Buster Bear Starts School

     Buster Bear woke up feeling very sad on Monday morning. He was sad and a little scared. Buster Bear was starting school that day.

     Buster was sad because he had never been away from his mother before, and he didn’t want to be away from her now. He was scared because he wouldn’t know anyone at school.

     Mama Bear had been trying to comfort him for days.

     “Buster,” she said, “there is no reason to be sad about being away from me. You will only be at school for a couple of hours each day. I promise you will have fun.”

     “But Mama, ” cried Buster, ” I won’t know anyone there, and I’m scared. What if nobody likes me?”

     “Oh sweetie, you’ll make lots of friends,” Mama replied, “and you’ll play lots of games.”

     While eating his cereal with honey, Buster began to cry. “Please don’t make me go Mama!” he begged. Let me stay here with you. We can play games.”

     Mama Bear said firmly, “Now Buster, you have to go to school. I understand that you are scared. If it will make you feel better, I will go with you, to show you there is no reason to be scared.”

     “Oh, all right. If I have to.” Buster replied sadly. “But I know I won’t like it.”

     Buster finished his breakfast, then he and Mama walked to his new school.

     The school was in a meadow in the middle of the forest. It was run by Mrs. Owl, who was very old and very wise.

     When they arrived at the school, Mama and Buster went to Mrs. Owl’s office. Mrs. Owl, who was also very nice, offered to take them to Buster’s classroom to meet his teacher, Mrs. Fox.  She led them down the hall to room that Buster saw was filled with children laughing and playing. He saw there was even another bear cub inside.

     “Now, this doesn’t look so bad, does it?” asked Mama Bear.

     Before Buster could answer, Mrs. Fox walked over. “Hello, you must be Buster.” she said. “I was beginning to think you weren’t going to make it.”

     Buster hid behind his mother.

     “Buster is a little scared.” explained Mama.

     “Well,” stated Mrs. Owl, “we shall have to help him to get over his fear, won’t we.”

     Mrs. Fox knelt down and asked, “Don’t you want to stay here and play with the other children, Buster?”

     Buster peeked into the classroom from behind his mother. Just then, the other bear cub and a beaver kit ran up to them.

     “Hi, my name’s Beth, what’s yours?” asked the bear cub.

     Curious, Buster took a small step from behind his mother. “I’m Buster.” he replied shyly.

     “My name is Bart.” stated the beaver. “Want to play?”

     Buster took another small step toward Beth and Bart, then stopped and looked up at his mother.

     “Go ahead.” she encouraged. “It’s all right.”

     Buster hesitated for a second, then he followed his new friends into the classroom. Soon the three of them were playing together happily.

     “See, he only needed a little time to adjust.” stated Mrs. Owl, smiling as she started back to her office.

     “If you’d like, you can stay and watch for a little while.” suggested Mrs. Fox. “Just to make sure he isn’t scared anymore.”

     “I’d like that, thank you.” replied Mama Bear.

     Mama Bear sat and watched Buster play and make new friends. After a short while, she went home to fix his lunch before picking him up from school. Halfway to the school, Mama Bear met Beth, Beth’s mother and Buster. Beth’s mother had offered to walk him home. Mama invited them to lunch. 

     After lunch, Beth and Buster played while their mothers sat and talked. They decided to take turns walking the cubs to and from school since they lived in the same part of the forest.

     As soon as Beth and her mother left, Buster began to tell his mother about his first day at school.

     “I got to play with blocks and trucks and a little drum. And I learned some of my ABC’s!” said Buster excitedly. “I even got to play on the computer some!”

     “Slow down.” laughed Mama Bear. “I take it you had fun at school today, and found out there was nothing to be afraid of?”

     “Oh yes!” exclaimed Buster. “Mrs. Fox is so nice, and Bart and Beth are fun.”

     “I’m glad you like school, sweetie.” Mama Bear stated. “I am also happy that you aren’t scared anymore.”

     “I still don’t like being away from you, Mama; but I don’t think about it much at school. There is so much to do there.”

     “I am so proud of the way you faced your fear today.” said Mama, hugging Buster. “Why don’t you go play or watch a video until Daddy gets home. I have to start dinner.”

     That evening, Buster told his father all about his first day of school and the friends he had made there.

     “I was scared at first,” he said, “but I’m not anymore. I can’t wait to go to school again tomorrow!”

     “That’s my big, brave boy.” said daddy, giving Buster a hug.

