom realised what was going on.
We all went to Kevin's house on Sunday for a bar-b-Q (see someone did invite me!).
Baby went to see his Dad on Saturday and I spent all day outside making a game to bring to Kevin's house. I made a ladder golf game. Kind of a cross between horseshoes and bean bags (kinda). Anyway the game was all set and then on Sunday morning I find out that we are going about 1pm. Then it was changed to 4pm. It gets dark about 5:30 now and so I did not think we would get to play my game. Anyway we finally get out there and Kevin starts cooking right away and I never brought the game out of the car. So we ate steaks and baked potatoes and a salad and visited for a while then went home.
The first night Brad was at the house he blew up the air bed and was in the living room. Baby of course wanted to sleep on the new bed with him. I had closed my eyes and was falling asleep when I hear a lot of giggling. All of a sudden a pillow comes flying at me and I roll over to see Baby and Brad hiding behind their pillows and Baby laughing. I said " Baby did you throw a pillow at me?" and he points at Brad and giggles some more. They did it one more time with the same result, only with more laughing. Really funny!

I can't stand bad waiters or waitresses. I took Brad, Dad and the boys to a family resturant where lots of baseball teams end up after the games. Anyway, we started off pretty good, she did forget to bring out our drinks and she forgot the chocolate milk for baby. Then finally the food came and either she didn't write it down or the cook didn't cook it but she didn't bring out baby's food. Nothing. Nada. When she did realise what happened she made it seam like they forgot the plate in the kitchen. Ten full minutes later she comes out with it. Just sets it on the table and says nothing. So we bring the boys to the table and by that time Baby was a little restless. But we got him settled. While the boys ate Dad ordered a draft beer and the boys ordered refills. Took her six minutes to fill the order. She gives Dad a bottle (not a draft) and she gives Baby a sprite cause she thought thats what he should have. What, wait isn't that my Baby your talking about. Why would you change his drink. I was beyond mad at this point. Dad was going to pay with his credit card but I just threw some cash on the table and we left. Errrrr! Stupid people, I mean really if I wanted that kind of service I would have served myself!

2007-11-07T11:49:00.000-05:00

Well Grandmas home again. She went into the hospital on Saturday and she was pissed that we made her go. She's 92 and she was having a hard time getting from one place to another without getting short of breath. Mom called the ambulance and Grandma fought and cursed us for it. She had some fluid in her lungs and her blood suger was out of wack.

Mom and Dad were visiting her on Sunday and when they came home Mom said that G-ma is "loosing it". She thoughtshe was at a hotel and wanted Mom to stay with her at the hotel. She was worried about her money in her purse. (Oh, wait she always is worried about her money) Anyway she was apparently saying all kinds of odd things and we could not figure out if it was the meds or old timers. (like that? ; ))

On Monday I had to go to Scout's school for a review of his IEP and on the way home I stopped by the Hospital to see her. She looked great and was in good spirits. Then she started to tell me that on Sunday night she thought the nurses took two of my sons into another room and where keeping them. She hid behind her bed and would not let the nurses help her. It took five people to get her into bed and calmed down. She said she punched the Dr. in the jaw. (hee hee) She told me that it was only this morning (monday) that she realised it was not real. She really did need to be restrained but seeing the boys was not real. The nurses said that she did become combatant. She just wanted to come home.

She says her Dr is evil for perscribing her a bunch of meds that are not meant for the elderly. (she never did like taking her meds) I could tell last night that she was doing better. Although now my Mom is bickering with her about stupid things. Like last night G-ma was saying that the Dr gave her like fifteen new scrips. Mom was arguing that they are all needed and stuff, but I think that G-ma is just worried that she won't know what to take and when. She does not like to look stupid so she puts up a defense. I think I will talk to Mom today and see what she says.

Anyway, My brother Brad is down for a week. He will be a big help at the house. We have lots of little things that need to be done. Like putting linolium on the bathroom floor. Hopefully Mom will let him help Dad out a bit. Brad will be fun to have around, he's always pulling someones leg about something.

(hee hee my grandma kicks ass!)

DRAMA, DRAMA, DRAMA

2007-11-02T13:00:00.000-04:00

Holy cow! What a day I had yesterday. I mean really, What mother wants to be called up and told 1). she has to pick up her son from school. and b). he has been sent to the Enhanced Assist Program for six days. Then gets another call from the Deputy saying that the other parents want to press charges. Where have I heard this before? Oh yeah, right here, last October.

Scout has gotten himself into another pickle. He was goofing around on the bus and before you know it someone else starts calling him names and so he nudges the kid. Then the kid pushes him back and as the bus stopped to let the kid off, Scout pushed him off the bus and he falls to the ground and bruises his abdoman. Scout gets arrested and taken to the juvinial detention center where I have to pick him up late last night. Now he has a court date and one count of battery on his record.

Of course when his dad got wind of it he called and wanted to talk to him. I flat out told him NO and demanded that he leave me and the boys alone and blamed the whole thing on him and his past abuse towards all of us. (Scout did end up calling him and of course I am to blame and acording to Rick .."if we only get back together everything will work itslf out")...blah blah blah...!

