Quick Note

Just wanted to let anyone who is still following along that we are vacationing in Hawaii at the moment!  This is the first chance I have gotten to get online, and I am only staying for a minute.  We have been here since last Friday and will stay until next (the 16th) Friday.

This place is absolutely amazing!  And I will have so many pictures to share that I am not sure where I am going to be able to start!  I love it here, but am missing home just a bit.  (Not enough that I am willing to get back on an airplane right now though!)  Many many things still to see.

I am trying to keep the fact that both my dad and I are unemployed out of my thoughts, but sometimes the worry is just too much to push aside.  Thank you to all who have offered thoughts and prayers on our account concerning both the joblessness and the vacation.  It means a lot.

Gotta go get some sleep so that we can get up early and see what else there is to see!  It is nearly 11:30pm here, which makes it about 4:30am at home.  I have pretty well gotten myself on Hawaii time by now, which is good since the first couple of days seemed a lot longer than they actually were!

Hope everyone is have a great summer so far.  Go spend it with someone you love!

At Least We Don't Have to Set the Alarm

It is official.  Or at least mostly.

My dad is out of a job.

I am out of a job.

Friday night, after having worked all day, my dad got a message on his machine saying that there was no need to return to work on Monday since the locks had already been changed.  He was to call on Monday instead to set up an appointment to come get his personal things.

Fourteen plus years and he is given two weeks severance pay and no notice.  At his scheduled appointment to retrieve his personal items, he was escorted in by an armed guard where he had to sign in with the time.  This armed guard then stood over him watching every move he made.  Once he felt he was done, he had to sign out with the time and the guard signed behind him.

He was so intimidated that after he left, he realized he had forgotten something and had to call back and ask that it be set outside for him to retrieve later.  When he picked that up, he realized there were a couple of other things that he had forgotten.  He is still trying to decide whether he is going to try to get those things or not.

Once he was there, he asked questions like when he would receive his last check and that sort of thing, but was told that at this point the company has no money so they don't know when they are going to pay them.  And, you can't sign up for unemployment until you have received your final check.

As far as my job, I got an e-mail on Friday from the state which I didn't really understand.  One of the other school nurses that I know from another district called me and told me that she didn't understand it either, so she contacted them.  What she was told was that the Governor decided to totally cut the funding for school health.  That means that my job is no longer funded by the state and if the school wants to still have a nurse, they will have to figure out how to pay for one.

The superintendent was out and didn't come back until today.  And, (gleefully I am sure) he came to tell me that he had called the state to ask a couple of questions.  He told me that he was told that all he could do was to contact his legislators and try to get them to change their minds.  He told me that he would contact them and keep me updated.

I asked if what he was saying was that I needed to find a new job, he told me that he would keep me updated since the legislators may change their mind and go ahead and fund it. 

I asked him if I would have a job here come August.  He told me that if the funding was definitely cut then I would not have a job, but he would keep me informed.

I told him that if I were to be honest, then I can't sit around and wait until the day before school starts and then be told that I have no job.  He seriously expected me to do that!  He also expected me to wait a year to see if the funding would be re-instated for the following school year!

This still has to be approved by the school board, but most of the time, whatever he recommends, they go with.  The worst thing is that I will be on vacation when the school board meets, so I can't even fight for my job in person.

At least my dad gets a severance and the vacation that he has saved up.  I don't get anything.  And, I have to finish working my 'volunteer' month.

Anybody have a couple of jobs for me and my dad?

Pictures

I know that I haven't been here in almost a week.  I finally got all of my reports for the state done and I have been working on getting things ready to go for next school year.  Add that to the fact that I am tired and my brain seems to have shut down so I don't know what to talk about....and I haven't been here for nearly a week!

Last week, several of the teachers that I am working with started talking about Zumba.  Have you heard of this?  I hadn't.  They were talking about going to a new class that was getting ready to start in our local community center.  Seems that one of the local news reporters was willing to come teach it to anyone who wanted to learn.

When I got home, I was flipping through channels and discovered a infomercial about Zumba.  I watched it.  And figured that there was absolutely no way that I could keep up with it!  However, it did guarantee that you could lose one dress or pant size in 10 days.  That intrigued me.  And, the more the girls at school talked, the more I thought I may want to at least try it.