     Mama then told Daddy and Buster about the arrangements she and Beth’s mother had made about walking the cubs to and from school.

     “Oh goody!” exclaimed Buster, grinning widely.

     That night, Buster went to bed happy, and eager for morning to come. He couldn’t wait to see Beth, Bart and Mrs. Fox again. He couldn’t wait to go to school again. He had found out that school was not scary and learning was fun.

 

Why I am no longer employed (and the reason you should not eat at the Shoney’s in Grenada, Mississippi)

While writing my last post, I mentioned that I was no longer working and stated that I would explain the reason in a new blog. Well, this is that blog.

As I said in my last blog, I nearly lost my job before I even started it due to our roommate bailing on me as far as a ride to work during my first week there. I managed to work things out. I went to work my first day, planning on a day of being trained for my new position, as I had never worked the buffet at any of the restaurants I had worked at before this. Boy was I mistaken as to what my first day would entail.

I was taken to the prep kitchen by one of the managers, where I was introduced to the general manager and a manager she was training to take over at another store. I was then taken into the walk-in cooler so the manager I was working with could get some items he needed for the prep work. The manager that was supposed to be training me then proceeded to walk away to do prep work that needed to be done in the grill area, leaving me standing in the prep kitchen not knowing what to do.

The general manager showed me the binder with all the recipes for items such as cornbread muffins and told me that I was to always follow the recipes when doing the prep. She then went back to the person she was training and left me wondering what I was supposed to be doing. I went in search of the manager I was supposed to be working with. He told me to go get some stuff out of the walk-in and the freezer, he did so without having given me a tour of the back area of the restaurant so that I would know where everything was.

I went and searched for what he needed, as it was now obvious that I was not going to be trained at all; but was just going to be left to do the job with no clue of what I was doing. I was finally given some real work to do. I was asked to make up some cornbread muffins. So, I went to get the binder of recipes from the general manager and began to mix the batter. Once the batter was done, I went to grab some muffin pans off of the rack of “clean” dishes. Every single muffin pan had bits of muffin from the day before stuck all over them. Cornbread muffins are only made for the breakfast buffet and we had just opened for the day, so I know it was from the previous day. I took several of the muffin pans to the sink and started to wash them so I could use them. At this point, one of the managers came and asked me, “what the hell” I thought I was doing. When I explained that I was washing the pans so they could be used, I was told that they had been washed the night before and to just make the damn muffins.

I quickly noticed that no one there did more than a half-ass washing of any of the cooking utensils, pots, pans or anything used to put the food onto the buffet. Whenever I tried to wash any of it so that we were serving the food on clean items, I was told it was already clean. It was utterly disgusting! However, I needed the job, so I continued to work there. I saw roaches around the buffet, and when I moved one of the rolling coolers for keeping cold buffet items cool in the waitress station, there was 3 inches of filth under there. I don’t think anyone ever bothered to clean under anything in that place. Yet, I kept working because we needed the money.

I worked there for 4 weeks, getting maybe 15 hours a week; and I was never trained for my job. I had 5 different managers telling me 5 different ways to do my job. All them got mad if I wasn’t doing things their way, and yet none could understand why I had no idea of exactly how to do said job. I made to work however I could, as Leann was constantly making excuses as to why she couldn’t take me or pick me up. I even made it to work for 5 aam shifts a couple of times after spending the night in the er with Lunatic.

When we found out that unemployment was approved to continue, Lunatic and I discussed it and decided that when the checks started again I could quit to look for another job. Leann sort of beat me to it though. I asked her to check my schedule for me when she went into work (she worked the day it came out that week and I didn’t), she told me I wasn’t on the schedule anymore. I called to verify that and was told the same thing by the co-worker/manager that answere the phone. I then figured that I no longer had a job. Leann decided she didn’t need a second job anymore and just didn’t bother to chow up for any of her last 3 shifts for that week.

When we went to pick up our last checks, I was asked why I had never called for my new schedule. It seems that without discussing it with me or letting me know in any way, the scheduling manager had decided to give me a week off because of Lunatic’s visits to the er. I wound up telling him that I just couldn’t work there anymore; afte letting him know that I had called to see why I wasn’t scheduled and was told I was no longer on the schedule.

I just got tired of working in a nasty, filthy place that I would not feel right recommending to anyone; and I was tired of having several of the managers I worked with constantly yelling at me due to the fact they never bothered to train me properly for the job. When I started yelling back, I knew it was time to go anyway. Especially since I wasn’t even making enough to pay much toward anything as far as our bills.

