Is it just me or...

...does anyone else want to just jump up and slap the ever-lovin' crap out of every cry baby teacher right now. Please, please, please keep them away from me. I know it's not much of a "summer break" anymore. But I can tell you this - I didn't get six weeks off this summer. Neither did my husband. His whole office keeps on. Most of the world continues it's pace. And while we are at it, shall we throw in the nice little break at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Oh, and the Easter holiday break? And Spring break? And those "bad weather" days? And Rodeo day? Heh? So please you whiners. I heard you tonight. Crying about your first group function on Thursday. If you hate your job so much, join the rest of corporate America and work your lousy jobs for a full 12 months out of the year. And good luck getting Christmas off. Everybody would like to be off then but someone's got to stick around to man the office. Not everyone can just shut down and go home. You chose your profession. Deal with it. Seriously. Deal with it. Don't take it out on our children. Deal with it. You don't like the new Sup? Tough. Take it up with the school board. Help make a change for the next election. There were a lot of bosses I never liked. It's called real life. You suck it up and deal with it.

Now that I've sufficiently gone off on you, I won't let the moment pass without saying that I think it *is* necessary to pray for our students, teachers and administration. And I will pray for you all. God has a plan. He can and will work through each situation.

Here is a verse for you...

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to
prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then
you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You
will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29: 11-13

Greetings from Thing 2's Room

Notice the time? Yep, he's not asleep yet. He's almost there. But not yet. He won't let me leave his room. So, I thought I'd bring my laptop in bed with me and kill two birds with one stone. It doesn't seem to be bothering him, so what they hey? The little booger. He's lucky he's so darn cute.

Husband and I watched The Bourne Identity tonight with Bobby and Angie. I thought I'd seen that movie before, but nothing seemed at all familiar with it. Wow. Good movie. The nice thing is, I don't have to wait long to catch the next one. I think we have it on deck for tomorrow night. Cool. Then maybe the third one on Wednesday. Movies like that make me feel stupid though. I'm always trying to figure out who the bad guys are, etc. etc.

Oh, oh, Thing 2 is asleep. Oh yeah. I think I may still surf a little and then hit the hay. I have to be fresh and ready for the Sears repair guy. He's going to be here sometime between 8:00 and 5:00 tomorrow to fix our dishwasher. (I'm still not getting that time frame. Should I feel honored that they are squeezing me in? Really it just tips me off that they don't know diddly about scheduling. Yes, I said diddly. That's a word. Google it if you don't believe me.)

I'm outta here.

peace

Witch Hunt

Would the witch who put a curse on me and my family kindly removed said curse? Pretty please? Things have begun to get a little out of hand. Yesterday, I forgot to mention that I got three collection letters from eBay. Those losers. I still haven't decided how I'm going to handle them. At first I thought it was funny. But now, it's starting to really piss me off. I had a phone call from their collection agency last week. What a joke.

Today, my car won't start and our garage door is broken. We are falling apart over here. Just to keep a level playing field, I caught up on laundry tonight. Just in case.

I also failed to mention earlier that, while I was treated with respect by some college students (football players from the local university), they made me feel incredibly old when they "yes ma'am 'ed me." They were sweet and polite. But *not* flirting with *this* soccer mom. They were probably wondering where my van full of brats and coolers of capri-suns had disappeared to. "Yes Ma'am." How nice. Yet insulting all at the same time. At what age will I fully appreciate hearing that expression come from younger lips?

Oh well, all in a day. My Ambien is kicking in. So it's time for a little trip to la-la land. Sleep well my faithful few.

Ladies Nite Out

Yes, I'm spoiled. My girl S was in town tonight and the girlies had dinner out. I *love* it when the four of us get together. We get to be real. And I trust each one of them with my life. You girls rock!! Thanks for a fabulous night out. I feel like I'm getting out of my funk.

(BTW, S & K - - D & I totally went to Marble Slab after you ditched us. Tee hee hee!!)

Adios Chicas!!

Okay, I'm back.

Are you ready? Settled in for a nice read now? Is your beverage ready? Do you have tissues handy? Oh wait, it's not that bad. I'm all squeaky clean now. I love those girly products for the shower. You know, the glimmer, fruity smelling stuff. Shine this, buff that, exfoliate this, cleanse that. I really dig those.