So, try it I did.  And discovered that I am so much more uncoordinated than I ever thought!  But, I also discovered that it was kind of fun too.  And even though it was a lot of work, it was exercise and it didn't feel like it took an hour to do it.  In other words, I didn't dread it.

And I still don't.  I have been to four classes and actually am enjoying myself.  I still don't have all of the steps down, but I am still having a good time.  I thought that it would be easier with people that I don't know, but being with folks that I do isn't so bad.

There are six more classes that are scheduled that I will be able to attend before we head off on vacation.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that my body reshapes itself to look better in my summer clothes.  I don't know that I will lose the dress/pant size before leaving, but maybe tone up a little anyway.

Moving on.....

I have taken several pictures that I thought I would share.  They aren't anything special, just shots that I took that appealed to me.

This is Little Little Brother with Nephew's new puppy.

I am rarely able to get a picture of The Boy because he doesn't like to be photographed so he hides behind others or puts his head down.  He thought he was hiding here, but his momma is getting better!

Little Little Brother decided to try the 6 pound Burrito Challenge.  He ate just shy of a pound of it!  It was really fun to watch him.

We were at a military cemetary in Illinois a couple weekends ago.  Most of the headstones there were labled as "Unknown Soldier".  This was a look down the path between two lines of headstones.

I liked how the sun fell on these stones.

This tree is working on overtaking one of the headstones.

Crazy Man pointed out this stone that looked like the sun was shining right through it.

That is all I have for now.  Hopefully I will be better about being here next week!

Guess Who?!

Believe it or not, I have not fallen off the edge of the Earth!  I am still around, just not able to have been online for the past couple of weeks due to the fact that school finally dismissed for the year.  So how am I able to type this out now?  Because, unfortunately, summer school started today.

Many many things have happened in the past couple of weeks.  Nothing majorly important though!  What can I say?  I live a fairly ho-hum kinda life.  Most of the time that is a good thing!

As I said, summer school started today.  I was informed that I am required to be not only the nurse, but also the secretary.  And not receive an extra check like the rest of the staff who is working.  And, I am required to like it.  Yeah, well, that ain't gonna happen!  I may be forced to be here, but I don't have to like it.

The Boy ended up coming with me.  He is too old to actually attend, but I didn't have anywhere else for him to go.  The plan (in my mind) was for him to stay either at home or with Little Little Brother two or three days out of the week.  I was not overly thrilled with this option, but you do what has to be done, ya know?!  He had to come with me today because with an appointment scheduled this afternoon for him, I didn't have time to run home and get him.  But, things have a way of working themselves out I guess.  Our Kindergarten teacher has the class of little ones during the summer that she will be teaching next school year.  And this group is a major handfull it seems!  She asked if The Boy would be willing to come everyday and help her out.  I feel much better about this, even if The Boy does not!

I am in the process of looking for a new job, so if anyone out there reading this has need for me, let me know!  It would be nice if I could make at least what I am making at the moment, but more is always appreciated!  

At this moment in time, I still don't know if I have a job for the next school year.  I have heard a rumor that I was hired back "pending funding" but nothing has been officially told to me yet.  Of course that means that when the state cuts the grant funding that my creates my position, I don't know if the school is going to be willing to dip into their own pocket to keep me working in the district or not.  It will probably be sometime in August before I know.  I just wish they would make a decision since it is really hard to tell a prospective employer when I am able to start a new job.

I am not going to make this very long today.  I have a bunch of reading to catch up on and some reports that are due in a couple of weeks that I am working on.  Just wanted to let anyone who visits here know that I am still around. 

Getting There

I am back.  Kind of.  Physically I am here.  Mentally and emotionally I still sometimes kind of check out for a little bit.  If you have been around very long, then you know that I can't always write here because of lack of computer access.  And if you have been around for the past couple of weeks, then you know what has been happening in my neck of the woods and why I haven't been around.

Today, I finally feel like writing something.

Things are starting to normal up a little.  Although, it is still not like it should be around here.  I still wear my "in memory" ribbon.  And the reason I do that is because I still cry without warning.  And I figure that when I stop doing that, then I will stop wearing the ribbon.  My grief, my prerogative.

What else has been happening around here?

Well, last Thursday evening was the Academic and Sports Banquet.  Awards for these two things are given out that night.  Each family brings in a couple of covered dishes and the school provides the meats, drinks, plates and such.  You have to be invited academically or be on one of the sports teams.  