I have asked Leann repeatedly to take me out to look for a new job since then, but she always tells me that she either doesn’t have the gas money or that she has no time. I found out last month that she told Lunatic that she was not taking me job hunting because she figured I would do the same at any other job I got as I did with the job at Shoney’s. Not sure what she meant by that, as I worked my butt off at a job I didn’t like until she told me I no longer worked there. She is the one who quit with no notice (hell she didn’t even tell them she was quitting, let alone give them any notice). I at least thought I no longer had a job when I stopped showing up.

And, that is why I am no longer employed.

I highly recommend that you NEVER eat at the Shoney’s Family restaurant in Grenada, Mississippi!

Inconsiderate and irresponsible roommates

As I said earlier, I have not been blogging regularly because I tend to use my blog for bitching. I also have been having computer problems, and have not been able to do a lot online; but that is beside the point. I have decided that if I need to bitch, that doing so in my blog is the safest way to do so, since if I don’t get to vent about what is ticking me off I may just go off on someone.

That being said, Lunatic and I have the most inconsiderate and irresponsible roommate we have ever had right now. We moved to Mississippi because Leann knew that we were having problems saving any money or paying for Lunayic’s meds with the cost of our housing. She had an extra room and said that our moving in with her would save all of us money on rent and utilities. So, we took one entire unemployment payment, rented a U-haul, and moved all we own down here to move in with Leann.

Yes, she had an extra room, though she had not bothered to clean all of her stuff out of it before we moved in. So, we had to sleep on the futon in the living room of her very small apartment. The living room also had totes full of her stuff stacked up all over it. The apartment was above a garage, with rather steep steps leading up to it. This made it difficult for both Lunatic and myself, as we both have health problems that make climbimg stairs difficult.

When we were discussing with Leann the possibility of moving to Mississippi, she informed us that she didn’t care if we tended to be a little cluttered as long as we kept it in our room. That would have worked if we actually had our own room when we moved in with her. As it was, whatever clutter we had (which wasn’t much since she had us put most of our stuff in either the garage or the room that was supposed to be ours) was added to all of hers in the living room. Before we moved, we were also informed that she didn’t care if dishes were put off until the following day, but she did not want dirty dishes stacking up for days at a time. When we moved in, every dish, pot and pan she owned was sitting dirty in both sinks, every bit of counter space and even on the floor. She actually had a pan half-filled with spaghetti sitting on the kitchen floor next to the fridge. I wound up washing all of them after we had been there nearly a week and she never made a move to do so herself. I don’t always feel like doing dishes after dinner, but I try not to let them stack up to the point that there are no clean dishes left before I wash them.

Because it was going to take all of one of our checks just to move down here, Leann said that she would cover all costs for the month of June and half the month of July so we could get settled in. A week after we moved we found out that unemployment benefits had been stopped (the Senate was fighting about continuing them at the time), so we were waiting to see if benefits would start again; and had only one more check coming in until the Senate’s decision. This was the first week in June. From that time until the decision was made to continue unemployment, Leann would tell us daily that she could not afford to carry three of us, This was during the time she had told us we didn’t have to worry about paying toward anything after the move. She even got into the habit of opening any mail Lunatic got from Unemployment of Disabilty to see what was going on; she would hand me the open mail and comment that she hoped I didn’t mind her opening it. Even when I said I did mind she comtinued to do so.

Once we moved in, she stopped taking care of her puppy, stopped taking garbage down to the bin or out to the curb, stopped doing any cooking at all, and stopped doing any cleaning around the house. She left all of this to us. We soon found out something else she had stopped doing, even before we moved in with her.

When the unemployment was temporarily ended, she also started nagging me about getting a job. It took a little bit to get her to realize that she needed to be available to take me out and apply for jobs if she wanted me to get one so badly. Finally, she took me out to put in some applications; deciding that she needed a second job, she was also going to put in applications. We both wound up with jobs at the first place we applied. I needed a fulltime job, so Shoney’s gave me a parttime job working the buffet. Leann needed a parttime job to work around her fulltime job at the paper, so Shoney’s gave her a fulltime job as a waitress. She started a week before I did. Two days before I was supposed to start work, her mother was in a car accident and was hospitalized in Memphis. Leann went there to see if she was ok, telling me that she would definitely be back in time to get me to my first day of work. She said that she didn’t plan on staying any longer than it took to make sure her mom was going to be ok, as she was only going because it was her mom; but since she can’t stand her mom and wants her to stay out of her life, she wasn’t staying longer than necessary.

