Oooooo! Sparkly!

These are just the top braces; he gets the bottom ones next month. Last night, he could barely eat. We went to the store last night and stocked up on soft stuff like yogurt, mashed potatoes and ice cream, but he's still hurting. He woke up this morning, and one of the brackets had popped off. We go back to the orthodontist this afternoon for them to fix it. Hopefully, the pain will go away soon.

I Feel Like a Jerk

I've been so busy with school, work, Jamie and stuff related to Dad's passing that I've been pretty incommunicado with my family, other than by electronic means. However, most of my mom's side of the family is made up of technophobes (one aunt and uncle don't even own cell phones, much less a computer!), so I don't speak to them as often.

Today, on my lunch break, I called my Uncle A. and Aunt J. The first thing Uncle A. said was "How's your dad doing?" Ummm.... "Actually, Daddy passed away in January, the day before Jamie's birthday." If it had been nighttime, I'd have been able to hear crickets chirping. For all these months, my mom's family didn't know that my dad had died. Yikes! They weren't close by any means, but they're solid people. The kind who - even if they couldn't stand the ex-husband/father who wasn't related to them by blood, they'd still want to pay their respects for the people who they are related to's sake. And I didn't even let them know.

I hate, hate HATE that I'm such a bad neice/relative. I just get so wrapped up in the five million things I have going on, and I was raised pretty much separately from my extended family, so my first inclination has never been to call/write them to tell them what's going on in my life - especially when it's so crazy busy that I don't even have time to breathe, much less have a conversation. Plus, although we're related by blood, I don't really know them, and they don't really know me. True, part of that is my fault. I allowed my standoffishness to get in the way of me knowing them now that I'm an adult, and letting them know me.

I feel like a real jerk, but there's nothing I can do about it now. I'll just make the resolution (once again) to be a better relative and keep in touch, so they don't worry about me. They don't have Internet, so they can't read my blog or get an e-mail from me that lets them know how we're doing. I need to pick up the actual phone more often and let them know what's going on, and find out from them how they're doing.

I Stink

So does Buddy, and Ziggy, and my whole house. Ever since we moved in at the new house, Buddy has been trying to dig his way under the concrete slab back porch, and paces back and forth near a crack in it, cocking his head this way and that, as though "listening" to what's underneath. I figured it was a possum.

Last night, I discovered differently. I let the dog out, only to see Buddy attacking a little black blob that - at first - I thought was a kitten. NOPE! Then I noticed the white stripe. Oh, crap! I started screaming at Buddy to get away from it and leave it alone. Just as he dropped it, the baby whipped around and sprayed him. Then Momma Skunk came charging from out in the yard, and sprayed Buddy again.

Buddy started sneezing and gagging, and rolling all over the ground. Then, not being one to suffer alone, Buddy ran over to Ziggy and rubbed up against him, spreading the stench. I put both dogs in the garage so I could do an Internet search to see what was the best remedy. Then I left Jamie at home sleeping (what else was I supposed to do at midnight when he was dead to the world asleep) and hurried to the nearest grocery store and bought peroxide, baking soda and dish soap to scrub down both dogs.

Now, take a moment to picture this. I'm a crazy woman, with my hair standing straight up, in my pajamas (a *nice* t-shirt reading "Do something with your life: Get me a beer!" and aqua blue shorts. Don't ask about the shirt. It was a gag gift for Dad I never got to give him and I hated to waste money by throwing it away, so I wear it to bed) and smelling faintly of skunk. Then, I'm muttering to myself, complaining about stupid dogs who don't know when to leave other creatures alone. Walking around the grocery store at midnight. In mismatched shoes. Oh, yeah, I was a sight! I'm sure they thought I was a bag lady.

I got home, to discover the stench had permeated the house. It seems the smell drifted in from the garage, and was also aided in spreading by the a/c. The incident in the yard occurred near the outside a/c unit, which then sucked the smell in and distributed it throughout the whole house. I trapped both dogs in the bathroom, opened the window in there, and proceeded to give them both baths in a solution of hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and dish soap. It got most of it out, but the house still stinks. Then Buddy went and rolled in the dirt where it happened first thing this morning when I let him out to pee.

On my lunch break, I'm going to PetSmart to buy some spray that everyone swears will do the trick, not only on the dogs, but on the whole house. And on my hair, that seems to have absorbed some of the eau de skunk. Every time I turn my head and my hair fluffs out, I smell it again. I'm getting a headache from it.

If it had been Ziggy, he probably wouldn't have even bothered the baby skunk. As a Bichon Frise, he very much doesn't give a flying flip what happens outside. He runs out, pees, and runs back up to the door to be let in. No hunting instincts. No desire to commune with other animals. He isn't an animal, in his mind, he's just a really short person - with four legs. Buddy, on the other hand, is very much a dog. He's a hunter, and he just can't resist the opportunity to tackle other animals. He just had to go and investigate the durn skunk. I'm realizing that I pretty much hate everything about terriers that make them, well, terriers. ARRGH!

Espanol

Pretend it has the little ~ over the "n". I couldn't figure out how to do it in the title. Anyhoo, I wondered why my Spanish teacher is dumping tons of homework on us, and making us cover a chapter a week and take an exam at the end of every chapter. The class I signed up for was supposed to be an 8 week class, over on July 31. I got to looking at the syllabus today, and someone changed my 8 week class to a 6 week class, ending July 10! Holy crapola! Oh my stinkin' heck! Sweet niblets, Marie! On the one hand, this is bad. Because now I'm cramming in two classes in a very short amount of time. On the other hand, this ROCKS because now I get a month and a half off of school, not just a month! I think I'm going to look at this as a blessing (but still stress over tests and whatnot).

And now, I'm going to bed.

Buddy scared the poo out of me...

Handily, I was on the toilet at the time. See, Buddy (formerly my father's dog) has a new hobby - chasing the ginormous cockroaches (oh, excuse me, "palmetto bugs") that occupy this house. They are bigger than my thumb! I was minding my own business, well, doing my business, in the bathroom when Buddy started attacking the bottom of the bathroom cabinet. He then snorted, snuffled and picked up in his mouth the aforementioned cockroach. Apparently, the wriggling legs in his mouth tickled, so he kind of tossed it out with a shake of his head. Then he started chasing it again. Unfortunately, he chased it all the way around the toilet, under my foot and UP MY LEG! I screamed, squealed and swiped at my leg, sending that little sucker sailing into the study. Then Buddy tore after it, only to catch it again and then, you guessed it, again with the tickly legs in the mouth bit, and Buddy tossed it again. Meanwhile, I'm hastily getting off the porcelain throne and trying to find the alcohol so I can disinfect the bottom of my foot and my leg. Have I mentioned that cockroaches hit the top of my "oh, ICK" list? By this time, the stupid cockroach is streaking right back to the bathroom where it can slip between the cracks on the baseboards. I wound up jumping right over the durn thing, then hopping up on my bed where I would be relatively safe from the stupid bugs. Five minutes later, Buddy chased a cockroach, I assume it was the same one, into my room, then tossed it UP ON THE BED WITH ME! AAAAAGGGHHHHHH! That stupid dog is going to drive me insane, I know he is.

And where was Jamie during this whole exchange, you wonder? Only egging Buddy on, pointing out where the cockroach was, then laughing his fool head off at my antics. I didn't know who I wanted to smoosh more, the bug, the dog, or my kid. Yes, folks, everything IS bigger in Texas. Even the bugs. Damnit.

Movie Night

Lately, the only "quality time" Jamie has gotten with me has been the few minutes when I come home from work, then start looking around at what he's done to the house between when I was home at lunch time and get home at 5. Then the scolding and yelling begins, for such infractions as:

• Deciding to help Pablo finish painting the living room - WEARING A BRAND NEW SHIRT AND DRESSY SHORTS, then getting paint all over them.
• Popping open his bean bag chair, then scattering the little styrofoam ball thingies all over the house as he drags the chair out to the garage - with the rip FACING DOWN.
• Not rinsing food off the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher.
• and so on.

