We've moved!

We've moved......

Visit us at wrightfamilystory.blogspot.com

I know that it has been a long time. I just seem so busy. Every time I sit infront of the computer, though, I find something else to do.....I am addicted to the facebook. find me there.

I have more to do right now. I will be back later this weekend.

Commerce Bank Sucks

Have not had a worse experience with a bank as I have with Commerce bank. I highly recommend NOT banking here.

I enjoy the online banking. I like being able to see what activity is on my account on a daily basis. You can get this service at any bank. I was also enjoying the ease of transfering money from Commerce to Bank of America. It was a LOT of fun to avoid using the actual bank, either the lobby or the drive-up. I simply prefer to do whatever I can from the comfort of my own pajamas.

UNTIL... I found out that they charge you $6.95 per month to use this service. WTF?! I don't send out 16.54 letters out a month needing that much postage. Why would anyone in their right mind spend this much to do online banking when THE UNITED STATED POSTAL SERVICE IS CHEAPER?

Shouldn't online services be cheaper? I mean it does not take as much man power to operate a computer as it does to staff the bank. I just don't understand!

Another thing that bothers me is their motto: call. click. or come by. No one answers email...at least not for over 24 hours. And you CAN'T get a human being on the phone. What kind of service is this?

Once my last paycheck is deposited into the account, I am taking my money out and never looking back. Thinking about putting our valuables into a fireproof box (bolted to the floor). Why not? same price as the yearly cost of a safety box at Bank of America? This would be a one-time-only fee, instead of annual.

Humph. Lots to think about. Ready to be rid of CB.

Where is my monthly treat?

Today was a special "Mommy and James" day. I was off work. James needed to go to the doctor. Our pediatrician is putting James on Ritalin for a one month test. Let's just see how it effects the boy. Then we will know what to do in August when he is ready to start school. He does not really have problems in the "class" part of pre-school, it is more the unstructured transitional times that he has the problems....standing in line, going to the bathroom and going back to HIS class, group circle time...Doc says the medicine will help with all of that. We shall see.

The fun part may be that the pill does NOT come in a chewable. Have to half the pill and give it to James with a bite of food. One side affect is that he may lose his appetite. Daycare says that they will save a bit of money (jokingly), because the boy eats like a horse there. I just hope he doesn't lose any weight, the boy is skinny enough.

While we were there, he also got a flu shot. AND too bad for James, they were out of the nasal spray kind. RIGHT in the leg, he got it. MAAAAN that boy can scream. (Little girl.) hehe.

Emma wants her time too. She forgets about all the times we had last year without James. Besides, I will be at one of her school parties. She does not like that I am trying to save up time to go to James' pre-school graduation. Hers was scheduled on a day that I was in charge of a field trip....not to mention all the time I took that year with her broken collar bone. humph. Besides we all know I like him better. OOOOHHHhhhh, I'm just kidding.

Time for bed.

Emma's parent teacher conference is Friday. I am sure it will be a good one. Although, I am a bit concerned with her carelessness lately. Speeding right through her work, not checking it over. Oh, and this is just the beginning. I suppose this story will get worse as she progesses through middle school.

We are anxiously awaiting the results of the November 4 elections. On the ballot for Festus is a tax increase. If it fails, the 2010-11 school year will begin year round school for us, and a TON of headaches......so, Welcome us to the Northwest R-I School District.

Past my bedtime. Come on, laundry buzzer.

Emma lost tooth number three. Those babies are poppin out like hotcakes....whatever does that mean anyway? Someone told her that for the first tooth, you get one prize. For the second tooth, you get two prizes. So, this would mean three prizes. Although, she still needs to be taught the value of money. First tooth, she got a dollar. Second tooth, two quarters. Third tooth, whaddaya say I give her 3 dimes?

At first I was appalled at this concept, thinking she was going to ask for $3. Then she started mentioning coins and I got excited. And let me just say that I don't really believe in the concept of the toothfairy to begin with. Santa and the Bunny, I get. But really, getting a prize for losing a bone? Come on. How come no one leaves me a treat when half my uterus falls out every month? THAT deserves something!!!! And if I recall correctly, a LOT more painful too. What is the point? To make our kids MORE materialistic than the TV can? Help me with this, huh? (Joe, no need to comment--unless you want to. I know your view on this Santa/Bunny/Fairy thing.)

I miss the Dora days. Pop in a movie. No commercials. No "Iwanna"s. Our kids don't get that thought answered, but it is still annoying to hear every 2:30 or less. Especially when we oly watch about 20/30 minutes of TV a day. Although, I have to admit that I hope Santa brings a box or two of the Bendaroos. Those look like a bunch of fun. And they are re-usable.

Laundry. Bed. Later.

Lots going on right now.

My word it has been a long time.

Emma has started first grade and is doing wonderful. Her first progress report states, "Emma is amazing." I kind of already knew that, but it was fun to hear from an outsider. I just cannot believe how smart she is. She is reading chapter books now. I ordered the "Junie B. Jones" series for Christmas. I think it was the next day she tells me that her teacher has given her the same series to read in class--everyone has a set of books in a magazine rack under their desk. Not many are reading at this level in grade one---at least not in her class. I am anxious to speak with the teacher at conferences in a couple of weeks.

James is smart as whip too, as quick as one. And Sneeeeeeaky. That boy will try to get away with anything. If anyone out there raising boys can give me some advise about the 4th year of life, I am open to advise, words of encouragement, anything. I am pretty sure he will need speech therapy when he is in school....although, I am not completely unconvinced that he is just normal and the Emma was the one who is "not normal." He has such extreme weeks with his behavior. One will he will be super and the next week, I am afraid to pick him up, because I am certain to run into a teacher who will tell me how AWEFUL he was that day. This is my biggest stress of the day. I have seen a parenting counselor to help me "deal" with this, teach me some things. We also have an appointment this month with the pediatrician to have him tested for ADHD. Then I talked to a parent today who says her boy was just like James and he started to get over it about 4 1/2 years, and has shown even more improvement at age 5. Gosh, I sure hope this is the case with Bubba.

Both of the kids are looking forward to my mom's annual bonfire. Earning tickets has meaning now. Oh, we use the ticket system at our house. Get a ticket for using manners, going to bed like a big kid, being good at school, etc,...Lose a ticket for yelling, snitching, having a bad day at school, talking back to the parents, etc,....Pay tickets for fun things like the bonfire (don't worry, mom, I am making sure that they have enough to go), paint nails, stay up late, have an extra dessert, etc,..... James did not seem to care too much about losing tickets until this summer when I left him home while Emma and I went to Chicago without him. He sure does NOT want to be left out of that bonfire. He knows how much fun we have.

