Friday Fragments

This weeks Friday Fragments are being brought to you by Mrs. 4444, just like always!  Run on over there to see how fragmented the rest of the bloggers' week has been.

I have been fired.  Yep.  Evidently one of those who signed up as a follower has fired me.  My six followers has recently become five.

I don't know why they are no longer a follower.  Did I say something that they didn't like?  Did they just decide that they had to downsize their bloggy world visits and started getting rid of those with the least seniority?

I wonder....can I draw unemployment because of this firing?  Because you know....I could really use the extra money.

I think I know where they went.  They went to Helene's!  Why would I think this?  Because she has over 1000 followers!  That is amazing.  I don't think that I even know a thousand people in the real world, and I am positive that I don't know that many in the bloggy world.

Anyway....yesterday was a crappy day at work.  I am telling you that you should have to pass a test before you can receive a working uterus or sperm.  I probably would not have passed, but that is besides the point, since I am at least trying to take care of my child.

As soon as school/work is done for today, The Boy and I are headed home to grab a few things and then out the door we go.  He is spending the weekend with the DNA Donor.  Crazy Man and I are making our way to Nashville.  We will be staying with his sister tonight and then tomorrow night we will stay in a nice (really nice from the looks of it) hotel.  Crazy Man set up the trip for our six month anniversary.  Actually, in calendar years, it is our second anniversary, but since we got married on February 29th, we have been saying that our one year is in 2012 when that date shows up again.

We have a couple things planned, but nothing really grand at this point.  We kind of take things as they come when we go do something like this.  I am looking forward to it.

I have been having really odd dreams lately.  I don't usually remember them, I just know that I have been having them and some of them are weird and some of them are scary.  Matter of fact, Crazy Man said that I sat up yelling the other night.  The only thing I remember is that I felt like someone was coming at me.  Last night, I had a dream that I had frozen bacon in my hands and I was trying to get it to thaw while I was at school getting kids loaded on the buses.  I woke up this morning to a ringing phone and my first thought was "huh...wonder how that turned out?"  Crazy, I know!

The Boy hasn't felt so swell the past couple of days.  I think he got the cold that I had last weekend.  After some DayQuil dosing, he is starting to feel better.

Earlier in the week we had a visit with some folks that deal with people on the autism spectrum.  We had been there before where some testing was done, but we never heard anything from them.  Now all of a sudden they give us a call because they want to put The Boy in to a program.  I asked why now and not then.  They told me that he was a bit young when he first came in for what they could do.  Now, they feel that he is just about the right age. They told me that they would be working with him on some transition type stuff to get ready for the real world instead of the controlled environment of the school.

I will post later about what all happened in this meeting.  It is more than just a fragment!

That is the week in a nutshell.  Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Short and to the Point

This week's Dear Someone letters has been postponed this week due to a death in the family over at Short Mama's.  This blog sends its condolences to her and her family.

And, I am having a rough day week so I will have to keep this short and sweet.  I will be back tomorrow with a post that will work well for Fragmented Friday.  Since that is the way I have been able to think this week...in fragments.

Jefferson City

The long awaited post has finally made it's appearance!!

Several weeks ago, I went to Jefferson City for a stupid wonderfully informative meeting related to my job. When we had arrived the night before, we were out and about looking for where this super informative meeting was supposed to be.  We also had to find a place to eat supper.  We had a GPS to guide us to where we were supposed to go, but sometimes they aren't all that clear.  And even when they are that clear, the streets themselves do not lend themselves to be driver friendly!

That is how we stumbled upon this:

Now, something that big you would think that it would be kind of difficult to stumble upon.  But that is exactly what happened!  We found an empty parking spot that had a sign saying that it was for a reporter.  The governor was giving a speech at that moment in the building, so we figured that since we would only be there for a few minutes and if the reporter wasn't already there, then evidently he wasn't coming.  As we were putting our cameras away and climbing back into the car, this guy comes driving by and starts yelling at us out his window about us being in his parking spot.  He wasn't very nice, so we took our time leaving. We nearly got ourselves into a fight on the stairs over a parking spot, but at least we got the picture!  

I had visited there before, but I was young enough that I don't remember a whole lot about it.  Other than the fact that my parents took me.  And that we went into either the house or senate portion to watch and that I was nearly in tears from being afraid of heights.

This time, I was still afraid of heights, but was able to get some cool pictures.  My friend took some neat ones too of places that I would never be able to take them. But, just watching her lean over the railing and taking pictures made me break into a sweat!