After that yelling and scolding is over, then I fix some quick dinner then escape to the study to try to do my homework. Which gets interrupted every five minutes with questions. "Mom, can I watch TV?" "Mom, can I call Remo to see if he wants to play?" "Mom, can I go outside?" "Mom, can I eat some pop-tarts?" "Mom. mom, mom, mom, MOM MOMOMOMOMOMOMOM"

Then I explode.

sigh

It doesn't help that it has been way too hot for him to play outside. It's been 100+ heat index here. It doesn't help that I have to leave him here alone while I go to work. True, it's less than five minutes away, but the kid gets bored. It doesn't help that many of his friends who live in this neighborhood have been away - either on vacation or visiting absentee fathers, or whatever. It doesn't help that this is a new house, and not all his stuff is here yet, and he isn't quite as comfortable here yet as he'd like to be. It doesn't help that he's off his medication for the summer. It doesn't help that there's so much new and he just doesn't handle new too well.

So, last night. I gave up on homework and took him to see the last showing of "Up" in 3-D for the night. This is a FANTASTIC movie. If you haven't seen it yet, GO! All Disney/Pixar films have been outstanding, but this one ranks right up there in the top 3, I gotta say. We had some much needed Mommy-son time. We reconnected by doing something other than working on one house or the other, or the whole scolder-scoldee dynamic. We snuggled in, had popcorn, and had some quality time. It was the best part of the evening, just being able to be with my boy.

As for Jamie's boredom, he will get some relief over the next two weeks. Monday starts his two-week technology camp at his new school. I have to get him there in the mornings, but his friend Spencer's mom is picking them up and taking them to do stuff - every day. Swimming, lunch, Six Flags or Sea World, bowling, library, Children's museum, or just back to their house to play. Thank you, Jesus, for the Mrs. D's of the world. Later this summer, she's also taking Jamie to VBS at her church. So we can get through this. And soon, this place won't be so new, and he'll settle down. We both will.

Teeth

I’m proud to announce that I took Jamie in for a teeth cleaning at the dentist today, and he has no cavities.  I figured since he’s getting braces this month it might be a good idea for his teeth to have been professionally cleaned before getting the braces on.  Other than a bit of laziness when it comes to flossing, he has good oral hygiene.  The dentist also said that his 12-year molars are coming in early.  The kid was born with a tooth, and the others started showing up pretty rapidly after his birth, so early teeth are no surprise to me!

 

On a bad note, though, I’ve discovered the start of a cavity in a very ucky place in my own mouth, up near the gum line on a front tooth (very visible and breakable) and a “temporary” crown for a broken tooth that was supposed to last only six months (and has been on for FIVE YEARS) is failing, and old fillings need replacing, and just a general state of decay in my own mouth means I need some major work done at the dentist’s office.  I haven’t seen a dentist in five years (see above re: temporary crown), because my insurance has never covered dental work.  However, Jamie goes regularly because his cleanings and x-rays are covered by CHIP (thank you, Jesus).  So, since all my inheritance-type money is going into Jamie’s orthodontia, my own dental needs will have to wait until August when I get my school money.  Please pray that my teeth won’t get worse or have any more breaks before then!

 

On the home front, painting and repairs have temporarily halted in light of my school starting yesterday and having to finish getting everything out of the old house and it cleaned up before June 15.  That is taking all my energies right now.  I fully expect the house stuff to have to wait until July 31, the last day of my classes.  I will then have a whole month before school starts up again.  I hope to get all the painting and such done then, and I’ll post pictures of how I’ve fixed up my new home.

 

Happy Happy Joy Joy

We have enough stuff in the new house that it has become our new base of operations, while the old house is now in "holding the stuff we have yet to pick up" mode. The cable, phone and Internet are hooked up, so I can watch some TV tonight, and attend my classes starting Monday. Jamie and I had four hours of sleep last night, so now that everything is set up, and all the tech-type persons have come and gone who were required to get new stove installed and internet/phone/cable transferred, I'm going to take a nap. Jamie went to the movies with his big brother Bill, and I can just about guarantee you that he's asleep in the movie theatre even as we speak. Whenever I wake up, I'm going to hang some curtains so the neighbors won't see us nekkid or be able to watch TV with us.

zzzz zzzzzz z zzzzzz zzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Less Progress

Jamie had a minor asthma attack during skating, and didn't feel very well afterward. We wound up leaving the rink early. I didn't think his lungs would do too well inhaling a bunch of paint fumes after all that, so we decided to forego priming and painting tonight. This means Pablo can't paint actual colors on the wall tomorrow, but he can finish the priming. While Jamie rests here at home, I'm working on something that I've been trying to do since Jamie's birthday - take down the Christmas tree. Yes, I know it's June 4. Yes, I know most sane people took their trees down SIX MONTHS ago. I've just been a little busy. I think the only reason why I'm working on taking it down now is because we're moving. Otherwise, it would still be up in August.

More Progress

Hired Pablo from work to come help us primer and paint the house last night. Everything that needed primering now has at least one coat of primer on it (minus edges that rollers can't reach). Several of the items that needed primering are now completely ready for a fresh coat of paint. Half the bathroom is painted. And tonight... tonight I am taking Jamie to the roller skating rink with his friend Josh. The rink closes at 9. Maybe we can squeeze in a couple of hours of painting after skating. There's no school tomorrow, so Jamie can sleep in some. Yep, I think some painting is called for.

Progress

A bit of progress has been made on the house. My friend M.J. and her son Jack - who happens to be one of Jamie's best friends - came over last night and we primered the icky yellow bedroom. Well, we tried. See, the paint fumes got kind of thick, and we were trying to primer after dark, and the primer didn't coat very well, so it's going to need a second coat. We were some very giggly people last night, let me tell you! I laughed so much I almost peed on myself, and the stuff we were giggling at wasn't even that funny! I blame it on the fumes.

Tonight, it was back to just me and Jamie again, but we still made real progress. We bought a thicker primer designed especially to go over super-dark colors that eejits insist on putting on walls. (Oh, and it didn't really cost us anything. I had a can of ceiling paint left over that we never used, so I just returned the ceiling paint and used the $$ for returning it to buy the primer!) Then we got to the new place around 7 and immediately put one coat of primer on the fugly paneling in the breakfast nook and one wall in the living room. We had planned on doing second coats on those walls, but we ran out of time. But that's okay. We're still making progress.

Oh, and I made the executive decision that since all the other rooms are painted white, I'm only going to put primer on the patches where I had to fix holes in walls, or where obvious markings and such were on the walls. Since they are white, it will be easy to put a tan-ish color over top of them. This will save us lots of time.

I'm also mentally preparing myself for the fact that we're going to have to move in furniture before all the wall stuff is finished. At least we can kind of place the furnishings in the middle of the room away from the walls and I can try to paint around it. It isn't impossible - just frustrating. But if that's what it takes to get it done, so be it. I'm losing one night of improvement time because I promised Jamie I would take him and his friend Josh to the skate rink on the last night of school (this Thursday). But as hard as Jamie has worked, I think he deserves to have a night to play. Also, Josh's family has taken Jamie to the skating rink many times, especially at the end of last semester. They gave me important final exam alone-time many a night during those last couple of days of school. I figure it's about time I return the favor.

Oh, I almost forgot. Jamie picked out an end of the year "thank you" present for his teacher. She recently bought her first house, and has been having fun buying plants and decorating her first real "grown up" home (she's about 8 years younger than me). So he thought it would be nice to get her a Home Depot gift card so that she could buy plants, or paint, or tools, or whatever she might need to do what she wants with her house. He's going to make her a card to go with it, and he wants to present it to her on the last day of school. I've also been informed by him that he is going to walk up to the elementary school and help her move her classroom and decorate it for next year, when the time comes. Next time I start grousing about how selfish and "gimmee gimmee" he can be, remind me of his generous and caring heart, as evidenced by his offer to her, okay?

