Let the good times roll

School has started, and we've been at it for two weeks now. I haven't posted because of a few things: A) school started, B) had multiple parties for birthday kids in my own household, and C) been busy with A, B, and a zillion other things.
I have a job. Don't get all excited just yet; it is as an LRC aide in high school/jr.high. What that entails is that I go around from classroom to classroom, following different LRC kids that need help. I get to attend Math, English, U.S. History (hate it), and then also cover the LRC room for several periods to help anyone who comes in. I've somewhat done this before when I covered an extended maternity leave for an LRC teacher at the same school. Believe it or not, this position pays a little more than a regular substitute position. Go figure. At least I'll know where I am supposed to be daily instead of waking up to a 5am phone call for subbing.
The pool has been great. I love sunning myself and relaxing poolside. Take a peek at photos of family party for birthday boy who turned 13 on my flickr to the right of this page. I even have a pic of the "whale" my father-in-law carved for said bday party. Pretty cool!
Later!

School days

Back to school tomorrow. Not me, of course, because I have no stinkin' job. However, the kids start back tomorrow. One nice thing is that I'll be able to take them to school in the morning. I am glad about that. Last Thurs. evening we took Patrick (stepson) to his seventh grade orientation. He was funny. He couldn't get his locker open. He ended up saying, "Let's just get out of here before I have a nervous breakdown!" I laughed.
Mak will be an eighth grader, Cam a sixth grader, and Syd (Clovis) a fourth grader. Clovis is NOT looking forward to fourth grade because she has to leave her beloved teacher, Mrs. B, behind. I told Mrs. B I would pay her to move to fourth grade. It didn't happen.
I am sure the week will be rough as far as getting the kids awake and ready in the mornings. They have slept in all summer and now have to face early morning rising. Not a pleasant thought! I dread fourth grade homework. Seriously. And Clovis is sooooo not good with doing her homework. How will I manage? uuuuugggghhhhh.

Too busy swimming to blog!

So I have been neglectful. Guilty as charged.

I have been way too busy swimming to blog. Yes, I have read some fellow bloggers, but I have not posted my own. Here are just a couple of pics of the pool in finished form. One thing left to do is fencing. In Indiana you must have a four foot high fence surrounding your pool. You must do this for insurance as well as the state laws. That'll cost us!

All friend bloggers in the midwest, come and take the plunge...

Day Six Pool Update

We have made the milestone of getting water in the pool. Now, granted, it is water that looks like weak coffee, but nonetheless, it is water. The liner went in yesterday before the water, so here are a few pics. Today the rest of the water will arrive, as it got too late yesterday to finish, and the pool guys are gonna clean it right up so that it is sparkling clean. The electric and gas lines will be run today also. That is a big job. So, enjoy fellow watchers, enjoy.

Finally getting there

Here are a couple of pics from the first day of pool digging, etc. First day, and they got everything dug, walls up, steps secure. I was amazed. More pics later...

Beginning deep end upward left pic

Some walls in and steps in white up left pic.

Left of this: a boy and his daddy, admiring the work. Equipment digging the final few feet of deep end. Below: what the walls look like being put in.

With all Flags Flying!
Guys just left from our pool place. They staked off the pool area with flags for the permit they need to start digging. We are inching closer!!
I asked the large man if he would be "the one" digging - he said, "Well, here. Let me just give you my card." It said contracter something or other for the pool place we are going through. I laughed, chuckled actually, and said, "Well...what kind of bribes wouldya take for starting tomorrow - how much money are we talkin'????" He chuckled. And didn't respond, really. I take it that means we'll be starting next week, not tomorrow.
It feels odd that we, in this small poke town, actually have to be so official and have a building permit. (don't even think about saying something about OSHA and shit - I know WHY we have to have one...) It just is funny because residents can speed down main street at 65mph, burn trash right within the "city limits" against policy, play little league in the lightning, beat each other up at the park, and many other things, but to beautify our property we must get a permit. Did Bobby Jo get her permit to sleep with her brother Billy Jo and run off and get married, I wonder? No, just overexaggerating. But you get my drift, eh?