Scout was taking the whole thing as if he is the victim. He wants me to press charges for the other kid pushing him. I'm afraid that he sees this as joke and it's not that big of a deal. I just hope he sees the err of his ways...Do not put your hands on anyone else. period!

I am taking this fairly well. I didn't cry this time, but I'm not at risk for getting kicked out of my apartment this time either. I am disappointed that he is not taking this seriously. We didn't get home till 9:30 last night so I have not had a chance to talk to him about what his punishment is. We had to get up at 5am this morning to catch his bus to the other school (EA). If he takes the bus home he will have to walk two and a half miles to get home. He'll have lots of time to think then.

In other news, Baby was Batman for holloween and just today (two whole days after holloween) he let me take off his bottoms to the costume. He is still wearing the top. And proclaiming that he is Batman is his top priority! Maybe I should have started todays blog with this story instead? Oh well.

I got a call from Angie, who I have not talked to since December of last year. She wanted to let me know that she seen someone at a baby shower that we both knew. Yeah, weird huh? Anyway the girl she saw, (but didn't talk to) was Tracy, Yes, the same Tracy that I mentiond a couple of posts back that is now married to my ex Ron. Angie could not confirm that they were in fact married but all these years we never knew she was the sister of another friend named Bonnie. Small world, I guess.
Angie confirmed my phone number and said she would talk to me later. I know she won't but it was nice to hear from her just the same. Strange how people drift apart after so much time is put into a relationship. It really makes me sad that I don't have those kind of friends anymore who invite you over for a bar-b q or a birthday party. And no I am not looking for sympathy. I always sound so pathetic. I just wish for everyone to have good friends. Don't take them for granted like I did and don't just have one or two, make lots of friends! (hold on I've got something in my eye, strange!) Anyway, I guess its a good thing I don't have any local friends, then I wouldn't be blogging about this and you wouldn't be reding this and we would not have bonded.

Thanks for listening, (where did this come from???)

2007-10-31T13:16:00.000-04:00

I usually do not comment on other blogs cause I really don't think that they give a crap what Heather at tallyho_2022 is thinking. But today I responded to Miss Brit's post titled "the watchers". The reason I started this blog was to edge out my feelings about my situation with my now ex. I completely understand what it must feel like to be a watcher and what it feels like to be the watched. I can assure you that being watched is far worse that watching. Mine was not the typical beat the crap out of you kind of relationship. It was more control and conquer. Now he is pulling at strings. Now he is just waiting for me to mess up. He is hoping I mess up so he can come in and take over again. He tells me I am messing up and if I believe him just once I will fall right back into what I have worked so hard to get out of. I am not a perfect person. I am not mother of the year. I am not the most beautiful woman in the world. I am not... I do however love myself exactly like I am. I love myself. I. love. myself. Its a start.

2007-10-30T15:22:00.000-04:00

I went camping this weekend. It was a leader training campout called OLSI. Outdoor leader skills instruction. We had a blast. The weather was great, overcast on Saturday and sunny on Sunday. There were eight of us in the class. Myself (as a troop committee member), Deeann (an asst scoutmaster from my Troop), Edwin (a scoutmaster from Ft myers), Brian (an asst scoutmaster), John (a scoutmaster), Dave (a cubmaster), Lynn (a webelos leader), and Lois (lynns asst webelos leader). We learned a whole heck of a lot of stuff! Cooking, first aid (from a real Dr), map and compass, hiking and backpacking, nature study, lashing, knots, campfire, and meal planning.

Funny thing was that we had a little issue about bananas. Go figure. We had to write out our menu and hand a shopping list to our "senior scoutmaster" so he can go buy our food. Well instead of two "bunches" of bananas he only wrote down two bananas. So all we got was two bananas.
I dont know how bananas keep getting brought up on these campouts. The last time it was on summer camp in NC. Lots of banana talk there. And before that was when my son was a webelos and the Troop took the Webelos to a camporee and there was a mixture of a couple of patrols...they ended up calling themselves the banana patrol.

Weird!

We put on a big campfire and did the skits and songs for it too. The fire was so big that after our skits we had to knock it down a notch. Bad planning on our part. Oh well. We had fun practicing the skits. Our group of eight really bonded well.
There was one time when Brian was late coming to one of the classes...well after that Brian could have been sitting in front of you and you still asked "where's Brian?"
Another thing that was so funny was Lois calling Ken a "senior scoutmaster" as in "old". She got "Senior patrol leader" and "scoutmaster" confused! Everyone loved that (except for Ken).

Anyway, fun was had by all and we learnt alot!

Now I'm really Woodbadge bound!

2007-10-25T16:00:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow is Baby's third birthday. I am so excited about it. I am sending him to day care with party hats and blowers and candy and goodie bags. Then when I pick him up I am going camping without any kids. You see there is this Boy Scout training this weekend that I promised DeeAnn that I would go with her. On top of the Birthday thing I am going to miss out on going to the Swamp Buggy Races. I have been going to those since I was knee high to a grasshopper. Ah well, Theres always next year.

Did I tell you all what my Grandma got for Baby? She got him a Red Mustang! He loves it. He cant wait to ride in it every day. She loves that kid to death!