There were some really interesting combinations of paintings and architecture. These were taken from the main floor looking up:

 

 

 This one was taken from me sitting on the floor at the bottom of the stairs:

While sitting on the floor for this picture, we looked up and found the most wonderful stained glass on the ceiling.  How in the world could we get a great shot like this if we didn't lay down on floor?!

 

 

There was more stained glass in the Senate and House of Representatives:

We couldn't go inside because they were gone for the day and the doors were locked, so I took pictures through the windows of the doors.

Everyone thinks that the state decisions are made by the person who works in this office:

But we figured out that the real one always watching over to make sure that the right decisions are made is:

They have what I call bodyless heads, but what others call 'busts' of folks that were born or raised in Missouri that have become famous, like:

I was teasing one of my fellow travelers about giving Walter Cronkite a kiss when we happened across his bodyless head.  She was a bit too short though. But, when we found Harry S Truman, there happened to be several chairs stacked up next to him which made for the perfect height for this:

 

We had several people gawking with open mouths and shaking of heads watching and laughing at us.  We even laughed and said that we should have t-shirts made that read "Don't laugh.  I'm from the sticks" in big bold letters on them!

Overall, even though I had to attend a boring non informative meeting, we had a really good time touring the capital building.

Secret Wishes

On Valentine's Day I got a text message.  Lots of folks out there did I am betting.  This one, however, wished me a "Happy valentines day, sweetie."  Still not an unusual text to receive.  But this one came from a number that I did not recognize.  And neither did Crazy Man.

I sent them a text in return to let them know that I appreciated the message, but that both my husband and myself were curious as to who the message was from.  When I didn't get a response, we assumed that the sender was kicking him/herself because they sent it to the wrong number.  So, we just laughed about it and carried on with our lives.

On Saturday, we were eating when I got a text message.  This one wished me a "Happy birthday, sweetie."  Again, not unusual since it actually was my birthday.  But it was from the same number as the valentine's message.  The one that I didn't recognize.  

I thought it was funny.  Crazy Man?  Not so much! 

I just laughed and sent a message back letting them know that we obviously knew each other but that their name was not showing up.  I then asked if they could at least give me a clue as to who they were and thanked them for the birthday wishes.

Crazy Man wanted me to immediately call the number.  I told him that I may still not know since they didn't have to answer the call.  And, if they didn't have a voicemail set up, then it still wouldn't give him the answer that he wants.  

He then went to the internet to see if he could track down the owner of the number in that manner.  He could...if he paid.  He decided that it wasn't worth that much!

He tells me that he is not a jealous man.  Seems to me that he is a bit more jealous than he thinks he is!  

Would I like to know who it is that sent me those messages?  Sure.  But not knowing is also fun.

Un Happy Birthday

Saturday was both mine and my grandpa's birthday.  Thank you to Cheryl and Carolee for the birthday wishes.  I appreciate them!

Just so you know, I am going to complain.  Yep.  I am.  My birthday, my right.

Last Tuesday, one of the teachers had a birthday here at school.  Another teacher (who happens to be a fabulous cook) brought in a big pan of brownies to celebrate.  Silly me felt left out when there was nothing brought in to celebrate my birthday.  Maybe if my birthday had been on a weekday?

Then, my Crazy Man called my grandmother to tell her that it would really mean a lot to me if she and my grandpa (whose birthday it also was) would go out to eat fish like we have done the past several years.  She told Crazy Man that Grandpa wouldn't want to go.  I don't think she even mentioned it to him.  My parents and in-laws ended up going to eat fish with me and Crazy Man.  The Boy stayed with Little Little Brother at Big Little Brother's house because he is allergic to fish and didn't want to go if he couldn't eat anything they had.  The fish tasted wonderful, but not nearly as good as it would have been if my grandparents had been there too.

On Saturday morning (my actual birthday) I woke up to Crazy Man telling me happy birthday.  He then ended up getting a phone call to tell him that he could use the tractor for an hour, so he needed to come and get it.

I know that doesn't make any sense, so this is the explanation for that.  On Wednesday, a guy that Crazy Man knows was to bring by a 15 ton load of gravel to drop on the lane up to the city house.  This lane has just turned to mushy mud with all of the rain/snow/icky weather and we were hoping that this would do some good.  The guy told him that he would bring it and spread it, just like he had done in the past.

When we showed up to look at it that evening, it had been brought and dumped, but not spread.  The worst part was that the guy had spread about 10 feet worth, but then just dumped the rest of it in 4 different piles.  We couldn't even get a vehicle up to the house!  Crazy Man called and told the guy who then said that if Crazy Man and his father couldn't get it all spread by hand, to let him know and he would bring the tractor over to spread it.

