May 31, 2006

Chipped Tooth, Cable Guy and the Dogs

My worst fear is coming to light... I'm going to be visiting the dentist very soon. I haven't been in years. My name is Tonja and I am a dentalphobic. But, my right front tooth chipped at the top, so sooner or later I know it's going to land me in the dentist's chair. Oh what a fun day of panic attacks that will be! I can't wait! I'm giddy just thinking about it. I've already told my mom she'll be taking that day off work. I need her and both of my kids there with me. I know I'm a freak. Whatever!

So this morning, we decide to run some errands. I only had one daycare girl here so we left and did some shopping then stopped and got lunch. We had bought a new tv for the kitchen (cause a girl can't miss her Young and the Restless) and since it was trash day and they hadn't come yet, I figured I might as well get rid of the box real quick. So I get up from lunch and walk down to put it by our other trash and notice my neighbor lady is having her cable fixed. As I'm walking back up to the house she motions for me to come over. She is probably in her late 50's early 60's and the sweetest thing! So, I go over by her fence and she says to me "Hey, check him out... what do you think?" LOL Oh my gosh, I about cracked up. Please tell me she was not trying to set me up with her cable guy. Yep, that's what she was doing. So we're talking and he's in his truck getting some stuff out and as he's walking back over to her house to DO HIS JOB, she motions him to come over, looks at me and says "Here, talk to him... ask him about cable." I wanted to run!! So he comes over and she says "This is my neighbor, she has cable but not through a dish, what can you tell her about it." I am about dying at this point. I wanted to melt into the ground. So they are conversing back and forth about regular cable vs. cable with a dish and blah blah blah. I'm just standing there looking stupid because honestly I was starving and I got one of those HUGE hamburgers from Hardees (yes, I'm a pig)... So they are talking away and I'm standing there looking silly and she says to the guy "So, do you have a dish?" He says "Yes." She says "So do your kids watch tv?" He looked at her kind of weird and was like "Yes, yes they watch tv." And she goes "OH, ok then, go on..." and waves for him to go back to work on her house. She then looks at me and says "Oh, I guess he's married. Do you think he's married?" At this point I was relieved and said "Yes, I think he's married, I just think because he installs dishes and does work with his hands, he probably doesn't wear his wedding ring." She agreed and I went home. In the mean time, my youngest son asked her if he could play with her dog, and she said sure (cause she's nice like that) and so he stayed there. After awhile, I walked back over to see what he was doing and tell him it's probably time to come home. As I'm walking over, I get to her garage and she comes running out at me holding up a small piece of paper in her hand. She was all excited and said something to the effect of "LOOK LOOK I got his number for you.. he thought you were hot and wants you to call him!!" Oh my goodness! I started cracking up. Then she tells me he's inside and to come in and talk to him. I was like "NO, I can't, I just ate this huge hamburger... I probably have stuff on my face and food in my teeth (or at least in the big chipped hole in the front one)!" She won't take no for an answer so in I go, holding his number in my hand. He's sitting in her chair and as I'm walking in, she's in front of me... well, I get to her living room and she stops and goes "OK, Here she is!!" as she's moving both her arms over in my direction... you know like Barker's Beauties do on The Price Is Right when they're showing prizes. I felt like a dining room table. I'm just glad my neighbor wasn't laying on top of me in a bikini and heels... Anyway, so his face turns red, I'm sure mine turned red and come to think of it my neighbors may have been red too, but I'm sure that could be blamed on a hot flash... so there I am, there he is, there we are. I thanked him for his number and he smiled. He then told me he lived in Richmond. AND HERE COMES THE GOOD PART... I open my chipped tooth mouth and say... "OH, I know where that is, we pass through there on our way to Michigan." Ya good one self!! My neighbor (God bless her soul) asks where Richmond is. He says... "It's East of Greenfield almost to the Ohio border." YA... that's it, right near Michigan and the Ohio border! DUH! I'm so blond! So then I'm like "Ok, well I guess we don't pass it going to Michigan."
I know what happened there though... we pass an RV store that has a big sign and advertises their Richmond store. So anyway... that's the cable guy story. I now have his number on my fridge and made one very bored housewife a happy lady. lol I saw her later this afternoon and she asked me if I called him yet. LOL I told her I hadn't yet but I would make sure to tell her when I did. What a sweetheart!
Oh, and yes, he does have kids, but he's divorced. At least that's what he told my neighbor. So, we'll see... I guess I should call. What do I have to lose.

I took Chloe to get groomed at a new place yesterday. LOVED IT! They sent home a picture of her by their sign for her "first time at Waggin Tails". So cute!! So today Andy went. He's my mean Yorkie and he hates people. Well, it's a man and woman who we knew from the last church we went to and they started their own grooming business last February. Anyway, I guess Andy loved the guy but not so much his wife and two daughters. They called at one point to let me know he was doing great and ask how I wanted his ears done and I could hear Andy in the background start to bark. All I heard after that was a lot of laughing. The guy said that his wife had just tried to pet him again and Andy showed his teeth and barked. I'm glad they thought it was funny. lol But I guess he loved the guy and let him do anything he needed to do and was one of their best pets yet at holding still, so that's good to hear. I wondered how he would do since he's had the same groomer for the last 5 years, ever since he was a puppy. He's an odd dog, but to those he loves (because he either loves you or hates you) he's just the sweetest little thing! Today was also the last day for the May 2 for 1 price for their shots. I called and they said they were really busy and I'd have to wait in a long line, but I could take them up and get them done. So, after I picked Andy up, I went by and saw a ton of cars...I decided maybe it wouldn't be so good to have them both go through getting groomed at a new place AND get shots in the same week. Now we'll have to pay full price. Oh well. You win some you lose some.