(Mis)Adventures in Painting

We finally got all the ceilings painted in the new house. I wanted to have all thepriming and painting on the walls done this past weekend, as well; however, that expectation was before I had ever painted a ceiling. Walls I have painted in the past. Sure, I'm a little achy and sore after painting walls, but not to the extent I was after painting ceilings. Everything hurts - neck, back, legs, feet, arms, shoulders - the works. All burned and ached after the contortions and pressure needed to paint 8' tall ceilings.

On Saturday, Jamie's friend Spencer came over and helped us paint the ceilings. Jamie and Spencer took turns painting the edges (where the walls meet the ceilings) with a 3" brush all the way around the room, while I did the roller. Both tried to use the roller, but neither was quite tall enough or had enough upper body strength the keep up the pressure needed for a smooth, consistent layer of paint. On Sunday, Jamie's friend Jackson came over and helped with more trim, and I turned the two of them loose in the whole house with my drill and a screwdriver (they took turns on using the drill) to take down all the ugly blinds on all the windows. Then they got to carefully wrap up and stack them on the workbench in the garage.

I also got to be a spacklin' queen yesterday. There were several places on the walls where previous tenants had knocked fist-sized or smaller holes in the walls and - rather than patching the holes as any sane person would - they merely placed a solid switch-plate (no hole) over said hole. When I had Jamie take down all the switchplates and electrical outlet covers in preparation for painting, we discovered the holes. So I got to learn how to patch holes. This is a useful skill to have, as I accidentally knocked a hole in the wall at the old house when putting Jamie's bed together for the first time. Now I can patch it and not lose part of my deposit because of a hole in a wall. I also spackled over the grooves in the fugly 1970s dark faux wood paneling in the breakfast nook of the kitchen, then turned both boys loose with sanding blocks and the step ladder. This way, I can paint over the ugly thing without it being too obvious that it was once paneling.

Unfortunately, we had a mishap of epic proportions yesterday, though. I was using the putty/spackling knife to scrape paint lumps and such off the walls. What I thought was a big long glob of dripped paint in the living room happened to actually be a wrinkle in the wallpaper UNDER about six layers of paint. So when I scraped it with the putty knife, it took a huge swath of wallpaper off with it. Too large a piece to just spackle over it and keep on going. In fact, it is textured wallpaper. So all the other walls in the living room have that orange peel texture, while there's a large section that is smooth where the paper and paint were removed. Luckily, it was the short wall in the living room, the one where the front door and double window are located. So I figure I can get away with just taking down the paper on that one wall, then sanding and painting over that section. Also luckily, it's coming off without me having to steam or anything. I just grab a piece and peel, and a large section just rolls right off. But still, it's frustrating that I've hit yet another roadblock that is delaying me getting the darn thing done. I still have packing here at the old house I need to do, and I'm stuck working on stupid mishaps at the new house.

Happily, though, Jamie and I are going to have some help today at the new house. Jackson and his mom and going to come over after I get off work today and help me and Jamie prime the walls. The walls are something that the younger ones can help with. I have five rollers, so there are plenty to go around. I'm hoping between the four of us we can get the whole house primed tonight.

To Answer Your Questions...

No, we aren't in the new house yet. It seems to be taking an eternity to do the things that need to be done on that house, but with only me and Jamie to do it.... well, it's taking a while. But it'll get done. Eventually. And then, my house will be just the way I want it. Eventually.

House Progress

UPDATE:
I didn't cry when they called Jamie up to get his graduation certificate; nor did I cry when they called him up for certificates for Safety Patrols and Strings. However, when they showed a slideshow of pictures from the entire year, with him looking so little at the beginning of the year, and pictures from the end of the year where he looks so much more like a young man, I had to look up at the ceiling and chant under my breath "do not cry. do not cry. do not cry." I managed to hold it together through the ceremony and the meet-and-greet afterwards. But when I got to my car, I put my head down on my steering wheel, and had a little cry. Seems like just yesterday (literally!) I dropped him off for his first day of Kindergarten, and today he's graduating to go on up to middle school! Sniffle, sniffle, sigh.

Well, here we have episode # 511 of how the new place is coming along. I now have a permanent crick in my neck from standing on a step stool and taping the walls right next to the ceiling. All the tops of the walls are taped, so ceiling painting can finally commence tonight. I know, I know, it sure did take me long enough. I put Jamie to work taping off the molding at the foot of the walls so that will be one less thing we have to do before we can start priming the walls. He actually did a fantastic job. He got mad at me last night because I ran out of tape before I ran out of wall to tape off, so I went to where he had been taping and stole some of his tape. Then when I said I was going to let him paint a few stripes on the ceiling, he got over being mad. We have to go get more tape at Home Depot so that Jamie can continue taping what he can reach while I get started on the ceilings. Someone is supposed to come over tonight at 7 to look at some furniture. Honestly, I'm not holding my breath on that one. I've had waaaay too many people tell me they're coming at such and such time and they never show up, don't respond to e-mails I send or phone calls. I have found that the people who are the worst about it are under the age of 27; the older people who I have talked to show up when they say they will, and if they cannot show up or don't need it anymore, they call or e-mail me to let me know. I have noticed a definite generational difference in how courteous people are! Anyway, I'm off to finish my coffee then get ready for Jamie's graduation. Jamie already informed me that if I cry, he'll be "mortified" (his word). At least I know he's got a great vocabulary.

Oh, and BTW, he still has straight A's. I'm so proud!

Postponed

I have very heavy living room furniture. The loveseat is a dual recliner, the couch is a sleeper sofa. This means that one grown woman and two tween boys cannot move them alone. One of the techs at work had said he would help us move, but I had forgotten he was going to be out of town this weekend and couldn't help us until next weekend... S0, the move is postponed a week. But this actually works out better for me, as it gives me longer to pack and longer to paint. Last night was spent in taping around the tops of the walls. I haven't gotten to actually touch paint to ceilings or walls yet. Part of the reason for that is the fact that people keep scheduling times in the late evening to come look at furniture, then they don't even bother to show up. If I hadn't had to come back here last night so early, I could have started on the ceilings. But, neither person who had scheduled to be here showed up. Grr! Inconsiderate people really hack me off! If you make a stinkin' appointment, KEEP IT. Especially when the person selling the furniture tells the prospective buyer that she will drop everything she's doing at the new house to come back to the old house to show the furniture. If they had called to say they weren't coming, at least then I could have stayed and painted. But no... didn't even have the decency to call. Twerps!

Anyway, I have to tape off the bedrooms and bathroom still tonight, but they are small rooms, so I fully expect to at least get the ceiling painted tonight. While I'm painting the ceiling, I'm going to have Jamie tape off the trim. That way, tomorrow night, when the ceilings are dry, all I'll have to do is tape off the ceilings and I can start priming the walls. Hope to have the whole house painted by Sunday, so then we can spend the rest of the week packing. Friday night, the tech will come over for us to load the truck of all but the air mattress and cot, then Saturday early we'll throw the last little bit in the car and truck and head out.

I'll be glad when this is all over with!

ETA:

FYI - tomorrow is Jamie's 5th grade graduation. I'll be sure to post pics tomorrow if I get a chance. If I don't have time tomorrow, I promise to post them soon.

400th POST! and Paint Angst

According to Blogger, this is my 400th post! Woot! Can't believe it! Although, content importance wise, this is probably only about my 100th post. I'm not the most relevant writer to the world - most of my writing has to do with me and mine, rather than the state of affairs in the world or rants about the frickin' media being so yakity-yak about Michelle Obama's fashion sense, but practically ignore the fact that she's one smart cookie and has made many decisions and changes at the White House that are soooooo relevant to the financial mess we're in right now (my favorite: the White House vegetable garden)! But don't get me started on that. I'll blow a gasket. I have to turn off the stupid news anytime someone starts gushing about her clothes and acts like that's all there is to her.....ARRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH! Now I'm all batty thinking about it. I'll just stop now.