Do you know how long it takes two men to hand move 15 tons of rock?!  Yeah, well, neither do I because they gave up after about 4 hours.  Crazy Man called the guy who said that he would bring the tractor over to spread it all out on Saturday morning.

And now, here it was Saturday morning and he is calling Crazy Man to tell him "you can come get the tractor, but you can only use it for an hour because I need it back for another job."  Let me tell you....I was a bit ticked off.  He did nothing that he said he was going to do other than bring the rock.

So, Crazy Man and his dad left to go get the tractor.  That was at about 10 am.  They were finally able to get everything spread out and the tractor returned and them home about 1:30.

Once he cleaned up a little, we needed to get something to eat.  Now I know you have seen those commercials advertising that you get a free Grand Slam Breakfast at Denny's on your birthday, right?  Yeah, so had I.  We happen to have a Denny's in town, so that is where we headed.

Crazy Man and I each ordered the Grand Slam Breakfast, and The Boy had a hamburger and fries.  When it was time to pay, Crazy Man grabbed the bill and off to the register we went.

I told the girl that it was my birthday and she asked to see some ID.  I showed her my license and she took off $2 on the bill.  I asked her if I got a free breakfast or not.  She told me that she would have to go talk to the manager.

When she came back, she told me that I could have had the free breakfast if I had ordered the original grand slam, but since I ordered a build your own, then she was only allowed to take off $2.

I know.  Didn't make sense to me either.  Crazy Man said to not worry about it and she rang it all up.  That meal for the three of us ended up costing $22.50.  Not bad for a free meal, huh?!

When we went out to leave, I noticed a big sign in the window advertising the free meal.  I stood there and read every single word on it and nowhere did it say the word original.  I went to the truck and asked for the receipt but was told it was no big deal.  I insisted by saying, "this is my birthday and if I want to pitch a fit I will.  They promise a free meal and I want my free meal."

I went back in and asked for the manager.  She told me that it was only for the original.  I told her that there is nothing in the advertisements that say that.  She then told me that "it is in the fine print."  I told her that I stood outside her restaurant and read all of the fine print, but still nothing with the word original to be found.

I told her that all I wanted was what was promised.  She finally found my ticket and told me that she would fix it.  She ended up giving me my free meal and our drinks for free.  She must have done more than that though, because when she finally presented me with the final bill, it came to a grand total of $6.50!  She said that the initial bill was incorrect to begin with.

So, three hours later, we are at my grandparent's house to have supper with the whole family.  The bad part about this was that even though it was partially my birthday supper too, there was not much I would eat.  And they knew it when they were deciding what to make earlier in the week.  Luckily, Crazy Man discovered this and his mom ended up making a rotisserie chicken that she brought, knowing that I would at least eat some of that.

She also made a carrot cake with cream cheese icing from scratch because they were also not having any type of dessert that I liked either.  Yeah.  Nice, huh?

I did get some nice gifts though.  My grandparents gave me some money.  My parents got me a couple of cookbooks that were neat.  (Not that I can cook, but I do like to look at them and wish that I could make things in them!)  My in-laws got me a gift card to Barnes & Noble plus some Bath & Bodyworks hand soap and some blackberry jam. (Crazy combination, but great nonetheless!)  Crazy Man and The Boy got me a new stereo system for the car since mine has decided to keep my CDs for itself.  Now they have to get the right parts to get it installed and take apart the old one to rescue my six CDs.

All in all, I am glad this birthday is over.  It didn't turn out as well as I would have liked.  But at least we all lived through it and it is done.  Maybe next year will be better.  Hopefully anyway.

Friday Fragments

Friday Fragment day.  Just a few fragmented thoughts for your reading enjoyment today.  Or maybe not enjoyment.  Whatever.  It is Friday.  Finally.

On Wednesday, Crazy Man came home to tell me that he was definitely getting old.  I asked him how it was that he finally came to this conclusion.  He told me that he had found a couple of gray chest hairs!  I just laughed at him.

He also told me that he had made himself look like an idiot on Wednesday.  Says that he told a couple of people that they had some dirt on their forehead.  I laughed at him about that too.  He said that in his entire life, he had never seen folks with an ash cross on their foreheads for Ash Wednesday.  I kind of figure it is because he doesn't pay much attention he grew up in the city and not a close knit community where this is a yearly occurrence.

I am hoping to get my Grandpa to go out to eat at one of the fish frys that take place every Friday night around this area to celebrate Lent.  We have been going for several years on the Friday night closest to our birthday.  This year, I am not sure we will be able to convince him to come out for it.