I am still up writing for another reason....I am trying to be "little susie homemaker" as Kevin says. I was given a bread maker. I started my first loaf after I made dinner tonight. Didn't know it was going to take 4 hours and 10 minutes. I am not sure what in my mind thought that 4:10 was in minutes and seconds for BREAD. It can't be because I had two ankle bitters nibbling, nor because it takes less than 4 min., 10 sec. to go downstairs, get frozen bread, thaw in microwave, and make a sandwich. Man I must be tired. Anyway, the bread won't be done until almost 10pm which for tonight is about 1:30 (hours and minutes) past when I wanted to be asleep.

I am not sure how this bread with turn out. The manual is VERY confusing. I was under the impression that I was supposed to use the white bread recipe as a base and add the ingredients for a flavored bread if I wished. NOPE. Just have to follow the flavored bread recipe. So, in other words, I combined two recipes into one. Have you ever tried white, pumpkin bread? We are about to. Call me, I will save you a peice. Humph. I will try again following the correct recipe next time. I am determined, unlike the previous owners of the bread maker, to make more than one loaf. I almost feel obligated to do so....So many ingredients for one loaf to never be used again.

If you have one, I would like a zucchini bread recipe. I know brother Joe has one, right? Banana bread?

The job is going well. I have 3 students in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. My aide is still out on maternity, so the days are a bit long and boring. The kids are interesting to talk to. Although, sometimes they tell me too much.

Kevin is still sober. He works too much or is it that he sleeps too much? I can't wait until I have a day off so that we can spend some time together.

Happy fall.

More Trivial things

Again, I have been to the computer several times to blog about the trivial things going on in my life, but next to life itself, nothing seems so important. Although, it is fun to read.

The events of the last 4 days have really proven to me, again, that life is too short for some of the shit we complain about. For example, in the past month I have been MAJORLY blown off by a couple of different people for very different reasons. Why can't we have simple common courtesy for others? If you say that you are going to cut my hair, then cut my hair. If you say that you are going to help me out when I need you, then help me out when I need you. You have already committed yourself to me, why can't you give a simple phone call if you have changed your mind or if something came up and you have to postpone or even cancel our plans?

My sister responed to me with,"it is just hair" when I was complaining mildly (others have heard me really bitch up a storm) about the aweful haircut I got from the beauty college in Festus, Missouri. You know what? She was absolutely right. It is just hair. Although, for a long time I was proud of my hair. Long. Curly. Straight on occasion. Cut in style recently. Nice. Slight swing bob, nothing drastic. It is just hair. It will grow back. We can't say that about a lot of things.

We can't bring lost freinds back. We can mend relationships---or try. We can forgive. We don't have to forget. We can learn from our mistakes. We can move on. We can give each other a hug or a smile. We can pass it on.

Why is it that most people are so eager to pass on the BS? How come people don't say nice things to each other JUST BECAUSE? Why does it take a monumental life-changing event for some to offer you a hand or an ear? How come life is not like pre-school when everyone in your class was your friend?

Life has really dealt us some crap this summer. But we are also very blessed.

My Dad (sorry Dad) has been diagnosed with colon cancer. I cannot imagine the emotions that he is going through. I know that I feel like have been on a 4-day PMS binge. I know God will make everything turn out ok. We are living on his watch and walk in his time. But it is still hard at times. I hope that Dad feels the love all around him. The prayer request has been sent out and the response has been overwhelming. The power of prayer only equals miracles.

I have been told that the surgery he is having Thursday is a good thing. One nurse friend of mine tells me that this means the cancer is not too far along where it can't be helped at all. This makes me feel a bit better. But what makes me feel better than anything (almost) is that my Dad has a such a good frien taking care of him. This lady would do anything for anyone including taking time off of work to take my Dad to the hospital and to take my Dad home from the hospital. What a wonderful woman. Thank you, L****, for making sure my Daddy is doing ok daily. We love you.

This kind of makes everything else seem so trivial. Bad hair cuts. PMS. No calls, no shows. Empty promises. Less income. None of it matters. What matters is the time we spend with loved ones, and that this is happy time spent. "Let's not waste a single minute of that one hour a week when we can get together to share...."

Love. Peace. Happiness. Kindness. Courtesy.
Spread it around. Pass it on.

August update.

I have come downstairs to the computer several times since my last post. What happens though, is that I've been caught up reading the last post and can't come up with anything to say. I feel a little sad about the events. I wanted to write, but whatever was on my mind at the time just seemed so trivial that it did not warrant a blog.

As I know this is how some people keep up with what is going on in my life, I thought I should not wait any longer. Don't get excited....there is nothing major to report.

Kevin is loving is job. I am happy about that. Although, I have to admit that I get a bit resentful especially Friday through Sunday. By Friday I have had enough of being a single mom. Saturday he is making up for lost sleep, going in to clean the church, catching a meeting and helping others at a meeting if he can. Sundays are usually taken up with catching up with more sleep, going to church, eating and cleaning the church after my meeting. I will get over most of it. Maybe I just need time to adjust, and when Kevin gets used to his schedule, I will also find pleasure in all of this.

Emma started first grade last week. OMG. Saying out loud that my daughter was in kindergarten to people was one thing, but saying that she is in first grade just means that time will go faster and fast each year and that tomorrow I will be inviting you to her high school graduation party. HUMPH. Her intellegince is astounding. Don't be surprised if she is listed as valedictorian or saluatorian on the program. (Really? Could happen.)

Emma is handling going back to school and not seeing her freind pretty well. She is surrounding herself with friends and academics, that she does not seem bothered right now.

James is also doing well. He has had good behavior reports everyday (except for one when he was overly tired) since returning from summer break. He does well in pre-school. Whatever that means....he behaves and listens during "instruction" time. This will be a handy trait to have when he goes to kindergarten next fall. Prediction on James for next school year is that he will do well also. Although, he may need a bit of speech therapy.

I am back at school. I went back on August 4 in order to do some painting in my room. My personal patchwork design is very calming and beautiful. Kevin says it looks like a baby's room. I love it. Not many students have been suspened for this semester. I have two students; one in the morning, one in the afternoon. My afternoon student did not show up Friday, so my aide, Liz, and I got a lot more painting finished. We painted a bookshelf and a table to match the rest of the room. I love it. The only part of this year that I am not so fond of is our lack of AC. Next week could be unbearable without air. We have to stay in our room for the academic part of the day, because the kids' work is off the server in my room. The success (character education) part of the day can be done in the library, but then we would have to trek a bunch of stuff over there. Sweat. Arrive late, leave early. Why not just stay where we are? Hopefully, it will be fixed before too long into the week.

The kids are down for a bit of quiet time with Kevin. I am going to balance out my day with one of my newest addictions: Mahjongg Platinum 3. Love it. My latest jiggsaw puzzle is just about finished. (Other addiction.)

Hold Them Tight

Last night was the first night since my surgery that I had the kids in bed and asleep at a decent hour. I was in my jammies and comfortable. I sat down on my bed with my daily readers, a notepad, pencil and the remote control. I usually DVR the 6 o'clock news so that I can catch the weather later. I cannot stay awake most nights to see the late news. While I had the news on for noise as I read, a certain story caught my attention.