The counselor gives out awards for kids on the A and B Honor Rolls.  If you have made the A Honor Roll all year (for the first time), then you get an academic letter (to put on a school jacket), a pin to go on that letter (each year you achieve this) and a certificate for the school year.  She also awards a plaque with the student's name and the school year stating that they are the Top of the Class for their grade.

The Boy is not on any type of sports team, but we were invited to attend because he has really good grades.  He has actually had really good grades for his whole school career.  And, he has always been one of the top three or four kids in the class.  When I moved him to this school to start the fourth grade, there was a girl in his class that was blind.  She remains in his class and has been named the top student every year since we moved here.

Now, several of the kids think that it is kind of not fair since she doesn't do all of the same work that the rest of them have to do.  They also don't like the fact that she has someone reading tests and assignments for her since her reader could know the answer and inflect a tone of voice when reading the correct answer.  The Boy is one of these kids (even though he has no understanding of tone of voice!  Go Autism!).  I just try to remind him that he wouldn't want to be blind.  I also make sure he knows that I can't change his mind over his opinion, but as long as he feels that way and he still does his very best, then he knows that the grades he receives are his very own.  I don't think it makes him feel any better, but at least he still does his best!

When the counselor announced that she was giving out the Top of the Class awards, several in this class prepared to clap for the same child that had been receiving it every year.  Man was everyone surprised when The Boy's name was called!  I was excited for him.  The Boy however, just went up and got the plaque without so much as a grin!  He wouldn't even let me take his picture with it!  I think he is excited too, but he was embarrassed to be the center of attention.  The other kids were happy for him though!

I am trying to get excited enough to start packing up my office here at work/school to move it all to the newly built Elementary building that sits right across the street from the High School.  Don't get me wrong.  A new building that close to the High School will be nice.  The problem comes in when I tell you that I will be moving from a room that is about 20 feet by 20 feet with two windows to a room that is literally 14 ft by 8 ft and has no windows in the walls or even in the door to see out into the hallway.  I have seriously used painter's tape to mark out the dimensions on my current office floor so that I can somehow figure out where to place the items that I need to take.  It is like a tetris puzzle!  Once it gets in the room, you can't just change your mind about placement of items without moving everything out the door and starting over!  Oh.  And the 14ft by 8ft area actually only has 10ft by 5 1/2 ft of actual workable floor space!  Yeah.  Everyone needs a challenge!

We are scheduled to get out of school on Friday, May 14th at noon.  At this moment, summer school is supposed to start on June 1st.  Don't even get me started on that!  I am kind of hoping that it is called off due to lack of funding.  Does that mean that I won't have to show up anyway?  Probably not since the superintendent is a (insert word of choice here).

So that is how things have been here.  I am healing from the inside out.  Although this whole thing is going to be leaving a scar.

The Interview

Last Thursday I went on an interview.  I was a bit nervous since I have not been to one of these in quite a while.  Plus the fact that interviews always make me question just how qualified I am anyway.  They always seem to ask the strangest questions and you never are sure what answer they are looking for.

I have been looking for a different job for a while.  It is not that I don't like the job I have, because I do, it is just that I think that a change may be for the best.  Especially since I come to work everyday wondering if it will be my last.  After all, this position is grant funded and with all of the cuts that the state government is making, I feel that if my grant is cut even by $100, I will be out of a job.  Couple that with the fact that I have been told there is no longer a need for me since "your last diabetic is graduating in May" and I figured it was time to start actively looking.

Around the tenth of this month, I received a card in the mail looking for resumes for a job working for the state.  Now, I was a bit worried about applying for that since it is a state position, and like I said before, a lot of states are making cuts. In the end, I decided to apply anyway and see what happened.

I sent in my resume by email, which I have noticed a lot of employers now accepting them this way.  You never know if it gets to where it is going or if it is lost somewhere in cyberspace though.  But I guess it is the same as sending it by snail mail since you are never certain it got where you addressed it.

About a week after I sent it, I was contacted and told that I had been "chosen" for an interview.  First hurdle cleared!  She told me that I needed to get online and fill out an application and then she would mail an application to me also that would need to be filled out.  Why can't they just use the one I fill out online?  Because everything for the state has to be done a dozen different times!