My Grandpa and I celebrate our birthdays tomorrow.  He will be 93 years old.  I will be less than that.  Although at times, I don't feel much less than that!

I spent several hours last night at home filling water balloons.  Why?  Because the big ending to our Pennies for Patients campaign is today and we sold water balloons to throw at our music teacher.  I am hoping to have some pictures of it to post sometime next week.

While I was filling water balloons, I talked The Boy through getting clothes out of the dryer, putting more into the dryer and even getting a load going in the washer.  You know you do a lot of laundry when you can talk a kid through doing all of those things without ever stepping foot into the laundry room!

My uncle and cousin, along with his boy will be here sometime today.  Not sure why they decided to come now, but they are more than welcome to celebrate birthdays with us!

I may be the only person around who is not watching the Olympics.  Is that a bad thing?  Does that make me un-American?!  Hope not.  It is not that I am not interested, because I am.  Its just that I have so many other things to do  (like fill water balloons) that I just haven't had time.

If you want to see what others are fragmented about today, head on over to Mrs. 4444's place.  And, while you are at it, have a good weekend!

Dear Someone,

Another Thursday, another round of Dear Someone letters.  All hosted by Short Mama.  Gotta love her for that!

Dear Crazy Man's Work:  Maybe it is no big deal to you, but you forgot to ask those of us that this concerns.  When you go from paying your employees every single Friday to every other Friday, and only give me two weeks to prepare...that is a major issue!  Yeah, that was awfully kind of you to offer an advance in pay to help get us through, but then to have that money taken out of the following checks actually helps not in the least.  But thanks for thinking of us.

Dear Me:  Check the calendar!  I don't know why I was so shocked Tuesday night to see that The Boy had an orthodontist appointment yesterday.  After all, I made that appointment!  And don't forget....you need to get your driver's license renewed.  You only have until Saturday to get that done.

Dear Girl Scouts:  Thanks for the cookies!  I truly appreciate the yummy-ness of them.  Although, my clothes are really ticked at you.

Dear Wii-Fit Voice:  If you say one more time "ohhh" when I step onto that darned board, I may just have to take out your batteries.  After all, calling you a B**ch is not making me feel better anymore.

Dear Mail Order Prescription Folks:  About friggin' time.

Dear UPS Guy:  Upon driving up my third of a mile lane to reach my house and seeing that I have a smashed up mailbox laying in front of my garage, do you really think that I will not assume that you are a complete idiot when you ask if my mailbox was destroyed?  Here's your sign. 

Dear Cousin's Guardian Angel:  Thank you.  I know that you have been working really hard with him lately, keeping him alive and all.  I just want to recognize all of your hard work. It was just this summer that he nearly died from a supposedly easy little surgery.  And, he was just in that same building a short time before the lady opened fire in Alabama.

Dear Fred:  Do you really have to sniff the entire yard?  We live on more than nine acres...and it is cold outside.  Just choose a spot to do your business already. 

Dear Sinatra and Ziggy:  The vet says you are fat.  Not me.  Not The Boy.  We call you "fluffy" or something equally as nice.  So we can only give you so much food each day.  At least we try to spread out your portion so you don't have to remember to save a little so you can have a snack before bedtime.  You should love us for that and not complain that you are hungry. Ok?  Ok.

Dear Readers of this Blog:  Thanks.  I know I haven't been here that much this week.  I will try to do better next week!

Dear Short Mama:  I just discovered that it is your birthday.  So have a happy one!  You know that all the great people are born in February, right?!

Dancing into the Contest

I have been watching this blog for a while now and have finally decided to enter a picture.  Actually, I wanted to enter one last week, but was unable to do so because of no access to a computer.  After looking at a lot of the different pictures, it seems like several of them have been edited in some form or fashion.  Or maybe it is just because they are better photographers than me and their pictures are just better all the way around! Because I have yet to fully figure out Photoshop Elements, mine is not edited at all!

This week's theme is "I Wanna Dance!" So, without further ado, here is my photo:

This is my cousin who was just over 2 years old at the time of this picture.  We were at his very first parade which is held every year to kick off the local fair.

Head on over to I ♥ Faces and check out all the other photos.

♥ Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

I was going to write this in red, but didn't know if it would show up.  And if it did show up, then I a little nervous about how it would clash and all.  So, if you are reading this in all of it's typed black glory, just imagine it is in red!  And have a great day with those you love and who love you back!

Two years ago today, my Crazy Man proposed to me with 14 million people listening in on our private moment.  He won a contest on the Sean Hannity radio show where he could propose on the air.

