Thursday, August 13, 2009

Venting

I just don't get it. The economy is pretty crappy and people are, well people are broke. Myself included. I have a baby sitter. She is broke. She is a stay at home mom. I pay her decent money. I provide diapers, wipes, formula, baby food; everything. She is hot to get paid every week. Just the other day she was going on and on about being broke...They bought a fish tank off of Craigs.list for $100 because it was a steal. I cannot afford food and she can buy a fish tank. They just redid the inside of their house. Repainted, ripped out the carpet and put new carpet. In the kitchen, hall and living room put down laminate floor! And again, my freezer echos. She came from living on welfare as a child and not having food for snacks and such. We have canned food, and our church helps with commodit.ies so we don't starve. Our menu consists of a lot of pasta food while they eat steaks and such.

Back to the story...my son's boy scout troop was offered a great opportunity. To work as a not for profit organization and get a fund raising activity. Paying the troop for each person who works $10 an hour for working the festival. On a weekend directing traffic to parking spots! You know the flag people. Apparently this work is above her. Apparently, it makes more sense to complain about being broke and not get off your behind and do something about it. I'm sick and tired of hearing about it already.

Sit on your big behind and eat your steaks while complaining about no money while I work my tail off flagging traffic so my children can eat hot dogs and Ramon noodles and my house doesn't get foreclosed on and my utilities don't get shut off.

Monday, August 03, 2009

Summer

I cannot wait for school to start! We have had a pretty mild winter thus far. The kids are having a marvelous time and have not killed each other at home. Thumper is growing up so fast. She has 2 teeth with 2 more coming any day now. Things on PIA front have been surprisingly quiet. She keeps pawning the children on us every single chance she gets though. Not too surprising there.

Brother in law and Sister in law are not coming to stay. For sure. BIL tried to fight Superdaddy 2 weekends ago and than disappeared in middle of the night. I assume he went to my other BIL's house. Cannot seem to get Father in law to answer the phone to verify. That is totally OK with me.

I heard through grapevine that min Mother in law lost her home to foreclosure. Due to helping BIL out. Pretty sad. 2 years ago the house was paid for with no mortgage. Now this. I drove by the other day and the yard was EMPTY. Didn't see in the house but there was curtains on the windows.

Have a blessed week. Lord knows I need a vacation!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Peanut News!

If you are on my face book you know I have a friend who was pregnant and due October. She had her baby Monday at 28w5d. Lil peanut was 2lbs 14oz. She is doing really well from what I gather. She is only on Cpap and a pic line with tube feedings. Mom is doing better. She was not doing so well at birth obviously. They did an emergency c-section. I got to see peanut yesterday after work. She is so tiny. I cannot get over how tiny her head is...about the size of an apple. Today peanut's mom asked me if I was coming to visit. She wanted to know if I wanted to hold the baby. What the heck do you do with a baby so small? I know she won't break but still!!

Her poor daughter is in Ohio and doesn't know yet. I got one up on her lol. Daughter C is in my girl scout troop. Daughter K is in Ohio too. I never met her though. Daughter M is gonna give her momma a run for her money. She is only 8 months old and hell on wheels I tell ya. She just found her crawling legs and there is no stopping her now.

I hope I can find my camera cable so I can post a picture of precious Peanut.

I have so much going on this weekend with Superdaddy's birthday Saturday, Bubba's presentation Saturday, and Thumper's baptism Sunday. My brother will be flying in tomorrow night for the festivities. Hope to have some great pictures to share soon.

Take care and behave!!

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Humbled

Superdaddy has been talking about wanting to make himself more "available" job wise. He and I have talked about getting his hazmat license. There have been a lot of job postings in our area for tanker haulers. We have talked about him getting his tanker permit as well as his doubles permit. I wouldn't mind if he had his tanker permit as long as he didn't haul gas or fuel. For the reason below.

That happened about 7 miles from my house. The smell is still in the air even by my house. The girls and I watched the news after hearing about it from family who was concerned we might want to travel I-75 from scout camp. Absolutely horrifying story. Details were sketchy last night (obviously). I was a little peeved though to read on Face.book from a friend of mine precisely "That is why irresponsible drivers become truck drivers. They really need to go to school longer. They run red lights and don't care just because they are bigger than everyone else." Talk about my blood pressure boiling!!