Besides, I got the cable guy's digits today and found a great groomer... I would be unworthy of anything more this week!

May 29, 2006

Happy Memorial Day

Hope everyone had a nice day. I didn't work, so it was a great day here. Everyone else was working though so we didn't have a cook out or anything, just hung out and went grocery shopping. We stopped at Arby's on the way home and the chicken sandwich I got was OLD! The meat was all crusty, yuck! So I threw it away. Speaking of chicken... in the deli at walmart, they always have those packs of fried chicken or a rotisserie (sp?) chicken, well, I thought I would grab some fried chicken and we'd go home and have some chicken along with some of our kiwi and strawberries that we were getting, well I was looking at all of them and they all had 10am written on them. Well, it was 4:30pm at this time, so I asked the kid behind the counter if they had any newer chicken to put out, he said they were just making some and it would be at least another 20 minutes. I said "Oh, ok because these all say 10am". His eyes got huge and he said "THEY DO?!" So I showed him and he was like "Those weren't suppose to be out longer than 2pm." NICE!! I'm sure glad I asked! I guess it pays to be a picky wench! lol So it figures that the chicken I got from Arby's was nasty too. I'm sick of chicken anyway!

Hey! I just found out while writing the above paragraph that if you rub your heels on the bricks of your fireplace, it does a better job than a pumice stone! WOW! My heels are so smooth now! Funny the things you find around the house that can be used for other things.

Back to work tomorrow.... ugh! I like my job, I do, but I've got such cabin fever that I can't stand the thought of being stuck with the kids in the house. Even though it's nice, it's TOO hot to take them out during the day. Yesterday and today it got in the 90's. Tonight we're suppose to have severe thunderstorms and there is a "lightning watch" (whatever that is - is that just for the golfers?) anyway, with the high temps I'm sure our storm will be a bad one tonight.

The big Indy 500 was yesterday. Sorry, I'm not a race fan so it wasn't a big deal to me. I was however sorry I missed it considering Dr. Mc Dreamy was there. Oh la la!
I don't think I could have handled the heat though, they said there was over 200 people they had to treat because of it. Some got sent to the hospital and some were treated with IVs there at the track. I've never been good with too much heat. I get real sick.

So tonight starts another season of MTVs Real World/ Road Rules Challenge. When oh when will I stop watching these adolescent shows? Anyone else out there addicted to these shows? I haven't been keeping up with this season's Real World though, it's just getting to be too much. The last few seasons have been all about sex, drinking, fighting, sex, more drinking, a little work at their business and more fighting. There's always the minority that feels left out, or the homosexual that has their issues, or the girl who has an eating disorder, or the couple on the show that think they've fallen in love but fight the whole season...AHHHHH I can't take it anymore! Now that I think about it, I think every season has been the same... I guess I've just matured (a little) enough to see it now.

Well, guess I better get cleaning... I have a ton of it to do. I have all the dishes from over the weekend, dusting, I HAVE to run the sweeper, and I need to do at least 1 load of laundry real quick. 12 more hours and I'll be in the shower getting ready for the day. Boy my 4 day weekend went fast!

May 28, 2006

What Did I Eat Before Bed?

WOW - what a night. I haven't had nightmares in forever. Ok, so I remember having a frosty for dinner with all my junk Wendy's food, but seriously shouldn't that have been out of my system by the time I got to bed at 11:00? I won't bore you with details, but there was screaming, the old church my dad use to pastor, and a box of frozen fish sticks... WEIRD!! Very scary though. Luckily when it got to the scariest part, you know the part where you're stuck and you can't make your legs move but you really need to run away in fear of your life... ya, well, thank goodness I woke up right at that part. yikes!

Anyway, needless to say I did not have a good night. Got little sleep and now I'm wide awake at 7:45. Also, what's up with Nick at Nite? Everytime I would wake up in the night (which was about every 25 minutes) they had Fresh Prince on. EVERY TIME!! I HATE that show!! Where was my Roseanne? my Full House? my Cosby Show? Heck, I would have even settled for Mad About You at that point... but seriously Fresh Prince ALL NIGHT LONG? I mean it's bad enough they went and changed my bedtime routine... they use to have Roseanne on from 10-11pm each night, so I would watch that while drifting off to sleep, but now... they have FP on. UGH!! Did I mention I HATE that show?

So I just went and checked the Nick at Nite schedule... OH MY GOSH... FP was on from 9 pm to 5:30 am. AND it looks like tonight is going to be an exact repeat. That's it... I'm writing them!!

NOW I know the cause of my nightmare!! It was either FP or the marathon of Laguna Beach I watched all day... hmmm, whatever the case, I don't think we should place blame on the yummy frosty! And I doubt the fact that I was trying to convince my boys (by example) that their french fries really would taste better if they dipped them into their frosty, had anything to do with it either! I'm going stick with Fresh Prince!


Have a great Sunday everyone!!

May 25, 2006

No Chips Please

Here is a link to Dr. Mercola's site and an article on the most dangerous potato chips. I love this site and if I had a major health problem, I would be heading to Illinois to see him!

http://www.mercola.com/2005/jul/7/potato_chips.htm

May 24, 2006

Time Is Money

Ok, so I went ahead with my plan and now I'm second guessing myself. I am not going to be working the whole month of June and a few days here and there in July. I have the money so we'll be ok, but now I'm thinking of all the things I could have purchased if I would have kept working and not taken the time off. Hmm... oh well, time with your children is important right and you can't buy that back after they're grown?! But...