The rest of this post will be dedicated to the bedrooms of the new house, and the heart attack I had over the weekend regarding the price of paint. Ai yi yi! Yes, the landlord is going to reimburse me, but DAMN paint is expensive! I'm looking at about a $200-$300 investment, and that's just for the low end stuff. But paint is a necessity. This house is ugly, and I will go batshit insane (to steal a phrase from Suze) if I have to sit in my living room and stare at shit-brown walls. (Upon close inspection of the walls over the weekend, I've decided they aren't pretty enough to be chocolate brown. Instead, it looks like shiny poo has been smeared all over the place. I refuse to sit and look at poo all day!) So, since the investment is more than I thought it would be, instead I'm painting the whole house one color and all the trim a bright white, then as I have money I'll add the accent walls in one room at a time. It won't be as pretty in the meantime, but I'll be there two years. I think I'll live. Besides, even the one color I choose to paint it will be soooo much better than poo. I don't like feeling like I'm sitting on the inside of a dirty diaper.

Anyhoo, here's pics of the smallest bedroom, which will act as our office/music room/playroom/guest room, as the need arises. Normally, I would like this pretty shade of yellow; however, it is too yellow for the tone of the rest of the house, so it will be painted over, as well.

Bathroom & Hallway

Here's the teensy little hallway area and pics of the teeny tiny bathroom. At least the floor in here is ceramic tile put in within the last year, and it matches the color scheme I'm going for in the whole house. My shower curtain is beige with itty bitty little palm trees on it (and the occassional monkey), and my bath rug is a light beige. Since the palm trees have a nice neutral green in them, the bathroom will have green accents to make the beige/tan/whatever neutral color I pick walls and white trim "pop". Oh, and in the picture where Jamie is lurking outside the door, you can see what pitiful shape the bathroom door is in. All the interior doors in the house are like that. They all need to be replaced.

The hallway will probably be a slightly lighter shade of whatever color goes in the bathroom, (since the hallway is so small), well.... maybe. That one wall between the doors to my room and Jamie's room is crying out for some artwork, pictures of Jamie, maybe a tall bookshelf, SOMETHING right there. It's such a natural focal point that I want to take advantage of it. I only have the one picture of the hallway; it was so teensy, I didn't see much point in getting it from several angles. It's basically just big enough to turn around in and decide which door you want to enter.

Kitchen/Dining Room

So, the kitchen/dining room has a lot of potential, but it also needs some work. Luckily, the creamy yellow countertops will work with my "theme" for the kitchen (blue/white plates, yellow and beige accents). Also luckily, my side-by-side frige will fit in the designated frige space (whew!). Paint and putting drawer pulls and door knobs on the cabinets will help a bunch in this room. And that paneled wall has got to be painted! I'll be taking down the lateral blinds from the back sliding glass door and the blinds from the window above the sink. I'm torn between my light blocking curtains or installing some of that super-duper dark window film and not putting any curtains up at all back there. I know for a fact that, even at night, you can't see inside that tint stuff, and it does a great job of keeping out the heat and UV rays. I've also got an insulated doggie door panel and brace I'll be installing on the back door. I'm SOOOOO tired of having to let the dogs in and out! Also, you can't tell very well in the pictures, but at some point in time they apparently had a leak under the bathroom sink, so they had to cut out a large square from the paneled wall. It's being held in place with packing tape! That definitely needs fixing! Also, if I can find some cheap, the whole house would look better with some plain crown molding up by the ceiling. Don't you think so?

The Living Room

We begin with the living room. Note that the walls currently look like they've been Hersheyed. Great in your food; awful on your living room walls.

Note how the high gloss (supposed-to-be-exterior) paint reflects the light on the walls. Not only does the dark color make the room feel tinier than it already is, but the high gloss makes every single imperfection and nail hole stand out. It also shows the fine layer of dust and dirt on the walls, and where other people have swiped their fingers through it. Furthermore, the warm undertones of the paint do not really go well with the cool undertones of the carpet. At least, I don't think so.

My couch and reclining loveseat set is oatmeal colored, maybe only a couple of shades lighter than the carpet. The other furniture (TV stand, media tower, end table) is black. The light-blocking curtains (a necessity with South Texas sunshine) are a dark red. I have accent pillows and a throw afghan on the couch that pick up the deep red color. I'm also planning to get a large floor carpet that picks up the red and black with various shades of browns in it, as well. I'm thinking the walls in here should be a creme color to make the room lighter and seem bigger. Should I do an accent wall in this room, since it's so small, or would the red curtains and pillows/accessories be enough to make it "pop" in such a small room. It's so tiny, I'm afraid an accent wall (or two) might overwhelm the room a bit.

I appreciate the comments on the last post. Really. Please don't be afraid to tell me your opinion. I don't expect expert advice, just gut feelings would be great. So please, give me your "two cents worth" on this room. Accent wall, yea or nay? Would it overwhelm the room or make it look fantastic? Opinions on wall colors, throw rugs, and your great Aunt Myrtle's secret recipe you had last night for dinner would all be welcome. Thanks!

Makin' Pretties (and Reader Opinion Poll)

The realty company gave me the key code to the house and have agreed to let me start painting the interior of the house before we move in, and will pay for 1/2 the cost of the paint. I took a bunch of "before" pictures when we went by the house today. Tomorrow we go look at paint and make final selections. When I get the opportunity, I'll post the pics we took tonight. I can't post them now, because I don't have a card reader here at home. I'll try to go to work early tomorrow so I can post them.

Now, here's a question for all my faithful readers:

I'm leaning toward natural tones, like beiges, cremes, sage, brown, etc. Jamie and I have a debate going right now on whether we should paint each room in different colors that complement each other(which looks really lovely but can get expensive), or if we should paint the whole house all the same wall and trim colors, then paint two walls in each room an accent color (which all happen to complement each other and look really lovely, but winds up being less expensive). So tell me your thoughts. What do you think we should do?

MOVING!

We got the house! Can start moving in stuff the last weekend of this month. Pray that someone else rents my old house before my lease is up so I don't have to pay rent on two houses at the same time. Also pray for me to have the energy to get the old house cleaned up and stuff packed where we can allow the realtor to start showing it by June 15!

Moving!?!?

My lease is up July 31. I've been panicking about what I should do, because it's a bit early to start looking for a new rental, but if I wait until closer to when the lease is up, there will be NO. HOUSES. AVAILABLE. That's when EVERYONE and their Aunt Patricia moves, so every house will be taken.

Before you ask, "Why don't you just stay in your current house?" The answer is, it's too big for two people and two dogs, I'm throwing away money in many ways by renting this house: heating/air conditioning such a large space (even with vents closed in the rooms we don't use), paying rent for 1600 sq. ft. of house when we'll do just fine with about half that, the unused rooms, the huge task of cleaning so much space... you get the idea. It's wasted money. Sure, it's great to have an extra bedroom and bed when you have company come, but - barring tragic family circumstances and the sorting out of boucoup crap due to said family tragedy - we typically don't need two extra bedrooms. We have a couch that folds out into a double bed, and we also now have an air mattress, so we should be able to keep company fairly comfy with less than four bedrooms.

Anyway, a house came up for rent down the street from Jamie's elementary school (which also happens to be really close to 95% of his friends). And the rent is $225 cheaper a month than I'm currently paying. But, there's all kinds of people with appointments to go look at the house on Saturday and Sunday. So, I scootched to the head of the line by asking to see it today, right after work. The lady brought the application with her, and after looking over the house top to bottom and making notes of many many things that need some TLC and attention... I filled out the application.

It is almost half the size of the house we currently rent - 3 BR, 1 BA, 1 car garage, 894 sq. feet. The rooms are tiny, the previous tenants scribbled all over the doors with Sharpies, punched holes in the doors, took doors off hinges, and for some unknown reason painted the living room chocolate brown. It looks like somebody poured old Hershey's syrup all over the walls and let it dry there. I love chocolate, but not chocolate-looking walls. The fence needs repairing in several sections, the carpet is trashed in part of the house, the closets have those awful metal bifolding doors with the funky slats on them, the yard has barely any grass, they left DEER ANTLERS in the back yard, for goodness sakes! This house was darn near pitiful.