Here's how I'm going to do this. I'm going to have subjects. And I'm going to mix the bad with the good and catch you up that way. It sounds like it will be the most fun.

DISHWASHER SAGA
It continues. The part came in on Wednesday at 4:45. I immediately got on the phone and called Sears to try to schedule an earlier appointment to have the repair done. They said they'd be here between 8:00 and 5:00 the next day. Woo hoo! No more washing dishes by hand. And this day worked out well because I had to be here to meet another repair type guy. I'll hit you with that story later. One subject at a time. About 9:30 on the scheduled repair day, the phone rang. It was the home office. They couldn't get a tech here to fix the dishwasher. They needed to re-schedule for Monday. The original repair date. Dang-it. I'm still washing dishes by hand. And not happy about it. So now, I get to wait, all day, for the repair man to grace me with his presence. They should at least tell me a.m. or p.m. Don't you think?

MY GET-AWAY
A friend of mine invited me on a mini-retreat with her and two other gal pals. Just a one-nighter and the cost was beyond minimal. Beyond. I couldn't say no. I had my childcare in place. The timing was perfect. It all worked out wonderfully. Husband was even pretty agreeable about it. I think he could see that Mommy was about to snap and it was best for all parties involved to get her out of the house ASAP. So Sunday, around 3:00, I left and got home on Monday at 5:30. It was WONDERFUL! A funny detail will follow!!

TERMITES!
Yes, you read it right. That was the other appointment that day. Terminex was scheduled to be here sometime between 10:00 and 12:00. They showed up. (And they'll be back Saturday morning for our treatment. Ugh.) The tiny creatures are camped out within the walls of my bathroom. It skeeves me out. It could be worse.

LIFE'S CHECKLIST
I checked a "to-do" off of my life's checklist while I was on my retreat. And it felt awesome to do it. It was 2:00 a.m. and I was exhausted. I was ready to call it quits. The girlies would hear none of it. They had suggested doing this earlier and I was somewhat hesitant, yet intrigued at the possibility of letting go of my inhibitions and going for it. I needed to wake up and press on. There were pictures that needed scrapping and they weren't going to get done if I was asleep. But better yet, there existed the possiblity of me daring to do something *way* out of my comfort zone. They were like little girls, running out of the back door, stripping their clothes off and jumping into the lake. Me? I stripped my clothes off and just stood there on the dock. Scared to death to jump in. Terrifed. Then I realized that I was standing there, in all of my glory, for them to gaze upon. I decided that the fear was better than them seeing my extra layers of insulation. I plugged my nose, screamed and jumped. It was such a thrill. I still can't believe I did it. Now, if I could just get Husband on an airplane.

MIGRAINE
Thursday afternoon. I think a lot of things caught up with me. Some stress of daily life, my schedule, just stuff. I woke up with a twinge of a headache. Took meds. Nothing. Took more meds after lunch. Nothing. Tried to lay down and sleep it off. It didn't work. I finally broke down and called Husband and we worked the specifics out. His parents were in town and were a lot of help. The doctor was great. He asked the usual questions. I gave him the usual answers. His nurse gave me the usual shot. And I fell asleep. Thank goodness. I just have to sleep 'em off. That medicine stays in my system for a good 24 hours though. And it causes some serious dragging. I have felt like crap all day. I will probably feel more back to normal in the morning after sleeping tonight. Which I better do soon.

TERRIBLE TWO'S
Why, oh why does this have to happen? Will someone please explain this phenomenon to me? It hadn't sunk in to me that this might be what we were facing unitl I heard Husband say it out loud to someone a few weeks ago. I was like, HUH? Dang it. Not my sweet baby. But he's right. Thing Two is a Terrible Two. And that little booger is testing me on every level. He hits, he spits, he screams, he falls down and throws tantrums. He shouts "no" to me. He is every bit a terrible two. He got mad at me tonight because it was late and I told him and Thing One that they could have a little water to drink but no more juice or milk. Thing Two went off on me. He threw his cup at me and shouted "MILK." Needless to say, Thing Two went to bed without either.

MY DREAM
This is where I fantasized a little. As my kids were hanging on my legs asking for more to drink or wanting more of this or that, I went far away in my mind. I dreamed of Husband and I sneaking off to the lake and having our own little skinny dipping session. I know right where we'd go. I think he knows too. I wonder if I can ever talk him into that. Good times.