The night before I was supposed to start work, she called to say that she was not going to be home for several days. She said that her brother was making her stay because he couldn’t and that I needed to call in and ask to be rescheduled. Not a good thing to do on my first day at a new job.

I called in, but I was actually calling to see if there were any co-workers that lived close to me that started around the same time as me that could maybe give me a ride to work. The manager I spoke to was rude, he misunderstood what I was asking, and informed me that they gave me a job and it was not their responsibility to get me to work too. So, I explained the situation and asked if I could start work a day later so that I could try and find a ride in to work. I wound up asking our neighbor (whom I had only met once before then), and she was nice enough to take me to and from work both days I was scheduled for that week. Therefore, I didn’t lose my job, but by the end of the first day I was sort of wishing I had. I will blog about that later though.

Back to the roommate situation. We came to realize that the garage apartment was too small for the 3 of us, so Leann started looking for a little bit bigger place for all of us to move to. We were still waiting to see what was happening with the unemployment, but it was looking good; and if it didn’t start up again, Lunatic was elligible for one last emergency benefit check. Besides, I did have a little money coming in. We wound up finding a very nice place that could easily fit 2 and a half of the garage apartments in it.

The place we found is about 2200 square feet with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, living room, dining room, laundry room, den, 2 pantries and a HUGE kitchen with center island for $500 plus utilities. We found out that the unemployment was continuing and Lunatic would get back pay to June 2 just before we moved in. So, we were able to inexpensively furnish the house. Lunatic and I paid for all the new furniture, except for splitting the cost of the sectional with Leann.

We didn’t go overboard. We were still trying to watch our spending because we knew that the unemployment wouldn’t last forever. We didn’t realize there was anything wrong until Leann went to her dad’s one weekend. Lunatic picked up the phone to make a call, and the phone was dead. We knew it was charged, as it had been on the base all day; and we knew it wasn’t the electrical outlet, as Lunatic’s computer was plugged into the same outlet and it was still working. I started looking around to see if there was a shut-off notice for some reason. That is when I found all the bills stacked by the front door with mail for the previous tenants. All the bills were opened, so we know Leann got them. Looking at them ourselves, we found that there was a disconnect notice for the phone (the phone/internet hadn’t been paid since May), as well as overdue notices for the water/sewer and the electric. The total pastdue amount on all the bills was nearly $725. We had given her $300 to be put toward the bills 2 weeks earlier. None of the bills showed any payments made within 2 months before the pastdue notices I found. Come to find out, Leann had stopped paying everything but her rent at least a month before we moved in with her. Needless to say we were livid.

When we confronted her about the bills, she tried to tell us that after she deposited the check Lunatic gave her for bills into her account (so she could make a debit card payment on the bills), several bills she had set up for automatic payment had payments taken out early. We still haven’t gotten her to realize that when you have an automatic payment set up, the payment don’t get taken out early, they are taken out the same day every month. We paid what we could to try to catch the bills up, and we started changing the bills to our name so that we could actually keep tabs on payments better. At that time, it was mainly having phone/internet/cable turned on in Lunatic’s name as he needs his computer and the phone for his editing work. Having to try to cover the pastdue bills, when we had already paid our portion of them as well as our rent, started to tax our funds; especially since I was no longer working (will explain in another post).

On top of our half the rent, the $300 we gave for bills that never went toward bills (and was never paid back to us either), and the fridge and furnishings we needed for the house; we were buying all the groceries. Even though we were trying to be frugal, it was starting to tax our finances; yet Leann was eating out for lunch every day and bringing home fast food for dinner most nights (even with the kitchen fully stocked by us).

Then in October we find out that she still isn’t paying the bills, when both the water and the electricity are shut off. That was the second time the water was shut off. The first time it happened, Leann used her connections from the paper to cut the reconnect fee in half if she paid the entire amount owed in 2 weeks. When she didn’t pay it, the charged her a new reconnect fee plus what was owed. Lunatic and I paid that bill or nearly $100. The water bill is $27 a month, the reconnect fee is $50, and we had already paid nearly $70 of what was past due. How do you not pay a $27 water bill for so long that the past due amount is over $100? Anyway, when the electric was cut off, she again used a contact she had due to working for the paper, he agreed to drop the reconnect fee and have it turned back on immediately (no payment necessary at that moment) if Leann agreed to have the pat due anount paid by the following week and the current bill paid by the end of October. She didn’t stick to the agreement, then she was surprised when the power was cut off and tried to say that she didn’t remember what the agreement was.

