As I’m typing this…I’m sipping on some wonderful hot cocoa in my best attempts to wake up!  I mean hey, if I absolutely have to be awake this morning…why not start my morning off right, with chocolate that is.

Thank you all SO much for your get well wishes.  You are my angels!  There are some days that only your comments make me smile.  No offense to my wonderful hubby of course…but everyone has these days I think when not much makes them smile.  Don’t believe me? Just ask Eeyore!

I am feeling a bit better today, but surely not entirely myself as of yet.  Last night, I’m sure, didn’t help much.  My mom was just having a bad day yesterday…and she didn’t help herself out of it at all.

Let me explain…

A while back when Jason and I bought our cell phones, we purchased an extra one that was intended for Dora to use so that we would be able to get a hold of her when necessary.  Well, she abused the privilege and we took the phone back.  It was about that time that my mom’s contract was up with her service provider, so Jason and I told her that she could have the extra phone and just pay us the $10/month instead of her getting a whole new package for almost $40/month (she rarely uses the cell phone…so it didn’t seem feasible for her to pay so much).

She agreed and all was well.  Well, she’s never paid us anything for the phone…but we’ve not really minded considering it’s only $10/month.  However, she also rarely ever has the damn thing turned on…which annoys me to NO end considering she watches my children during the day and I’d like to be able to get a hold of her when needed.

So yesterday morning, I knew that she was at the car dealership having some things done to her car…but I wanted to let her know that I’d noticed that her checking account was quite low and I transfered some money into it as a cushion so that she wouldn’t bounce any checks.  However, I couldn’t get a hold of her.

Also, Dora wasn’t feeling well and was at school…she’d tried to call her grandma numerous times over a several hour span…but also was unable to contact her until almost 1pm in the afternoon.  I finally got a hold of my mom around 3pm, only because she’d turned her cell on to call me to ask me if Dora should go into the doctor.  So I told her, while I had her on the phone, what was up with her checking account and what I’d done for her.

Well then I got a call from her about an hour later telling me that she’d accidentally broken the lock on the back door of the house.  It’s an old door…and the lock sticks a bit…but she really did a number on it.  Anyway, she was upset and was obviously having a bad day…so I reassured her that it was okay and to call a locksmith and we’d get it taken care of.  Needless to say, by the time I’d arrived home…she proclaimed that she’d been “in hell” for the past two hours because she was so stressed out that she’d gotten Caleb stressed out (she does nothing but yell when she gets stressed…autistic children don’t react well to that)…so Caleb was having major episodes!

Not a good thing to come home to. 

Anyway, I settled everyone down and tried to keep the kids away from her as much as I could because I didn’t want to aggrivate her further.  So I took them downstairs and we did their homework.  My mom was making speghetti and Jason was on his way home from school…and was stopping by the store to pick up a few things.  The locksmith was scheduled to be at the house by 6pm but didn’t show up until 7pm.  We hadn’t even eaten dinner by then and the kids were getting tired…I was getting flustered and my mom was still yelling at everyone.  So Jason and I made the kids sit down and eat dinner…then we sent them off to bed.

After locksmith was done and gone…it was well after 8:30pm and I was attempting to get Caleb to sleep.  The next thing I know my mom is yelling at the top of her lungs and Jason comes into the bedroom.  He tells me that she’s angry with me.  Umm…what did I do?  I’d left the food out for her because she wouldn’t eat while the locksmith was there and I didn’t want her to be upset about me putting things away without her eating first…she does that.  But apparently she was angry with me because I left it all out.

Sometimes…you just can’t win.

I guess that she and Jason had a few words as well.  She wouldn’t stop yelling and he told her that she sure is being crabby…well, that didn’t over well at all.

Anyway, the next thing I know…she bursts into my bedroom and slams her cell phone down on my dresser and declares that I can have my “damn cell phone back” and then procedes to slam my bedroom door waking Caleb up.  My first instinct was to get up and go tell her to stop acting like a five year and start acting her age…but I decided it was best to just let her be.

I did take her cell phone back into her this morning and she apologized for last night.  I just told her that I hope she has a better day today.

I’m telling you…life is just never boring at my house!

I haven’t felt like myself the past couple of days.

I’ve felt a bit under the weather. Not sure as to why, but I do know that I’m not very fond of it at all.  Maybe it’s lack of sleep? Or maybe it’s stress? Or maybe I’m just getting a bug of some sort?

Whatever is causing this…I wish it would just go away.  I don’t have time for this you know.  I’m MOM and my little peeps have high expectations for me and feeling crappy just doesn’t fit into this portfolio.  Ya know?