But. BUT! It has potential. Yes, it's small. But that means that the insulated curtains will work better at keeping out the heat, and the a/c and heating will be less expensive. The rent is MUCH less expensive. A new coat of paint, steam cleaned carpeting, and some new tile in the kitchen will go a long way to make the house cute. Plus, the owner has agreed to consider a 2 year lease, which means she can't jack the rent up on me next year, and it's near 95% of Jamie's friends, still less than 5 minutes from my work, and is just down the street from a public park with basketball goals and a baseball diamond on one side, and his elementary school on the other. True, he won't be actually attending this elementary school next year, but he can still go up there and play on the playground and the soccer field. And the street dead-ends at the park, so there is very little traffic. And, it has some really large, nice shade trees in the front and back, where my current house does not have any shade in the front, and weirdly placed shade in the back.

One big drawback about moving now is that I'll be (temporarily) paying rent on TWO houses, because I can't break my lease. They are way more strict about it down here than they are in back home. But, my current rental company will waive the remaining two months on my lease if someone else rents the house before my rental term is up. If I've already paid that month's rent, they'll give me a prorated rebate. And, by moving during summer, it increases the chances that someone else WILL rent the house before my term is up at the end of July.

So, I went ahead and gave my current company notice that I am not renewing the lease and will be vacating the property before the term is up. I also told them that the house will be ready to show to prospective renters by June 15. This presents a bit of a problem, though, as the house is a. freaking. mess. This semester kicked my butt, so the house looks like crap. I need to do some major trash hauling, and some series going over what I have. See, if we're moving to a house half the size of this one, I have a lot of stuff to get rid of. I'm thinking garage sale, a LARGE garage sale!

Do Re Mi Me me meme

I cheerfully stole this meme from Suze, but I have also seen it circulating via e-mail with my other Internet "family." If you like it, consider yourself tagged.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Not that I know of. My parents needed another "J" name for a female, and needed a "D" name for the middle name so that all the kids would have the initials "JDH" - so Jennifer Dawn it was.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? last night

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? It's okay. It can get sloppy, though.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? turkey breast.

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Yes, I have three boys, Jamie, Ziggy and Buddy. Only one is my biological child. Guess which one?

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Probably not. I'm a little psycho sometimes.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Ummm.... Yeah!

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Not even if you offered me a million dollars.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Generic maple and brown sugar frosted bite-sized wheat cereal.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Never

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Physically or mentally? I think so, or at least, I hope so.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Ben and Jerry's Dublin Mudslide.

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Their eyes.

15. RED OR PINK? Depends on what mood I'm in.

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? my temper.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? my mom

18. WHAT COLOR SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? black soccer slides

19. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? banana

20. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? The scanning electron microscope pumping down

21. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? purple

22. FAVORITE SMELLS? fresh brewed coffee

23. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? my brother

24. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Absitively posolutely

25. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? soccer, figure skating.

26. Hair Color? brown, black, red and gray.

27. EYE COLOR? blue/gray/green, depending on my mood

28. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? no way

29. FAVORITE FOOD? California roll sushi

30. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy Endings

31. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Kim Possible: So the Drama (I was watching it with Jamie)

32. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? bright green

33. SUMMER OR WINTER? Winter!

34. HUGS OR KISSES? I'll take either

35. FAVORITE DESSERT? cheesecake

36. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? Danse Macabre by Laurell K. Hamilton

39. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? words

40. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT? Nothing

41. FAVORITE SOUND? Jamie's giggle

42. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? both

43. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? San Antonio, Tx

44. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? I've got a few.

45. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Defiance, Ohio

Graduation Plans

I've been thinking a lot about graduation (obviously, otherwise why would I have put a graduation day countdown calendar on my blog?). My original plans for graduation weekend was that Jamie and I would drive or fly up, spend Friday night in a hotel, go to graduation Saturday morning, go out to eat to celebrate, then go home. But then I got thinking. Jamie can't stay with me when it's time to line up. He can't sit with me with the graduates. He'd have to sit in the stands and wait for me. From everything I've read on the school's website, the stands are pretty large. I don't know anybody there, and I don't want Jamie sitting by himself.

At one time, it was important to me for Jamie to see me graduate. It was important for him to see all my hard work pay off. It still is important, but Jamie's safety is more important. So now I think we aren't going to attend the graduation ceremony. We can take the money we would have used for gas, food and hotel, and instead do something together to celebrate that weekend. I'm still hoping we can go to Disney World to celebrate - I just don't know what to do about the dogs. The main problem is not Ziggy, but Buddy. I'll think on this more, and get back to you.

My Mother's Day...

…was not exactly the best day I’ve ever had.  Through convoluted circumstances, we wound up having a friend of Jamie’s spend the night Saturday night.  We all stayed up way too late watching cartoons and such and playing Monopoly, so I wanted to sleep in Sunday morning.  Unfortunately, instead, I got this about every 10-15 minutes:

§  “Mom, can Jackson and I eat ____________?”

§  “Mom, can Jackson and I go outside and play with ______________?”

§  “Mom, can Jackson and I play with _________________ in the living room?”

§  “Oh, sorry, happy mother’s day, and can Jackson and I watch __________________?”

§  “I’m hungry, can I fix ________________?”

 

Over and over again, in an endless loop, starting at 7:00 a.m. After the fifth or sixth time of him waking me up, I sat up, grabbed one of the many pillows next to the bed and threw it at him.  After that, he got the hint and left me alone until I was ready to get up on my own.  I mean, for Pete’s sake, they’re 11!  They should know how to keep themselves entertained and not keep waking me up for permission for things that they know perfectly well if it is or is not okay to do while I’m sleeping (food is always okay, playing with toys quietly or watching approved TV channels in the living room are perfectly okay while I am sleeping, while going outside is definitely NOT okay if I’m asleep.  Jamie knows this.  So I woke up grumpy.

 

Then, we took Jackson home and headed for Starbucks for a little treat to celebrate the day.  We were supposed to go out to eat to Jamie’s favorite place (Incredible’s Pizza, which has a giant game room and go-karts, putt-putt golf, skeeball, bowling, etc.), but my professor was supposed to post my exam yesterday, and I really wanted to get it done over the weekend so I wouldn’t be mentally fatigued from work before starting the test.  So we waited around all dang day… and waited…. And waited…. No exam. 

 

Around 8 p.m., I decided that – hungry or not – Jamie needed to eat some supper.  We both go into the kitchen, and while I’m digging around for something to fix out of the freezer, Jamie moans a little bit, then projectile vomits all over me.  Nice.

 

I get him (and me) cleaned up, then I run to the store for Gatorade, Sprite, crackers and soup.  Get home, fix him some good old chicken noodle and crackers, then get him settled into bed.  Check the computer, STILL NO EXAM. 

 

By this time, I’m tired, cranky, and too darn tired to take the exam anyway, so I get ready for bed.  Get e-mail notification on my phone (that wakes me up) that the exam was finally posted – at 11:30 at night!  Then I get teed off, because this creates an unfair advantage for the students who don’t work full-time, because they effectively get more time to finish the exam than those of us who do have kids, families and full-time jobs (and there are quite a few of us in that class).  I go back to bed, but I’m so mad about the test situation that I toss and turn for a while before I can go back to sleep.

 

So, my mother’s day wasn’t spectacular, but at least I got to spend it with my kid (sick or not).

The Concert

As promised, Jamie's concert (in three parts - because I goofed up and hit the "stop" button)






Hope you enjoy! Jamie is planning on sticking with the violin and looks forward to having Mr. Prado as his orchestra teacher in middle school next year. As Jamie says, "Yay! I get to be an 'orch dork' next year!"

Mountain Dew Throwback

I am a self-professed caffeine junkie. I have to have two HUGE cups of coffee in the morning before I can even start getting ready for work. I’ve been a good girl and made myself drink more water of late, but IMHO, if it isn’t caffeinated, then I have no use for it (unless we’re talking alcohol; that’s a whole different ballgame, folks!). But there comes a quandary. I love caffeine, but hate high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). So, imagine my utmost delight when I went to the store the other day and found 20 oz. bottles of –

It’s Mountain Dew, but it is made with natural sugar instead of HFCS. To me, it tastes so much better than regular Mountain Dew with HCFS. I did some Internet research, and discovered that this stuff just came out mid-April. The sad thing is, there hasn’t been much news about how long it will be available for purchase, nor in what quantities. So far, I’ve only been able to find it in 20 oz bottles. If I could find it in cans or 2 liters, I’d stock up. But it’s a bit cost prohibitive for me to keep buying 20 oz bottles that cost more than a 2 liter bottle would. So if any of you spot this product in cans or 2 liters, drop me a line to tell me where you found it and in what sizes, so I can go haunt my local store and beg them to get some!