Time with my children is costing me: a trip to Vegas, new patio furniture, a new bedroom set, new tv for our living room, lots of clothes and shoes (I love clothes and shoes)... Oh well... money can't buy love and precious time with your kids, I know I'm making the right decision! I still plan on getting my kiddos their pool, so we'll probably be spending most of our time in that. Hey, if anything, I'll walk away with a sweeeeet tan out of the deal! I'm excited about spending time with my kids and getting a break from daycare... just thinking of all the things the money could go for kind of bums me out. I just hope when the boys look back, they'll remember how their mother worked it out to spend a whole month focusing on just them! Cause they deserve it!

Ok, I feel better now! I AM making the right decision! I am!

May 23, 2006

Rev. Tonja's In The House

I've gotten away from "preaching" to you all... probably because I shouldn't "preach", as I have no stones to cast that won't come flying back and hitting me square in the face. I guess I should say that I have gotten away from sharing the most important part of myself, which is my faith.

I think it's fair to say that everyone can't "shout it from the mountain tops" every single day. But I think if we go for too long without sharing something about our faith, it just gets easier and easier to quit. I need to share the fact that I am a Christian on this blog so that I am accountable. If you're going to speak it, you have to live it! Right?!

I went to my father's church on Sunday. They have a total of maybe 20 members that attend on a regular basis. This is a great church though, and they've been through some very rough times. The main supporters (both finacially and spiritually) decided that they needed to break away and they left in April. (On good terms of course - they just needed some new scenery). Because it is such a small church, when they left, the District Superintendant had my father have a church meeting and basically put it all out there, in that, if you want this church to keep running you're ALL going to have to work. So far - So good! People have stepped up and filled positions that needed filled. They're giving more of their time and more of their money to see that their church/ God's church can continue. Of course this is still all brand new so we'll see what happens, but I have faith that they will stay strong and rise to the occasion.

As I was sitting in church Sunday morning listening to the sermon on "Faith", I wondered to myself how much faith I truly had. What if I was called to lead a Children's ministry at that church, would I accept? They have no children at the moment (unless we visit) and it would be so wonderful to get some families with children into that church. Kids make a church. I read somewhere in one of the devotions I was doing with my boys, that the guardian angels that God places around kids are so close to Him that they can actually SEE Him! wow It went on to talk about how important kids are to God's church. Every time I visit my dad's church, God always brings the whole "children's ministry" to my mind. Is He asking me to start this up? Talk about KID burnout!! I would still have to do daycare here where I live and drive 45 minutes each Sunday to do that, not to mention all the preparation time. I would be exhausted. I know, I know... the Lord would provide the strength!

I'm not worrying about it just yet. I'm praying and waiting for a sign. I don't think I've ever felt a "call" into ministry, but I sure would do my part to help out if they started getting kids on a regular basis.

Anyway, I was happy to see that everyone in that little church was excited with the ministries they were given now that more responsibility was on them to keep their church afloat. Just being there showed what "Faith" is all about. Because they have a LOT of it!

May 22, 2006

Hello New Week

I really didn't believe it when my alarm rang this morning... How could it be Monday already, but it is. I was running on slow and actually still had a towel on my head when I answered the door to get my first daycare kiddo. I'm so glad the mom dropped off and was running a little slow too.

We had a great weekend. Friday night we went and looked at a 5,000 sq ft house. It was really nice, but the inside really needed some updates. It was built in the 70's and was basically still in the 70's as far as the inside. The outside was beautiful, it's a stone house on a lake... great area and beautiful landscaping. But, it's not what we're looking for, so we'll keep looking.

After we got done with that, we met a friend at my house and got pizza and sat and talked for while. He went home and I crashed. I'm usually in bed no later than 10pm on Friday nights - cause I'm so tired from the week, but he didn't leave until almost midnight.

Saturday morning I was up by 8:30 and didn't want to lay in bed, so I got up, went down to the kitchen, grabbed the papers and started looking for garage sales. I found 8 in our area. So, I ate a little something, got the kids up and we headed out. I got a Longaberger throw for $5 (wow), a little country looking red shelf and a country angel the same color as the shelf. I also found a toy for the daycare. Taylor found some little thing to hook on the back of his truck to carry his John Deere tractors for 20 cents, so he was happy. We stopped and got drinks and came home.

After we got home, I called a friend of mine that I haven't talked to in a couple years and she's moving right down the road from me in June. I'm excited and can't wait to catch up with her more. She thinks I should join the YMCA with her and get up and work out with her every morning at about 5:30... LOLOLOLOLOL Hmm, well, I could try. We may have to change our time, but I think it would be good for me and my kids to get out and get more exercise.

Saturday night we went and had dinner with my mom and came home and got ready to leave Sunday morning.

We got up early Sunday morning and left at 7:45 to go to Muncie. We took the dogs and they were SO excited when we got their leashes out and asked them if they wanted to go bye bye.