Where have I been you ask?

Life, man. Just life. I'll tell you what. Let me go grab a shower, brush my teeth, gather my thoughts and I'll come back and try to give you a little something to read. A lot has gone on and I haven't been in the best of moods. I don't know if my next post will be long or not. We'll see. Let me go get squeaky clean first and see how inspired I can get. Go fill you up your beverage of choice and I'll be back shortly...

Happy Birthday, Baby Bob!

Today is my baby brother's birthday. There was a day and time when he didn't like being referred to in such an esteemed manner. Today, he turned 35. He told me that it is now okay to call him my baby brother.

So, Baby Brother, Happy Birthday. I am honored and proud to have you as a brother. I am blessed to have you as my friend.

Thanks, Bob!

My brother is quite talented. Notice the new look up there? Yep, Bobby did that for me. See - - he does the Mac thing and I do, well, I don't know what to call it. The other? Microsoft stuff. Anything Bill Gates? As I understand it, the Mac is well known for it's design capability. And Bobby is quite good at utilizing that software. So I told him to hook his sister up. And he did. I now have a custom header for my blog. Cool, huh? I also renamed it. I found another blog, while looking for headers, and saw a variation of this name. I tweaked the wording. A little. And presto! I kept the other look, because everyone seemed to like it, me included. It's easier to read. So what do you think?

Okay, much to do. I'm imposing a strict bedtime tonight. And I'm "so very much tired."

Peace.

Code Red

There are only three diet cokes left in my fridge. That includes my spare in the back.

I must get myself to the store ASAP!

Red alert. Red alert.

Wow. And I diagnosed myself with severe irritability earlier. Imagine my world without diet coke.

*creepy shudder*

Bad Mood

I hate being in a bad mood. I'm in one, too. It's not fair to everyone around me. I wouldn't want to be around me. I don't want to be around me. How could I work that? This is where having multiple personalities would be nice. I'd like for nice B to come back. If you see happy-go-lucky, nice B, would you tell her to come back and make grumpy, irritable B go away. I'm sure her family would appreciate it.

I *AM* the appliance destroyer...

I don't know how I do it - but I do. I guess it's me. I'm the one who most frequents the use of these machines. (Husband does help with the dishes. I'm not hatin' on him.) I must be over-using them. Ha! Anyway. The dishwasher is indeed broken. I called Sears Repair to schedule a service call. The agent told me it was $69 just for the tech to come diagnose the problem. And given my description of the problem, the estimated cost to fix it is usually $150 - $200 more. This is where they offered me an extended one year warranty for $190. That would pay for the service call, the parts and the repairs. But - - I had to make the decision right then.

WHAT? Husband makes these kinds of decisions. Not me. I'm not qualified. I panicked. What to do? I had to do some quick rationale in my head. And some verbally. What if the repairs weren't as bad as they sounded? What if it was a $10 part? Crap. I stink at numbers these days. No calculator. Okay, running numbers in my head. He said that I had 60 days to get my money back - - if I changed my mind. I figured, what the heck. So I bit the bullet and went for it. Trembling, I got the credit card out and gave him the number. I HATE making financial decisions. HATE it. The last thing I want is for Husband to tell me I made a bad decision. Or why didn't I think of _____?

The agent then told me that the tech could be here tomorrow (which was today) and it would be sometime between 8:00 and 5:00. Nice of them to narrow it down, huh? He said that I would get a phone call with 30 minutes notice. If I didn't answer, I would have to reschedule. I was afraid to even go to the toilet today without a phone. He finally called at 3:45 and showed up at 4:00. Yep, it's broke. He ordered the part and it will be shipped here to my house. And as it turns out, I made a good deal. WHEW!!! It was the motor. The labor alone on fixing it is $150. And while the guy was here, I asked him about the racks in there. They had started to rust. Husband mentioned that he thought they were guaranteed not to do that. As it turns out, they are still under warranty. Another whew. Because each rack is $139. That's right - $278 for just the racks. At no cost to us. Now, we are still out the $200. But that gives us another year.

I left out that the date he scheduled for the repairs. August 13th. Heh? I have to wash dishes by hand for that long? He said that if the parts come in, I can call and "try" to schedule an earlier repair date. Yep, I'll be doing that for sure.

I was *so* not made for the pioneer days.

(My laundry is still caught up. I'm so proud of me.)