Oh, and for those of you who hate HFCS but don’t like Mountain Dew, there’s also Pepsi Throwback, using natural sugar. Enjoy!

LOL

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Insomnia

I've been well acquained with the wee hours of the morning my whole life. My mother used to tell stories about how, as a baby, I never wanted to go to sleep - my little motor just kept on going, wouldn't sit still, couldn't go to sleep, my eyes would be droopy, I'd be cranky as hell, but I just would NOT (or was it COULD NOT?) go to sleep, so Mom would have to "spank" me to make me cry so I would finally, FINALLY cry myself to sleep. (By "spank", I mean she basically just swatted me on the butt once just loud enough to make a noise that scared me and hurt my feelings, then I would cry myself to sleep). This means I figure I've been an insomniac my whole life.

The most insidious, horrible thing about insomnia, surprisingly, seems to me to not be the actual lack of sleep. For the most part, I feel better after 2 or 3 hours of sleep than I do after 8 straight. True, eventually my body crashes and just has to get more sleep, but - for the most part - the lack of actual sleeping hours isn't what makes insomnia suck so bad. It's the doubt, the self-recriminations at 3 a.m. that come slinking into my room to torment me. In the bright light of day, I'm fairly able to put one foot in front of the other and not stress too much about past, stupid mistakes. At three a.m., though, every mistake I ever made, all the way back to when I was in elementary school, comes to perch on the side of my bed and tell me what a dumbass I am. "You broke up with so-and-so, and now you're all alone. What if he was supposed to be the one, and YOU screwed it up? I mean, look at you, when's the last time you were on an actual date?" is a familiar refrain. As is, "What the hell do you think you're doing? Do you actually think you can be a good mother when you can't even manage to do the dishes consistently every night?" is another. I even get flogged for stupid or mean things I said to my sister and mother as a child, things I never meant in a million years, idle childish threats and spewage that - if only I'd known how quickly they'd be gone - I never would have said or done. So I go back over (and over and over and over) these same mistakes, wondering if they ever forgave me. And of course, it's too late to ask them now. Yet in the light of day, these are not thoughts I would normally have. I get so tired of my own thoughts, mistakes and what-ifs that I grab a book and dive in, struggling to block out all those voices in the wee hours until finally, FINALLY, at 4 or 5 a.m. the book slips out of my hands and I fall asleep, only to have to get up 2 hours later.

I sometimes don't know whether I should laugh or cry when I come to work and all I hear from coworkers is "Gee, you look tired." No, I'm not tired. I wish that's all it was. I'm drained. I'd give anything to only be tired for once. I'll take tired over being sucked dry from things I said or did eons ago anyday. At least you can do something about being tired.

Last Night's Concert

Jamie's strings concert last night was great. Not only was his group performing, but ALL the strings students from 43 schools were performing! This consisted of about half of his school district. So imagine a gymnasium filled with more than 1,300 orchestra students, and that's what I heard last night. Performing were 5th grade string students from 20-some elementary schools, 12 middle school orchestras, and 5 high school orchestras. The high schoolers started us off with "The Star Spangled Banner." Then the 5th graders got to perform "Do Re Mi" from The Sound of Music and "All That Jazz" from Chicago. The evening's theme was "Broadway;" every school performed at least one song from a Broadway musical. In addition to the aforementioned musicals, we heard selections from The Music Man, Fiddler on the Roof, Grease, and Phantom of the Opera. Phantom was the finale performed together by all five high schools (one of which was the districts performing arts magnet school). It was a medley of the more popular songs. What was neat about it was that about halfway through, the middle school bands joined in on "Music of the Night," then the last 25 bars, the 5th graders joined in, as well. There's something pretty powerful about hearing 1,300+ musicians play together that'll give you goosebumps everytime.

Unfortunately, a transportation snafu meant that, at the last minute, I had to get Jamie from the house and go pick up another student and rush them over to the concert. I didn't have time to find my digital camera to record the concert. However, I was able to catch some of the 5th graders' performance on my cell phone camera. As luck would have it, I chose exactly the perfect spot to sit, as I was almost directly across the aisle from where Jamie wound up sitting, so at least you can see him. The bad thing, though, is that for some reason my camera recorded the video sideways and I can't figure out how to rotate it, the sound quality stinks and seems to be a bit faster than the video, and the memory ran out before I could get any of the rest of the concert. Naturally, after I got home from the concert I found the good camera right away (figures). I plan on recording Jamie playing solo sometime this weekend and posting it for you.

For now, here's the less-than-stellar video from last night.

Family

A lot of times, I feel like the odd man out when it comes to family. Both my mother and my father came from fairly large, close-knit families. Dad had a gazillion siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. My mom had only two siblings, but a lot of cousins, aunts, uncles and multiple generations living within a few miles of each other. It was only natural that they all would be close. However, when my siblings and I were small, we lived hundreds (if not more than a thousand) miles from grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Sure, once a year each side of the family would hold reunions our parents would drag us to, but for the most part, my brother and I stayed pretty much to ourselves. Jodi was always game to play with cousins and chat with extended generations, but she had the benefit of being older and having had more time to get to know them. Once she died, Joel and I were pretty much the weirdos in the family and preferred to stay away from everyone else, unless forced by one or the other parent to "make nice" and visit. At least, I'm pretty sure Joel felt the same way I did, but since I'm not a mind reader, I won't pretend to speak for him, and the rest of this post is about me and my thoughts only.

When Jodi got sick, we moved closer to Mom's family and most of Dad's relations. It just so happened that University of Kentucky Med Center was one of three hospitals in the country at that time who were willing to conduct this "experimental" treatment called a bone marrow transplant for people with leukemia. This meant Dad's insurance wouldn't pay for it, though, which also meant we had to find a way to raise the money to pay for it. I don't know exact figures, but I do know Mom paid on that surgery for YEARS after Jodi died.

Our moving got us closer physically to Mom's family, but not emotionally. Mom's parenting style was vastly different from everyone else's - plus, she was wrapped up in trying to get Jodi well, so she didn't really have time to take us to each relative's house for visits. Pretty much we saw family at the yearly reunions, occassional brief visits when they'd come to the house or the hospital, and then again at Jodi's funeral. The only exception to this was my mom's mom, Granny, who stayed with us during the day so Mom could spend a lot of time at the hospital with Jodi, and later Granny stayed with Joel while I was also in the hospital donating the bone marrow. But Granny was more of the "children should be seen, not heard, and ask no questions" variety. This was in direct opposition to what my mom believed.

After Jodi died, and my parents split up, we didn't see much of family because Mom - understandably - was often working her butt off to keep us fed and a roof over our heads. When Mom was home, she was generally too tired to go driving all over the country to visit family. So this meant we grew up with limited contact with our families. Yeah, we knew (pretty much) everyone's names and the general area where they lived. We knew (basically) their "begats" (Gordon begat Gordie, Randy, Danny, etc.; Dean begat Deanna, Tonya, etc.) and who was married to whom, but that was the end of it for most of them. No knowledge really of their religious beliefs, political stance (other than that the older half were conservatives, and the younger ones were uber-liberal) - no real sense of who they WERE. Hell, I didn't even know until AFTER my son was three years old that my Uncle Dean (one of the few I had gotten to spend some time with and liked) was actually my Godfather as well as my uncle.