We got to Muncie and went through Mc Donald's drive thru for breakfast. Got to my parents "weekend home" and ate, got ready and went to church. We got home and ran to the grocery store with my mom, then for lunch we got Applebees to go and took it back to their house. When we were at the store, I saw a vase holder with three little purple bottles all in row and really liked it. My room is purple and I thought it would look so cute in there, but I put it back because I didn't think I should spend the money. Well, my mom said she was going to check out and for me to take the kids to look at the magazines, so I did and she went and got the vase for me. Awww, she is the sweetest mom!! Now I have a reason to clean my room... lol! Maybe that's why she got it!? lol

After we ate, the boys and I went to the mall. I got our "Forth of July" shirts from Old Navy, (I don't really care for the design this year) and got the boys a couple shirts. I couldn't find anything for me (as usual). I went to Country Charm and got a small wreath to go in my entry way. I love that store! Then we went to a couple other stores and just walked around. Before we left, we made our usual stop at Auntie Anne's for a pretzel. YUM!! I could live on those pretzels!!

We got back to my parent's and my mom needed to run to a Christian Bookstore to get a baby dedication certificate, so we went with her to do that. They had a lot of stuff on sale so I bought 2 dvd's for the kids. They were only $5 each. wow!

Then we got ready and went to church. My friend Celeste and her husband Bruce, wanted my dad to dedicate their new baby, so they had the dedication and then had a little "party" afterwards. It was nice to get to see her and her family and OH, of course it was nice to get to hold her new baby. LOL I haven't had any babies in my daycare for 2 yrs so I really needed a baby fix! Andrew (the baby) is SO adorable! He has the clearest skin and is so tiny. And just for the record here, (in case you read my last post)... she is a nursing mother and yet somehow finds a nice discreet place to go, and does what needs to be done for her baby. She doesn't make a big issue out of it and doesn't expect anyone to do anything above and beyond for her. She doesn't expect there to be different "rules" for her, or for everyone else to bow down to her because of it. I'm proud of her, I think she's doing what's best for her baby. I'm not against breastfeeding, I'm against women making it such a big drama filled issue! (Hope that clears things up!)

After that was over, we went and got the dogs, packed up and went home. I talked to a friend on the phone for awhile and then did some cleaning and went to bed. I fell right to sleep and didn't hear a thing until my alarm rang this morning. And now it's a new week. I'm only working 4 days this week. I took Friday and Monday off so I'll have a nice 4 day weekend. Yippeee!

I have also decided that I am going to take 6 weeks off this summer and only work two days a week during that time. That way my mom can quit Walmart and I can spend some time doing some fun things with my kids. I am really looking forward to the break. Pool - here we come!!

May 17, 2006

To Quit or Not To Quit

I'm strongly thinking of closing up my daycare. Like soon. I'm just burnt out and things that are suppose to be running smoothly aren't. I'm having trouble getting kids (which is a first in 6 years), I'm having trouble getting into the Child Development classes (they claim I was never enrolled in their college), I'm losing kids due to moms quitting work themselves, I'm burnt out, oh I think I already mentioned that huh. Well, you get my point. I'm just tired of it. I mean it's good for what I need to do (working but being able to stay home with my own kids), but I don't think it's good for my health anymore. You work long hours, you don't get any breaks, it's not great pay unless you have a lot of kids, then it could be wonderful pay, but then you have 10 kids tearing your house up on a daily basis and you're using that extra money to constantly make repairs on your home, you can't call off work when you need to because you would be leaving parents without child care for the day and you feel guilty when you take any unplanned time off, you deal with parents and that can be hard depending on the situation, and to make a longer story short, my heart's just not in it anymore. Maybe I'm just having cabin fever, you know the kind I'm sure most teachers experience this time of year? I don't know. Maybe I should just work part-time over the summer and see how I feel in the fall? I have two kiddos now who will be part-time this summer, so maybe I should just stick with them and see what happens towards the end of summer? Maybe I just need a break. I need something, and I think some time to think about it would do me some good.

May 16, 2006

Hey

I hate having to think of a title for each blog post... I don't really have a "title" , I just like to start talking. Could you imagine what it would be like for us to have to have a title to start out live conversations. Like if you called someone and after they answered and said "hello", you'd have to answer with a title. Not too fun.

So anyway, I guess I could have titled this "catch up" or "ketchup" (just to confuse everyone), because all the post is going to be about is what I've done since I posted last.

Let's see... We didn't do much last Friday. I took my parents out to eat and then went shopping with one of my sons, the other one went home with grandpa and my poor mom had to go back to work. We stopped at Dots, a cute little store where you can actually get a whole outfit for about $30-$40. I actually broke down and bought something. I got some really cute capris, a cute little shirt to go with it and some more sandals... AND, I was feeling so good, I even got a necklace to go with it too. This was my Mother's Day present to myself and I had planned on wearing this outfit on Mother's Day, but then the weather gods of Indiana decided we needed more rain, and hey, while we're at it, let's drop the temps too! How fun!! We stopped and got a movie and went home.

Saturday we finished up our Mother's Day shopping. I had to get something for my grandma and aunts. We did some laundry and got ready for our trip to Michigan.

Sunday we got up early and left for Michigan at 8:30am. We went up to my aunt's to surprise my grandma for Mother's Day. We had fun. She seemed to be happy we all came up. Another aunt from West Virginia came up too, so all but one of her daughters were there. The drive isn't that bad, it's about 3 hours. It's a little harder when you go up for just the day. The drive back went fast though and I'm glad because my back was killing me the whole way home.