She decided to have her account with the electric company closed and told me to call and have it turned on in my name so that Lunatic and I would have power, as everything in the kitchen (including the stove) is electric and we needed to be able to feed ourselves. That didn’t work, since she had herself down as the only tenant at this address at the power company, all they had to do is call the landlord and ask if she had moved out and new tenants had moved in; and then my request for service was denied. We were told that the power would not be turned back on until the pastdue amount of nearly $300 was paid, Leann’s reaction was to tell us there was nothing she could do. In order for us to have power without having to wait 3 weeks for her to pay her bills (as far as we were concerned it was her bill since we had paid nearly $1200 for bills since July) we had to pay it. It was understood that she would reimburse us for the cost of it. Lunatic was supposed to have one last check coming in a couple of days, and we did have some money left in the bank; so since the other check would be direct deposited in time to cover anything over what we had in the bank before an overdraft occurred, we called the next day and made the full payment of what was owed. We had to wait until the next day because Leann had to call and reinstate her account with the power company first. Little did we know that the last unemployment check was only going to be for one week instead of 2, so what we paid for the bill was not covered and we still wound up overdrawn.

I am still out of work (blog about that tomorrow), mainly because the few places within walking distance are not hiring and Leann refuses to take me out to look for a job anywhere else. Lunatic’s church is temporarily paying the rent (we have all but the water bill in our names and Leann took her name off the lease), we have a letter from Leann agreeing to pay $350 a month as her rent (which covers the bills and the food we provide her). We needed the agreement from Leann in writing for me to take in to the food stamp office to show how our bills are being paid with no income at present. We are hoping to just need help until January or February when Lunatic has his disability hearing. He has a lawyer for that now, so we are hoping for the best since he has a lot of trouble just getting around the house and has to lie down a lot during the day or his legs bother him.

Now that we have helped her get out from under all her bills, and helping her pay a lot toward her student loans (we found out that is where the $300 we gave her for bills went), she has informed us that she is moving out on the first of January. She says she will make sure we are caught up on bills first, but as the bills were due by 11/25 and 12/07 and the only one she has paid is the water bill; I doubt she will even do that, thereby completely screwing us after we helped her in order for our utilities to remain on. What really burns my butt is the fact that she says she is moving because she found a place that is only $300 a month with everything included when the agreement for her rent here is only $350 and that includes everything plus food.

If we didn’t need her to stay and help out with the bills, I would say good riddance, as she doesn’t do a damned thing around here anyway. She leaves her trash from tv dinners and such lying on the counters, she expects me to wash her dishes and I keep having to pick her bedding up from the living room as she refuses to clean her bed off and sleep in her room and has been using my living room as a flop house. We have to care for her dog and we do all the cooking, but she has no trouble eating what we make or anything we bought special for ourselves or all of us. Lunatic bought a 12 piece cheesecake assortment (all different chocolate cheesecakes) because I really wanted chocolate cheesecake. There were 3 slices of each flavor, so I said we each got 4 slices (1 slice of each flavor for each of us). I got 1 slice, Lunatic got 2; Leann ate the other 9 and when I called her on it, she used her period as an excuse.

Now you see why I say that she is inconsiderate and irresponsible. I also think that for her being the only staff reporter for the local newspaper, she has no integrity to speak of. She has no problem using her position to get help from department heads and such st the various utility companies, yet she never bothers to stick to the agreements she makes with them; which has ultinately screwed Lunatic and I over each time she does it.

I have so had it with being used and screwed over by people, especially when we have helped them out in some way. Most of all I am worried that Lunatic and I will lose our house and we have nowhere else to go now.

One Hundred and seven hours

making it folks!  I have selected a small reward for the first hundred hours.  The money I saved on cigarettes will be spent on a game that will give me no end of pleasure and relaxation.

Keep you updated as it progresses!

Well, I found someone i was looking for

Or should I say that she found me.  No, it was not Jasmine; but it was almost as good.  Thanks in part to my sister telling her how to find me on myspace, my very best friend ever got back in touch after 12 years.  I have missed her so much.  Kelli was my rock for nearly 10 years and then due to extenuating cicumstances that I cannot go into without her permission; we lost contact with each other.  When I lost Kelli from my life, it was like losing a part of myself.  She was my sister in my heart even if we weren’t blood related.  The only thing that hurt worse than losing Kelli from my life was losing my girls.

