OWWEEEE!!

Why I won't be able to blog for a while . . .

I sliced my hand on a broken dish and got 4 stitches in my finger and 2 in my palm. Hurts a little to type!

The Juggler . . . .

And again, we see how much we can handle. Is this a test? I'm sure it is. Let's go over the events of the day. I wake up to a landscape of snow and sun, yes, sun, it's hard to believe in the middle of January but the sun was shining. I do my usual shower, spend some time tending to my ebay auctions and then start the daily ritual of dragging my kids out of bed. I start with my son, and move to my middle daughter and then my youngest. To speed things up, this was to be a pretty normal day. My husband is gone today and it is up to me to run the household. I'm used to it - no big deal. The only wrinkle is that my dear mommy is hear to visit and I'm to take her to the airport. We have school this morning, we homeschool, so it will be a little break in our day. Also, we have a contractor coming to start working on some projects as we get our house ready to sell (yes, sell - that's a whole other post). That's okay though because he will be here after we get back from dropping my mom off. No big deal. My mom and I conquer the school responsibilities this morning with ease. Ten minutes before we are to leave to bring her to the airport, I ask my son to put his new LEGO train set together to show his Gramama (this is not a typo - this is the name she has been given by the first grandchild) how it runs and all the work he has done on it. Basically, my son informs me that he has lost one of the main components that makes the train run electronically. "WHAT!", I protest. To be nice, I run up to his room to help to find this "missing part". Now, take into consideration that this set cost about $250 and was split between us parents and his Pop-Pop (another name given long ago by the first grandchild). So, I'm starting to get a little upset as I start to dig through the pile of unused toys in his dungeon of a room. I just had to lose it and promised him a thorough trash can clean up when we returned from dropping Gramama off. Well, that just never happened.

We dropped her off with our proper teary goodbye's and "I'm going to miss Gramama" cries and departed home. Once we arrived, we continued our lessons for about another 10 minutes when we received a frantic call from our beloved that the idiots at Cleveland Hopkins Airport wouldn't let her on the airplane. Again, another "WHAT!" came out of my mouth. "Why?", you ask. Oh, because HER OUTFIT WASN'T APPROPRIATE. Yeah, that makes sense. IF anyone knows my mom, or her daughters, they know that they are VERY fashion conscious and pay very close attention to what they should wear for what occasion. My mom was dressed in a velour pant suit with a striped shell and velour jacket - so classy. She was wearing athletic shoes as the weather was pretty crappy here today and she knew she would need the support to walk through the airport. DENIED BOARDING! WHAT IDIOT WOULD DENY HER BOARDING! So, we had to stall school, after we finished our Science lesson, and run back to the airport to get her. I was FUMING to say the least. In the midst of that phone call, I had to rearrange my basement so the contractor could patch up the cracks in the cinder block, write him a check, transfer money so that check wouldn't bounce blah, blah, blah . . . . To top it off, they never even gave her the opportunity to change her outfit -that particular individual at the airport - I will disclose his name because he can't hurt me - his name is Reggie - never even bothered to really get her bag. She did happen to receive it after the flight left. Hmmmm . . . that was not nice. This guy doesn't realize who he's dealing with!! Reggie threatened my mom with reporting my husband with a buddy pass violation - "Ummm, do you realize who this employee's wife is? You must not because if you did, you'd know NOT to mess with her." Well, this idiot must not have been warned. She did eventually make the flight, 6 hours later, while I sat in the airport parking lot, leaving every 26 minutes so I could still get the 30 minutes free parking bargain. I sat there for 1 1/2 hours - my youngest daughter was told to put her blanky over her head, and take a nap, my middle daughter worked on her reading and AWANA (bible) verses and my son finished up all the lessons we hadn't wrapped up while we were running to and fro from the airport. Yes, all done in the car. Ahhh . . . the joys of homeschooling - it can go anywhere.

I swear, if I had gotten one more ball to juggle today - I would have dropped my balls. And pardon any mishaps in spelling/grammar - that's what happens when you have 2 chocolate martini's at your hands (thanks Em for the recipe) and you feel your stress leaving your body through your fingers as you try and move the mouse.

Pinky to God . . . .

