Uuuugh

Sorry, I couldn't think of a better title for this post. I have to admit, I knew taking 13 online credits while starting a business and being wife and mother would be difficult, but this week has definitely put me to the test. I mean if normal life wasn't hard enough, last week some kind of emergency arose and we had to move our bedroom remodel up to right then and there and since my husband goes to work and school we are still in the middle of it which means we still don't have a bed, luckily my son loves me and is sleeping in the front room with his daddy while I get the only bed in the house.

Now some may think that not having a bed might be stressful enough, but in the meantime I have to wash ever single thing we own (while not having anywhere to put it because we can't yet use our dressers or closet), and as messy as our house was it is even worse now and that to me is beyond stressful.

but wait, it gets better, Yesterday our vet came, he was really good and it went as smooth as smooth can be, the animals didn't mind getting their shots, so all in all a real good visit. Brandy though had to have a precedure (like a surgery but not) to her ear to drain a hematoma--he put her under anethesia and I was able to trim her nails while he worked on her ear, it was actually really amazing, he then bandaged her ear and gave her a shot to wake her up. We paid him and he left cause everyone was doing good, then about 5 hours later i am guessing the anethesia finally wore completely off because dear sweet Brandi had a major panic attack, even with a 'cone of shame' on her head she managed to get the bandage off, we sat with her and removed her collar and the 'cone of shame' and I gave her benadryl and put a fan by her and after about an hour of sitting and singing and petting her she finally relaxed--at which point I tried to rewrap her head using a vet bandage and a feminen hygeien product because we didn't have any non-stick gauze on hand--within an hour, with the 'cone of shame' on she got it off again

Anyhow, that is just the readers digest version of my day--all the dogs got out, 3 of which ran off, then only 2 of which returned, we went looking for the 3rd (I was so scared the school bus hit her) and luckily she came running, but about 20 minutes later, at which point I was already explaining to my son that if she was hit by a car she would get to go to heaven cause I didn't want him to freak out like I was--yeah, that was fun.

So--in short, after eating cinimon streusal my husband made yesterday for Breakfast, lunch, and dinner and coming to the realization that I can't even use the restroom without feeling the need to multi-task (and by that I mean taking in notes and studying type multi-task), I had to face the facts that something has got to change--and so with that said, I beleive I will go feed the pig and rabbits and read my textbook outside today in the sun (rather than in the bathroom)--my goal is to get ahead in school and stay a head, tomorrow I am going into town, at which point I am going to run my errands for the week and on saturday we are going to stay home and work on the house (instead of our usual running around all day like chickens with our heads cut off

Anyhow, this might be a bit boring and it is definitely long and for that I apologize, but I was wondering--just what do you do to manage your time more wisely? How do you plan our your days?

Can anyone guess what this mommy got for Valentines day?

If you guessed a new truck--no, I got the Pallets in the back of it

and the biggest surprise is, I am actually EXCITED about the pallets

The truck is my husband's present from me

I must admit, the pretty pink flowers waiting for me on the counter this morning were also a pretty neat surprise--Thanks Honey--I LOVE YOU

(ps, sorry I am still not use to posting pics)

I'm Back

The other day I was in a store trying to buy a new bra and all of a sudden it hit me like a ton of bricks--I haven't blogged in forever--not because I didn't want to, but because life just kind of got in the way, and then the laptop brook and then we only had dial up (still no laptop, but the 'no good internet') sealed the deal and I thought I was going to have to put my blogging days behind me for good--but then a light began to show at the end of the tunnel, and as it got closer we decided to jump on and now we are riding the LC Airways Internet 'train' and my blogging life is starting to look feasible now, granted I won't be perfect right away, but stick with me and I am sure I will figure out how to ride this bike once again.

as for now, got to go and get the little rascal from the bus stop so peace out ya'll

I do apologize

this should show you how tired I am--I meant to post this to another blog...yep, I am going to bed

I am so incredibly sorry, I have so many pictures to post, the only problem is that the computer is acting up--my husband says because I have been using it too much.

please don't give up on me, I am actually trying to give it a break (which is hard while I am trying to start up a new business and have to research the laws, regulations, etc...which go along with that and I have spent most of today trying to locate a breed of bunny which seems to be impossible to find without traveling long distances.....)