At first you hear about gun shots here and mystery powder there along side another fatal accident. Most of this goes in one ear and out the other. That is really sad. These are someone's children, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, freinds,.....Then I heard...."Festus".... Of course, my ears purk up and my eyes stray from my reading. I hear of a girl who tried to "save" her sister from drowning. A name is mentioned. I am in disbelief. I rewind. I listen again. I hear the girl's name. I recognize it. I am stunned. I rewind to listen once again. One of Emma's best friends. OH. Lord, help us.

A 6 year old, tried to save her sister from drowning. The best I could get was that the 5 year old sister simply did not have any floatation device. The older sister wanted to help. She did, but in doing so, did not make it out of the water herself. How incredibly sad. I spoke with the mom on the phone and asked if I could come over to give hugs. While I waited for Kevin to come home from work, I hugged both our kids as tight as I could and without waking them up.

Kevin and I struggled most of the night with how do you break this news to your child. Sure we have experienced death before. But those have always been older people, with illnesses. It was "easier" to explain why it was God's turn to have them. But this. This is a child.

After each of us spoke with parents, friends and sponsors, we decided to wake Emma up so that we could both be there with her and pray together with her. We had also hoped that this would make her morning easier before she left for Girl Scout Day Camp. I am really glad we did it that way. There were other girls at camp who had heard the news and were ready to talk. We had prepared her as well as we could. She is strong.

I know that the wake and funeral will be difficult. I am not sure if it will be harder for me or for Emma. Pray for her, and little Aliyah's (a-lee-ya) family. I cannot EVEN imagine how devistating it is to lose a child so young. It saddens me to think of such a small girl in such a small casket. This little child saved a life. Unfortunately, could not do it without risking her own.

At this time, take your child, your dog, your partner and thank God that you still have life with them. Do something kind. Keep your voice down. Tell them that you love them. Hug them, often. Hold them tight, don't let go...for just a moment longer.

Today is short. Tomorrow may never come. Yesterday is a memory. Now is the present. Treat it as a gift. YOU don't know what will happen. Love as if today is the last day of your life. Let everyone know it.

I love you. I hope you know it.

The New and Improved

My surgery went well. Doc came into my "holding cell" a bit after 9am to mark me. This means he used a sharpie to put his cut marks on my body as well as a couple of reference marks on my arms. I, of course, had Kevin take pictures. People thought we were weird, but how many times does someone get this done? I hope no more than 2, so I wanted to remember it. Have something to show Emma when she is older and possibly may need a similar procedure.

They drove me to the OR right after that. I remember going down the hall thinking how much it sucked that I could not see without my glasses on my face. After that, I was out. I woke up sometime later in my recovery space. Kevin says he was there, but I certainly do not remember that part. I do remember trying to open my eyes and realizing that this was a bad idea at that time.

Again they drove me. This time to my own room. Whenever there was a need for some dramamine, this was it. WHOAH. Then they made ME move myself onto my bed for the night. That took awile. Eyes closed. Still sedated. Huh. Kevin left shortly after this. No need for him to stay, I slept (or tried) most of the night.

I was pretty excited to find out that they were going to give me one of my "sleepy pills" to help me sleep. Well, what was the point of that?! Every hour on the hour from 8 until about 1am someone was in the room for something....change my IV (thank you) and help me pee, check my vitals, empty the trash, take some blood. Holy cow, who could sleep? I remember waking up with the phone in my hand at one point.

At about 4:45pm, I decided I would wait to sleep until I got home. The overnight nurse said that I could order breakfast beginning at 6:30. So, I stayed up here and there. Breakfast arrived just intime for me to need a nap. I ate. Everything is feeling fine...morphine helps.

Doc arrived a bit after 8am, said everything looked great. He left the room to consult on whether or not my drains should be removed. This being the most painful part that I remember from last time, I was glad the decision was made to do this while I was under the influence. OOOOOuuuuccchhhhhie. Bandaged me up and I was ready to go.

Two hours later, we were out of there. Again, I fell asleep for my first meal with my family. THat happens. The weekend was rough. Kids needed me. So did Kevin.

Wednesday, I went in for my first week follow-up. Doc says I look perfect. Healing nicely. Go back in a week. I will have to change my dressings twice a day. I get to wear a sports bra 24 hours a day. sure beats the surgical bra they gave me at the hospital. Now I can wear pink.

Says he took 3 pounds, but I am not sure that I believe him. I am considerably smaller after this surgery than the first, and I started out bigger. He took 3 pounds the last time. Whatever. I am so happy. I ran into a friend at the gas station last night---cause I can drive now---she said I was glowing as I told the story. Hehehe.

I think I am new and Improved. I love them. Not so sure about Kevin, but he promises to adjust, because it was something that I really wanted. I love him.

OUr time in Chicago

We just got back from Chicago yesterday. I was surprised by the amount of time it took us. For some reason I was thinking it should have taken the better part of the work day. But in fact, it took us just a bit more than 5.5 hours. This was pretty close to the times I found on Google Map and Mapquest. However, neither of these allowed for lunch, potty breaks or exchanging movies at the Redbox.

Which gets me to random thought number one: If Redbox advertises for being able to drop off or pick up a movie in any city,why don't they have locations at places just off major highways? For those of you who don't know--and I found out this weekend that many don't know what a Redbox is--it is a tall red box located in grocery stores, McDonald's and other places. Inside of the redbox are DVDs you can rent with your cc for $1 plus tax. The movie is due back by 9pm the next day. If you decide to keep it an extra day, you pay an extra dollar. After you return the movie, your cc gets charged. Watch out Blockbuster. THis is a great concept.

We rented movies from a Redbox before we left Crystal City. I was thinking we should have no problem finding one to exchange for different movies along the way and again once we were in Chicago. The reason for my thinking is because the boxes are mostly in McD--who even gave away free rentals with a large drink purchase months ago. Why would I have a hard time?

Joe found us a place to return the movies on our way out of town, but by then Emma had decided to watch one again. No sense in returning it, just to pay another dollar to get it out again. I have the thing until 9pm anyway. When we stopped for lunch about 1.5 hours out of Chicago, I thought for sure we would find a Redbox in that McD. Nope. A very nice lady told me about a location in Pontiac, Ill. We had to drive 2 miles into town and then locate the local market. Whew, more trouble than it should have been.

So, this got me to thinking. For the traveling family Google Map/Mapquest should add the Redbox to their services. If we could have mapped out the locations ahead of time, we would have also had nice places to eat and exchange movies. This is way more fun for the kids than bringing movies from home.

My next random thought is this. Follow along with me. We used the public restroom a LOT while we were on our short vacation. The fancier ones had automatic soap dispensers, water faucets AND towel dispensers or blow dryers. Isn't the purpose of all of this to prevent the spread of disease? Then why do they make me pull the handle on the way out of the RR? Shouldn't it push out so that I can use my clean rearend to exit? You know not everyone washes when they leave those places? The concept would be nice: if everyone washed then you could use the handle without worry about what is on there. But they don't.