We were stranded at my grandparent's house because of a massive ice storm that had passed through.  He told me that he was going out to help his dad with some things and would be back later.  

My phone rang and it was someone that I did not know, but I had promised Crazy Man that I would answer my phone that day even if I didn't know the number.  I did and the lady told me to hang on for a minute.

The next voice I hear is Crazy Man's.  He is telling everyone what it is that he loves about me.  

Hannity then introduces himself to me and asks if I recognize the voice.  I tell him that I do.  He asks Crazy Man if he had something special planned for Valentine's Day.  He said that he did, but he wanted it to be a surprise.

At that point, Hannity didn't know what to do because he was expecting Crazy Man to just go ahead and propose.  He had to then ask if he had anything else he wanted to say to me.

Crazy Man then asked if I would be his wife.  I didn't know what to do but cry and tell him "absolutely!"

About that time, he and his mother walk into my grandparent's house.  He was carrying a huge bunch of flowers and a ring.  He gave me the ring box with a sucker ring in it!  

Once we hung up with Hannity, Crazy Man got down on one knee and asked me again to marry him and he gave me my real ring.  He said that he had to do it in person too since he wanted to give me the ring and see my face.

I loved every little detail about the proposal!  I think the best part though was the fact that he had asked The Boy, my parents, and my grandparents if it would be okay if he asked me to marry him.  I also liked the part where he did it for a second time in front of my family.  My Grandma and Grandpa loved being there to see it.

Later I found out that he had been running around town trying to track down the UPS man to find the flowers that were supposed to be delivered to me so that he could have them when he needed them!  I also discovered that he was sitting out in the driveway while the phone call was being taped.

They sent us a couple copies of the proposal and we played one of them while the bridal party walked down the aisle at our wedding 15 days later!  I cried then too!  Matter of fact, I shed tears while typing this just now!

I used to not really like Valentine's Day.  Just another day.  Now....it is one of the best days of the year for me because of the memories it holds.  Thank you Crazy Man.  I love you!

Friday Fragments

It's Friday!  Finally.  And with that comes another edition of Friday Fragments hosted by Mrs. 4444.  Scoot on over there and read what others are saying!

I have been hunting around the internet looking for tutorials on how to work this crazy Photoshop Elements that I have managed to place my hands upon.  So far, I have tried a couple of things with not very good results.  But I am not going to give up!  It has to be easier than what I am making it out to be!

The Boy cooked supper last night.  Although he had tons of help from me, it was his recipe that we used.  He made it before with Little Little Brother, so everything had to be exactly the same way.  Unfortunately, I didn't have the exact same ingredients as he used before, so things had to be tweaked a tad to get it all to work out in the end.  That threw him for a loop, but we made it work.  What did we have?  He called it Chicken and Rice.  It was chicken pieces cut up into some rice and mixed together with brown gravy.  Not too thrilled with the actual look of it, but the taste wasn't too terrible!  He did good!

Valentine's Day party at school/work today.  Yippee!

We have gathered about 115 pounds of change for Pennies for Patients so far.  One more week to go!

I am just so glad that it is Friday!  And I have a three day weekend since Monday is President's Day and we have the day off.  Which means that I will probably not be back here until at least Tuesday unless I go somewhere.  Guess I will see you then!

Dear Someone

Today is another day of Dear Someone letters.  Once again being hosted by Short Mama.  And let me just say, this couldn't have come at a better time because I have a few things to address!

Dear Mother Nature:  What has gotten your panties all in a twist lately?  Are you and Father Time having an argument or something?  Should you really be taking it out on us defenseless folks here who are just trying to get by in life?  I mean really.....how much snow are you gonna dump on everyone before you two kiss and make up?

Dear Tax Guy:  Thanks for getting Grandma into such an uproar.  You have her all worried and near tears now.  I understand that you were just doing your job and trying to look out for her and Grandpa by letting her know that she should really have medical and financial power of attorney drawn up and that she needed to make sure that someone besides the two of them were listed on all of their assets to make sure it all stays out of probate once they are gone.  I understand.  But when you tell an 80-something year old woman who has a 90-something year old husband that this needs to be done, she starts to get a little upset.  And I completely get why too.  Thanks for reminding us that there may not be a lot of years left for them.

Dear Grandma:  Just because this tax guy told you to do all of the above, it doesn't mean that you are going to die in the next few days.  I am glad that you are getting it all taken care of, even though you thought everything was already in order.  Guess with new laws coming into effect every year things change, huh?  Also, I know that you all have picked out your burial plots and even already have the headstone engraved with everything but the last date...but I don't really want to talk about it!  And, please don't tell me all the time that you think Grandpa is just "holding on until his birthday."  Remember that his birthday is also mine, and it will be here in the next few days.