I feel bad for Jamie that I'm the only (biological) family he really knows, although he loves his Uncle Joel an awful lot. He yearns to know more about his uncles and aunts. He didn't know he had cousins until 2005, when he met my Uncle Alvin's grandkids on a visit back to Kentucky for my friend Ann's wedding. My ingrained habits of isolationism and stubborn independence (well, mostly) have negatively affected him. For that I am sorry. However, I am grateful to those of you who haven't given up on me and, biological or not, have insisted that we are family and are loved by others. You are wonderful gifts to both me and Jamie. Words cannot express how much you are loved and appreciated.

School

My OFFICIAL graduation date is December 19, 2009! Yippeeeee!

Just a quick note to let you know recent developments. Only ~4 more weeks of school left. Currently, I'm borderline between A's and B's in the grades department in all my classes. These should go up once I turn in my papers and such that are due in the next few weeks. Also, I recently got official word that my requirement that 30 of the last 36 hours be at TWU has been waived. This means I can take two required classes at San Antonio College this summer, and four this fall at TWU, then I'm DONE! Woo hoo! Now the only question is what the hell to DO with my degree in the current job market, and how long I should wait before starting up my Master's degree. I guess before I do that, though, I should decide what graduate degree program I'm interested in! Decisions, decisions!

In Jamie's school news, he has about two months of school left, and is trucking right along. We turned in his class choice slips for the media magnet school today. Since we haven't heard from the rocket science magnet school, we're assuming he didn't get in. That's okay, though; he can always reapply next year. No big deal. Both magnet schools are housed in the same campus (and even share some of the required pre-requisite classes), so it won't be difficult to transfer later. Jamie took his math standardized test last week, and is confident he did well. He has only one standardized test left; he'll be taking his science test at the end of this month.

Brief Update

Once again, I'm in a hurry and don't really have time for an in-depth post, but I want to bring my loyal readers (all 10 of you) up to speed on what's going on in S.A. So here goes:

1. Becca, Tom and Christopher arrived late Saturday night/early Sunday morning after a long drive and a few mishaps along the way. I'm SOOOOO excited to see Becca! It's been something like 13 years since we last saw each other!
2. Jamie and Christopher are getting along great, and got to have a premature Easter egg hunt in the back yard on Sunday. This allowed the kids to have fun and the adults that had been driving for two days to unwind.
3. My degree plan at TWU now officially states that I am 12 credits shy of graduating. WOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4. I've been pushing really hard, trying to earn high enough marks in my classes to graduate cum laude, but I don't think it will happen. I think I may be a few points shy, but really close. However, I'm trying not to be disappointed; I think the fact that a single mother working full-time and going to school is graduating at all is cause to celebrate. But there's still this little tiny bit of me that is sad that I won't be able to claim graduation with honors.
5. Jamie got accepted into an interactive media magnet middle school! He had applied to two (both on the same campus) - one dealing mainly with computers and media (graphic design, web page design, student news broadcasts, etc.) and one dealing with science (building and launching rockets, chemistry, aerospace design, etc.). He's really excited, but is eagerly awaiting word from the science magnet school before making a decision. I'm VERY proud of him!
6. Jamie's report card came out this week, and he brought all of his grades back up to his normal range (in one case, this involved raising a grade more than 30 points!) He is more like his old self, and seems to be working through the issues he had with Papaw's death, and the trauma of everything. Did I mention I'm proud of my boy? I did? Well, I'll say it again - I'm proud of my boy!
7. I've scheduled Jamie's appointment to get his braces on for this June. Dad's house is sold, and I have the money now to pay for it all at once (you get a discount). To keep me from spending it, and to allow it to make some money (a very little) in the mean time, I put it into a risk-free CD at my bank to allow it to earn some interest between now and June. Once he gets them on, I'll be sure to post a picture so you guys can see him in all his metal glory. :-)

Okay, it's after midnight and I have to be at work early tomorrow so I can get off work early. I must say good night now!

I'm a Cruel Mommy

I got Jamie good this morning.  It was rather chilly this morning (down in the 40’s) and Jamie was complaining he was soooo cold, so tired, etc. etc.  Seeing as how it is April Fool’s Day, I decided to play a little prank.  I told him that we had a freak snow storm in the middle of the night, and that school was cancelled because the roads were covered.  I think he only believed me because he was still half asleep when I told him this.  The fact that it was freezing cold in the house helped back up my claim.  Jamie jumped up out of bed and ran to the front door to look outside.  Of course, when he opened the door, there was no snow, just a very cool wind.  When I yelled “April Fool’s” he gave me the look.  The one that I’m sure I’ll be seeing much more of as he enters his teenaged years.  This look clearly states, “My mother is a freak, and I am a long-suffering saint for putting up with her shenanigans.”  Seeing as how we’re going to be stuck here for another 2 years or so while Jamie is undergoing his orthodontic treatment, I figured today would be the only chance he has for the wild hope elicited by the words “snow day.”  May today be filled with lots of great, harmless pranks for you and yours.

I'm So Excited! (And I Just Can't Hide It!)

FOUR DAYS until Becca, Tom and CJ get here!  I’m so excited I could pee my pants (literally, waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much coffee this morning!).  I haven’t seen Becca since she left for Arizona umpteen billion years ago.  But I’m also in a panic now, as my lofty intentions to clean the house a little bit at a time fell all to Hell, and I’ve got a major exam this week and a paper to write, and an extremely messy house to boot.  But I work best under pressure, so I should have the house at least presentable (and the Christmas tree finally down) by the time they get in late Saturday night.  I’ve been putting in overtime at work, and next week’s a holiday, so I’ve tentatively arranged to take Thursday off as my last vacation day, Friday is a holiday, and my extra hours hopefully will allow me to leave early Monday-Wednesday.  I’m so happy and excited I’m practically bouncing in my seat (this is making my boss look at me funny)!

 

Gotta go!

Mom, ca. 1967

I found this picture of my mother, from March 1967, in my dad's stuff. Mom was stationed down here at Randolph Air Force Base, just a few miles from where I now live. Dad was also stationed there. That's how they met. Let me just say - my mother was a fox! The picture quality is terrible because the original is all faded and had a very pronounced green tinge. I did the best I could with Photoshop to correct it, but it's still really grainy.

Lazy Bones

I'll admit right now that I have been ULTRA lazy this week, and it carried over into the weekend. I had grand plans to take down the Christmas tree, take out the stinky furniture to the curb, clean the house and do a whole bunch of cooking for the next week. Instead, I've read - spy thrillers, cheesy romance novels, cheesy spy thriller romance novels, and generally anything I could get my hands on that I hadn't read yet and interested me even the slightest bit. I also took my spiffy new bike for a long ride with Jamie and a few of his friends yesterday. Best thing about the bike was it was the last one they had, and it was dented in several spots and scratched minorly in others, but still fully functional, so I persuaded a manager to take $20 off the price!

I haven't looked at anything related to school work, other than to keep checking on my degree requirements to see if a bunch of the papers I'd filed for substitutions and waivers had been accepted. I discovered today that they had, with one minor glitch. There was a minor mistake that should be easy to fix, but once that is fixed, I'll only need FOUR classes to finish my degree and graduate in December: a Spanish class (the "D" in my last Spanish class still counted towards my degree, yay!), a class on crime trends in America, a class on juvenile delinquency, and Intro to Criminal Justice. As per usual, I was ornery and took all the advanced courses before I took the introductory course. So, once this semester wraps up, I'll be 12 hours away from graduating. Woo hoo!