Which leads me to this: If there is a line to the ladies room that is 3 dozen people long, and a door desginated for exiting, why would you go out of the IN door?

We did have a nice time. Emma, Kerri L. and I got to Joe's place around dinner time. Thank you Joe for the best pizza/salad dinner. All four of us played games for a while. I like playing against Joe for the fun of trying. Because I know that I will just about always lose. So I opted not to ask to play Scrabble for that reason. Emma picks out a game instead called "My Word". This was worse than Scrabble. Everyone looks at the same cards laid on the table. You have to be quick with your brain and eyes to make words of the cards. (Each card has a letter or two on them.) Joe is quick. Kerri was too. Not a fun game to play while sipping on wine.

Sunday we took an excursion to Sears Tower. It is a fantastic view, with a lot of history to learn. Unfortunately, I was with a 6 year old who did not care to read everything that was on the wall. We looked out from each side of the tower, and played a few rounds of "I Spy"with the city. From there we went to Navy Pier. Emma wanted to return to the Children's Museum. Great. Kerri and I got in for free for being teachers--wish we would have thought to ask that question at SEars Tower. Found out the only reason she wanted to go there was to get her face painted. Too bad they were not doing that this time. Bummer. Ben and Jerry's made up for that.

Time to retire for the day. We got back in time for us to take a quiet time. Ok, that was for us grownups. Emma began what we found out was a 3 hour marathon of "iCarly". What a dumb show. Off to bed.

We really had a great time. We owe all of it to Uncle Joe. Thank you for treating us to dinner, and all of the modes of transportation while visiting. Emma had a great time. James knows what he missed and is working on being able to go next time.

Follow Through...

MAN!! Being a parent is hard work. Satisfiying, but hard. (Maybe more of the satisfying part comes later when they are grownups.)

As an educator for more than a decade (gee, it has almost been 1.5 decades), I know how important it is for you to follow through with your words. If you threaten to make a kid lose his break, then you have to be willing to lose yours too. If you are going to make the kid stay after school then you have to be able to also stay, even if it interfers with something more fun. I know that this is also important in parenting. DAMN.

Sometimes it is also easier to know it than it is to do it. Some threats are fun for me. You know, "...or you'll have to go to bed early," or "...you won't get to go to swim lessons," and my favorite, "...then I will get to eat your dessert." ----What?! You don't like to have two desserts?

But what I am realizing is that my mouth is quicker than my thoughts. Although, I can rationalize my way back to convincing myself that the right decision was reached. Here is the deal: James is going through this control phase--gee, can't imagine who he got that from--where he won't eat dinner, but then wants for something later. And my least favorite is that he will not go to bed. (We have eliminated the nap for the most part, so, we know he is tired. Eh, and we can tell he needs his sleep, but gets enough without the nap.)

The boy will get up anywhere from 3 - 9 times a night. The boy stays up later than I want to some nights. Odd thing is, he is wonderful at daycare and during the day. It is like a switch is flipped once dinner is served. Nothing but Bad News Bears. In frustration the other night, I told him that if he kept this up that I would not be taking him to Chicago with me Saturday. He REALLY wants to go but REALLY will not behave, still. Cry, cry, cry, but no change.

This will be the ultimate in follow throughs. Meghan is going to come over this weekend. Spend some time with Dad, and James. She will babysit James Monday while Kevin is working and Emma and I are in Chicago. He will have to learn that he does not rule the roost. Mom and Dad do.

Kevin and I talked about this at great lengths last night. Neither of us thinks that he deserves to go. Maybe "deserves" is a strong word. The reality is that, if he is willing to act like this with the comfort of routine at our house, how will he act with looser reigns at someone elses house? I don't want to find out. And ultimately, Kevin does not want to hear about it when we come. I know that Kevin was looking forward to having the house to himself for 3 days, but...this is part of fatherhood. Besides, now he gets to spend a bit more "quality" time with Meghan. They both deserve that. (huh.)

So...the plan is to go to either the Aquarium or the Children's Museum on Sunday. I suppose that we could ask Emma for her input. I know Joe does not care. Kerri and I would rather do something very cheap (museum), but without James I will have a couple of extra bucks to spend. (I write this with a bit of saddness.) We will head home on Monday. Originally, we were not in a hurry to come home, but now I need to be back so that Kevin can take Meghan home at a decent time. I am not sure if we will get to do any sight seeing Monday or not. Either case, I will send out pictures when we get back.

CHANGE SUBJECT:
I got the official acceptance letter from my insurance today. Of course it did not give dollar amounts or percentages. I called them. The surgery is 100% covered. Hospital fees. Doctor fees. Hospitalization. Lab work. Everything. The only thing I pay for is the office visits. And of course I will be paying for new bras soon. But if you are looking into giving me an early birthday present, a gift card to Victoria's or hell, even Wal-Mart would be fun.

I go in for a labwork and another OV on Tuesday. The nurse said that Doc will probably be taking a bit more than 4 pounds. That will put me under my WW goal weight. HAha. She also mentioned something about a size....oh, you thought I would tell the world? Not yet. Ask me later, I will probably tell you. Hell, if we are close enough, I may even show you?????????? Right.

Speaking of. I was told to take before and after pictures by a friend who lives out of state. Thinking about it. But boobs....on Shutterfly? I might have a better idea. Wallets? I crack myself up. I would bet this is funnier in my head than it is in written word. Oh well. Keep the laughs coming, I say. If I won't crack myself up, who will?

Busy, busy and busier

So much is going on...sometimes I feel like I can hardly keep my head above water. Kevin took a job as a janitor for the Mehlville School District. He LOVEs it. I think this is the first time in his life that he has a job that he enjoys going to every day. I am so happy for him. It is really cute to hear the stories every night. This has been good for us. The kids get more time with Daddy since he is off on the weekends now. And I have a happy husband. :)

Unfortunately, this means a cut in pay. Not to mentions the drive. Thank goodness for those who are willing to carpool. It also means that I must decrease my income in order to supply the children with health insurance. MAAANN is that stuff expensive. Sorry to say that Christmas will be tight again this year.

It has been like work trying to find ways to scrimp and save. I helped Kevin clean our church today. The kids stayed in a playroom while we worked. This means double the pay, in a sense. I am working every weekend, for now, at WW. Of course our extra-curriculars have come to a screeching halt. All of this is temporary, hopefully. I feel that if we can get through the next school year we will be doing alright. By then my van will be paid off. James' daycare will be eliminated. Hopefully, we will both be getting raises. And if I have to take on tutoring in the evening after the kids go to bed, I will.

This sounds really crazy and could really consume a lot of my time, but....I got a great thrill at grocery shopping today. I went to SaveALot first. Then to WalMart. OMG! The savings was incredible. Who knew? You did, I know. I save almost $2 on Ranch dressing. Humph. And half the cost of fruit, which by the way was not all that bad. I went on and on with Kevin when I got home about all that I had saved. Nerdy to get that thrilled about saving a couple of bucks. ah well, that is me.