Back from hiatus

I just haven't been blogging. I mean, I did have my hysterectomy. All went fine. But I have just kind of been "blah". I have checked my email, read others' blogs, but not posted on my own. My girls have gone to their "biological father's" house to spend the rest of the summer. I will see them every other weekend. They are only technically around twenty minutes away. I suspect that they won't want to stay the entire time. He is spiteful enough to make them. Plus, when they are there for this long amount of time, he doesn't have to pay support. He'll make them stay come hell or high water. Believe me.
We went pool/patio furniture shopping yesterday. Got quite a few things. That's exciting. Have not starting digging on the pool yet, but soon. I can't wait.
My mom and dad are on a fishing trip to Lake Erie. When they get back, I think I'll have a big ol' fish fry. Sounds yummy.
I repeat painted my adirondack chairs and ottomans yesterday. Took me about four hours to do them well. There are nooks and crannies everywhere on those things!! I was covered in stain - blue nonetheless. I had to take mineral spirits (paint thinner) to get it all off. Great exfoliant. NOT.
Tonight is Clovis' last softball game of the season. Her dad told me yesterday that he wasn't coaching her next year and wasting his time if she didn't practice more. *( Hard core jock that he is, yelling at her for not making this her "career" at such a young age...makes me puke. )
Lastly, my middle daughter turned 12 years old on June 21. She looks way older. Scary.

Go see my pool

Go to my flickr photos and see the specs of our pool-to-be. Of course, the pics are detailed with landscaping that we'll never be able to afford, but they look great!
I cannot wait. Believe me!

Compliments to you, Mrs. Nina

Today at my pre-admission testing at the hospital, the nurse who was taking care of me took my vitals. Afterward, she complimented me: "Oh my, (patting my leg), people would LLLLLOOOOOOVVVVEEE to have your blood pressure!" Well, thank you, nurse. I'll take any compliment I can get. Now, my veins, on the other hand, no one wants. She couldn't get blood easily. Yeah, I'm used to that. My veins play hide-and-seek with needles. It's a fun game, or so they think. You know, something came to me today -- I am much better with needles that take things OUT of my system in comparison to needles that put things in. Don't know why that is, but it remains a fact. I hate shots of any kind, but I can take a blood draw. Odd, I know.

So, next Monday is the surgery. Get this! I even got "fitted" for a pair of support hose. They are the kind that old ladies wear (white) so that they get better circulation through their legs. I have to have them post-op to prevent blood clots. I am gonna be the sexiest beast alive!

Hotter than Billy Whiz

My late Grandma used to say: "Whoo-pee-doo! It's hotter than Billy Whiz outside today!" Now, has anyone else ever heard of said 'Billy Whiz'? Is he some damn fine hottie? Is that what she meant? I highly doubt it. Is he some kind of highway worker who sweats his balls off every day - like hotter than that? Or is he just some warm blooded mammal that we can easily compare ourselves to? I'd like to know.

B-A-S-E H-I-T

Clovis got a base hit tonight at her softball game! It was so cute. She got on base and was ready to rock-n-roll to second. The next batter struck out, though. Finally, in the third game, she got a hit.

While sitting and watching the game tonight, some old softball cheers came back to me. I'm going to teach them to the team so that they can have "new" ones that the other teams don't know. They are excited.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, a stray dog came to my mom and dad's house. I guess it barked most of the night. I tried to give it a bath today and almost got devoured by it. After it felt the cool water on its skin, it didn't think I was so bad after all. Every once and a while, though, she got temperamental again and snarled at me. I went down to their house this evening and it was still hanging out by their front porch. I'm a sucker -- I took it some dog food. My dad will kill me when he finds out. I can't help it. It looked at me with "those eyes" and I melted.

Tomorrow Cam (middle daughter) goes to get her eyes checked. Perhaps it will help with the headaches she has been having.

Two more softball games this week. Tomorrow evening and the next at the ballpark. Supper never the same time twice this week - we'll manage. Now I know how my parents felt when I was traveling all over hell's creation playing double headers and such. Man!

Fundamental Friday

Many things to talk about, not in the right frame of mind to do so. . .

The doc's office called me and told me my hysterctomy will take place on June 18. This is three days before my middle daughter's birthday. We'll have to figure out something there; she wants to have a sleepover. Good news is, I get the surgery that is less invasive. (Only one hospital night's stay. )

My girls went to their dad's house last night and will stay until Monday morning. I'll pick them up and head to the dentist for MY appointment. I am scared shitless. Part of one of my molars has broken off and is in need of repair. What kind of repair, I'm not sure. But, I hate the dentist, so anything will frighten me. Can thirteen year olds drive home in emergency situations if need be? Great.

My stepson is departing on a cruise to the Bahamas with his bio mother tomorrow. He is getting picked up any second now. We had to buy him a calling card to take so he could call home; his mom said she won't let him use her cell phone due to roaming charges!? Whatever. He has scoped the weather - it looks like terrible storms out there the whole time he'll be gone. Go figure.

I feel like shit, am treating others like shit, and want to get rid of the labor pains, er, cramps as they say. I mean, I could give birth any second now. Honestly. It needs to stop or I am going to hurt someone. Dogs, lookout!