This would have to be my first post in which I'm going to vent. Sorry for those it offends. Let me start by saying that I am a veteran of financial woes. I've lived with it and bore the brunt of them since I was 11 years old. But the one thing I've always been able to say is that the bills were always paid and our heads were always above water. My one question for you God, "When will it end?" Just a simple answer with the date and time would be nice, nothing fancy, I'm not picky.

After Sept. 11, and due to those events, my husband was basically forced to take a lesser job, he was still working but took a major paycut. We have estimated that over the last 3 years, he has lost about $75,000. Well, wouldn't you know that he basically got his old job back this past month.
"Yippee!!" I say,"Now I can pull myself out of this financial hole I've been forced into!!"
"Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha!!" says God.
Because of my husband's job move, the new company that he works for hasn't been able to figure out how to pay him. So, in the middle of December, they shorted us about $1,000 - couldn't pay the bills. That's okay, we had just received back pay from his old company and that would more than take care of it. Jan.1 - same old beginning of the month pay from his old company. AND an added bonus - the new company paid us what they forgot to pay us in the middle of December. EVERYONE WITH ME . . . So, I ask my husband to give me his best guess as to what I should expect as payment in the middle of January - his guess was more than we would need to pay the bills. Sweet, I think - I now have this added bonus that I really don't need. What should I do with it? Shall I go out and by myself a new palm pilot, laptop, DVD player, TV, Expedition?? No, I'm going to be responsible and pay of 2 credit cards - not PAY DOWN, PAY OFF!! So, I did.

"Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha!!" says God.
Remember the paycheck you were expecting in the middle of January?? Let's just cut that by $1,000. Got enough to pay your bills now??

NO!!!

What can I say? I have a sense of humor. I have thick skin. But I think what I've lost is patience. I'm tired of waiting to be given a break. The Lord tells us to be good stewards of His money. Um . . . .am I missing something here! Isn't trying to claw my way out of debt being a good steward?? WHAT THE HE**!!! My dad always said that instead of the middle finger, one must give the pinky finger to those that don't deserve the very best (my dad is grinning ear to ear right now). Well . . . . PINKY TO GOD!!

Happy 10 year Anniversary!

I must say that this day crept up on me! WOW! It sure doesn't seem like ten years! Happy Anniversary, dear! I love you more now than I ever thought I could! I want to give you a list of the things that make me stick with you and appreciate how lucky I am! Here it goes:

I LOVE YOU BECAUSE . . . .

you take care of me.
you go out and buy me more ice cream after you've finished off the last half gallon only because I said I wanted some after the fact.

you taught me how to fight.

you complete my thoughts.

you accept my crazy family and all it's drama.

you give me the benefit of the doubt.

you let ME control the finances.

you take control when it really matters.

you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to bed.

you get in there and take care of the kids, no matter what the tasks.

you are a leader to our family.

YOU ARE MY BEST FRIEND!!

I could go on and on and on. I just have to thank you for sticking in there these last 10 years and loving me unconditionally! I can promise you that the next 10 years are going to be just as exciting and we are going to grow even closer! TRUST ME!!

Happy New Year!!

Huh, another year. Another year to make me feel older. Another year to try again. Another year to screw up. Another year to make us closer. Another year to be thankful. Another year to love each other. Another year to watch us grow. Another year to count our blessings. Another year to wish for more.

Did anybody else have a problem staying up late last night?? Let me tell you, I was dragging my feet. I was reminiscing with my husband about all the things we USED to do on New Year's Eve. Board games, movies, cards, darts and then out to breakfast and probably bowling. I used to last until 3 or 4 a.m. My husband would just pull all nighters with his friends - I could never make it that far. You have to understand that I've been spending New Year's Eve with him since we were dating - 13 years ago. His dad used to be up until very late cooking homemade pizzas. I can still remember him standing in the kitchen, sweat rolling down his bald head, sweatband across his head trying to sop up all that sweat. He'd be torturing me with dangling anchovies, trying to get me to taste one solo. I never did it. He did however teach me to each them on pizzas. He has passed now and has been for 9 years. That memory is fresh in my head. Of him on New Year's Eve, playing with the salty fish.