I have taken on a sponsor from my Sunday night group. I love it. It helps me too, which is always fun.

Summer school for me is over at the end of this week. WHew. The day after, the kids and I will travel with my friend Kerri L. to Chicago to visit Joe for 3 days. They are getting real excited. James "accidently" got his hair cut like Joe's and is pumped to show him. After crying for a long time, James now claims that he wants his hair cut like this "all of the days."

And the most exciting news, I am approved for my breast reduction surgery. The nurse will be calling me Monday with a definate day. She offered July 9, but that would mess up SS and Chicago visit. I asked about the following week. Hopefully, that is what I will get. ]

We will be calling asking for help with the kids for right after that.

Going to watch the neighborhood fireworks.

The school year is wrapping up. I will be teaching summer school this year. *Thank you, Dr. G. for giving me that opportunity* There is an emptiness that comes with not being with my students. They are special people. Some of them have no one at home that truely cares about them, or at least this is the way they feel when they get to me. I will miss them this summer. Many of them will go on to summer school, while other must serve the rest of their suspension at home. Some have learned many lessons, others a few, and for a couple, they have taken nothing from this experience. That saddens me. I wish them all well.

The summer will go by fast. Friday is the last day for my afternoon group. Monday is the last day for the morning group. The week of June 2, I have a teacher work day to close out school and one to open up summer school. I am not sure what to do with the other two days that I have off. I do have a hair appointment on one day and a doctor's visit on another. Summer school will last until July 11. I have two weeks off before I volunteer at Girls Scout Daycamp for a week. The first week in August will be spent interviewing parents and students of the new semester.

We hope to take the kids to Six Flags once. Emma earned her free pass from reading 6 hours this winter. The rest of us get discounted prices. As long as the kids can stay with a grown-up, it should be fun. I have not been there since I was in high school. (20 year reunion next year--what does that tell you?--Joe is getting old.) hee hee hee

Emma begins 1st grade summer school in two days. That blows me away. Still. Proud of her.

James got a lesson in truth telling tonight. Caught in lie number one. Go to your room. Busted for number two. Wash your mouth out with soap. Let me tell you, I never had that done to me when I was a kid. He HATED that. I bet it tasted aweful. But, you know what? If he REMEMBERS the taste he won't be doing that again.

He is doing very well with keeping his thumb out of his mouth. Gummie Bears work great for motivation. Keep it dry. Get a bear. Love you, Bubba.

Family Update

James turned 4 years old today. Hard to believe. I mean it is not like this is a suprise, we have been talking about it for a year now. It did not sneak up on us or anything. There are many milestones that come with your youngest child turning 4. For us, it is limiting the thumb-sucking to laying down in bed or on the cot at school. (Of course, I realize, I cannot control what goes on at daycare, but they are usually pretty good with follow-through. Don't get me wrong,, this will be easier for us than for them.)

Giving up the thumb is BIG in his world. The milestone for me, though, means that in barely over one year from now, James will be going to Kingergarten summer school. Holy Crap. Where has the time gone? And that only means one thing--Emma will be entering Second Grade summer school. SECOND GRADE??!! She was just born.

The little smart-### found his birthday present. Daddy was supposed to have it wrapped before we came home. Life happens, and it did not get done. Well, as it was still sitting "hidden" in the garage, James found it. I am pretty sure that he knows what it is, but he was not 100% convinced. His reaction opening it tomorrow at his birthday party will be fun to listen to.

Emma had her Kingergarten graduation today. OMG. She got her little diploma. I know that this is a big deal, or is it? Who decided to hipe this up back in the day? I guess at one point it was a big deal to adjust to 1/2 day Kingergarten to full day 1st grade, but nowadays don't most kids go full day in this grade? Anyway, we got her report card. Pluses all the way down. (Nope, not bragging at all.) This is an improvement in many ways. She is now keeping her mouth closed at appropriate times, and has improved in her reading and writing skills. What I am most impressed with is the checkmark next to "exceeds grade level expectations". We are so proud.

Kevin is still doing well. We went with his mom to a celebratory one year anniversary of his sobriety meeting together. I am very proud of him. He is doing a great job. We continue to thank God daily for his sobriety, and pray that it continues.

And the laughs continue....I/we just bought Kevin a car from my brother. Paid lots of money. Kevin wants a birthday present. Humph. Doesn't he drive it everyday? hahaha.

Work is still going great. I helped put together a new handbook for my program. I also revamped the discipline policy. I am excited to have things in writing and to watch the implementation unfold next school year. If you don't already know this, I am proud to tell anyone who will listen that I have the BEST job in the world. I will do this until I retire.

I have spoken minimally about this, but I am a bit excited to keep it in. I have an appointment with my plastic surgeon in two weeks. I am fairly confident that I am going to get the surgery that I have been wanting for YEARS. If I get my way, it will happen on Dec. 19 so that I have my entire winter break to recover. This will give me the time off that recovery demands and I won't have to go back to work and move/lift heavy things as I would if the surgery happened over the summer. I will be recruiting people to come help take care of the kids(me), so watch out.

Any of you who read this and know me well, know that I started this approaching my bedtime. And since I have to get up and work a WW meeting in the morning, I must close.

God bless.

Can Santa Fix the Gas Prices?

I just got a phone call from Katie, my sister. Brian is coming home from the hospital today. (Most of you may know that he had heart issues and was in ICU after an open-heart operation.) It was nice to get a personal call, despite how busy she is with everything that is going on. Thank any and all of you who have said prayers for them. God Bless.

I have been in a state of denial/depression all week. It was discovered Monday that I lost my digital camera. At first, I was in this place of "oh, it will show up." Which slowly moved to, "I think a janitor or someone wandering around school must have picked it up." Now, I really don't think it is coming back. The ironic part is, I am not upset about the few picutres I lost of my kids. I am more mad at myself for losing the start of our "yearbook" for the kids in my class. In the scheme of things, this is really NBD. I just...the rest does not matter.

James' behavior has been improving a ton lately. I think he is crossing a maturity line. Twice this week some kid at school DID something to James, and he did not retaliate. Today, some boy peed on James. Boys will be boys. Apparently, they were both standing on the stool to reach the urinal at the same time. The boy just turned at the wrong time and squirted James across his shorts. I was actually a bit surprised to hear that Bubba did not aim right back at him.

We had James complete the P.A.T. screening yesterday. Despite my thinking the boy could be a bit ADD, he passed the Dial-3 with average to above average scores. The educator giving the test said she did not think he would be ADD. Let's hope not, but he also took the test one-on-one without any distractions. The boy is smarter than most people know. He scored as a 6 year old on a couple sections. He failed the hearing test in his left ear. We will have that checked out tomorrow.