T2 is sick. He started getting bad when we were at my aunt's house. She had lilacs in vases all over the house and we think he was allergic to them since he has so much trouble with his allergies. Good thing I took the benedryl. We never leave home without it. Although now I'm not sure it was the lilacs because he's still sick. I think maybe he has a cold. He's complaining that his throat hurts too, so I'm hoping it's not strep. Last year this time, we all had a nasty stomach flu. I'll take a cold over the flu any day, unless it's just the 24 hour kind. I think I could deal with that better than have a cold for a week. I hate not being able to breathe. Anyway, he hasn't had a fever yet, so we'll just continue to watch it and keep him home, away from everyone else. Cause we're NICE LIKE THAT!!! I don't go out spreading germs around when I'm sick and I don't let my kids go out either. I seriously get so ticked at people in the stores that are standing right beside me coughing up a lung. So nice of them to want to share what they have with everyone else. Grrrr

Sunday night/early Monday morning, T2 was up around 2 am... I couldn't really get back to sleep after that, so yesterday was basically a big blur for me. I was SO tired. I really could have called off daycare but I just can't do that. I always feel bad for the daycare parents because they have to find other care at the last minute. But if I was sick enough, trust me, I would call off!

Today my mom has the day off so she is taking T1 shopping with her and then making dinner for everyone. I think we are having mexican tonight. Yum!

That's about all that's going on around here. Uneventful, but that's how we like it.

May 11, 2006

Vi Va Las Vegas

I may be going to Vegas baby! Whooo hoooo! My cousin Jer told me yesterday that him and my aunt and uncle are going out there in August and he wanted to know if I wanted to go along. Heck ya, I do! He is going out there to see Reba. She is at the Las Vegas Hilton Casino, and that's where we would be staying. I think it would be so much fun, I really hope I can go!! Only one little problem... the plane ride over there - lol... I think I could tolerate it to get to go to Vegas. And yes, I will be playing the slots!! Seriouly though, I just have the best family!! It was SO nice of them to ask me to go, AND... just to prove how great they are, they have even offered to drive all the way up here so we can go on the plane together. They're the best!!

So this week is flying by. I can't believe it's almost Friday. I still need to get my mom something for Mother's Day. We are going to go to Michigan that day to my aunt's to suprise my grandma. It's just me, my mom and my kids that are going, my dad will have to have church here. I feel bad for him that he has to stay home. I also have to say that I'm dreading the trip... 3 hours up - 3 hours back. We'll have a good time, I just hate the car ride. The odd thing is, we used to live in Michigan, only 30 minutes away from my grandparents and aunt, and we never use to get together like we do now. They're getting older though, so we need to see them as much as we can.

I got my refund check on Monday. It's still sitting in the envelope. I don't want to spend any of it until I know exactly what it is we need. I'm going to try and put as much of it in the bank as I can. I saw some shoes and matching purse at Dots last night that I really liked... I left, didn't buy them. T1 said "Go ahead mom, buy them, you deserve it." Nope, don't need them! I'm so used to not being able to splurge on myself that now it's easy to put things back on the shelves and racks. I guess that's a good thing though.

One hour until the show I wait for all week... CSI! Love that show.

OH OH OH... of course I have to mention last night's American Idol... one word: WHATTHEHECK? Yes Simon, I was as shocked as you! So shocked in fact, Gwen called right as it happened and I couldn't even get up to answer the phone! Crazy, just crazy! And you know they're not going to have a female win... the last two were females and they've only had one guy win so far, so it has to be a guy this year. I really wanted it to be Chris! So sad.

May 9, 2006

Cats vs Women

We always get the strays. Probably because they can see the "sucker" stamp I have on my forehead from a mile away. I'm sorry, but I can't just let a skinny little animal come up to our home and not offer it any dog food...(hey, we don't own cats, just dogs, so if you're hungry enough, you'll eat it.) Tonight however, our newest visitor (a cat) wouldn't eat the dog food but would eat tortilla chips instead. So, tortilla chips it was. By the way, I'm running out of "bowls" for these strays. We had a stray dog last week and I used the last of my mom's "cool whip" bowls. I hate those bowls. I mean, I love cool whip, but I don't like saving and reusing the bowls for left overs. There's just something so redneck about that. (IMO) So, the newest stray was eating chips and drinking fresh water and started towards my oldest son... he acted like he was half afraid of him so I said "T1, the cat likes you, pet him." to which T1 said "I'm kind of scared... I don't understand cats!" LOL - I cracked up! Ya, that's right son, and soon you'll be saying the same thing about women!!

May 8, 2006

Here it comes...

another week... It's here and I feel like I didn't even get a weekend.

I'm not sure what's going on, but I had a not-so-good weekend. It's been a rough 3 yrs and sometimes everything we've been through creeps up on me and really gets me down. Saturday was horrible. So much so that I thought a few times about just getting in my car and leaving. I cried off and on all day. I just couldn't shake the overwhelming depression that came over me. And the weirdest part was I had no idea why. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. As a matter of fact, the previous week held little stress. Friday night was great but Saturday morning came and it was like something just took over. I couldn't find any good in anything. I knew it would pass and thankfully it did, but it was weird. It scares me to have to go back to that place again. I even told a friend of mine that I didn't understand why, after growing up in a preacher's home and in church all my life, did I feel like I would never make it to heaven, I would never be a good enough Christian, and I would never be good enough period. I wondered what it was that I had done in my life that made it so I would never be a good enough person to feel that I was truly good enough in God's eyes.

I wish I could tell you I went to church yesterday and had a wonderful worshipping experience and that my eyes were opened to the fact that I was good enough, but I didn't.
I wish I could tell you that I read scripture and a light popped on in my head, but I didn't.
I did pray, what little I could. It was more like "WHY, God?" Not an outpouring of thoughts or a true "prayer".
What I did find in that low moment was that, that was really all I had to do. Just ask "why"... just reach out. I know that even though I wasn't able to clearly express myself to God, He was still there. I was only able to cry out my "WHY?" and He heard me.