Kelli called me yesterday, and we had one of our marathon gab sessions.  It was like no time had passed.  God how I have missed talking on the phone with her!!  She, like myself, has had to go through some rough patches.  I wish I could have been there to help her through them.  She said she wished we had found each other sooner, like around the time I was losing my girls.  Even though she was going through a divorce at the time, she said she would have taken my girls in a heartbeat, and I know she means it.  She adored the girls!

It is funny the way we had our children.  I had my first and 14 months later she had her first.  She had her second and 14 months later I had my second.  I have just learned that she has 2 more children, and again I had my third child and 14 months later she had her third.  The only difference is that i never had a fourth child, but she did.  Unlike me, she never gave any of her children up for adoption either.  I miss my son, but I know what I did was the best thing for all of my children.

Kelli spoke to Lunatic on the phone, and says that she thinks I picked a good man this time.  They discussed her and her family coming to visit when we finally move to Texas.  I would love for her to come see us here first.  Janice says that it okay with her, as she sees how happy getting back in touch with Kelli has made me.  I love her to death and have missed her these past years with all my heart.  I hope she knows just how much I love her.

Even though my family doesn’t want me, I have Kelli, Lunatic’s family, my brother, Kat, DJ, Jessica, Janice and her boys, and Lunatic.  Once I find my girls, my family will be complete as far as I am concerned.  I don’t need people who judge me and treat me badly.  I have so many people who love me for who I am, warts and all.  That’s all I need.

Kelli, I know you will be reading this, as you said you have read some of my blog already.  I want you to know that you have always been a sister to me, and I never stopped thinking of you as my best friend in the whole world.  I am glad you found someone who loves you unconditionally, you deserve it.  You are a beautiful person inside and out.  Though I am a bit ticked off that you haven’t changed in the least since high school and I went up 5 or 6 sizes.  But, I am working on at least getting down to a size 16.  I know there is NO WAY I will ever get back down to a size 12.  I want to see you in person again so bad.  If you come visit me, I will buy you White Castles!!  LOL 

My mom really got you hooked on those things.  Lunatic doesn’t like them, they give him gas; but I loved having a White Castle a mile away when he and I lived in Wayne, Michigan.  The restaurant was combined with a Church’s, so he would get spicy chicken and I would get my sliders.  Anyway, I would just really like to see you again.  I have missed you so.

Good night and sweet dreams everyone.

pulling my hair out!!!

For some reason, Janice’s landlord included in the lease that every six months she is able to come to the house and inspect it inside and out for damages and whether or not it is being kept clean.  If she feels that there is any damage being done or that it is not being kept clean enough for her taste, she can evict everyone living here.  I don’t understand this, as with kids living here it is hard to keep it clean all the time; and with kids there will sometimes be accidents that may cause damage.

I have never before lived anywhere that the landlord had the right to do this.  Everywhere I have lived, the landlord did a walkthrough inspection when I moved in and again when I moved out.  If there was any damage that was not reported or repaired by the time I moved out, I was liable for it; but the only way I could be evicted is for non-payment of rent or willful destruction of the property.

Anyway, the landlord came over last Friday and informed Janice that she would be back on July 1 for the inspection and that if the yard and house weren’t cleaned, the yard wasn’t mowed and the railing on the back deck weren’t repaired anyone living here would be evicted.  She also complained about the fact that the mailbox had been knocked off of its post.  The mailbox and the posts on the railing of the back deck were knocked off by neighborhood kids in the middle of the night, who also like to bully the dog (Benny) and put snakes in the mailbox.

Except for Chip and most of the kids, we all started doing some cleaning that day and got more done on Saturday.  Saturday, Lunatic was working on picking up the trash in the yard.  Because of the heat, so that he wasn’t doing it by himself, Courtney was asked to go out and help him.  I was working on the office and our room, so I couldn’t help him.  Courtney did not do much to help, and Lunatic wound up doing it by himself and overdoing it.  Janice also overdid it and wound up in the emergency room on Sunday because she passed out, hit her head and gave herself a concussion.