Not to leave Emma out: She has had great behavior days at school since the day I shadowed her at school. Ten days without having to turn her card. We took her to get her ears pierced tonight. These were actually a gift from the Easter Bunny. I thought we would have to brace ourselves for the crying that would ensue. She did better than me. Not a tear. Her biggest worry is when am I supposed to turn the earrings? How many times a day?

Emma told me in bed the other night after prayers that, "Santa does not exist." Ouch. How does that happen? And why is she telling me this NOW? Four months later she is telling me about how some punk kid at daycare is telling people this story. How rude. She asked me what I thought. Of course, I told her that I believed in Santa. Who else had the power to do all of that work? She answers, "God." Duh, mom. How do you resond to that? She remembers Uncle Paul with the getup on last Christmas. He pulled at the beard enough for my observant little girl to see that there was another beard underneath. oops. oh well. "Well, Emma, you see. These are Santa's helpers. Santa can't leave the North Pole to go to everyone's Christmas parties and to the mall to listen to what the kids want. Santa made them all Santa costumes to wear in order to help out Santa.....it is only a matter of time....my little girl will no longer be a little girl.

Do your kids play on those playgrounds with equipment buried in the miniature rocks? So small they get caught in your shoes like sand pebbles? Everyday, James comes home from school and takes off his shoes. I hear ting, ting, ting. Little tiny rocks all over the floor. Everyday I sweep them up and throw them in the trash. Then one day out of a joke, really, we started counting how many he would bring home in one day. The highest we go to was 64. Sometimes we still count the rocks. Now we are keeping them in a glass jar. At the end of the summer, we will either make ourselves a pit of some kind or give them back to the daycare in exchange for partial payment. (hee hee hee) How much do you think they pay to have that rock put back there? Right now the circumference of our jar is full; not much volume to it yet though.

Here is a question for anyone who can help me:

Last year and the year prior, I received emails from people saying that we should boycott all gas stations for one day to really sock it to them. This year, the email says that in order to put the hurt on the gas companies, we should boycott Mobile and Exxon. With these being the two major gas companies, wouldn't that be hard to do? Where does QT buy from? How about Phillips 66 and Seven-Eleven? And who has researched this? If everyone were to really take part in this, would that really lower gas prices?

I was telling my students not too long ago how when we were kids, we would station hop to find gas that was under .90/gallon....I know some of you have better stories than that. What is happening in America when my tax credit (thank you for that boost) has to go to pay for me to get to work or to feed my kids? No wonder the obesity problem is rising. Junk food is cheaper than healthy.

Healthy eating. Happy May.

Starting to Settle Down

Since about the time of my last post I started working out at Curves. I enjoy the time being in my own little world with nothing to think about except the sweat on my brow and whether or not I will attain my ideal accelerated heart rate. My point was supposed to be that I have been so tired with that plus my already busy schedule that I can hardly stay up late enough to post anything....not that I was doing a great job of keeping up on it before.

I am not sure how/when to get past the weight issue that I have. I continue to stay just above my Weight Watchers goal. This has been going on for over a year now. Even with the added exercise, I just can't seem to shed the pounds. I realize that I am not fat. I just want to be comfortable in my own clothes again. At one point, I was 10-15 pounds lighter than I am today. My freind, Kerri, who is also a member of Curves tells me to stick with it. She went from...doesn't matter...she is down 4 pant sizes. She also says that it took her 3 months for the pounds to come off, and that she shed inches first. That has been true for me also. I lost 4.25 inches and decreased my BMI by 3%. I wish I could feel it in my waist.

The crazy part is when I got measured this month. The very kind weigh-in lady had me step on the scale. No big surprise. Only down one pound. Although, I did express my discontent. She tried to make me feel better throughtout the weigh-in. After she measured my bust which is about the only part of me that did NOT lose inches, she says, "oh, good news your bust is the same." When she looked up at my "frown", she asked, "you want that to go down too?" I just wanted to say to her, "HEY LADY! when a woman has a breast reduction, she never wants to be LARGER than her pre-surgery size!!!" Then she tried to reassure me that, if given time, this too would decrease. I just kept thinking about having the surgery again. Before I am 40.

I have been praying lately that God would give me some income for the summer. I need to replace the money I stole from James' daycare account that I used to buy my brothers car for Kevin. When I got to work yesterday there was a message flashing on my vm button. The recording lady had me scared with the time of 4:33pm as the only message. The 8th grade principal is the one who will be running summer school at NWV this year. She has been really great to me.

Anyway, Dr. G. left this message saying that I should call her back if I want to teach this summer. I, of course, called her back that instant. Still don't know WHAT I am teaching or to whom. But here is the fabulous news....

With only 105 students enrolled for the summer, this would only allow for 1, maybe 1.5, teams of teachers for grades 6-9. Seeing that I don't teach a core subject on a regular basis, and I have not been at the Valley for as long as many of the others who applied, I was shocked that she wanted to hire ME. What a compliment!!!!!!!!!!

I am scared to ask anyone else if they have a summer school position. Even though I did not make the decision, I just don't want them to be mad at me. I really enjoy the people I work with for a change. (No offense, Kerri.) I am very curious as to why she did chose me, and with whom I will be working. Maybe it will come up tomorrow at the party.

Karen is coming over to give a Passions Party. Many of my co-workers will be there. This is my second annual. Anyone who could not make it this year, is more than welcome to come next April, if my sister-in-law continues to have me.

Emma and James start swimming lessons tomorrow. James will be on a t-ball team starting in June. (I guess I did not take that into consideration when I started planning a trip to Chicago or Texas. Rethink.) James is sooo pumped. He askes everyday, "when can I play baseball?" The other daily question from him is, "when is Halloweeng?" Not altogether sure what the 'g' is all about, but it sure is cute.

Emma has been "in trouble" at school for talking at inappropriate times a lot this month. She is my social butterfly. This is what becomes of those she'll-go-to-anyone babies. They go and talk to anyone who will listen, even....Her latest question is, "how old will I be when I can read as fast as you?" I am not sure why that is important, but it is, at least today.

Kevin is still sober. He as an important anniversary coming up in a couple of weeks. Sobriety has been incredible for our family, life, marriage,....

With my Wednesday night WW meeting probably not renewing, and the Girl Scout Leader retirement things are starting to settle down around here a bit. AAAAAHH.

Goodnight.

End of Spring Break, Random thoughts...

Today is my last day of SB and I did not get as much done as I had hoped--at least not for myself, anyway. Monday, I did have lunch with my Festus freinds. I had running around to do before I picked up James from DC. Tuesday, I did some needed girl scout shopping with my co-leader. Rain, rain go away. Kevin skipped out on the last half of his work day to take his driver's tests. We (I) sat in the waiting room doing sudokus for about 2 hours. After driving to the place where they actually GIVE you the lisence, we had a late lunch together. Wednesday, I finished my Easter shopping and took Emma to a pediatric OB. No worries--she is fine. I was supposed to work a WW meeting in Festus, but we ran too late. Had dinner at mom's. Today I am working my WW meeting from yesterday. I will also clean house (no time for regular weekend cleaning this weekend), and file a bunch of papers from like last year at this time.