anyhow, please be patient, pictures will be posted as soon as either this computer stops freezing up everytime I try to do a download or I can download the pictures to my son's desktop and load them up from there--anyhow, as for now, I have been up since 3 am so I am going to bed early and hopefully I get a bit more sleep tonight then I did last night then off to Canton to try and locate a specific breed of bunny (let's keep our fingers crossed)

on another note--I am still in search of the perfect name for all I am trying to accomplish so if you think of anything good please leave it in a comment...(and in case you haven't heard, I want to be able to grow and start breeding other critters as well as sell fresh produce and some canned goods in coming years which is why finding the perfect name is a bit harder than I originally thought it would be)

night ya'll

DH taking photos

First, let's side track a little. A few years ago my friend convinced me to Join an online group and since I was new I tried to fit in but had no idea what the code they were using was, luckily some one asked and it was explained:

DH=dear husband

DS=dear son

DD=Dear Daughter

DM=dear mom

MIL=Mother in Law (take it for what it is worth)

Xh=ex-husband

I am sure you get the idea. Anyhow, the one we have to focus on in this post is DH because I remember it being a little controversial because in addition to it standing for Dear Husband it also worked for Dick Head--now obviously we all know that even though we want to believe that a Dear Husband is not anything like a dick head we have all had moments like the one I had tonight when I asked my husband to take a picture of our new pet hedgehog whose name is Tulip. I figured that was an innocent enough request, boy did he prove me wrong

now, at the time we were taking pictures for me to post on my other blog @the animal house. When he took this picture he suddenly got a sheepish look on his face and made it a point to request that I blog about this one--luckily he didn't specify which blog he wanted it on and as you can imagine he probably didn't think it would be a post about him. In all fairness, he was quite excited that he was able to get such a great shot of the twins, as far as he is concerned Tulip was in the way of what he was truly trying to get a shot of--which leads me to ask you, what exactly do you think DH stands for tonight?

by the way, if you would like to see more pictures of our loving animals you can always check out @the animal house (by clicking on the name)

CAR DEALERSHIP=FUN TO BE HAD BY ALL

Recently we were ever so thrilled to be putting the 5th VTI transmission in the SUV we have owned a little less than 4 yrs, being that it needed some other work done to it we finally decided rather than continue to put a lot of $$$$$ to fix her we would just save the money and put it twards a new vehicle--one with a 'normal' transmission.

we figured this would be simple enough, we have a car that is worth $3,000 as a trade in (I asked the dealership which put the new transmission in to quote us how much it was worth) so we began searching for a $3,000 vehicle so we could do a flat out swap, we didn't need anything too fancy, we were looking for something similar to the car we were trading in.

What we didn't take into consideration was that nobody makes small engine SUVs that have no added bonuses. It is my guess that the reason we couldn't find vehicles like that is because anybody who is lucky enough to own one isn't going to let it go without a fight (heaven knows it took 5 transmission before we gave ours up).

But we are determined people and we figured we had just put the new transmission in so we figured we had a few months (before registration was up cause we needed 4 new tires to get it legal again) and so believe it or not I had no problem just walking when the salesman started suggesting vehicles with extremely high miles, older than my parents, or required more fuel than a 747. My favorite was being able to laugh in their face when they pulled out the financing papers and started asking us personal questions--oddly enough, we have purchased enough vehicles and we might not know our credit scores but we know enough about our credit to know there was no way we would even waste either his or our time applying cause not only would we not qualify we don't want the payments.

some hard core facts about financing:

you can't get a car loan for less than $7,500.

The length of a car loan is Dependant upon the year the car was made.

I have never seen a used car financed for 0% interest

even with good credit most people get a 4.5% or similar interest rate

people with bad credit get between 12.9-21% interest rate

most places don't finance a person that makes less than $9 a month

oddly enough I knew this all going into this which is why we were looking for a $3000 car for a flat out trade--seriously is that too much to ask?

I guess it was, because after visiting 20 something car dealerships, all of which said either:

'sorry we don't have anything for that price range on our lot'

'usually we have something like that but not right now, check back with us later'

'let us get your name and number and we will call you if something comes in'

we even got a few:

'are you joking?'

'even if we had something like that we won't take your trade'

'if they offered you that for your trade, run back to them before they take it back'

I think my favorite were the dealership where nobody even offered to help us, and at one dealership the guy laughed in our face and told us 'good luck with that'

and with that said, after traveling to timbucktoo and back again and visiting more dealerships in 2 months than I have in 26 yrs we took one last ditch effort and visited a little dealership in town, we hear it a lot on the radio and a few people we know even bought vehicles there, unfortunately the first time we went in they weren't able to help us but upon making a few phone calls and pulling a few strings we were able to get a little bit more money under our belts and upon returning not only did they offer us financing (which we turned down) the put us into a lovely 2007 Chevy Uplander with keys, with a DVD and CD player, leather seats, 7 seatbelts, onstar, and a toy box--and thanks to a little miscommunication, we got it for only $100 more than what they paid for it when it was traded in.