We all decided that we would relax on Monday because of so few people here being willing to do much to help.  Tigger for one told his mom, Tina and I that it was on us to get the place cleaned.  Piglet has been helping whereever he can when asked.  Since he got back on his meds, he has been calmer and more helpful.  Tuesday, he helped Lunatic work on the yard some more (even though he was hurting badly from a third degree sunburn on both shoulders).  While the two of them were working on the yard, I was busy, busy , busy in the house.

I should probably say that the first thing that Piglet did to help Lunatic was to go to his doctor’s appointment with him, as I couldn’t because there was still too much to be done in the house.  Janice was on bed rest because of her concussion and Jerry Sue was at work, so that left me and Tina to work on the cleaning.  I did the dishes then went upstairs to surprise Lunatic by finishing the office.  This included cleaning and organizing his desk, inside and out.  I kept having to take breaks to discuss with Tina what needed to be done and who was going to do it, as well as to do any more dishes that found there way to the kitchen (Lunatic had acollection of dirty dishes on his desk, for one thing).  I think I did dishes 6 times on Tuesday.

Tina and I agreed that we would ask Courtney to clean the fronts of the lower cupboards in the kitchen, as it is much easier for her to get back up off the floor than either of us.  To our surprise, Courtney agreed to do it when we were finished with the sweeping and mopping.  Tina had to run out and pick up a few things, so I told her when I was done in the office I would sweep the second floor, down the stairs and all three rooms on the first floor if she would mop when she got home.  She agreed.

I finished the office, recleaned our room, sorted our laundry and put the hampers in our closet then went to get the broom.  I did all the sweeping, as well as the dishes I mentioned earlier.  Tina got home and went to take a nap, saying she would mop after the kids were in bed.  Jerry Sue and Gurgi 2 got home from work.  He went o bed; and after saying she would mop when she got up in the morning, so did she.  Tina came back up, and said she would do the mopping the next morning, then she ate and went to bed.

I was exhausted, so I vegged in front of the TV for awhile then went to bed too.  Well, I tried to anyway.  Lunatic wasn’t feeling well, so I stayed up to keep an I on him for as late as I could.  Piglet even stayed up to help me with him.  Finally getting to sleep after 4 in the morning, I didn’t get up until almost 11 a.m.  The mopping hadn’t been done and the living room and dining room needed to be swept again.

Courtney, having received an invite to a ballgame Tuesday night hadn’t gotten a chance to clean the cupboards, but said she would do them Wednesday, and she did.  Janice, Tina and Tigger went grocery shopping with Janice’s sister June, after telling us the landlord would be here at 4 p.m.  We still had a lot to do, mainly because half the household refused to help so far.

Piglet and Lunatic went back out to work on the yard again, until Piglet’s shoulders started to hurt him too much.  When he went inside, Lunatic worked by himself for a little while, then enlisted the help of Chip and the little boys to police the yard for trash and cigarette butts.  I asked Courtney to sweep the first floor so that I could then mop before doing the dishes.  I carried Janice’s and the kids laundry to the basement, helped outside some and then began to mop.  As I finished the living room, Courtney asked if I would like her to mop the dining room and kitchen for me.  I was surprised, but jumped at the offer.  While she was doing that, I decided to grab some rubber gloves and tackle the upstairs bathroom.  Courtny actually grabbed the other pair and got down and scrubbed the floors before mopping them…without being asked.  Her brothers even helped.

By 4 in the afternoon, we had the house as shipshape as we were going to get; including having all the groceries put away.  The landlord NEVER showed.  She called to say she would be here the next day (today).  Aaaaaaaarrrrrgggggghhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, she did show up; but just long enough to get the rent, and after saying she would do the inspection today instead of yesterday.

Anyway, I am exhaustifried; so I am going to bed now.  Sweet dreams everyone.

for Jasmine’s 18th birthday

I know that is actually 2 hours into the day after your birthday, sweetie.  I meant to get this post in much earlier, but some stuff came up that had to be done if Lunatic and I (along with everyone else here) wanted to keep a roof over our heads.  I just finished cleaning and organizing the office, as well as helping to clean the rest of the house.  So, this is the first chance I’ve had to get online since I woke up yesterday morning.

Anyway, I don’t know if you will see this; but I want you to know that I am thinking about you and I miss you with all my heart.  I hate that I have missed out on so much of your life.  I tried to appeal the court’s decision, but was told that my request for an appeal was untimely (even though I got my request in with a week to spare before the cut off date). 