Tomorrow both kids will be with me as each of them is off school now. Taking them first to my dentist and hopefully, then home for some R&R (yeah, right). Saturday is my cousin, Anne's, wedding and Sunday is Easter. Fun. fun . fun. Whys is SB always busier than a normal week?

Speaking of Easter, why is it the only holiday that does not have a set day on the calendar? The first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox, are you kidding me? Why not just have that baby on the second Sunday in April? And why is the vernal equinox not on the same day evey year--March 20 or March 21--your guess is as good as mine. humph.

Emma has it stuck in her little mind that we hunted for eggs at our house last year. Gee, speaking as the Easter Bunny herself, I would think that I would remember hidding those suckers. Now she has James convinced that they will be searcing for eggs inside the house this Sunday morning. How come the Easter Bunny never hid eggs at my house when I was a kid? He always hid ours at our Grandparents' houses.

In the last two years, I have tried to avoid giving a ton of candy in the baskets. Toys, movies, etc,...I guess that is how Easter ends up to be almost as expensive as Christmas, huh? Emma told me not too long ago that she wants the Easter Bunny to bring her an alarm clock. "I want to be a big girl and get up by myself in the morning." So, when do I get to kiss on her to wake her up?

She does not want to stay with us after school--gotta go to the friend's house. She does not want me to wake her up with kisses anymore. When does the mommy torture end? Who said it was ok for her to grow up? Speaking of which, I am not sure that I ok'd them to teach my kid to read. Easter and Christmas lists MUST be hidden now. How dare them!

I might have a hard time 8 inches from now, when Emma does not need to have a booster seat. Which will be harder--fighting with James, because he still is not tall enough to go without, or knowing Emma is growing up so fast?

James got his first taste of soap Tuesday. I made him lick the bar of soap so he knew what it would taste like if I ever had to clean is dirty mouth. Orbit does not clean the mouths of dirty words like it says in the commercials. When I asked him last night at dinner, "what happens when you use mean words?" he sure did remember the nasty taste. About cried right there. Inside my head, that was pretty funny.

Parenthood has it's moments, but it is also pretty funny.

Happy Easter.

More time off work

I cannot remember the last time I had SO much time off of work. Maybe because I don't remember actually loving my job as I do now. Yesterday was day 7 off for inclement weather. Today, I am off half of a day, because Emma began the day with a fever high enough to keep her home from school. Of course, she couldn't have done this yesterday or the day before when we were home anyway. lol Her last dose of meds was 6am. Seven hours later, she is fever free. Glad for that, now 'go to school little girl.' JK.

We are now into June for our last day of school for the 07-08 year. THis has not happened since I worked at Bayless. Unfortunately, NW does not schedule snow days into the calendar. One day off equals one day more at the end of the year.

None of this would be bad except that means that summer school is pushed further into July. They are talking about ending summer school on July 11. Again, normally NBD. I was hoping to make our trip to Chicago an annual trip (surprise, Joe). THe kids had a great time. And like I was telling my brother on the phone the other day, between summer school ending late and me volunteering for a girl scout camp the last week of July, it only gives me 2 weeks off this summer. I will have to get back right after GS week to interview my new students and parents for the new year.

Tomorrow is a teacher grading day. Next week we work with students for 3.5 days and have Parent/teacher conferences for 2 of those nights. THen Spring Break. Emma (and consequently, James) will have school for 4 days of my 5 SB days. This will be a nice reprieve. Spider Solitaire, bring it on. I like those days. It gives me a chance to meet up with my old Festus freinds and bring them lunch or just stop by for a chat.

Let's hope it warms up, stays that way for a while.

Everyone is growing up around here

Everyone around here is getting older. Emma celebrated 6 years of life. James will be 4 in May. Don't tell him that though, he REALLY wants to be 5. Something to be said about ridding the school bus. Kevin will be taking his drivers test in a couple of weeks. They all make me so proud. lol....

Life is going to be so different around here with two legal drivers. Kevin will be able to transport the children around. THis has been a real obstacle for all of us. He can also drive when we go out on dates. Sorta sucks that he doesn't drink, but I do occassionally. He can't be the DD when we go out, b/c the law does not allow him to do so.

Be even better when his DWI debt is paid off. Don't get me wrong, I am not on a pitty pot right now. EVerything is just happening all at once and it is like WOW a fun reality is about to hit.

We will have the car we bought from my brother paid off soon. THat is soooo exciting. It will be totally amazing what we can do when we don't have to save so much for daycare. WHew. THe 08-09 school year will be the last of the major DC expenses. Then the kids will just be $25 a week per kid for morning pick up for the bus. They will both take the bus home from school.

I do have a long term plan for what to do with all of that freed up DC money. This year we pay for a car for Kevin. Next year we get a deck. The following year, I have plastic surgery (ask for details if you want--I won't post it online), and then Disney. The deck and the surgery may be switched, we will see. It will happen before I am 40 though. (the surgery, that is.)

My job is GREAT. I got renewed for another year with Northwest R1 school district in House Springs Mo. I LOVE it. I could not have asked for a better job.

Not much else going on around here. I will have more free time in the future. I am giving up the girl scout leader thing. I want to be there when BOTH of the kids are involved in activities. And I do enjoy picking up shifts at Weight Watchers.

Lots going on around here

A lot has been happening since my last post. I have not had time to hit it. James was laid up for about 4 days with a fever, cough, runny nose thing. Apparently, it is going around. Although, I have to say that we did not have things as bad as some. My brother, Ed and his family have been hit with something aweful. Get well guys.

Emma had her bi-annual heart doctor visit. Everything turned out fine, as it has since the operation in 2002. We also visited with the teacher for conferences. Things are going well, if only she would keep her mouth closed while the teacher is talking.

I am giving up the Girl Scout leader thing for next year. Something is not right, when I put more effort into that than I do my full time job. And the parents...are worse than...why would you criticize someone who is doing something for FREE to better your child? I don't understand. Much better to be an active mom than to be the leader. Besides, Kevin's retail job won't let him take off for every event that the leader is supposed to attend.

I spent last night with my Dad, Joe and Lois playing games and eating dinner for my Dad's 60th birthday. Halfway through the game, we found out that we were scoring the game wrong. Too bad for me this would have been THE FIRST TIME EVER for me to beat Joe at some kind of board game--you can't win at scrabble, othello is doable...Once we figured the correct score, I ended up in third (not that that is important). Fun was had by all.

We got to talking about the ages of people. I am having a hard time saying out loud that my daughter is turning 6. Not a problem with telling anyone that I will be 37 this year, but BOY does that make Joe old. Hee Hee Hee. Of course he tells me, "that means that you will be in your upper 30's this year." We have fun like that.