so do I feel like I sold out? No Way, we still got a rocking deal, a 4 yr extended warranty and with the push of a button the passenger side back door opens by itself letting our son jump out and run into the school without any help and we didn't without financing--I asked for a miracle and it was given to me

do I ever want to go car shopping again? NO WAY JOSE--hence why we went for a 7 passenger vehicle with the extended warranty, hopefully by the time it finally dies the final death I will have forgotten just how torturous it is to 'shop around' for cars, but until then, we are keeping our new Walle (the name we named him).

in the meantime--if by chance something does occur where we need a new vehicle between now and then I just pray to the Great Lord above whom I love that Andrew is still working at Crown Kia in Tyler, Texas cause he was AWESOME!!!!!!

the things they advertise these days

John noticed this one night while we were leaving Atwoods, who would have known a place would advertise this kind of merchandise (and no, this isn't Atwoods sign, it is the store across the street from Atwoods)

and yes, just in case you aren't sure, it says 'Quality P....Discount prices' got to love the BC in front of it as well....yep, weed might not be legal here but hey, at least we can help you pass the test.

the ugliest time of the year

Christmas is over

The decorations are down (well except the big Santa and reindeer in our front yard, but they aren't plugged in anymore) and safely stored away in the attic

All the treats have been eaten and New Years resolutions to lose the weight were made and already broken

no longer getting cards in the mail

life seems to be getting back to normal--which is why I have to wonder:

WHY THE HECK DO I FEEL SO STINKING OUT OF WHACK?!?!?!

I mean seriously, I seemed to be go go go and don't remember most of December, January even seemed to speed by at record speeds, now it is February and I want to know what happened. I finally get a moment to breathe and to be truthfully honest I kind of want to pull Christmas back out of the attic just so there is something to look forward to. I am currently listening to a Christmas CD I put together in College hoping that maybe I can catch a glimmer of 'EXCITEMENT' and raise my spirits a little, it doesn't seem to be working, but it was a shot.

I sit here, today has definitely been an ordinarily one. Woke up and the power was out--which of course meant my C-pap machine wasn't working, which was the first thing I noticed, then I realized the heater wouldn't be working either--on one of the coldest mornings we have had this year--and if things couldn't get any better, the cold I felt in my throat yesterday was felt throughout my body this morning

so of course I did the only thing a girl should do and spent the entire morning sitting on my couch cuddled up in blankets, the power would come back on and then go off again so while it was on I made my husband and me some cream of wheat and some nice herb tea and we sat and watched the new harry potter on his laptop in case the power went out again. I totally forgot the bug guy was coming and sure enough wasn't even 'dressed' when he got here.

Dominic's usual ride home couldn't make it today, she told me yesterday and I thought we had an alternate worked out but she called to say she was having car trouble so after a nice little fight my husband just went and got him at noon to ensure he made it home (I wasn't going to walk in the freezing cold with a cold to get him at 3--hello that is not in my nature)

so now, I did finally get a bath and dressed and have spent the rest of the afternoon listening/watching my son play with his blocks wondering to myself just why can't I get my groove back? Why do I feel so defeated? why is it that even my dog sitting beside me makes me want to chuch her out the window? the only solution I can come to is--tis that time of the year! which time of the year? you may be wondering, we already established that Christmas is over, so what am I referring to? I'm referring to the:

wake up defeated, got 2 cars in the shop needing new transmissions, cat that needs to be fixed and chipped, medical assist dog in need of further training, son threw up all weekend long, husband works too many hours/jobs, I'm stuck at home with nothing to do but sit around and mope or get up and clean, my life is in such a predictable annoying rut, when will the dang sun come out and shine announcing that spring time is here cause I am tired of waiting so instead I will listen to Christmas music to further my denial blues 'time of the year'

in past years I would just work more of even better, go shopping to suppress my frustrations with the 'too cold to go outside and do anything productive blues' but this year neither of those thigs are options--last year I piratically gutted my house of 'crap' resulting in a couple massive yard sales and then a friend helped me decorate but now that I've been there and done that I am wondering what I will find to occupy my time this year

anybody got any good suggestions on what I can do to make 'this ugly time of the year' pass by faster because my attempt to sleep it away isn't getting me anywhere

we're back!!!!

I have to tell you that life has had its ups and down in 2010--sorry I had to go offline for a bit while an investigation went under way but now I am back and at it and looking to a brighter 2011. I have recruited the help of a friend, whom I love and you will to, unfortunately she currently doesn't have access to the internet but here is to hoping she gets it soon so you can enjoy getting to know her better through the many posts I hope she contributes.