I made it to the interview with just about two minutes to spare before my scheduled appointment time.  Which was actually pretty good since I had forgotten the shoes I needed and had to go back home to get them and then drive through water that was beginning to flood over the road.  Things seemed to be looking good!

When I was called back for the interview itself, there were three women sitting at two tables pushed into an "L" shape.  I am seated at a table with one of the women and the other two are at the other table.

The first lady tells me that the way a state job interview works is that they each have a packet of papers in which there are several questions written on them.  They will go around the group and each ask a question.  As I speak, their job is to "write everything you say".

What?!  Everything I say?  Holy cow.  Now you have just made me even more nervous!  But, I take a deep breath, tell her that is fine and she begins.

Her first question is "Do you have a reliable source of transportation?"  I nearly get up and leave at that.  My answer is 'yes', but what goes through my mind is the conversations that I have had with The Boy.  We have been talking to him about looking for a job and he keeps telling me that he has to "have a reliable source of transportation".  I tell him that as his mom, I am his reliable source of transportation.  He tells me that "moms don't count"!  So, I really have to think before answering this question!

This interview goes on for about 30 minutes with a pass the buck sort of question and answer session.  Each of them asking a question and me answering while they scribble down answers.

At one point, I look at the lady sitting across from me and see that the question is above where she is writing.  Just below that, there are lots of words that seem to be things that need to be either said or implied in my answer and she circles each of those things.  Then there is a scale from one to five that I can only assume means to evaluate how I answered the question with a five being very good.  Now mind you, I couldn't read everything that was typed, let alone what she wrote, but that was what I could make out.

As I watched her write what I had said, I noticed that she was circling mostly fours and fives.  That made me feel a lot better about how the interview was going since a lot of the questions that were being asked I felt like could only be answered if you had held the position before.

Once I left, however, I got to thinking about the whole set up.  Maybe that lady who was seated at the same table as me was a ringer.  Maybe her whole job was to circle those fours and fives to make the person being interviewed feel better about how it was going.  Maybe her scores didn't count at all!  Maybe those other two women were back there circling ones and wishing there were zeros!

The more I think about the whole process, the worse I feel about it all.  Maybe I shouldn't have told them a couple of the things I did in the hopes of clarifying my application.  Or maybe I should have done some more research on the types of questions that were going to be asked.  Or maybe I should have just told them that according to The Boy I am not a reliable source of transportation and gotten up and left right then!

Either way, now all I can do is wait.  I don't know how long it will be before they make a decision one way or the other since I forgot to ask and they didn't offer that up.  Is that because they didn't feel I needed to know since they had already made a decision earlier in the day?  Is that why they didn't tell me when I could expect to hear?

Jeeeez.  Can I just win the Mega Lottery and not have to worry about any more interviews?  Please?

Monday Morning Musings

This morning, as we were getting ready to leave, I got a phone call.  Now, you know, if the phone rings in the mornings, it usually isn't the best of news.  And this was the case today.  

My mom was calling to say that they noticed that the water was on the rise and that if it has rained as much north of us as it has rained here in the past couple of days, then dad felt I may have some problems getting home this afternoon.  Which means that I should pack some clothes and grab what we need in case the roads are flooded and we can't get home after work/school.

So, ten minutes before we were scheduled to walk out the door, I am throwing thing in bags.  When we go into town over the weekend, I have to pack clothes for both me and The Boy.  Luckily these things were still in the suitcase.  Of course, they are all dirty, but at least there is something.  We grabbed the dog and his crate and food to drop off at my parents' house on the way.

I didn't get work clothes, just what was in the bag.  There was no time.  As it was, I walked in the door at work at exactly 8 instead of 7:35. So, if the roads are flooded and we can't get home this afternoon, looks like we will probably be at my parents' house.  And, I guess I will wash what I have and if they don't like what I am wearing, I will come home.

 

Other than that little scene this morning, the day has been wonderful!  I am hoping to spend some time today perusing my swap partner's site.  This weekend, I got myself all partnered up by Short Mama who is hosting a Spring Swap.  I have some ideas as to what I will be packaging up and sending, but I haven't made the final decisions yet.