Superdaddy and I cannot be in the same vehicle if I am driving and he is being chauffeured around. He doesn't like how I drive now apparently since becoming a driver. Drives me insane.

I will update on family happenings tomorrow or later today.

My worst fear

Tanker Explodes On I-75 In Hazel Park
Explosion Causes Bridge To Collapse

POSTED: Wednesday, July 15, 2009
UPDATED: 8:50 am EDT July 16, 2009

HAZEL PARK, Mich. -- A two mile stretch of Interstate 75 remians closed in both directions at 9 Mile Road in Hazel Park after a tanker exploded. Police said the tanker rolled over on the northbound lanes of the freeway shortly after 8 p.m. "It was like armageddon. It was crazy," said Autumn. "I was laying in bed and heard a big explosion and saw smoke everywhere."

Watch: RAW VIDEO: Tanker ExplosionImages: Tanker Explosion

Police said a 27-year-old driver of a car lost control while driving about 70 miles per hour along a curve and collided with the tanker.

"This truck veered off to the right. It looks like it might have been cut off," said witness Troy. "Then there was this fireball. Then there was explosion after explosion after explosion."
Police said the flames caused the Nine Mile Road bridge over I-75 to collapse.

Three people suffered minor injuries.

A contractor is expected to be named shortly for repair work to begin. A crane will need to be brought in to lift the overpass.

Hazel Park firefighters are standing by in case any hot spots remain.
The tanker is reported to have been carrying around 9,000 gallons of fuel. Utility companies expressed concern over a natural gas pipeline that runs in the general area. DTE Energy said 2,000 customers are without power due to the accident. Department of Transportation officials are assessing the damage. There is no word on when I-75 will reopen. The eastbound I-696 ramp to northbound I-75 has reopened. However, the Nine Mile service drive remains closed.
Drivers are being urged to use Woodward Avenue as an alternate route.

Original story posted here.

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

All in a days work

I have an Eagle Scout. Officially he will be presented and celebrated July 25. I am so proud of him. How much he has matured over time. Yeah I know, the kid will be starting drivers education Monday. How the heck did that happen?

The kiddo's will be out of school next week. Another summer with bored children. haha. I hope we can find something to keep them busy every day.

Superdaddy is still working at his job thank heavens. We are trying to adjust to having 1/3 of a paycheck that he used to have. Hopefully things will iron out soon.

New job brings him home everyday but once a week. Part of me misses him being gone all week. Talk about feeling guilty about it. I wish some days he would be gone a few more days. Never mind him having to drive to and from work everyday and gas prices are going up and up again. Our grocery bill is going up. I used to package food for me and the kids for the week, and package family packs for the weekends. Well to be honest, for the first time in almost 2 months, it is time for the grocery store. Never mind I go almost weekly for bread and dairy products. Our freezer has never been so empty. Can almost holler into it and have an echo back.

I know I am so thankful that PIA has gotten married. She is so preoccupied with her new hubby that she is finally leaving my hubby alone. Last weekend she tried to dump kids on Superdaddy but he was out of town for work and told her to call me. No phone call so I was let off the hook.

Hope everyone is ready to have a wonderful summer. I know I am.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Eagle Scout?

My brain is fried. My anxiety level is so very high. I have forgotten to mention a "good anxiety peaker". Bubba has his "Eagle Board of Review" today. HOLY CRAP!!!

I almost have an Eagle scout at my house!

Anxiety my friend

Looks like I'm gonna be a mom again.

Sigh



Superdaddy's little brother will be staying with us for a little while. He wants to go to school and get his diploma and such. He is 18 and I am clueless!!! I have an almost 16 year old. I don't know how I will cope with an 8 year old.

Oh yeah, and his 14 year old sister will be staying with us for the summer. She is the one I wrote about last summer.

Yeah 2 more mouths to feed. 2 more people's laundry. I am not dealing well right now. My anxiety level is beyond peeked.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Belated!!

Things have been chugging along.

Happy belated Mother's day to everyone. Those that have babies, those that have 4 legged babies, those that are desperately trying for babies, those that have angel babies, those that are parents to babies who don't belong to them.