I feel better today... I truly have too much to be thankful for to walk around feeling sorry for myself!!

May 5, 2006

Happy Friday


It was a great day! I worked from 10am to 4pm. I love 6 hour days. I could really get use to those hours, but I'm not even going to tease myself like that, it will never happen.

Since I got done with work early, I decide to get to the bank and go out to Kohl's to get the kids and I new sandals and look around. We did that and then hit Walmart and got all of our weekly shopping done for next week. And let me tell you... that was a nice feeling as I was walking out the door at 6:30!

Whenever I go out and I'm around people, I realize that I can be mean. Most of the time, well, 95% of the time, I'm not outwardly mean to the people around me, but I get angry on the inside. It's hard to be nice to everyone ALL the time! That's not easy. And it's even harder when your PMSing! And it's even MUCH harder when you're in Kohl's at the customer service desk returning a pair of COOL Adidas sandals you JUST bought and realized after you got in the car, you got size 7 instead of 6. Grrrrrr...they were SO cute!! Oh well, I got another pair of the regular black Adidas sandals that everyone gets, only the white stripes and Adidas logo are PINK... so cute! Then I went to Payless and got another pair of sandals. They are cute also but I have nothing to wear with them.(Yet!)

Anyway, being nice at the service desk is hard when there's a mean old lady who stinks and has no idea what she's doing. After about 10 minutes I wanted to scream! At one point I took the shoe box and started hitting it against my forehead. (It's TRUE!! I did - you can ask my kids!!!) This old lady was a witch! And that's sad cause most old ladies are so sweet and nice. She was trying to buy stuff using her Kohl's credit card but then demanded to pay off her whole account with her Kohl's credit card. The lady at the register said "I'm sorry maam, you can't pay off your Kohl's card with your Kohl's card." This got the old woman in a total frenzy. And let me tell you, this lady was wearing that old lady perfume that just makes you instantly gag!! It's that ONE certain perfume that ALL old ladies wear and they must spray 1/2 the bottle on each time they go out. I should have asked her what she was wearing cause I really wish I knew the name of it, just so I could share (And so I could tell my children that when I get old to NEVER get me that for Christmas and if I ever were to purchase it on my own, to take it away, burn it, and never let me shop by myself again. Heck, lock me up in a old folks home... just NEVER let me make anyone else ever smell that smell again!) So the lady was freaking out and the cashier was apologizing saying she didn't quite understand what she wanted her to do. So, the old lady said to just use the Kohl's card and forget it. YAY, finally! Oh wait, no "YAY" yet... after all is said and done and the items are in a bag, the lady pulls out her 15% off coupon and says she wants to use it and hands it to the cashier. I had to turn around for fear of ripping her head off and sending her huge clip earrings flying through the store. At this point, the cashier calls someone back to customer service to take over. I don't blame her, if I was her, I probably would have shoved the price gun down her throat at this point. So the cashier says that someone will be back right away to help her. Finally, it's our turn. She just rolls her eyes and apologizes. I told her that was ok and it wasn't her fault. Then just to get her to smile, I said "Oh wait... yes it is!" She laughed. So, the other lady gets back there to help the old smelly lady and the old woman is sitting there LYING! She was blaming the cashier for everything saying that she had her 15% coupon out but the cashier wouldn't take it and that she just wanted to use her Kohl's card for her purchases but the cashier wasn't letting her. I couldn't believe it!! What an old witch! I would have said something to the new lady like I witnessed the whole thing and that the cashier didn't do any of that and that it was the nasty old woman who was giving the cashier a hard time, but the new lady who was helping her was just rolling her eyes so I figured she knew better.

So, that's my story of the day. Not real exciting... but it's the best I could do.
Right now I'm watching "School of Rock"... hilarious. Love that movie. Love Jack Black.

May 3, 2006

Grrrrrr Parents!

And I'm not talking about my own! Never! I love my own parents!! I'm talking daycare parents. I'm talking inconsiderate daycare parents who are down to their last straw with me being forgiving of their earliness and lateness.

You see... I have policies at my daycare. These policies are printed out in black and white on a little something I call a "Contract and Policy Statement / Handbook". This "thing" is signed by each parent under the statement "I/We have read and agree to the terms and conditions of this contract and policy statement and will abide by the rules and policies of (enter daycare name)."

Every one of my daycare parents have signed this. (If not, their child would not be in my daycare.) So, as most of my other policies, they are there just for looks only! How dare the provider actually make a parent abide by those rules. I mean hey, why don't we throw out all the rules. How about I start teaching the young children in my care that rules don't apply to them and that when mommy or daddy tell them to do something, they don't need to do it. It's OPTIONAL!!!

Anyhoo... I have a set of daycare parents who are really working on a nice little note home from their provider. They are the first ones to drop off and lately they have been dropping off anywhere from 5-10 minutes early in the mornings, which was fine when I had a child being dropped off earlier than them, but when he went to part time, they because my first drop off of the day, which means... I expect them to drop off at their contracted time. Which is 7:45am. I let this daycare mom know in advance that they would now be the first drop off so to please watch the time as I would still be upstairs getting ready at 7:35 and don't plan to have to open my door until 7:45. Well, two days this week they were here at 7:40. (which isn't a lot to complain about, I know... **I will make my point in all of this later on in this post!)

So, they're early every morning... Well, since back around Christmas time they've also had a habit of getting here late too! This is becoming a more weekly thing and that is one of my BIGGEST pet peeves.