A lot has definitely changed and I am going to back track about a few posts as time goes on, post pics and hopefully be able to catch you up before 2012. wish me luck

when I grow up.....

Yesterday Dominic was watching a movie about pilots and flying planes (I found it while organizing our movies last week) and he came in to update me on what he learned, I felt the need to blog this conversation so I didn't forget it (note, at this very moment he is in the bathroom trying to feel a balloon up with water, I heard it rupture and him mumble, 'my clean shirt', yeah, gotto remember these 'cute' moments)

"mom, so the guy on the show says when I grow up I can fly airplanes"

"Dominic you know I worked on airplanes when I grew up"

"oh yeah, but mom, you just sat in airplanes, I want to fly them" (I was a flight attendant)

I don't really remember how the conversation went after that, I was just so flabergasted by his 'yeah, but you just sat on the plane' anyhow, the conversation continued this morning cause he watched it again this morning...

"So mom, when I grow up, I want to fly airplanes, and you can sit in them and then we can work together, ok mom, ok?"

"ok, Dominic, sounds like a plan"

I hope when he grows up he learns a flight attendant does more than just sit in a plane or he is going to have a rough go as a pilot working with flight attendants cause they don't like pilots who don't think they do nothing, trust me, this I know.

cooking scret

I am going to share a cooking secret, one that took me 7 yrs of marriage to figure out, so huddle close cause I would hate for my husband to hear....a little closer, closer....no, this isn't the substitute applesauce for oil (which doesn't work for cookies by the way, it makes them too cake like in my experience) instead, this one is more a tactical then a healthy one, here it is:

When we were newly weds I was a horrible cook, even when I tried my best I still usually ended up either ruining the meal or giving my husband food poisoning, I remember cooking meals even the dog wouldn't eat, have you ever burnt corn? but those days not only seem to be over, my cooking has improved, so much that last night I made a meal from 'left overs' in the fridge, I used some fresh vegies (carrots, squash, celery), leftover base from the roast I made friday (which consisted of tomato sauce and tomato soup, which I cooked a roast, carrots, and an onion in, I also added a few seasons) and I added half a can of spaghetti sauce and boiled a package of egg noodles and added some water and then made grilled cheese sandwiches with Mexican melting cheese.

Now, when I went to serve it up I had flash backs from my 'early years' 'when I would serve something like this up and my husband would ask 'What is it?' and if I didn't have a name he would refuse to eat it cause he didn't trust my cooking and therefore didn't trust me (who would after I gave them food poisoning so many times) but he didn't even ask, he actually sat down and we said prayer and after prayer I warned my husband to like it but not to like it too much cause there was no way I could ever make it again (i.e. I didn't use a recipe, I seldom do and he knows this) he ate it anyways.

after he was finished he commented on how delicious it was, and it was also very nutritious, may I add, extremely high in Acid but most things I make are, which is probably why we have so many heart burn issues, but back onto the topic on hand, you are probably wondering just what my secret is, and to be truthfully honest, I guess there wasn't one, I just wanted to brag about how good my meal turned out last night

Schooled by a 4 yr old...

Oh My Goodness Gracious, the other day Dominic did the funniest thing ever, and I mean it was so hilarious and thought provoking and we all almost died laughing--well except the person he said it about, his feelings were a bit hurt--and I have been dying to tell you guys all about it, but I have yet to find the time, sooooo.......

The other day John, Dominic, Patrick (a teenage boy we know), and I were all driving to the Church to clean it, John is responsible for arranging people to come and clean our church and we do that on Mondays and Saturdays.  Usually I stay home Monday nights to watch TV and play on the Internet but this Monday night I decided to tag along and I am so grateful I did, because had I not I would have missed out on this...

So Patrick and I are talking about something or Patrick was telling us something, either way, Patrick said something to me and Dominic got all defensive and informed him that, "you don't say that to my mommy!"  and he meant it, it was so funny how he said it that we laughed our heads off, obviously not exactly the responsible thing to do because John and me laughing at that was probably what promoted his next comment about 3 minutes later.

Patrick was still talking and I heard Dominic mumble something and John told us all to be quiet so we could hear what Dominic was saying, it took Patrick a minute to get the hint, which only made what Dominic said even more hilarious (this may actually only be hilarious to those who know Dominic)....Anyhow, in Dominic's little 4 yr old boy voice he informed us, "I have some good news and some bad news"  and waited for us to ask what the bad news was, so we did, "The bad news is Patrick is with us" stunned by that comment we asked what the good news was (now understand that Dominic use to idolize Patrick until recently when Patrick got an attitude), "The good news is that Patrick can go home!"