Besides, not feeling well has caused me to become a bit absent minded in regards to some of the kids homework tasks and that’s not good at all. Yes…I said me… absent minded. Don’t look so shocked okay?  I completely forgot about a sheet the boys needed to have done by Monday of this week.  If you haven’t noticed…it’s Wednesday now.

Yes, I know…kids have entirely too much homework now & days…but I’m usually pretty good at keeping up with things.  Right now though, I’m slacking.  Not intentionally of course…but slacking none the less.  Yes, it’s a tad bit difficult keeping up with four kids and all of the homework that the teachers send home with them every night.  Caleb and Jonah have homework almost every night and they are kindergarten!  I don’t remember doing all of that when I was their age…but that was a few years ago.

Corin has math and reading every night!  She’s only in first grade.  There are some nights that she has more homework than Dora does and she’s in seventh grade! No lie…I swear it!

When did it become more of the parents responsibility to educate their children then the teachers?  I mean, I’m a tax payer and I pay for teachers to educate my children.  Granted, many teachers don’t get paid anywhere near enough money for the position…but some don’t do enough to get paid either.  I understand sending some homework home …a worksheet here or there for the little ones.  Not a problem…reinforcing what’s going on in the classroom…I’m completely for all of that.  However, when my kindergartners and first grader are doing more at home than my seventh grader…umm…something just isn’t right here. Ya know what I mean?

You know…this may just drive me insane.  Well it could you know!  Don’t look at me like that.  And don’t you dare roll your eyes at me either!! That’s not very nice ya know.

I’d say happy Monday, but what’s so happy about it eh?

Well, the baseball game on Friday was fun…my Rockies lost however.  But hey, they were playing the Cardinals ya know. It was good to see Larry Walker play again…considering I was used to seeing him every time I went to Coors Field…but no more.

Saturday I spent the day working on my remodeling project in the family room and outside of painting the walls and putting up the window treatments, I think that I’m done with that room!!  I know…pictures right? Yup…just as soon as I get a chance to scan them in…I will.  No promises however as to when that will be…time on the computer at home is pretty slim these days.  Not like I have any distractions…besides the kids, the puppy and the kittens.  Not to mention my hubby!

Anyway, on the work front, I was finally pulled into the President’s office on Friday and told what my raise will be…it’s a little higher than what I was told previously, but it’s still not what I asked for.  He made it sound as if I should be extremely grateful that I was receiving a pay increase at all.  I wasn’t thrilled about this attitude coming from him considering they aren’t going to retro my increase back to when I took on this new position and considering my status hasn’t changed either…why should I really be impressed?  Am I grateful for getting an increase at all? Yes I am…but do I feel that I should be overjoyed for being compensated for a job I’ve been doing for 4 months now and not getting the increase that I deserve? Umm…NO.

I told him that I was not happy with the way things have been handled in regards to my taking on a new dept. and not being compensated for it and them leading me on for 4 months.  Also, I informed him that it’s not exactly wise to do things like this to your more valuable employees because you will lose them by doing so.  People can only take so much before they pass their limit of bullshit and decide to move on to bigger and better things.

Anyway, I was polite about it all, however I think that I got my point across. Needless to say, he informed me that my pay increase should be on my next check.  I’ll believe it when I see it…because you can’t believe much of anything that’s stated around this office.

Outside of that…things are going well.  I’m still keeping my options open.  My mom thinks that I should set my sights on going into interior design instead of just moving on to another company in the field I’m in now.  That’s a thought…but will require more schooling and I’m not sure how we’d handle that with our financial situation.  I mean, Jason is finishing up his schooling and will graduate next year…but then we have to pay back his student loans which are quite significant.  Worth every penny mind you…but significant none-the-less.

So, we’ll see I suppose.  Right now…I just want to see what is open to me and then I’ll make a decision.  I’m in no hurry to rush into anything.

Well…that’s about it for me today.  Have a good Monday everyone!

If only all husbands came to this realization huh gals?

Anyway…Jason and I are off to the Rockies game tonight.  

It’s our last game of the season.  I think that Jason may be a bit sad about that.  I’m even more sad because this will most likely also be our last sporting event that we will be able to attend in person until next baseball season.  Football tickets are outrageous here and well, with the NHL lockout crap…well…I’ve already complained about that so I won’t go into that again.

All the kiddos are off to their dad’s this weekend…so I’ll get some time to work on my remodeling project!  I’ve been doing some work on it already…I know, I haven’t posted pics yet…but I’ve been so busy.  And yet I found time to get pics up of Cotton…that’s what you’re thinking eh?  Well, if it must be known…Jason uploaded those pics for me and I just linked to them.  So yeah…I cheat!  So what!!  