Dear Boyfriend: Give her a hug and tell her you love her.  She needs those things whether she tells you she does or not.  She just buried her father.  Give her time.

Dear Mail Order Prescription Company:  I'm still waiting.....

Dear Crazy Man's Boss:  Thank you for letting Crazy Man work in the warehouse on the day that it was too unsafe for him to drive.  The Boy also thanks you since it is his belly that would be empty without Crazy Man's paycheck!

Dear Superintendent and School Board:  I need a raise.  Please.  When we miss making the cutoff for free lunches by less than $100 a month, I need a raise.  Thanks.

Dear Me:  Just a reminder that you have lost your mind.  And it hasn't been found yet.  Probably because we don't have the extra money to offer a reward for its return.  Guess you will just have to learn how to function without it until some boy scout finds it and returns it out of the graciousness of his heart.

Have things you want to let someone know?  Write them a letter and link up!

Lost: One Mind

I am losing my mind.  I have to be.  That is the only explanation for it.  The only other thing it could be is that I am getting old.  And that surely is not the case.

Remember that report that I was supposed to do and then mail in last month?  Well, I did do it.  I promise you I did.  But now, these people that the report was mailed to want me to do it again.  But this time online.

Great.  So I go to get the copies I made so that I can input the thing online...and I can't find them.  No copies anywhere.  Where could they be?  I know that I made them.  And I thought that I set them with the other papers that need to be filed.  Nope.  

I have sent an email to the report requester to see if she will either fax or email a copy of what I sent in so that both the hard copy and the online copies are exactly the same.  Guess I will have to see if she will do that or not.

And, I was going to post pictures from Jefferson City today.  Do you think I remembered to bring them with me to work?  Of course not.  Wanna know why?  Because I am losing my mind!

They are forecasting more snow here.  I am not happy with this little prediction.  For one, I am going to have to figure out where to stay again.  Do I pack and go into town?  Do I stay home and keep my fingers crossed that I don't get stuck in the sticks?  

Plus, if we get more snow like they are calling for, we may miss more work/school.  Just one more thing that I am not excited about.  We only have two more days they can take away from us before they start to add days to the end of the year. I fear that if I don't come to school/work tomorrow and they take away or add more days from the calendar, I will definitely lose what little is left of my mind. 

Also if we are unable to come to school/work tomorrow, then how am I going to post a kissing picture for the I ♥ Faces contest?  I would have done it today, but again, I am losing my mind.

I think it would be better if I didn't know that I was losing my mind.  Unfortunately I do know.  And that makes it even worse.  I just really don't like the fact that I know what I want to do and how to get it done, but then realize that I have totally forgotten what it is that I am needing to get it done with.

I just read over this post.  And it looks like it should be a Friday Fragments post.  Of course that is probably all directly related to the fact that I am losing my mind.

Friday Fragments

It is that time of week again.  Thank goodness!  Mrs. 4444 is hosting Friday Fragments!  Skip on over there to read everyone else's noncohesive thinking for the week.  Of course, you should do that after you finish here!

I tried to post something about my trip to Jefferson City with pictures and all, but the pictures wouldn't load for whatever reason.  I will attempt to do that next week.  Maybe things will go better.

I have been hunting online for tutorials to walk me through some of the things that can be done with Photoshop Elements.  And I have actually used one of them to play around with making the eyes "pop".  I didn't save it or anything because I also was messing around with the layer stuff and it didn't really come out the way I was hoping.  But, yay for me that I actually got it to do what it was supposed to do!

The Boy was the Lab Assistant during his Biology class this week.  Every week, the teacher chooses someone who is keeping a nice binder full of the stuff she wants in it in the order that she wants it in there plus has good grades to be the Lab Assistant.  For that week, the chosen student does not have to do any of the assignments for the class.  On top of that, they are also rewarded with not having to take any quizzes or tests that there may be that week.  Today there was a test, so The Boy was excited about not having to take it.  This will be the first time that has happened.  The last time he was named Lab Assistant, they didn't have any tests that he got out of.  He is excited about it!

As of today, on February 15th, The Boy will be going to meet someone who is working in the new Autism Center in town.  They are supposed to be doing an "interview" with him and filling out some paperwork/evaluations on him.  They have several programs that he may benefit from.  We had gone through all sorts of evaluations about 18 months ago, but they said that he was kind of young for them to be working with.  Matter of fact, I didn't get all the reports until this Monday.  They have now decided that they may be able to work with him now.  Guess we will see what happens.  And I am sure that I will be making posts about it as we go.