Now the point that Dominic came up with that all on his own was amazing, specially considering he didn't turn 5 till the next day and that at his last check up the doctor reported that he was behind developmentally, I think for being a little 'slower' than the average 5 yr old, he sure as heck knows how to school a 15 yr old.....booya, Patrick (who I must say sat and pouted for a few minutes after Dominic's announcement)

The day I outsmarted an attorney (which wasn't hard to do)

Today a friend's comment on Facebook got me thinking about a meeting we had a few years ago....let me set it up for you.

In 2003 my husband and I bought our first house and moved out of our tiny apartment into this house.  My friend was moving into the house with us and helped us move out of our apartment since we were suppose to be into the house by Friday and yet closing took longer than expected and we weren't able to move out till Monday and so I had to go to work before the office opened and was unable to participate in the sign out process, so my friend was there to help my husband and was our witness to what went on, had it not been for her, I wouldn't have really known what happened, but she backed my husband's story so I knew they were telling the truth (or really good at lying).

Well, after a few months of living in this house we got a bill from the apartments, I went and talked to them and in short, we ended up having to meet with someone at a courthouse.  Now, we were suppose to pay a break lease fee, but when my husband offered to pay it they said we didn't need to pay it so we didn't, the fee was $600, they billed us for like $1,100 and said we had to pay that amount cause we never paid the break lease fee, we were only willing to pay the break lease fee.

So, the court date, or at least what the paperwork called the court date, came and we all met at the court house.  My friend and I were both pregnant, due about 2 weeks apart, we both had little tummies and we had both talked about this moment for a long time before showing up to go in front of a judge--turns out we weren't to go in front of a judge, we were meeting for mediation (a slight little oversight they didn't make in the paperwork.)  We were prepared to meet in front of a judge and so as their 'mediator'/attorney tried to pressure us to take his 'bargain' that he had to offer us, we refused.  He insisted that we either take the 'bargain' or he would be forced to take this matter infront of a judge--we told him to bring it and that we were happy to explain to a judge what our side of the story was.

Now, we sat in that tiny cramped room for well over 30 minutes.  The room was probably 6 ft by 6ft and round table in it barely fit, we sat next to the door because our little bellies prevented us from squeezing around the table.  John was there, and even said a few things when we first started but after about 5 or 10 minutes he ended up sitting in a corner just watching and waiting.  

I think my favorite part of this meeting was when the attorney started flicking a rubber-band he had on his wrist.  Now, I am not a retard, at the moment he started doing this I knew we had him.   Flicking a rubber band on your wrist was something I knew people did when they were stressed, and by him doing it I knew he was stressing, and being a little sister and having 7 siblings I knew once you could get someone to show signs of stress meant you only had to push a little further before they broke.

Now, my friend and me are reasonable people, but we will not be bullied and we will not step down when we know we are right, and I think had it come to it we would have fought the mob that day.  The tension was so strong in that room you could have cut it with a knife.  I am rather surprised neither of us went into labor because our blood pressures were surely through the roof, but we stayed calm and we stood our ground (mainly cause the room was so small and our tummies so big we could move had we wanted to.)

WE continued to state the same thing, and he continued to flick his rubber-band, then he left the room, he returned, offered us even more money off, we re-stated our offer, he left the room, returned with even more money off, flicking his rubber band as we re-stated our offer, he left the room, this went on for probably another 30 minutes, and when he returned with another offer and stated if we didn't accept that we would have to go to court and then would have to pay court costs we informed him we would only have to pay court costs if we lost and we didn't intend to lose, he flicked the rubber band faster and faster and left again and returned accepting our terms....

And that was why I should have been a lawyer instead of a CNA, cause at least I would have gotten paid a lot more for cleaning up other peoples crap....

Did you ever win a battle that seemed to be a defining moment in your life?  This surely seemed to be one for me, too bad I have yet to seek my legal degree, but one day I will, but those plans are a different story for a different day...

Anyhow, it is funny how I was able to stand my ground with that attorney and yet it is this little man who seems to have me eating out of his hands--I wonder where he gets it from?  Do you think he was taking notes that day?

by the way, his 5th birthday is almost here (DEC 15), hard to believe it has been 5 yrs.

Rebellious

To most who know me you wouldn't think I was the rebellious kind, because in most cases I am not at all rebellious, but I am also no angel.   In fact, I am rebellious in a way that only I know I am rebelling, want an example?  I will give you a few....