No seriously, I’ll get some before and during shots up maybe this weekend.  We’ll see if Cotton will even let me have time to do that.  She’s quite demanding you know.

Okay everyone…have a great Friday and a wonderful weekend!! 

Eprops Disabled…

…no, this doesn’t mean that I’ve harmed the eprops in any way…so don’t go there!  

As you may have noticed, I’ve disabled the eprops on my site.  A friend asked me why I did this…well, it’s mainly because I’ve been wanting to for a while but just now found the code to do so.  Hey…give me a break…I’m slow ok.

Anyway, I’ve done this mainly because I don’t post here for eprops…I post my thoughts and share my life events here because of you.  Your comments that is…that’s what I’m interested in.  When I get comments I’m always excited to see who said what…I don’t care if you leave eprops.  So, with that in mind…I disabled them.  Get it?  Good!   

Political Pissing Matches

Is anyone else getting tired of the stupid political campaign commercials?  I swear, it’s nothing more than a pissing contest.  Not that that’s anything new or strange when you get two men competing with each other…no matter what it is that they are competing for.  A pissing match is going to occur.  However, I’m at a point now that once I hear the candidates voice saying that he approves this message…I tend to tune out this message.  Ya know?

I’m sorry, but I grew up around mostly males and I’ve seen this occur time and time again.  I don’t even think that there’s a man out there that wouldn’t admit that when it comes to competition that it all comes down to “my dick is bigger than yours”.  Isn’t that so guys?

Now, that’s not to say that women can’t be nasty as well.  Oh no…I wouldn’t even dare to say that this doesn’t occur, because frankly…women, when we are competing can be extremely caddy.  Mainly because we all like to think that we are the one that is “right”.  However, there are a few of us who don’t exactly fall into that category…but it’s few and far between when it’s something important on the line and we feel threatened (so to speak) in any way.

To be honest with you, I find it all a bit humorous.  I do.  Why you ask?  Because…to me, I just don’t see why it is all worth it.  I mean, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t go after what you want…no, I wouldn’t do that.  I’m saying that there are just different ways of going about it…that’s all.  I don’t think bashing each other, which the political candidates seem to do so well, is the way to go about getting the message across. 

I personally don’t want to watch these people do nothing but play elementary school games.  I’d like to hear cold hard facts about how this particular candidate is going to “change” things from the way it is now.  I already know what the current person in office has been doing while in office…I’m breathing aren’t I?  Okay then…so tell me what you’re going to do to fix the mess that other person has created.  I don’t care about what he has to say about you…that’s his opinion(& vise versa) and everyone has one.  I care about the facts dammit…so show me what’s important!

Okay…to lighten this blog up a bit…I thought that I’d share with all of you some funny pics that I’ve seen floating about the web that include some of our favorite & not so favorite political figures (not only from the USA).

Okay…now I must state this disclaimer in regards to the above pics…to be politically correct of course.

Do NOT in any way, shape or form take offense to these pics.  They are posted in fun…to make light of dark subjects…not to tick anyone off or to be disrespectful to either republicans or democrats.  If you don’t appreciate the humor in it…I understand, however…don’t get angry with me about it.  I didn’t make any of these…I simply found them and thought that they were funny.

Introducing…Cotton!!

She didn’t climb the stairs for a whole ONE day…then she learned yesterday morning and this morning she learned how to come down the stairs.  She’s quick!

You would think that with everything that’s been going on in my life as of late, getting any new pets would be the last thing that would occur.  Well, not in my household.

Friday morning I saw a segway on the news that talked about the animal shelter here locally being overwhelmed with animals.  So, after talking to Jason and then my mom, mom and I decided to go visit the shelter and see if there were any animals that we could adopt.  They had some adorable dogs there and only one cat.  99.9% of the animals had “holds” placed on them…which means that someone else had already expressed a desire to adopt them.  So, we decided to go the Denver Dumb Friends League and see what they had over there.

Well, they had a TON of dogs…most of them larger however and I don’t want or need another large dog.  I have a golden retriever and bless his heart, Caleb tries to ride the poor thing half of the time.  So with that in mind, I didn’t want to get another dog that could be mistaken for a horse!

My mom wanted to get another kitty to be a playmate for Tobey our tabby.  So, after hours of looking…there was only one dog I was really interested in seeing and it was adopted before I was even able to visit with it.  However, my mom found many kittens to visit with.  Time was short though, Jason had to be at work, so we left and went home without adopting any of the critters.

My mom went back however, shortly after we’d arrived home.  She wound up adopting not one, but two new kittens.  Brother and sister, Phoenix and hope are only 3 months old.  Both tabbies just like Tobey…and very cute.