 

I picked up The Boy's report card on Thursday evening at Parent/Teacher Conferences.  He did really well.  All "A" or "A-" with the exception of one "B+". He is sooooo much smarter than I will ever be!  We visited with several of his teachers.  One of them told me that he was going to let The Boy teach for the rest of the year!  Another told me that he was at the top in his class.  We asked his math teacher if she thought he would have any problems if he took both Algebra II and Geometry next year, and she said that she felt he would do just fine.  That is something that I worried about, but if she feels he will do well, then I will fight with him to get his allowed to do this.

 

The only thing that I had an issue with was that the DNA Donor had showed up before I was able to get there.  Normally, that is no big deal, after all, at least he showed up.  However, when he shows up to something like this, he always makes his opinions known....loudly.  

This time, it seems that he told the counselor that The Boy didn't want to go into the classes that we had been talking about for next year.  He said that those classes were of no benefit to him, but that he wanted everyone to get him to take as many college courses as he could so he could earn dual credit.  The counselor asked The Boy what he wanted, not what Mom wanted and not what DNA Donor wanted.  The Boy told her that he wanted to take two maths and two sciences next year in case he decided to take the pre-engineering course at the Career Center his junior year.

He did have questions (which we had already discussed together but think that he wanted to make sure that I was telling him the truth) about how a pre-engineering course could help him when he wanted to do something with computers.  When those were answered, he repeated again which courses he wanted to take "if possible" next year.  Now all we have to do is wait and see how the schedule pans out.

 

Everyone thinks that handling a young child's needs runs you ragged.  And they do.  But personally, I think that getting that teenager on the right course for what he feels he wants to do with his life is even more stressful.

Remembering When

When I was around three or four, we moved to the house that my parents and Little Little Brother still live in, and which happens to be about three miles from where I live now.  I remember the day we moved in.  The house sat (still sits) on top of a big hill just off of the gravel road and right before a curve.  Across the road and back a ways on the property was another house that employed big mean dogs to keep you off of their property.  And around the bend from there was my grandparents' house, where my dad had grown up.  When the leaves were off of the trees, we could see each others house.

Grandma and Grandpa lived on a huge 425 acre farm with cattle and crops.  The house they lived in was built by my grandpa.  My grandma tells me that she and my dad laid the real wood flooring while my grandpa was working as a mechanic in town.  The big garage out back of the house has my tiny little footprints pressed into the concrete from the day it was poured.  There was a 50 gallon barrel that sat at the corner of this garage and gathered rain water.  We used to sit in the swing that hung between two giant trees and shuck corn and break beans.  They sold this place over 20 years ago.

I remember "running away" once.  I packed a little suitcase, put my shoes and jacket on and out the door I went.  With shoelaces flopping (because I was too young to know how to tie them yet) I went around the bend to Grandma's house because that was the only place I knew how to get too! As my mom stood at the door watching me, she called my Grandma to let her know that I was on my way.  I don't remember what happened after that, but evidently I came back home!

We were on a "party line".  I don't know how many people know what that is, so maybe I should explain.  I remember there being four different houses on the same phone line.  Each house had a different ring.  When a call would come in, I imagine that there were people in all of those houses who stopped and listened to see if it was their ring. And, when you wanted to use the phone to make a call, you carefully picked up the receiver to hear if there was a dial tone or someone talking.  To this day, I rarely answer the phone on the first ring and I always listen for a dial tone before making a call!

I remember there being a giant mud puddle that would appear in the curve when it rained, and my Big Little Brother and I would always be running through it with our bare feet or with our bikes.  Not one time do I remember my parents complaining that we were a mess.

I remember that at one point there were only four kids on the entire 5 mile road.  There happened to be another boy and girl who lived a couple of hills over from us.  That girl and I became best friends and still are.  Our parents used to put us together on Halloween every year.  We would start  Trick-or-Treating at the beginning of that road just as the sun set.  Everyone on the road knew who we were of course.  They made, not bought, the right amount of treats for us all.  No skimping!  House after house had popcorn balls and oranges and still warm from the oven cookies.  When we knocked on any door, we were immediately invited in, and while the adults visited, the kids tried to eat as many of the goodies as we could before stuffing the remainder into our bags as we headed out the door to the next house.  When we would get to the next house, there would have been a phone call from the previous house letting them know that we were on our way.  There was never any reason to check the treats before eating them, because the treat makers ate right along with us.