As a youth my mom was against watching TV during the day, we were either to be playing or doing something and if we couldn't find something to do she would give us something do to in the form of a chores,  so now as an adult I tend to always have a TV on in my house, even if there is nothing on TV that I would like to watch there is still a TV on just because as an adult I can watch TV whenever I want.

Now, I will admit that now I am a quarter of a century old that I have learned something in my old age of wisdom, and that is the simple fact that having TVs on in every room of the house costs money, and since I don't feel the need to waste money just to assert my independence and power as an adult living in my own home I have started to curve this rebellion--not because my mom doesn't approve, but because I have learned better.

Another one of my little rebellions is that as a child my mom refused to let us eat a sandwich unless it was cut, how it was cut she didn't really care, it just had to be cut before we could eat it.  I use to be so envious of those who could eat uncut sandwiches.  I despised cut sandwiches so much that learned how to make my own sandwich I would and try to eat it so quickly that my mom couldn't insist on me cutting it.  Even as an adult and mother I am very much against eating cut sandwiches, unless of course I am sharing it with someone, then I don't mind it being cut in half.  

Now, as much as I hate eating cut sandwiches, I have noticed that my son is now envious  of cut sandwiches and requests that I cut his sandwich, he even is specific about how he wants it cut--and I find it rather odd that every time I cut his sandwiches I cringe just a little remembering just how much I hated to have my sandwiches cut as a youth.

Now, Why such a random topic to discuss today?  Because I just got done cooking Ramen noodles for the kids which brings up another one of my rebellions--not breaking my noodles up!  I alway thought it was such an insult when my mom broke my noodles up before cooking them and would always beg her not to, she insisted though and my begging and pleading went unrewarded. I think I despise broken ramen noodles and spaghetti noodles just as much as I despise my sandwiches being cut.  I don't break up noodles, which has become a huge issue at our house because John (my loving but not so understanding about my weird little obsessions) insists that the noodles need to be broken because it is too hard for the kids to eat unless they are and it is easier to break them uncooked then to cut them up after cooking.

Well, just like all my other rebellious tendencies I have today I broke up the ramen noodles before cooking them for the kids to eat--I don't know whether to be depressed that I have reformed under pressure or to be thankful for my wisdom and sensibility in my 'old age'

I know, many of you don't know me personally so this probably makes no sense to you, but as a youth I swore I would never do these things out of principle, and yet slowly I have bent my rules and changed them, and it wasn't until I broke up the ramen noodles in the pan today that I realized what me breaking the ramen noodles symbolized something much bigger than simply a child friendly lunch, what exactly it symbolizes I do not know just yet, but I think it means I am growing up...what do you think?

Do you have any ways you rebelled?

I must admit, I do a few other things as simple rebellions, like eat cake and ice cream for breakfast, decorate the christmas Tree in November (my mom always insisted on waiting till closer to christmas, once we were decorating it Christmas Eve), I let my dogs on the furniture and even allow them to sleep with us (not that I want them to anymore, it just kind of worked out that way) as well as a few other things, like eating dessert before dinner and silly little things like that, but those I think I will always do, I guess only time will tell though, but that is why I posted the pics I chose, they are proof I have a rebellious side, though it is one I seldom show.

Black friday shopping...

oh, man has this weekend been a busy one, so busy I seem to be looking forward to Monday just so I can get a little time off--but I doubt that will actually happen.

WE didn't have anywhere to go for thansgiving and actually didn't have a traditional turkey dinner till tonight, and I doubt we can even call our turkey roast a traditional turkey dinner but since I spent $600+ on black friday there was no way I was going to be able to get a real turkey.  

I feel bad we spent so much, but it was on all things we need, and we bought a couple items for a friend and so she will pay me back hopefully before our rent is due on the 15th (I pray)

The good news--not only did I get 2 comforters for Dominic's room for $20 a piece, but I also got PJs for Dominic for $3 a piece as well as a lot of other things not to mention we finally got a new digital camera, I let my husband pick it out and I wish he had gotten the 12 megapixel over the 10 megapixel, but we got a new digital camera and it is a rather nice one, actually a very nice one.

so what did ya'll do for your thanksgiving weekend?  this is the first 4 day thanksgiving weekend my husband had been able to spend with us in a long time, so it has definitely been different but good

complications

why does life always have to be complicated?

why does everybody want to think the worst?

why is it that people jump to conclusions these days?

why is it that rumors spread faster than the truth?

Why is human nature so unnatural?

Can anybody answer these questions?

By the way, here is the most recent pic of John's son and daughter, it isn't all that recent but since the camera is broken it will have to do--it was taken on July 4th I do believe, on our ride home from the fireworks. I really hope her mom doesn't mind me posting it, if I remember right she said it was ok, but then again my memory is iffy.