Happy birthday Jasmine.  Always remember that I have never stopped loving you and Robin.  You are my babies and you always will be.  You are always in my thoughts and in my heart.  No matter what happened and what the state of Michigan says, you always were and always will be my daughters.  I am proud to be your mother.  I was always proud of you, and am sure I will always have reason to be proud of you in the future.  I hope you haven’t forgotten me, as I have never forgotten you and Robin.  I hope we can be together again soon.

Love,

Mom

taking a break from blogging

I have taken a few days off from posting because I was playing Dragon Fable with Lunatic, trying to help win the war in Popsprocket.  If I don’t post for a few more days, don’t worry about me.  I am not posting because I don’t want to use this blog just for bitching about things and I have nothing good to say right now.  Will post again soon.

See ya later everyone.

night off from cooking…Yay!!!

Well, a night off from cooking for everyone anyway.  Jerry Sue is going out after Gurgi 2 gets off of work and picking up what she needs to make tuna casserole, as that is what Piglet wants for dinner and his meds have messed with his appetite lately.  I told her that I would try it; but as I have never been fond of cooked tuna, I will probably heat up my can of clam chowder for my dinner.  Lunatic said that he feels the same as me about tuna casserole, so we are going to ask Jerry Sue if she minds picking up something inexpensive for me to fix for him.

Not having to cook should give me the time I need to get started on the office today, as well as time for me to do some fighting in the war in Popsprocket.  I should probably find the story I wrote and see what kind of editing it needs too.  I would love to get some opinions on it; but Lunatic hasn’t even read the papers I wrote in school back in 2006 and 2007, even though I emailed them to him back in 2007.

I would love to finally have the story edited so that I can try to find someone to illustrate it.  Then maybe I can see about having it published.  I should probably try working on the second one too, But I just haven’t been in the right type of writing mode for awhile.  Lunatic keeps telling me not to give up on my writing, but the novel I was writing years ago just wasn’t working; and I haven’t been able to figure out how to have my children’s story looked at and hopefully published.  Besides, I don’t write half as well as my Lunatic does.

Oh well, right now the cleaning and organizing of our office takes priority over most everything else.  So, I am going to say goodbye for now.  I am going to finish watching X-Men then start working on the office.  I hope Lunatic doesn’t mind me working around him in there.

a fiance story for izzybella

 

Just finshed watching Encino Man.  I love that movie!!  Anyway, I remembered mentioning to Izzybella that I had some fiance stories about Lunatic that I could tell her.  I have already told mamacita this one, and she said she would have killed him.  I thought Izzybella and Chauceriangirl would get a kick out of it.  My Lunatic would prefer I not tell them.  😀

We had our first Thanksgiving together in 2007.  Because it was our first major holiday together, I decided I was going to go all out.  The only thing that Lunatic requested was a spiral-cut, glazed ham.  So I cooked the ham and put it on the back of the stove to keep warm while I cooked the 12-pound turkey and cooked the side dishes.

Besides the ham and the turkey, I made from scratch mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, crescent rolls and two pumpkin pies.  Because I was making such a big dinner, neither of us had much to eat during the day; and Lunatic was starting to get a little hungry, so I said he could nibble on the ham while waiting for dinner.

Well, I ate a couple small slices of the ham while finishing dinner.  Lunatic, on the other hand, ate three-quarters of the ham before dinner was ready.  I had gone out and bought candle holders and taper candles, and I had decided that our first real holiday meal was going to be by candlelight.  I set the table, lit the candles, put on some music and set out the food.  We sat down, filled our plates and started eating.  Lunatic ate a bite of everything on his plate, then said that he was too full and needed to go lie down.  He proceeded to leave me to eat a candlelit dinner alone while he went into our room and lay on the bed.

I could have killed him!  I could have very easily strangled him!!  He didn’t even stay up long enough to have any pie.  Though he did really enjoy the pie the next day.  I got one piece of the first pie and he ate the rest of it.  He is the same way about my banana bread.  I guess his raving about my baking sort of makes up for our first Thanksgiving together.  I did tell him that if I made ham and turkey again last Thanksgiving he was only allowed one piece of ham before dinner.  I held him to it too!  😀

Anyway, I thought my new sisters would get a kick out of that story; and like I said, mamacita said she would have killed him when I told her (right after it happened).  I can actually laugh about it now, and I keep bringing it up to Lunatic now and then.  Lol.  He has never left me to eat a candlelit dinner alone again though.

Good night and sweet dreams again everyone.