My sister had her baby. (Before the last post.) Morgan Mary. I hope that all is well with everyone. I wish so much that I could go out there, but the cost is just not something that I could handle right now. We do thank her for sending us pictures. This kids like seeing them and learning who their cousins are from CA.

I have been working hard a wedding gift that I will be giving in March. I am pretty pumped up about it. I am thinking about doing the same for me. A binder with all of the recipes that I use IN ONE PLACE. Who would have thought of such a thing? Why not? Beats having recipes in 7 or 8 different cookbooks. Not sure why I though you should know, other than this project took up some time and kept me busy for a while. Funny, it did not bother me. I had fun doing it.

Kevin is doing well. He tells me that he celebrated 9 months of sobriety earlier this month. This is the longest that he has been sober. I am proud of him. If you are one who prays, pray for his continued success in the AA program and with his sobriety. We have enjoyed the "new" daddy/husband a lot lately.

God Bless.

All is Right with the (my) World

I have been relfecting lately on all of the things that I am grateful for, and there are so many things on the list. I won't bore you with details. I was doing some reading and some online work, when it dawned on me. (Don't tell my mom--she may not be well after this, if she doesn't already know.) Ok, I was not hit on the head with a two-by-four, it was more like a gradual "dawning".

At first, I just thought that my contacts needed to be replaced. That did not help. For a while, I thought maybe I should not do so much reading and computer work after doing a lot of the same all day at work. But I was having the same problems on the weekends. I NEED READING GLASSES.

SHhhh. Mom will think she is really old. I am not having as hard of a time with this as I did when I found my first gray hair. I know. Many of you think that gray hair is no big deal. But I was in a small state of depression over this. The eye thing is wierd. I have had glasses for the better part of my adult life, but to need them to read, is just not right.

Emma thinks the glasses are soooo cool. What does she know? Her biggest problem right now is that some kid in the morning daycare makes fun of her big ears, which, by the way CAN be covered with her beautiful curly hair. Wait until she reaches the age of pimples and boobs when her classmates don't even know what those things are. (Being a parent is a great place to get comedy routine material.) Sorry, when she told me this, I had no choice but to laugh a bit.

James is doing well. This week he had a superb week at school so I treated the family to McDonald's playplace. Guess what happened? James albeit got kicked out of the place for using violence on the slide. That's my bubba. Ruin a good time by doing the exact thing we have been working so hard to prevent at the reward lunch. How Stupid? Well, he is only 3 and still learning. He cried about how sorry he was the whole way home. Do you think that he will remember this for the next time that we are doing something cool?

Kevin is doing a fine job. His work keeps him away from home--retail hours SUCK by the way. He is still working his program to the best of his ability. Clean and sober for almost 9 months. We are still in the honeymoon stage of our "second" marriage. Outside of the aweful Home Depot hours, I am loving it.

Looks like I will be picking up a WW meeting for people working at a local retirement home. The lady who recruited me wants me so bad that she is willing to set up a play area for the kids to be while I am working with the people. This is so exciting. The money is better than the other positiions that I hold with the company. If I can pick up a meeting like this in my school building, I won't have to work anymore Saturdays. This will make up for all of that time. My day job is going well. Administration took my TA and moved her to another building to fill a vacancy. We hired a new girl. She starts Tuesday. I am excited and anxious all at the same time. My boss gave me sole responsibility in choosing the replacement. Gee, I hope it works out. So much pressure. It will be nice to have regularity back.

I am so grateful to have the job that I do. I was telling some former students what and where and to whom I teach today while at McD's. They laugh and make fun, because all of my students have been in some major trouble. But I truely do have the best job. I am having the best time of my life right now, and no one can take that away.

Thank you, God.

The D in DMV

Last month, I bought my brother's car from him. We recently had the thing inspected. Being that the car is only 3-4 years old, we were not surprised that it did pass the safety inspection. However, I was a bit floored that the emissions did not pass. Did you know that only certain counties of some states have to pass emissions tests? In Festus, where we live, we require the emissions test. (Fast forward through a lot if I sound ignorant of a lot of this.) Illinois, in the young life of the car, did not require emissons testing. We are 25 miles from STL. Mom has her car registered in Farmington, in a county that can't be another 15-20 miles south from where we live. They don't have to get an emissions test. But I digress.



The Midas man was a bit confused as well, for a couple of reasons. One, the car is NOT that old. TWO, the car did not fail on his little hand held device. He hooked the car up to the State's machine and once again did not pass enough to give me my sticker. How stupid. Then as Murphy's Law would have it, the State's machines were shut down for a bit. Whatever that means, I was there for just about two hours.



He scheduled me to come back in the morning to find out if the car would pass on the State's machine this time--in hopes that their machine was up and running. It was. And the car did not pass. So, we are given these instructions that are most absurd. For one sensor to be reset, we are to drive the car 40mph for 2 minutes. OK. For a different sensor to be reset, we are to drive it for 20-25 minutes between 40 and 45 mph. Where can you do that safely, without any starts or stops? Again, how stupid.



Well, we did it. And I'll be darned if it really did reset the sensors. When I took the car back to Midas, of course, I thought that I would be there for a while, so I took the kids at dinner time with McD's in hand. As soon as I had the kids' meals unpacked on the little coffee table in the waiting area, the man comes out and says, "it passed." Well, I'll be GD. That is a lot of drama for one little Corolla.



Remember when I used to name my cars? There was Betty the B---- and Elliot the Escort. That must make this one Corolla the #@! I can't say that. Carrie the Corolla.



So does the D stand for dammed or discontented? maybe dumb or

Our New Year--2008

This would have to be my first blog ever. I am kind of excited about having something that the kids can read later in life, besides my handwritten notes. The year 2007 proved to be a very trying one for all of us. Kevin and I nearly split up permanently. Emma broke her collar bone, and James was potty training for a good portion of the year. (Well, he got the pee down well, the poop took a while.)

Now that Kevin is sober, life is wonderful. This is just how I always thought that life should be. We are falling in love all over again. He is gone alot to either work or meetings, but the times when he is here are more family oriented. He is the Dad that the kids have been 'missing' all these years.

Emma is in kindergarten and LOVING it. We only have two days left of Christmas break and she is counting down the days until she "gets" to go back to school. I love that. She is reading and writing and nothing is a secret anymore.

James cannot wait to be 5 so that he can also go to kindergarten. He wants to be just like his sister. He is becoming more and more like a big boy. In November, he gave his blanket to Santa in hopes that Santa would change the embroidered name and give it to another little baby boy who might need it. He doesn't need it anymore, because he is a big boy now.

We are all looking forward to a new year in Christ. Our family resolutions is to take a day or two of each week and read the bible together as a family. This will allow us to instill our spiritual beliefs in the kids. We are no longer practicing Catholics. We attend an non-denominational church in Pevely, MO. Kevin and I were saved and water baptized this year. For me, it was the most emotional, spiritual experience that I have had with God in my life. I cannot wait to share this with my kids.

We will also continue to make our 12 step programs a high priority.