Mother's day was wonderful. I was woken up at 5:30 by a baby Thumper who just wanted to cuddle. Again at 6:30 by Miss G wanting to tell dad Miss J made me breakfast instead of them all making it. Again at 6:45 by Miss M telling on Miss J. Yet again at 6:50 by chicky telling dad that I'm gonna be mad for having eggs and cereal all at once. Yes, my breakfast consisted of:

2 over easy eggs (pink eggs) by Miss G
butchered apple by Miss M
huge glass of cherry Koolaid (yuck) Chicky
Cereal and milk (Miss J)
banana (Miss J)

Lots of blessings. I was blessed beyond belief that after the girls woke me up I got Thumper to sleep with me on the couch for some cuddle time. Slept through church oops. I made home made macaroni & cheese YUM. The girls had to go home at 4:00 pm though.

My grand parents finally made it from Florida for the summer. They have yet to see Thumper until Saturday. I took the girls over to visit them. It was so nice to see them again. Need to get pictures next time. They are getting up there in age.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Words to live by

Lord, please keep Your arm around my shoulders and Your hand over my mouth! Amen

Monday, April 27, 2009

Three's

The master cylinder has proven to be a royal pain in the rear end. Well rather not the cylinder itself, but the bolt that holds the darn thing onto the car. It has been stripped out by a nameless child of mine that was working on removing it for repair.

My lovely daughter, Miss J has pointed out to me that it comes in Threes.

Car 1.) Blower motor in van goes out. No heat, no air, no defroster
Car 2.) Master Cylinder goes out. No brakes. Just found out it is a dealer only part. Apparently cars from1990 did not come with ABS; only the SSE's and that was a special order part. That special order part costs $2,000 to reoder. That is more than the value of my 1990 SSE car with over 223,000 miles on it. Just lovely.
Car 3.) Yet to come

House 1.) Water in bathroom; Sprinkler
House 2.) Furnace blower goes out: no heat, no air. Cost of replacement part is to the tune of $200.
House 3.) Yet to come

Banking 1.) Foreclosure?
Banking 2.) IRS seizing assets
Banking 3.) Yet to come

Sheesh!! I cannot wait to spend some time outdoors. Heck, I long to mow the lawn now a days. How crazy is that?

Monday, April 20, 2009

Dumped again

Lately things have dumped...and dumped...and dumped. And regarding my last post, I am not suicidial.

Right before Christmas, Superdaddy got laid off of work. For almost whole month of December. All of January and almost all of February. He was looking for a job during that time. Trust me he was a looking.

He never did get called back to the OO job. Any who, on maternity leave, we get 40% of our pay. Needless to say, we owed February, March, and April house note. Shut offs for utilities because one month we paid Gas and next month electric. Never mind our water bill is past due too (they are gonna put a lien on our home apparently).

Mortgage company will not make payment arrangements. I even offered them a payment and a half. No dice. All or nothing. I got paid Friday and got a certified check for a payment and a half and paid the baby sitter. I have exactly enough to have gas to go to work all week...or so I thought.

Last week I made arrangements with IRS for back taxes Superdaddy owes. He was 1099'd by an old boss. Actually 2 times 1099'd. Don't ask me how, but we only got one and only filed one. Needless to say, we owe close to $3000 for 2006. I knew we would owe this year and had to do the taxes to find out what we owed so I could make arrangements. I did and made them arrangements last week. YIPPEE!!!

IRS seized my assets. MINE!! Not Superdaddy's. They froze my bank account today. The froze and confiscated my children's bank accounts today. As in, I have no gas money to get to work rest of week.

I am so tired of living paycheck to paycheck. How do I tell mortgage company they took my accounts? How do I tell the sitter, she won't get paid next week?

Never mind, last night Chicky was taking a bath and the water wouldn't shut off. As in the hot water!! It kept going and going. We turned it off at the hot water tank. Therefore no hot water. Superdaddy fixed it today at the grand cost of $10 for parts, never mind the shower curtain rod, and the wall, and the paneling. Yeah.

Today the master cylinder went out on our 1990 car. This car has 230,000 miles. Is it worth it to fix it? That and the trans is slipping pretty good. Never mind we cannot get a new used car.

We are blessed to have 6 healthy children and employment. We are blessed to have a roof over heads (even if just for today). We are blessed to have some food in our home. Tomorrow is a new day. We will be blessed for another morning we wake up breathing.

Life

She's home from Chicago, she had a great time.