I need to get in the shower, too. Perhaps an automatic car wash would work best. Maybe I'll drive to one and get squeaky clean.

"No, sir, attendant, no tire shine for me today - it'll leave a residue in my hair. Thanks anyway!"

Memorial Day Weekend

We took the kids to Wolf Lodge. It was a good time. The best time I had was when I actually got to get out in the "real" sunshine, not the sun peeking in through the skylights indoors. Today the girls and I ventured out into "Raccoon Lagoon" as they call it at the lodge. It was the type of pool that you could wade in, bird bathe in, and then return to your lounge chair to soak up sun. Problem was, I was only out there for thirty minutes out of guilt - my husband was sitting inside by himself. So, we went back in.
We are back home now, drooping flowers are watered, and life is back to hectic, non-stop chaos.
******WARNING************: if you do not want to read very personal, perhaps invasive information, then click your back button now!



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I have not mentioned this on here yet, and my husband will probably have a cow, since this is the information highway, but...
tomorrow I go to my trusty gynie doc to find out when I can schedule a hysterectomy. Tomorrow she will do an ultrasound to make sure there aren't polyps, etc. on the uterus itself; then we'll talk about which kind of hysterectomy I'll be having: a C-section type one, or the better choice, vaginal hysterectomy. I hope to get the news that I can have the latter kind. I'm kind of nervous, but anxious to get things over with and feel better. This has been going on since last October, at least.
More later...

It's your high school graduation! Now get a job.

Today I am attending TWO high school graduations. As I remember back to my own, fifteen years ago, I am reminded of how long ago that was. (And what has happened since then, actually.)
Today, my husband's cousin is graduating and attending Xavier University in Ohio. His mother tells us that he basically has nothing yet in preparation for the journey. That leaves gift suggestions wide open. Really, that is almost as difficult as a specific request. I don't want to give him money - that is boring and not creative. So, I'll ponder it. His actual "party" is not until June 10.
The other graduation I am attending is for a girl who has babysat for us on occasion. I taught with her mother, and she is a family friend. This party will be fun. Her family is outrageous, with her father being completely insane and entertaining. Plus, a bonus, there'll be beer there. Who could pass that up?
Monday, the fam is going on a little road trip to Ohio. We are spending the night in a hotel near Kings Island that dotes an indoor waterpark. The kids are stoked. We thought that by Monday, with all of us being at home together, we ought to go somewhere as to not kill one another.
School is out! and the kids are excited. One year down in the long road of education. I got all of my finals graded, including research papers. Those are a bitch, let me tell ya. Students and husband alike made the comment: "Don't assign them, then!". Right. It is a state standard = requirement. Duh. Time for a Cosmo or a Manhattan or something nice like that in celebration. Don't ya think?

Me on a bad day.

I am just totally in a pissed off mood. It started with a crappy email this morning and hasn't changed much since. I feel like I am under the gun. I just want to scream non-stop. But no one is listening. Have you ever been around people, yet felt so alone? Yeah, that's me.

Nothing, really

Tonight the family attended our elementary school's Spring Art Fling. Pak and Cam were in the band portion and Cam was also in the choir section of the show. Then, after hearing music, we all went to view the art show pieces. Cammi got several ribbons. I was so proud! Clovis had two drawings/paintings that made the show and Pak had two as well. Cammi's show pieces were from regular art class and honors art. She did great!
We are in the running to get a pool. We originally wanted a fiberglass pool where they just insert a deluxe, grandiose bathtub (like twenty thousand gallons sized) in a hole in the yard. Then, concrete around it and voila! But, we have been told that around this area, the soil is sandy and the fiberglass cracks. So, back to the drawing board. I want to hurry up because I want to use it ASAP!! Any horror stories or success stories with pools out there? We have a couple of options: concrete sided pool or one with a liner (all inground, not above ground...).

Sunday's events, Round 2

Last Sunday was the eventful yard accident that I posted pics of. This Sunday, as the Husband and I were grimy, sweaty, stinky, and tired, sirens were heard. My brother called me to tell me that the sirens were going to my mother and father in law's house that they are building. He said over the police/fire scanner he heard that a 57 year old woman fell down stairs. Yep. You guessed it. It was my mother-in-law. We rushed out there and they had her loaded in the ambulance. She was woozy and out of it. She had fallen about four feet or so down some steps that were leading up to a makeshift porch/deck. She fell backwards and broke her wrist in several places, hit the back of her head and also her back. She had her wrist casted and then got to come home. One more Sunday afternoon spent in an adrenaline rush. Damn, I can't take much more excitement. I wonder what this Sunday's Mother's Day will bring???