I remember getting up on Saturday mornings and putting on your "town" clothes.  We went to town once a week.  I don't remember everything we did while we were there, but it had to be several things since we only went once a week.  I do remember going to visit a Great Aunt and Uncle.  He always had a pocket on his shirt and I would always find a silver dollar in that pocket!  There were always Circus Peanut candies on the coffee table too.  We would do grocery shopping while we were in town.  I didn't know until after my grandparents sold the farm that you could buy meat in the store!

It is amazing to me how things have changed in just a few years.  And I am certain that as I get older, I will continue to wish that things were the way they used to be.

I think that is part of the reason that I live where I live and how I live....because I loved that place.  And I want my son to experience at least a little of the same things.  I love the memories that I have.  And I want The Boy to be able to remember with love when he could look out and not see/hear his neighbors.  Or when he was able to have chickens run wild in his yard.  Twenty years from now, I want him to look back and wish that he could return to a simpler time filled with things that he wants to re-create for his own children.  I know I do.

Mad and Glad

Is it really too much to ask for a simple "thank you"?  I have always thought that those two little words could make a person's day or break their heart.  I try really hard to make sure that I speak those words when someone does something for me.  No matter how big or little.

Did you load the dishwasher?  Thank you.

Did you empty the basket of laundry that I just don't have the energy to fold?  Thank you bunches!

Did you bring me a warm blanket while I was so sick in the hospital?  Thank you.

Are you the one who finally got an iv started in me when I was sick?  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Are you going to let me stay at your home while we visit your area?  Thanks.

See.  Nobody has to do what they do.  It is a choice.  And if we don't give them the thanks for doing it, then why would they want to make the choice to help you out again the next time?

Think about it.  Don't you appreciate when you do something that is your choice and you get a thank you?  Doesn't that make you feel like they appreciated your help?  And, most of the time, you will consider doing something for that person again, right?

Last October, my mom bought some material to make a baby blanket.  She had just recently found out that a girl in her office was pregnant and the material was on sale.  She found what she wanted and paid for it.

I asked her if she wanted me to take it home to make the blanket or if she was planning on doing it.  She told me that it would be a while before the shower, so she thought she would be able to handle it.  Great.

Skip ahead to last Thursday.  My mom calls me to tell me that the baby shower was going to be Tuesday (today) and says she never got the blanket done.  She asked if I would make it for her.  I told her that I would.

Yesterday after school, I put the material on the tables here at school/work and spent an hour getting the blanket done.  I dropped it off on my way home. My parents were not home from work yet, so I left it in the bag hanging on one of the kitchen chairs.

I have not heard from her yet.  How hard is it to call and say "hey thanks, it turned out nice" or "that thing is pretty ugly, but thanks anyway for taking the time to do that" or even "thanks, I found it here"? 

Evidently I am expecting too much.  After all, family doesn't require thanks, right?  Maybe not, but it is still nice to hear.  Aren't they the ones who taught me as a child to always say thank you?

I know that I have taught my son to have manners.  Please and thank you are major words in his vocabulary.  Matter of fact, I have been told that he is very polite.  How would I have been able to teach him this if I hadn't been taught?

And, I guess some would argue that a parent doesn't have to thank their child for doing whatever.  But, I don't agree with that either.  You can't teach your child how important those words are if you never use them.

There are plenty of people out there in the world who feel that kids don't have the respect and manners that they used to have.  How can they when they aren't being taught?  Or at least the teachings aren't being followed by the parents?

I am probably making too big a deal out of all of this.  I have been told recently that I blow tiny little things out of proportion.  And, according to them, this is one of those times.  But, dog-gone it.....I am crabby lately and this just irritates me!

One thing that isn't irritating me right now is that I have decided to join in on some swapping fun.  Around Christmas time last year, I joined in on a Secret Santa in the bloggy world.  That was a bunch of fun.  Now, I have found that Short Mama is having a spring time swap.

Maybe that will make me happy again!  Being able to gather things that I enjoy for spring and send them to someone else?  At least that is how I understand that is the way we do this....  If so, then I have three weeks to gather my items and send them along to whoever Short Mama hooks me up with.

I read about this last week, but couldn't decide if I wanted to join in or not.  After thinking all about it and coming up with a couple of ideas, I decided to spring forward with it!  Plus, the bonus is that I will be getting a package also! And I love mail!

If you want to join in, and you know you do, then just spring into action and link up.  But hurry...you only have until tomorrow! 

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.

♥ 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!

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.

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!