The IRS sucks....Now I understand why people take their own lives.

Dear God, make me a bird so I can fly far...far, far away from here. (Forrest Gump)

One day at a time

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Irritation

I have a friend. She watches my kids. Tomorrow I have a wedding to go to and she will be watching Thumper and Chicky. She asked me to bring hamburger over so Chicky could eat Hamburgers with them. I guess that is what they are having for dinner. You cannot tell me that my 5 year old will eat them out of house and home. My burger is frozen into 2lb packages. I don't have money to go buy enough burger for her to have a burger. I said well I will bring McDonald's hamburger for her. She was like there are other kids here and that isn't fair. Uggg.

The IRS is going to garnish my bank account for taxes we owe. Never mind I called 3-4 times to set up arrangements but they didn't want to make arrangements until I filed taxes this year. We owe a total of $3,900. There are people who owe so much more and they go years and years. I just don't get it. Why do they insist on punishing the "struggling lower-middle class".

Off my pity potty. Good night.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Another day in paradise

So Miss J is in Chicago. I am still stressed. My Ex-SIL had made a comment that "maybe I'll just keep her forever". Can I tell you that particular situation has been in my dreams since before J went down there.

Miss J called me yesterday. Things seem to be going good. I miss her.

Saturday is the affordable vaccinate your animal day in our city. Great and wonderful. However, Superdaddy, mom and Bubba will all be at scout camp. I have to take my 60 lb German Shepherd, moms 40 lb Beagle, moms 10 lb. cat, my 8 lb cat, Chicky and Thumper and do this on my own!! This should be comical to say the least. Oh yeah, and I have a wedding to go to at 3:30.

My SIL called me today. She wanted to know if Miss S still has my insurance. She called from my MIL's phone. Why MIL didn't call me is beyond me. Something about "This is SIL. I wanted to know if Miss S still has Insurance? We found the insurance card and wanted to know if it would work to take her to the doctor. She is pretty sick." Are you kidding me? "If they need your SS# I will call you back." This is the same SIL who hit my friends car 3 years ago. The same SIL that just screwed over PIA with Girl Scout Cookies. MIL has guardianship over her. MIL is supposed to provide insurance on her not us. I had her on my insurance plan as a courtesy and in case Miss S decided to come stay with us, she already had insurance. My job allows for me to provide insurance for my step-children one we got married. With the economy, my premium was going up as with everyone else's and we opted to drop her off our insurance (haven't seen her in over 3 years). We will see how the dice land this time.

Stress

A lecturer when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glassof water and asked
How heavy is this glass of water?

Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.
The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter.
It depends on how long you try to hold it.

If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem.
If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm.
If I hold it for a day, you;ll have to call an ambulance.

In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.

He continued,
An that's the way it is with stress management.
If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later,
As the burden becomes increasingly heavy,
we won't be able to carry on.

As with the glass of water,
You have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again.
When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden.

So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down.

Don't carry it home.
You can pick it up tomorrow.
Whatever burdens you're carring now,
Let them down for a moment if you can.

So, my friend, put down anything that may be a burden to you right now.
Don't pick it up again until after you've rested a while.
Here are some great ways of dealing with the burdens of life:

*Accept that some days you're the pigeon,
And some days you're the statue.

* Always keep your words soft and sweet,
Just in case you have to eat them.

*Always wear stuff that will make you look good
If you die in the middle of it.

*Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be
recalled by their maker.

*If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.

*If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again,
It was probably worth it.

*It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to be kind to others.

*Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time,
because then you won't have a leg to stand on.

*Nobody cares if you can't dance well.
Just get up and dance.

*Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.

*The second mouse gets the cheese.

*When everything's coming your way,
You're in the wrong lane.

*Birthdays are good for you.
The more you have, the longer you live.

*You may be only one person in the world,
But you may also be the world to one person.

*Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.

*We could learn a lot from crayons...Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull.
Some have weird names, and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.

*A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

Have an awesome day and know that someone has thought about you today... I did

Monday, April 13, 2009

Anxiety

Miss J is going to Chicago to spend some time with her aunt. I am beside myself with anxiety. Not that Auntie has the capability of taking care of an 11 year old; just the fact that she hasn't spoken to or seen Auntie in almost 4 years except for a handful of times. Literally I can count on one hand the times. J is so excited to go. I cannot bear the thought of not letting her go. Bubba is kinda disappointed he doesn't get to go somewhere for spring break. I told him maybe next year. He was invited to go to Chicago as well, but he has baseball practice.