Randomness

I'm thoroughly enjoying lolling around this week. It's my spring break, so I have not even cracked open a text book this week. I've just been enjoying stuff as it happens. Staying true to that fashion, here's a bulletted list of random junk that has happened, is about to happen, or flitted its way through my brain this week:

• Received notice (a sign hanging from my house doorknob) that brush/large item trash pick up day is coming soon. Yay! The first items to go out will be the VERY stinky couch and matching armchairs from Dad's house. Currently, they are bestowing their very special perfume on my garage - old beer, stale beer sweat, and dirty dog. Dad slept on his couch, ate on his couch, and even - apparently - peed on his couch once or twice. I'm looking forward to that NOT being in my garage anymore.
• Received a letter yesterday addressed to my father that his application for increased disability benefits from the VA was still being processed, and to have patience. I called them and told them Dad had all the time and patience in the world, seeing as how he was dead and all. The lady I talked to was very apologetic that word didn't trickle through all the departments yet that he died. She was also horrified that the records weren't expunged to weed out all the applications of servicemembers who had died.
• Ziggy got a bath and all his fur shaved off. Poor thing was so dirty and matted it couldn't be saved. Off it went. Now he looks VERY comical. Buddy is next on the bath list, but he won't require shaving as he's got such short hair.
• I think I'm going to buy myself a bike. Nothing fancy, just a single-speed with a wide seat and back-pedal brakes. I want something comfy to ride back and forth to work when it isn't too hot or too cold. I have a very economical car, but I feel so wasteful driving the very short distance between work and home. If I ride a bike, it won't take very long for me to dash home for the car if Jamie gets sick at school or I have to run an errand for work. Plus, this is an easy way to save more money and get in some exercise, too.
• As stated in a recent tweet, my Christmas tree, fully decorated, is still gracing my den. It must come down. I can't stand it any more. It will be accomplished no later than this weekend, I promise it!
• The weather has turned absolutely GORGEOUS! It's in the low 80s to high 70s, the sun is shining, the lilac trees are blooming, I've got some really pretty pink flowers growing along the side of my driveway (have no idea what they are) and all the trees are green and leafy. Spring is here!

MOY/EOY

I nominate myself for BOTH Mother of the Year (MOY) and Employee of the Year (EOY) awards*.  It’s almost 8 p.m. CST, and I’m sitting at work finishing a “rush” report my boss wants out tonight.  Just one thing, I’m sitting here typing in the near-dark so that my son can sleep in peace on the couch across from my desk.  What’s a little eyestrain when you can accomplish being a good mom AND a good employee, when the two often seem to be at cross purposes?

*BTW – Just in case any of you are horrified that I would think something this small actually qualifies me for MOY or EOY, take heart.  I’m kidding.  Maybe just Mom or Employee of the Month.  J

As of 45 Minutes Ago...

I completed my midterm for one class, and the assignments for the other two. So, as of 45 minutes ago, I'm on SPRING BREAK! Tomorrow, I'm taking Jamie to see a double feature of Paul Blart: Mall Cop (if it's still playing) and Race to Witch Mountain. He (and I) was really bummed that I couldn't take any time off work last week on his spring break due to no one being available to cover for me. I'm going to try to make it up to him tomorrow. I'm also planning some surprise activities next week, such as hiking at a park nearby, a trip to the 1/2 price bookstore, and a trip to the railway museum (it even offers train rides).

An odd thing I've noticed, ever since it sank in that - after this semester - I only need five (possibly four, depending on how convincing I can be on the applicability of a prior clss) more classes to complete my major, I've procrastinated even more. I would have thought the opposite would be true and I'd be more motivated, but that has not been the case. I've never denied I'm fairly contrary by nature.

Ch' Ch' Ch' Changes.... and An LOLCat

There've been a lot of changes happening lately to people I care about. Make ups, break ups, shake offs, lay offs, pay cuts, hour cuts, hair cuts, birthdays, mind haze, death, life, and everything else under the sun seems to be happening all at once. I just want you all to know that, while I am crazily mixed up in the goo that got shat (this is my new favorite word) on me in the past couple of months, I do still care, I am still thinking of you, and I am still wishing you all well - I just may not have time to go to the phone/computer and call/e-mail you to tell you so. Consider this notification that you are, indeed, loved. :-)

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Saw this just now and had to post it:


see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Driving to Podunk After Work

I’m driving down to Podunk today after work so I can pick up the last few remaining things from Dad’s house that I want/need, and leave the papers on the counter the buyer needs so he can get the lawyer started drawing up the necessary items to revert ownership of the home.  This should be the last trip down there.  It’s both a relief and a burden.  No matter that the house is in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by a bunch of nosy provincials who refer to the area as “the ranch” and view it as paradise on earth, only to be left for the procurement of food at the grocery store – an hour’s drive away.  Yes, the area is pretty, sort of.  Yes, it’s kind of nice to stand on the banks of the pond and throw food to the catfish.  It’s also nice to wake up early and see the deer gathered around the pond for a drink.  But It’s nicer to not have the worry of it over my head.  To not stress over paying house payments, and keeping vandals out of the house.  And DEFINITELY it’s nice to not have your every movement examined and flocks of people coming over so they can observe you like a damn animal in a zoo there for their viewing pleasure. It’s nice to know that, after I split everything with my son and brother, there will be just about enough left to pay for the orthodontia Jamie desperately needs.  It’s nice to know that I won’t be eating up the gas and putting undue stress on my car to go down there.  It’s also nice to know I live in a neighborhood that is not completely isolated and the breeding ground for rabid ignorance and hatred of all things “different.”  It’s nice to know that it will not take me an hour to get to the nearest movie theater, nor will it take me two hours to reach the nearest museum or cultural event.  It’s nice to know my water is not brown and stinky, and does not turn all my white things the color of dog turds when washed in it.  So long, little house.  It’s been nice knowing you, but it’ll be even nicer to be rid of you.

At the End of a Long, Stressful Day, Do Not...

At the end of a long, stressful day, in which legal problems almost arose, the lawyer you'd already paid too much admits he doesn't know his arse from a hole in the ground, and you vehemently wished the whole world in hell (and the opportunity to dig your da up just to spit on him and bury him again), do not... I repeat, DO NOT:

1. Walk in from work and glug down half of a huge bottle of wine you'd bought to use for making that awesome shrimp scampi recipe you'd come up with (especially not on an empty stomach);
2. Turn the a/c temp control back up near 80 because you figure you're not going to have any extra money for electric bills or whatnot after you get done paying off all your da's creditors;
3. Start cooking said shrimp scampi, with the heat from the stove adding to the humidity and general misery in the house;
4. Nibble on the (cooked) shrimp while you're making the dinner;
5. Glug more wine;
6. Get so mad about everything that you start crying, producing a veritable snot factory to compete with the mucus already being produced due to allergy season.

So, we have heat, alcohol, seafood, and snot. Mix those ingredients for a while, and you wind up yakking a pile on the floor that looks oddly a lot like Fancy Feast - Seafood Feast variety.

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Jamie walks in from playing:

"OMG, Mom, what happened? Are you okay? Are you sick?"

- No baby, the cat got sick on the rug, that's all.

"Ummmm... Mom? We don't have a cat.

(a beat)

"Have you been drinking?"

Dropping (Again) and Other News

I admit defeat. I'm dropping a class. Four classes is just waaaay to many at this point. I feel bad about it, but I'm facing reality. I simply cannot go back to getting too few hours of sleep a night. Even when I am awake, I'm too brain dead to concentrate enough to do homework. So, I'm dropping one of my courses. By some stroke of luck, though, it turns out the class I am most behind in, the one that I have absolutely NO idea what I'm doing in, is one I don't need for my major, but thought I did. It seems I got a bit confused and was looking at the requirements for the wrong calendar year. So, I'm going to drop that one.

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In other news:

1. Jamie is having a blast taking tennis lessons from my boss' daughter, Michal. She won't let me pay her anything for it, but I did insist on regularly giving her some gas money. She picks Jamie up from school on Mondays and some Wednesdays and takes him to practice. How on earth did I wind up with a jock for a son? Oh, well, it keeps him in shape and makes him tired enough to sleep at night.
2. I'm making some progress in getting Dad's affairs in order. Joel was a HUGE help to me when he came down for a week. He boxed up everything that looked like it was usable, so all I have to do this weekend is load my car and lug it home. Yay, Joel!
3. The leftovers that we don't want/need, or is obviously trash have presented a bit of a problem. However, we've made a deal with the man who is buying the place. He and I are going to do a walk through on Saturday and come up with a figure of what it would cost him to take care of the junk, the A/C and replace the carpet. That sum will be deducted from what he said he'd pay for the place. This way, it's not coming directly out of my pocket, and we can hurry up and get the sale done. This would be one less thing I have to worry about, so I'm all for it. Joel agrees.