Another accident at the homestead

We have a curse on our house (on our lives, actually, but I'm trying to be optimistic). This Sunday, as my eldest daughter and I were driving home from spending around $250 at Wal-Mart for what seemed like nearly nothing, we got a phone call from my husband. He said we had had quite a stir at our house. I initially thought one of the dogs got hit or worse. Nope. The old man (in his eighties) next door got his car stuck in reverse at 60mph and created havoc on our block. He ran through our yard and two others, coming to a stop when hitting a car parked in a driveway. In our yard he ran over some tree/bushes, a cement stone in the yard, our fiberglass picket fence, ramped the ledge above the sidewalk, went between two trees (barely missing a firehydrant). He uprooted more trees in our neighbors yard after crossing Main Street, avoiding a motorcycle and another car. They screeched their tires to miss him. It was a major event in our town. Our town is so small that after it happened, it looked like a fourth of July parade - everyone comes out of the woodwork to gawk, point, and whisper. The man is okay, thank goodness, but embarrassed nonetheless. Thank God my kids weren't in the yard playing. They would have been killed.

Here are some pics, which don't really do the event justice.

Weekend report

The girls are away at their dad's house and I have slept my life away here this weekend. I am totally exhausted.
Yesterday was a gorgeous day here in Indiana. Of course, we all know that is an oxymoron -Gorgeous Day in Indiana...but, I got to hang clothes on the line to dry. It was amazing. And today, I am washing the sheets as we speak so that I can hang them out to dry, too. This coming weekend I plan to get some flower seeds with the kids and plant those. Awesome!
I have talked to my mom on the phone a couple of times this week. She finally sounds human again over the phone. It is wild, hearing her voice sound like it used to. Not that she is out of the woods or feels fantastic, but she is inching closer to normalcy, I think, anyway. She told me yesterday she kind of feels like she is "just here", but I told her how great it was to hear her sound better, even if she didn't feel great.
This week was a whirlwind of a money pit -- the lease we have on the Envoy is paying off in such magnitude...NOT. I had a flat tire this week. It was so flat that it couldn't even be driven down to the service station about three blocks from my house. I had to walk to my mom's and borrow her car for the day. Then, after having the service station guy come to my house and get the tire, repair it, put it back on, we had to drive the damn thing to the next town from us (that has a Wal-Mart), and get four brand new tires. You see, when you lease a car, you have to keep things wonderful on it. You have to have so much tread on your tires when you go to turn it in or you get penalized. And believe me, with as many miles as we've gone over on our allotment, we are being penalized enough already. The tires were bald, so we had to get them. $500+ for the four tires. THAT wasn't in the budget for the week. I'm ready to turn the damn thing in early and take all penalties. I'm over it. We have put over $1,000 in the thing the last month. That's no to mention having to pay the lease payment on top of that for the pure enjoyment of driving the beast. Plus, it cost 65.00 to fill the tank with gas, and I can't make it a week on one tank! You do the math!!!
Well, washer is buzzing, telling me the sheets are clean and ready to be put on the clothesline. Until tomorrow...

Hey.

Hi all. Me, here. So, I read about this assignment that a shrink gave a person. This assignment was a list of ten questions supposed to be handed out to five people that knew the client well. These five people then answered the questions about the client honestly and openly. The questions were quite thought provoking. I would love to give those questions to five people I trust and know and see just what answers turn up. I won't, though. It simply won't work. First, I can't think of five people I talk to on a regular basis who "know" me as I am right now. Secondly, if I did know five people, they would think of me as the biggest moron on the planet. So, the list of questions will remain frozen.

Cam is playing travel team basketball, right? I believe I've already stated that. Yesterday she had a game that took us an hour to get to. I had no idea it was that far away. I just kept driving, looking for this particular road I was told to turn on. Unfortunately, going 70-80mph and thirty-five minutes later than I thought, it turned up - you see, I thought for sure I must have gone the wrong way or missed the turn. Nope. The turn arrived around an hour after our departure from home. Wow. Tonight, she had another game around forty minutes from home. That was do-able. She kicked ass. She gets these awesome, "I'll kick your ass in a hearbeat" faces when she is on the court. She gets into it. She rebounds and ain't-nobody-gettin'-the-ball from her. It rocks. Someone in the crowd of parents tonight kind of chuckled at one of her faces and looked my way. I said, "Man, wouldn't you like to have those expressions on film!?" The parent replied, "Wonder where she gets that from?!" I laughed. Then I said, "Duh, her dad."