Good golly I sure do need a drink.

Hope everyone had a great Easter. I know mine was busy as is all the holiday's.

Thursday, April 09, 2009

The garbage truck rule

The Garbage Truck Rule – anonymous

One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And, I mean, he was really friendly.

So I asked, “Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!” This is when my tax driver taught me what I now call, ‘The Law of the Garbage Truck’.

He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they’ll dump it on you. Don’t take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don’t take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day. Life’s too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so… Love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don’t.
Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent attitude!

Have a garbage-free day!

Monday, April 06, 2009

Dont send me to Girl Scout Camp

Please mom don't send me to girl scout camp!

This weekend was draining. We went to Girl Scout Camp. Had a blast. 24 lil girls wanting to "mother" baby Thumper. Yes she went to camp with us. Daddy didn't think he could survive a whole weekend alone with her. That and one of my leaders wanted to have a weekend sleep over with Thumper.

One of the lil girls got sick on Friday night...in her sleep. As in, she didn't wake anyone up. As in, she slept in her sleeping bag filled with regurgitation. Saturday her lips turned blue.

Who the hell sends their child to camp an hour and a half from home and doesn't answer the phone that they gave the leader to call for emergencies?? They do. I left 5 messages! They didn't call back. Never mind she vomited in her sleep, never mind her lips turned blue. NO ANSWER. NO RETURN CALL!

Finally got a hold of the grandmother who got a hold of the parents. They couldn't pick her up. My mom had to drive her home. The dad claimed he took her to urgent care. There was nothing wrong with her. The doctor told the dad the blue lips were from lack of oxygen. NO doubt! Her mom said it was probably just poor lighting in the cabin.

Oye. Will post a picture of this really wicked bridge the girls went on when I get mom's camera. The bridge was about 5 feet off of water. A beaver built a dam under the bridge. The bridge was about 18 inches wide. With no rails to hold onto. We crossed it.

I now need a vacation.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Burnout!

It has been a long week. Things are status quo around here.

I have been asking myself what the hell did I get myself into? More times this last week than I have I think in my lifetime.

PIA has been letting the kids come over for church during the week. This is great for the kids have been wanting to go to church for the Monday kids program for the last 5 years. Plus midweek services and such. Problem is...I have child burn out. I love the kids dearly with all my heart, I am just burned out.

My girl scout troop is going camping this weekend coming up. I have so much to do to prepare for camp myself and yet I have the kids under foot and I have to pack them for camp too. It is "our" activity so we have to provide the "supplies". Thumper will be joining us for camp as well.

The Circus is coming to town. I don't mean my children will be in town. The Shr.iners have donated 5,000 tickets to this Thursday's circus. I along with hundreds of other Detroiter's braved the cold wind to get 4 free tickets per family. See the logistics. Only 4 tickets. I had to drag my mom's butt out of bed to stand in line with me. We almost got tickets in different areas. Luckily I had the brains to ask if it was seat specific which it was and drag mom's butt to my window to get consecutive seats. Even had to drag Eddie (my babysitter/friend's husband) to my window so we could all sit together.

Bottom line, this was our weekend. Had the kids last week, Friday (scouts), Saturday overnight to Sunday (Miss G came), Monday (church), Wednesday (church), Friday (scouts), Saturday, Sunday, Monday (church), Wednesday (church), Thursday (circus), Friday (scout camp), Saturday (scout camp), Sunday (scout camp), Monday (church play), Thursday (church), Friday (church) in the last 2 weeks. I think she should be paying me child support. Ha Ha!

The issues are still there at home. I think he is ready to bolt. This economy sucks, we are sinking and both tired of not having any money for anything. We still have not celebrated Chicky's birthday, let alone Miss J's or Miss G's birthday. We barely have gas money to get to work this week. I know it is ever where and I apologize for making it my "pity potty". It just sucks.

Parenting teenagers suck....Parenting pre-teen's sucks even more. Reality vs Fantasy. The lies the children come up with. The rooms that never see clean floors. The dressers that remain empty even after laundry has been done. Oye.

Just another day in Paradise.