All I ask are 3 very simple things from my daycare parents and we'll get along famously!! Seriously... 3 simple things!! These things are:
1. Pay on time.
2. Pick up on time.
3. Don't bring your child sick.

Easy, no? Ya, I think it's pretty easy. Those are the 3 things out of my 7 page contract / handbook that I will just not bend on. If you don't pay, you don't stay... I'm not doing child care for free! If you don't pick up on time, you pay a $1 a minute late fee... why should my family have to wait for our family time to start because you stopped off at the store on your way home from work or better yet, you were already off work and sitting at home and lost track of the time! As for the sick child thing... you would THINK that would be just plain common sense, but heaven forbid these people actually take off work to stay home and care for their sick child, plus, I can't be sick... if I'm sick, I have to close the whole daycare down and everyone is screwed! Besides that, be a little respectful of the other kids, they don't need your child's sickness! Do unto others, people!!!!

So, back to this family... It's dad's turn to pick up tonight. Dad is usually the dropper-offer in the mornings but occasionally mom has a meeting and he has to pick up... I can usually count on when it's dad's turn, I know he'll be late. He almost always is. (and I can prove it... I keep a log of all daycare kids' hours.) So, tonight is one of those nights. Well, I just checked my email and guess what, there's an email from dad saying he has a meeting and may possibly be late. REALLY? I was shocked!!! So, I'm sure you're thinking "Geez, why can't you be a little more tolerant, he really can't help it if it's work related!" You know what, you're absolutely right, but let's just throw a few other things out there so you can understand why I'm so ticked...

1. Mom is a teacher and doesn't have to leave for school until 8:30 each morning, however because she needs "me time" to curl her hair and put on make or go swimming before school, her 3 yr old daughter is dropped off by dad at 7:45.
2. Mom (being a teacher) gets out of school at 3:40 and is either contracted to stay until 3:45 or 4:00. Her school is about 15 minutes away from us. BUT... child is not picked up until 4:45 each night because mom needs more "me time" to go home and get her mail, change her clothes, check her email, etc.... She actually told me once that it was too hard to change her clothes with her daughter there. HELLO, she's 3 yrs old and more than capable of entertaining herself at this point.
3. LAST NIGHT, mom was late because she ran home, changed her clothes and rode her bike to my house to pick her daughter up. Excusable? NOPE!! Does it warrant a late fee? YEP!! Did I give her one, nope, but it's coming to a head very soon!!! (like tonight?!?)

**Ok, remember I had a point... here it is:
I am UP and READY (clean and showered, NOT in my pjs) and OPEN MY DOOR promptly each and every day they arrive in the morning. I have done this for 6 years and I have only over slept twice and one of those times was because I was really sick and took cough meds before bed. And YES, I still work when I'm sick. I feel guilty closing because I hate for parents to have to try and find back up care at the last minute. I always give at least a month's notice on any time I plan to take off. In 6 years, I've taken a vacation, ONCE!! Ok, going a little off the point there... My point is, how would they like it if I was always late answering the door each morning. How would they like it if I decided to just get up a little later and take my time getting ready, leaving them standing out there knocking on my door and making them late for work? How would they like it if I ran around with their child all day and was late getting back for them to get their child at the end of the day? What if they had to constantly call my cell phone to find their child? I would think that that would get quite old. Well, it's getting old for me and I am at the end of my rope. I'm tired of it and at this point, I have nothing to lose. I'm ready to voice my issues to them and give them an option, either they do what they're suppose to do, or pay the fees. It's the end of the school year and they aren't going to pull her out now. And if so, they have to give me 2 weeks notice so it would really be silly on their part. I just wish everyone would do what they're suppose to do, so other people's live would be easier. If everyone did what they were suppose to do, it would benefit everyone!! We would all win!! It's not that hard people!!!

Wish me luck... he's got 35 minutes to get here. I pray he's on time. I'm thinking positively. Yes, he WILL be on time. Traffic will be great, his meeting will let out early and all will be well.

**Update: HE WAS ON TIME!! Yippeee... point for daycare dad!! I was so proud!!

May 2, 2006

Just Some Rants

It's Tuesday... yesterday was horrible. I had a daycare child who refused to nap and there were work related things I really needed to get done during nap time.
But no... So, the parents didn't get their monthly newsletter and didn't get their weekly menu. I sure hope today's nap time is better cause I was about ready to run away after yesterday!

Can I tell you how much I REALLY dislike (as close to hate as possible) Star Jones Reynolds. First of all, she looks like CRAP! Anyone who thinks she looks good is sick. She looks nasty. I don't watch "The View" but happened to come across it this morning so I stopped and listened for a moment and I'm just wondering, for all of you who watch it on a regular basis... Does she ALWAYS play the race card?
Is it always in her hand just sitting there getting ready to be flashed at any moment? Cause that's kind of what I'm thinking!

I read an interesting article today on the whole illegal immigration thing. It was talking about how our country will not survive the division of itself. It made references to countries in the past who have had these same issues and each country has ended up a fallen country. This article made so much sense. It talked about America becoming a divided America and how it will no longer be united and any time that countries have multicultural divisions it will always fall. It also referenced how even though it's great for people to be bilingual, it's never good for a country to be bilingual. I don't have to tell you about how everything is now in English and Spanish... very scary for us and for the future of our country. I just hope someone, somewhere will take charge and put an end to this before it can get to an irreversable state and our country is unable to recover.