Well, since mom decided to get two new kitties, I decided that we didn’t need to get yet another animal, so…my hopes of getting a new little dog went out the window. My mom’s intention was not to discourage me from adopting a new pet, and she felt bad.  Yesterday, she came home with a newspaper in hand.  She’d been looking to see if anyone was selling little puppies that I might be interested in.  I told her that we couldn’t afford to buy a new puppy and that I’d rather adopt.  She understood that, but she called on one of the ads none-the-less.  After calling, she asked me to accompany her to the location real quick to see this puppy.  She had to get back to work soon, but this place was only about a block from where we live.

Needless to say, she got me a new puppy.  She was born 7/16/04 and is a bichon frise which means “curly lap dog”.  She is too adorable and the best part, she thinks that Caleb is the best thing around!  The two of them played last night and this morning.  I’ve named her Cotton and she and Caleb nestled up together in bed last night and that’s how he went to sleep.  I later took Cotton outside for the last time before bed and then put her in her kennel where she stayed until morning.  She woke up around 4am…so I got up and took her outside and then she came back in and had her breakfast. 

Rusty (golden retriever) & Ginger (cocker spaniel mix) aren’t quite certain as to what to make of Cotton yet, but both of them are watching her quite closely.  Rusty had to accompany her outside for her morning outing…but didn’t appreciate Cotton chasing after him.  It was actually quite funny considering he’s about 3 times her size!

I’ll get pics posted tomorrow, the pic above is not of Cotton, but it looks a great deal like her.  I was unable to get pics taken yesterday considering I had to pick up the kittens and then come home and give Cotton a bath and attempt to get the children to go to bed!

Anyway, that’s my weekend adventure!! I hope that you had a weekend that made you smile!

First off, thank you all so much for your wonderful supporting comments.  I appreciate it more than I am able to express.  Even though I’m a bit upset about this whole situation, I’m trying to look at the bright side…I still have a job and I have plenty of time to look for another company to go to.

Second, after only one day of having my rèsumè posted on Monster, I’ve already had it viewed and have found at least 3 positions that I may be interested in.  One is in Pennsylvania…one in Atlanta (which Jason would like, but I don’t think they’d pay enough) and the other is in Mesquite, TX.  The one in Texas would be almost perfect for me and they are offering $35 k to $45k based on experience.  They are only expecting someone with 2-5 years of experience, and I have 7…so I think it wouldn’t be difficult to get into that one at all.

The one in PA, on the other hand, I am qualified for except for they want someone with knowledge of MSHA (Mining Safety & Health Administration) regulations and I’m not as familiar with that as I am with OSHA & DOT.  So, I’ll have to think about that one…plus they didn’t state what they’d offer for salary.

Well…it seems that I have quite a few choices and at this point, considering I won’t be leaving my current company until I’ve found another position, I’ve got some time to peruse these options a bit.  I’m not going to be hasty about picking another postition.  I want to make sure that it’s really what I want and that it would be fiesable to move my family if necessary.  Considering I have little ones and one is autistic, I need to be very careful as to where I’d move them to make sure that their needs are met.  Not to mention, I want to also make sure that it’s a location that Jason wouldn’t mind relocating to.

I’ve looked locally, and will continue to do so, but I don’t believe there is much available in my field of expertise here.  So, I’ve got a great deal to think about and positions to search through and I will most likely take my time doing so.  I look at it this way though, at least I’ll still be getting paid while I’m weighing my options.

Anyway, I hope that you have a wonderful weekend and thanks again for all of your support!! I have just my Caleb this weekend, so this should be some relaxing time for him…and he enjoys time alone with mommy (almost as much I enjoy time with him).   

Have a great weekend!

Rèsumè now listed on

…’nuff said.

Eric sent me this picture…looks like Disney wants to claim this too. 

Yup…now the mouse image is on everything in Florida!

Of course, here comes Ivan “the terrible” to the gulf region!!

Did anyone watch the World Cup finals last night?  I HAD to see it considering the lockout with the NHL and all.  It was great to see Canada win the World Cup.  I figure, if we’re going to have NO hockey for awhile, it’s only fitting that Canada wins something for THEIR game.  Ya know?

So congratulations to Team Canada…job well done guys!!

I was just so happy to see some of the boys on the ice!! Damn I’m gonna be jonesing for hockey here in a couple of weeks.  I guess I’ll have to get out some of the old games that I recorded to get my fix eh?  Damn lockout.

Anyway, no more word on the “raise” situation…guess I’ll find out more in a few days.  I’ll let you know how it turns out.  Thanks for all of you comments and support on the subject…I appreciate it very much!  You are my therapy group…did you know that?

Have a great hump day!!