My husband's daughter...

So my husband has a daughter--long story, let me explain.

Just last night, as my husband was preparing to take his daughter to their very first father daughter campout which is tonight we were talking about this new little addition into his life. I was thinking about telling him to give her the new disney princess sleeping bag he bought her to use as her Birthday present when I realize he already got her a birthday present when we all went to the fair, which was about the time I finally took a couple minutes to do the math and figure out that his little daughter is about 9 months and 1 week younger than our son. For most women it might concern them to realize that their husband's daughter (who you are not mothe to) was conceieved about a week after his son (the one you are mother to) was born, and yeah I admit it is weird, but it doesn't bother me much, because I know he wasn't present for her conception.

So let me explain a little as to why my husband has a daughter he shares with another lady (who may I add, admits to have paid him to strip and screw, but that is a different story for a different day). I know, actually that doesn't sound all that weird, but bear with me, it is definitely weird (what part of my life isn't?). It all started out at church. I use to take my son out to the mother's louge during sacrement meeting--no he wasn't an infant, that too is another long story for another day, stay focused--and through that I became rather aquanted with an older woman, not too old, but not my age either, I woudl guess she is atleast 50. She spent a lot of time in the mother's lounge with her Autistic foster son because it was the only place they could sit where there wasn't a ton of people. Needless to say the mother's lounge was always occupied by us when other women needed to nurse their babies so we had to move out and find another place to chill (Ok, so that is just a side note, but it will all make sense soon).

Well, it just happened that I was asssigned by my church to go and visit this lady at her house atleast once a month--this was about the time our friendship went from being just a church thing to a outside of church friendship. Well, as I got sick she stepped up and started helping out a lot, she was always stopping by and visiting me and I was asked to work in the library at the church with her (I think that was before I got sick though, but it worked out so well). Anyhow, in the last 2 years we have gotten real close, so close I think it is safe to say that we currently share a husband--see I told you it was weird. She is a single foster mom, about a year ago she officially adopted K, the fosterbaby she raised since the day she was released from the hospital as a newborn. Like I said, when I started to get sick, my friend started helping out more, which included she started sitting next to us at church so if we had to make a mad dash out of the chapel she could help out with our son in our absence. So here we are sitting in the chapel--it goes: my friend, Her daughter, my husband, and our son, and then me against the wall (a good place for me). Most would just assume my friend is Grandma (since she does have kids older than us) until they hear K call her Mom, and then Dominic calls me mom and they both refer to John as DAD--Did I mention we are Mormon?

OK, so we aren't 'those type of mormons' but my friend is always commenting how bad it must look to people who don't know what is really going on. See how easy it is to make assumptions? And lets not get started on how quickly the rumor mill gets started.

Well, as all this was going on I hadn't noticed that K was very accustom to calling him daddy, it actually wasn't till the day he paid $10 for her to be done up like a pretty princess at the fair and she told him, "thanks Daddy" that it actually hit me--he is her daddy! Not by blood, not even legally, her real biological father had a lot of issues and is not allowed in her life, and since my friend is single this little girl has never had a father until my husband came a long. He did all the things daddies do around the house (except her mommy, but since kids don't know about that at this age we won't tell her) . Well, later that night I mentioned to John how he is really the only father figure in her life, there are a few other men from church that could be technically considered father figures to her, but he was the one that she saw the most of.

As we talked John finally confessed, "Meagan, I'm her dad" and instead of freaking out I found it rather comforting in a very strange way. John and I can't have more children (well technically there is a possibility, but it isn't very likely) and John always wanted a daughter, I don't want a daughter--I don't do little girls very well, I love the girls I watch but am definitely happy to send them home--it bothered me that his desire to have a daughter and my desire to not fill his desire would come between us at one point, but now that he has a daughter I no longer have to worry about it--specially since I now know that both my husband and my friend have no desire what so ever to sleep with each other.

So, in short, my husband now has a daughter, who is not mine, who is about 9 months and one week younger than our son and I am perfectly fine with it--well, until he forks out $10 for her to get made up like a pretty princess after I told him it was a rip off--either way, the 2 of them are going on our church's daddy daughter campout and the 2 of them couldn't be more thrilled.

Oh, and incase you came here from facebook and am wondering why I am going to a dinner for single adults--it is because my friend wants to go but doesn't want to go alone, so I am accompaning her.