We still have not gotten any holloween costumes yet. I hate waiting for the last minute but I dont have a choice this year. I have a bunch in storege but I cant get to them.. grrrr!

I know, I know, two weeks and no post...

2007-10-16T14:18:00.000-04:00

Where have I been you ask. Well I'll tell ya where I have been. I have officially let scouts take over my life. I mean I have given up on myself and let them have me. Lets see I have been to some sort of scout meeting on Monday the 1st,
Wednesday the 3rd,
Thursday the 4th,
Saturday the 5th,
monday the 8th,
Tuesday the 9th,
Thursday the 11th,
Friday the 12th,
Sunday the 14th,
and yesterday, Monday the 15th.
And would you believe that I have another meeting to go to tonight and one on Thursday!

See the Monday meetings are for my two boys - This is when the Troop meets at the church.
Tuesday and Thursday meetings are for the Pack. Tuesdays are for the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. Thursdays are for the 1st and 2nd graders. I have to open the church on Thursdays cause they don't have a key yet. I have to go to the Tuesday meetings cause the 4th and 5th graders dont have a leader yet and I need to help them find one. I did Baloo training on one saturday and Scout went to the keys this weekend for a snorkeling campout. (Ferret was supposed to go too but wigged out at the last minute and I had to pick him back up.) moving on...

The Baby turns three this month on the 26th!!!!!

Woot woot woot!

In other news - I am still playing Runescape and I have reached a combat level of 53! I have been doing a new skill called Hunter. I really enjoy training my characterand have gotten to level 32 already for the Hunter skill. Last night I figured out all by myself how to catch a Spined Larupia and turn its fur into clothing. I even impressed my boys cause they have not done it before and they are a much higher level than me. (but not in the Hunter skill). Anyway I was really happy last night that I did it. Next I will catch butterflys and imps then I will try for something called a Horned Graahk! Yay for me!

Yay! She did it!

2007-10-01T13:01:00.000-04:00

He picked JES!!! I am so glad that Bret picked her and not that loser Heather. Good job Bret. Team Jes!

Oh, I guess you all know who I was rooting for on Rock of Love now, right? I can't believe he was even considering Heather. She could care less if he was dying, she just wanted to have a good time. Jes is sooo sweet for him.

Anyway, I had such a headache last night I was almost not gonna watch it but I stayed up and am so glad I did. cant wait for the reunion!
edited: I hated the reunion, why in the world did he let Jes go. I will never understand it. I hope they have another season. I would hate to see Bret with Heather.

In other news I was at the mall this weekend with Feret and I ran into a friend of one of my old boy friends. I asked her if he was still around and she said that he got married to Tracy. I had to ask her again "Who"? She said "Tracy".
Just a little background... Ron and I knew each other forever, he went out with a couple of my friends and then we dated and were even engaged. We were together for three and a half years. He left me for Tracy. I was sooo upset that he left me that when he came back to me I kinda lost something that I used to feel for him. I still love him to this day but something was gone... I broke it off with him and went back with the kids dad, Rick. I have not spoken or seen Ron since then. I told Tasha (the friend in the mall) that I miss him. I really believe that we were soul mates but people got in the way. He understood me. And was never mean or hateful to me. I miss him soo much. Don't get me wrong I'm sure we are very different people than we were back then (last seen him in May of 99')(The boys dont even remember him, they were 4 and 5 when we split) and I would never ever break up a married couple. But, that wont keep me from missing him. Is it selfish to wonder if he still thinks about me?

for Deb and Stephen

2007-09-21T15:55:00.000-04:00

Why is this not working...errrrr...Dangnabbit...What the....

I had a great picture to share for a blogger named Deb at boondoggled and for Stephen King.
(hope I did that right)
Of course we all know that a couple of days ago it was talk like a pirate day and Deb loves that. And we also all know that today is Stephen Kings Birthday. So I had a picture of a pirate with clown makeup on while writing a book called "How to make your Booty Thinner" (which is kind of odd due to the fact that either "booty" is more likely better "bigger" these days) And it was saved using the wrong gif or something like that. anyway...I tried.

Happy Talk like a Pirate Day!

Happy Stephen King Day!

My thought

2007-09-10T16:07:00.000-04:00

Well I have been asked my opinion on the Britney thing last night at the VMA's. I will try to give you my honest opinion with as much dignity as I can.

I think that Britney looked fine as far as her physical apperance. But when she was dancing it was like she was trying to hard to get to the right place on the stage and not looking very confident. Everyone else said she looks like she still had baby fat on her, but I did not think so. She just looked a bit strained on stage. Like...move here...do this ...move there...do that...etc. There was no flow to it. And I hate hate hate when the song has background singers but there are no background singers in sight. I mean Alicia Keys did it too. But I guess Britney was worse.

I liked her outfit. I wish there was some majic done like everyone thought. There was not poof! No abracadabra! No frills at all. Just poor Britney up there with a medeocre song and a half ass dance routine.

In other news...I thought Lauren from the Hills did great. Glad to see Whitney with her and Audrina too. Surprised that they have not caught Heidi and Lauren together yet!!!