My feelings were a bit hurt this week.  My Great Grandfather had a fiddle that he would play when he was alive.  He owned it before he ever married my Great Grandmother.  One of his wishes was that it be passed to his first grandchild, which is my dad.  Long story short, my dad has had the fiddle for about 30 years, but it was hidden away.  I have always known about it and have asked numerous times to see it.  I also said that at some point in the future, I would like to be the owner of it.  Because of whatever reason, I had never seen it.  Last week, Little Little Brother is carrying it around.  Literally.  Picking it up, handling it, everything.  Yeah, it bothered me.  Still bothers me if you wanna know the truth.  Not much I can do about it I guess except sit back and nurse my hurt feelings.  The plan is to try to find out how old this fiddle is. My Grandfather will be 93 soon.  And it was his father that owned it.  We are fairly certain this fiddle is over 100 years old.  And they were letting a 17 year old boy carry it around!

No big major plans for this weekend.  With it raining like crazy here since yesterday afternoon, I am just hoping to be able to make it home and back out again!  I am keeping my fingers crossed that it isn't flooded enough to keep me from getting home this afternoon.  And, on top of that, the forecast calls for up to 3 inches of snow by Sunday.  Not as much as this last weekend, but still enough.

We had the second round of Fluoride Varnish put on a bunch of kids' teeth today here at school.  It was organized chaos.  Have you noticed that nobody needs anything until you are fully involved in something that you will have a difficult time getting uninvolved with?!  That is how today has gone.

The first week of our Pennies for Patients campaign has finished today at school/work.  We have collected a total of 43.25 pounds of change so far.  I have no idea how much actual money that works out to be since we are going by weight.  At the end of the three weeks, I will take it to have it counted and will let you know then.  Next week, we will still be collecting money, but also having a hat day on Friday.  Kids will have to pay $1 to get to wear a hat all day at school.  For every dollar they give, their class total gets a half pound added.

There ya go.  Lots of things going on, but nothing really deserving of its own full sized post.  (Well, maybe the entire story behind the fiddle....)  Hope everyone has a great weekend.  I plan to be back here on Monday.  As long as the weather holds out anyway!

Dear Someone

I found this and thought, "hmmm....there are a few things I would like to say to folks, and had been writing it out anyway, so why not link up with others?"  So, Short Mama hosts this weekly Dear Someone letter writing and I think it is time to get some things off my chest.

Dear Crazy Man:  I'm sorry that I have been an absolute horrid wife recently.  They tell me that it is my thyroid causing all sorts of issues and this is one of them.  They promise me that it will get better once all the meds and stuff are working like they are supposed to be working.  I am trying.  But, is it really a bad thing to have to take an anti-depressant?  I haven't filled it yet because I know that you don't want me to take it.  However, just remember that I am not really like that chick you used to know many years ago that was actually crazy and taking meds.  This is just a short term thing that will be fixed once the docs fix my thyroid.

Dear Mail Order Prescription Place:  I called you the other night to get my asthma meds refilled only to find out that you won't fill them because even though there are refills left, you say the actual prescription is too old.  I don't believe you.  It was written less than a year ago.  How can it be too old?!  Now, thanks to you, I will be out of the medication that has kept me under control for so long.  And, unless you pick up the pace and get those meds to me, I will have no more as of Saturday night.  And even though I have been told that blue brings out the color of my eyes, I don't think blue as a skin tone would be nearly as pretty.

Dear Parents:  Please do not send your child to school sick.  Especially after I sent them home the day before with a fever and a note telling you that they have to be fever free without medication to keep it down for at least 24 hours. Please.  And while we are at it...if the child in your care has seizures and needs anti-seizure medications while at school, please send the medicine to school for your child. And if you forget to send it, at least be available to be reached so that you can bring it in.

Dear Photoshop Elements People:  Thank you so much for making such a great photo editing program.  You all are wickedly smart to be able to do something like that.  If only you were also smart enough to include some instructions with the software.

Dear Big Truck Driver:  Do you realize that you nearly squished my carload of people into a police car as you ran that red light?  Yeah, the red light that had been red long enough for both myself and the officer in the lane beside me to actually hit the gas and get into the lane before you decided to turn in front of us.  I am sure that you know this now since the officer saw the terrified looks on our faces and flipped his lights on to pull you over as he changed his mind to follow you instead of going wherever he had been headed.

Dear Friend's Ex:  Driving with your two kids in the truck at 7:30 in the morning, being pulled over by the police and blowing over 2 1/2 times the legal limit for alcohol?  Really?!  And you thought this was an okay thing to do?  Tell the judge that.  Hopefully he will set you straight.