Here's the article:

"How To Destroy America"
We know Dick Lamm as the former Governor of Colorado. In that context his thoughts are particularly poignant. Last week there was an immigration overpopulation conference in Washington, DC, filled to capacity by many of American's finest minds and leaders. A brilliant college professor by the name of Victor Hansen Davis talked about his latest book, Mexifornia," explaining how immigration - both legal and illegal - was destroying the entire state of California. He said it would march across the country until it destroyed all vestiges of The American Dream
Moments later, former Colorado Governor Richard D. Lamm stood up and gave a stunning speech on how to destroy America. The audience sat spellbound as he described eight methods for the destruction of the United States. He said, "If you believe that America is too smug, too self-satisfied, too rich, then let's destroy America It is not that hard to do. No nation in history has survived the ravages of time. Arnold Toynbee observed that all great civilizations rise and fall and that "An autopsy of history would show that all great nations commit suicide.' "
Here is how they do it," Lamm said: "First, to destroy America, turn America into a bilingual or multi-lingual and bicultural country." History shows that no nation can survive the tension, conflict, and antagonism of two or more competing languages and cultures. It is a blessing for an individual to be bilingual; however, it is a curse for a society to be bilingual. The historical scholar, Seymour Lipset, put it this way: "The histories of bilingual and bi-cultural societies that do not assimilate are histories of turmoil, tension, and tragedy." Canada, Belgium, Malaysia, and Lebanon all face crises of national existence in which minorities press for autonomy, if not independence. Pakistan and Cyprus have divided. Nigeria suppressed an ethnic rebellion. France faces difficulties with Basques, Bretons, and Corsicans.".
Lamm went on: Second, to destroy America, "Invent 'multiculturalism' and encourage immigrants to maintain their culture. I would make it an article of belief that all cultures are equal. That there are no cultural differences. I would make it an article of faith that the Black and Hispanic dropout rates are due solely to prejudice and discrimination by the majority. Every other explanation is out of bounds."
Third, "We could make the United States an 'Hispanic Quebec' without much effort. The key is to celebrate diversity rather than unity. As Benjamin Schwarz said in the Atlantic Monthly recently: "The apparent success of our own multiethnic and multicultural experiment might have been achieved not by tolerance but by hegemony. Without the dominance that once dictated ethnocentricity and what it meant to be an American, we are left with only tolerance and pluralism to hold us together." Lamm said, "I would encourage all immigrants to keep their own language and culture. I would replace the melting pot metaphor with the salad bowl metaphor. It is important to ensure that we have various cultural subgroups living in America enforcing their differences rather than as Americans, emphasizing their similarities."
"Fourth, I would make our fastest growing demographic group the least educated. I would add a second underclass, unassimilated, undereducated, and antagonistic to our population I would have this second underclass have a 50% dropout rate from high school."
"My fifth point for destroying America would be to get big foundations and business to give these efforts lots of money I would invest in ethnic identity, and I would establish the cult of 'Victimology.' I would get all minorities to think that their lack of success was the fault of the majority I would start a grievance industry blaming all minority failure on the majority population."
"My sixth plan for America's downfall would include dual citizenship, and promote divided loyalties. I would celebrate diversity over unity. I would stress differences rather than similarities. Diverse people worldwide are mostly engaged in hating each other - that is, when they are not killing each other. A diverse, peaceful, or stable society is against most historical precedent. People undervalue the unity it takes to keep a nation together. Look at the ancient Greeks. The Greeks believed that they belonged to the same race; they possessed a common language and literature; and they worshipped the same gods. All Greece took part the Olympic games. A common enemy, Persia, threatened their liberty. Yet all these bonds were not strong enough to overcome two factors: local patriotism and geographical conditions that nurtured political divisions. Greece fell. "E. Pluribus Unum" -- >From many! , one. In that historical reality, if we put the emphasis on the 'pluribus' instead of the 'Unum,' we will balkanize America as surely as Kosovo."
"Next to last, I would place all subjects off limits; make it taboo to talk about anything against the cult of 'diversity.' I would find a word similar to 'heretic' in the 16th century - that stopped discussion and paralyzed thinking. Words like 'racist' or xenophobe' halt discussion and debate. Having made America a bilingual/bicultural country, having established multi-culturism, having the large foundations fund the doctrine of 'Victimology,' I would next make it impossible to enforce our immigration laws. I would develop a mantra: That because immigration has been good for America, it must always be good. I would make every individual immigrant symmetric and ignore the cumulative impact of millions of them."
In the last minute of his speech, Governor Lamm wiped his brow. Profound silence followed. Finally he said,. "Lastly, I would censor Victor Hanson Davis's book Mexifornia. His book is dangerous. It exposes the plan to destroy America. If you feel America deserves to be destroyed, don't read that book.".
There was no applause A chilling fear quietly rose like an ominous cloud above every attendee at the conference. Every American in that room knew that everything Lamm enumerated was proceeding methodically,quietly, darkly, yet pervasively across the United States today. Discussion is being suppressed. Over 100 languages are ripping the foundation of our educational system and national cohesiveness. Barbaric cultures that practice female genital mutilation are growing as we celebrate 'diversity.' American jobs are vanishing into the Third World as corporations create a Third World in America - take note of California and other states - to date, ten million illegal aliens and growing fast. It is reminiscent of George Orwell's book "1984." In that story, three slogans are engraved in the Ministry of Truth building: "War is peace," "Freedom is slavery," and "Ignorance is strength."
Governor Lamm walked back to his seat. It dawned on everyone at the conference that our nation and the future of this great democracy is deeply in trouble and worsening fast. If we don't get this immigration monster stopped within three years, it will rage like a California wildfire and destroy everything in its path, especially The American Dream.