The Freak out

Ok, so I want to know why it is that nobody seems to listen to anything I have to say until I freak out. Why is it that I can ask a billion time while being cool and collective and yet I get nothing, yet when I sceam at the top of my lungs I seem to finally get attention? WHY CAN'T ANYONE LISTEN TO ME WHEN I AM CALM AND COLLECTED, WHY DO I HAVE TO LOSE MY COOL TO BE HEARD? and what exactly is all over my son's face in this picture? (I really have no idea, I was only using it cause he apeared to be screaming--turns out he is showing me the inside of his mouth)

Dude, where's my son?

this picture has nothing to do with this post, but I think this picture is adorable because if you have ever tried to sleep with a small child you have probably experienced their ability to take up the entire bed despite their tiny size, and yet in this pic my son's doll seems to be hogging the bed while my son sleeps 'on the wall'--now what do they say, paybacks a ??

It has been many days since I have confessed--too many to remember. But today while visiting The parenting Myth and reading this article I was reminded of a very very bad thing that occurred when my son was a young infant. I can't believe that I had forgotten about this horrible thing that occurred, I am sure this memory has been suppressed because of the agonizing guilt it causes. Never the less I have come to confess this sin so that hopefully I can be forgiven and move on and know that it will never happen again.

We use to live in Utah, we live in a 3 level town home and my brother lived on the first level (sleeping in the front room, using the coat closet as his closet) and a co-worker of mine lived on the 3rd level, we occupied the middle level. I worked at a nursing home, I can't remember how old my son was but I know that I quit working there when my son was 6 months old so this happened in his first 6 months of life. I had to be to work at 6 am, my husband didn't have to be to work till 8 am so he was in charge of taking the baby to the sitter--so therefore I could blame it on my husband.

As mom, I was in charge of arranging childcare, and then my husband took the baby to who was suppose to be watching him. I don't remember who exactly was suppose to watch the baby, all I know is that luckily we lived with other more responsible house mates because to my horror and shock our system failed us when I forgot to tell my husband we had a new sitter to watch our son.

My husband assumed (remember what happens when you assume) that our upstairs house mate was suppose to watch our son, unfortunately I had remembered to tell her that I found a new sitter. Now this is where I could blame it all on my husband rather than admit that the communication error started with me--my husband had always woken up our housemate to let her know that he was going to work and that she was watching the baby, but since the baby was still asleep he decided she should get some extra sleep so he snuck out the house without saying a word to her, the baby sleeping in his crib, that was about 7 am or whenever he left for work.

When I got home I found a very frantic housemate who was very happy to see me but not so happy to be caring for my son. She informed me that since she was unaware that we had left she thought one of us was caring for the baby so when she woke up to hear him crying in his crib she tried to ignore him, as the screaming got louder she finally admitted curiosity got the better of her (luckily) and she went to investigate what we where doing to the poor baby, that is when she discovered (may I point out, she didn't wake up till 10 am, so this was a couple hours after my husband went to work) that our poor baby was all alone. Knowing that we would never abandon our son she quickly got to work comforting him and caring for him, but she confessed it took at least an hour to finally get him to calm down and that he was hoarse from all the screaming.


Now, one can only imagine that when my husband got home we had probably one of the hugest fights we have ever had (and we have had some doosies) and that is when it was discovered that had it not been for me forgetting to inform my dear loving husband and about the new babysitting arrangements our son would have never been left home unsupervised. I know that this wasn't the first time I had forgotten to inform my husband about babysitting arrangements, I believe he took my son to the wrong sitter (who kept him thinking she had forgotten) either the day before she was to be induced to have her son or a few days after her son was born (our children are only a month and a half apart in age), either way when tried to check on my son at the new sitter only to discover they didn't have him i remember panicking because I had no idea who had my baby--it was pure dumb luck I was able to find my friend had him.

I have always been the first to admit that I have a horrible memory, and my husband has learned, because of this, to never assume and to always ask me who will be watching our son in advance, because you can only make this mistake a couple times before the state gets involved. To be truthfully honest, I find it rather ironic that I forgot about these mistakes, when they happened I swore the guilt would forever haunt me so the point that I forgot must me 1 of 2 things: either I have way worse things to feel guilty of or my memory is worse than even I could imagine.

Have you ever forgotten to inform your significant other of a rather important change in your schedules? Or have you ever left a child somewhere it wasn't suppose to be left? If so please share.

attention seeking

(unfortunately our camera is broken so this isn't a picture taken tonight, but thought it went well with what occured)

I want to know why the dog can be more demanding than the husband and son. Why is it than when everyone is gone and I am trying to fold clothes that my Red heeler feels the need to jump onto the clothes pile and stretch out across it--is he really that starved for attention?

how do other try and get your attention?