Dear DNA Donor:  I am still waiting on those EOBs from the insurance company.  Yep.  I am thinking that nine years would be long enough for you to have given those to me.  After all, you receive them at least once a month.  There is no way that you could honestly forget.

Dear Child Support People:  I have yet to understand how you people survive.  Since I am almost certain that you folks are not truly smart enough to do so.  Then again, maybe you all are so smart that I just don't follow you.  The DNA Donor is required by law to provide child support through you.  I am just obligated to put it into my account.  I didn't choose for you to be in control.  Why am I the one who is charged for you to accept money on my behalf?  Why do you not make him pay the extra money instead of taking it out of what he owes me?  And, supposedly when I call you guys to talk about the child support, you have no record of me.  Huh....

Dear Lazy Check Drawing People:  I have just been informed that according to the state, or the courts, or whoever, that it is perfectly fine for you to get a check in the name of your child every month for well over $1000.  All because he requires medication which you get for free but refuse to give to him so that you can continue to say he is disabled.  I am going to assume that you are also the people who refuse to work, file income taxes and receive thousands of dollars in return.  How does that happen?!  Crazy Man and I each work full time and for the past couple of years have had to pay more in than what was held out of our checks.  And you sit at home getting free food and housing and medical care, dressing better than I do, driving a nicer vehicle and not paying a dime into the system...getting huge income tax returns.  Keep it up and I will have to get a second job just to support you. (Which makes me wonder why it is that I can't claim you on my income taxes since I am providing everything you need to live.)  Congratulations.  You have figured out the system.  Pass it on to your children so that mine will have to support them just as I am supporting you.  Maybe by then the IRS will decide that he can claim them also.

Dear Followers:  Look! There is another one of you!  Thanks!

Snow Fun

It has been a few days since I was last here.  But, we didn't make it back to school until Tuesday and then I was working on getting things caught up.  Amazing how if you aren't at work on Monday, you have to do double on Tuesday even with no kids at school either.  And, I know that it is early in the afternoon now, but I guess better late than not posting at all, huh?!

We were expecting all sorts of snow to hit us last Thursday night.  Did it?  Nope. Not a flake to be seen.  And yet we didn't have school.  Of course the one in charge of calling school off didn't do so until I was ready to walk out the door!  By that time, there were already staff members at school, most on their way, and kids outside waiting on the bus.  It was a cluster for sure. 

It did start to snow later in the morning, but at bedtime, we had not gotten nearly the 4-8 inches like we were told we would have at that point.  I did get some nifty pictures while it was snowing though.

 

  

 

I love the little squirrel!  That one and the two of the male and female cardinals were taken through my grandma's kitchen window.

On Saturday morning, this is how much we woke up to:

Yep, 7.75 inches was the official total.  My dad stuck a ruler into the snow on top of my car just to see.  He then told me that I needed to go take a picture of it.  So, a picture I took!

Unfortunately, this happened to be the weekend that The Boy was with the DNA Donor.  He said that where he was, there were five foot drifts at some points.  I thought that was kind of interesting and would have made for some pretty nifty pictures!

Because we were getting a lot of snow being forecasted, most of my family headed over to my grandparent's home.  They live in town and those of us who live in the sticks didn't want to get stranded, so we went to her house.  I convinced Little Little Brother to stay with us instead of at Big Little Brother's house since this was all supposed to be here to play in on Friday.

But, because the snow didn't show until Saturday, The Boy was gone so they couldn't play like planned.  Instead, I got myself all bundled up and went with Little Little Brother to the park across the street from the grandparent's house.

There we found a decent sized hill where we began to pack it down so we could sled.  We played for three hours, just the two of us!  Near the end of our playing, Crazy Man came up with the camera.  I took the ones all the pictures except the ones that have me in them.

 

We made a nifty little bump that we could jump, as you can tell.
  

This is how we rode down the hill together.  It wasn't too bad....until we hit that bump!  That is how I got all the bruises.  And yes, there are plenty!

We also were playing Criss-Cross.  Little Little Brother and I would head down the hill at the same time, but he headed toward the bump and I would bypass it.  We would see if we would miss each other or if we would collide.  Most of the time we missed each other.  But there were a few times that we didn't!

 

On Sunday, after The Boy got home, we went back to the sledding hill.  Let me tell ya....after a night of freezing, those paths we made were even faster!

 

  

We only spent an hour or so on Sunday because the sun was quickly going down once The Boy got home.  But we still had a really good time!