Monday, October 31, 2005

Tagged at last!

I've been tagged! Odd isn't it to want to be tagged? Well I may regret this later but for now thank you Diva drip

1. Go into your archives.
2. Find your 23rd post.
3. Post the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
5. Tag five other people to do the same thing.


I'm actually surprised I have more than 23 posts but here it is the 5th sentence of the 23 post.

This performer was a hit with the crowd and with Bob and I.

I'm not sure I have 5 people to tag but here we go.....

Jeanette
Patty
Nae
OK so I don't have 5 I hope this will suffice!

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

feeling better



Runtie must be feeling better she is back to her old tricks slipping into tiny spaces not made for kittens.

Friday, October 21, 2005

Asking for good mojo, prayers, etc.




I've hesitated to post on this subject cause I didn't want to jinx any of it. Yeah I have my moments of superstitiousness. We have found a house in the country that we really love. It is new construction and would be the first house that would be handicap accessible. It's an 1840 sf home with 4 bedrooms and 3 full baths with the changes we have asked, on a little over 11 acres. The builder is at the stage now that he either needs to go on with his original plans or begin to make the changes we asked to have made. The problem is that though the lender has pre-approved the loan but hasn't finalized it and served us the commitment letter to make the builder happy and I'm afraid the house may be lost. I truly believe this is the perfect house for us at this time and any good thoughts would be appreciated. I can't tell you how great it would be to have a bathroom that is accessible to Nickie as well as the complete first floor. Here are a few of the pictures I took when we first saw the home about 3 weeks ago.

Spay Day




In addition to the lovely field trip yesterday. I had to drop off not one but three of my pets for spaying. Is that a word? I dunno but you know what I mean. Runtie, JC and Sadie.









They came home all doped up and pitiful looking. They did well with the surgery and today are looking and feeling much better. The best part is I don't have to worry about any baby surprises among them!

Thursday, October 20, 2005

2nd grade field trip, woo hoo!

Today I had the pleasure of attending Brandon's field trip to the local zoo. I was the first to arrive this morning and was the car behind the school bus.





We arrived at the zoo with a ROAR of excitement! We first had a nice presentation with a zookeeper. She introduced us all to the Macaw.... and some handsome blonde fellow....
I didn't get to hear just what he was over the roar of the children.
After the presentation we were off on our own to see the zoo at our own pace. I just had to see the primates....
There was an angry chimp and a little fellow that sucked his thumb with a look that seemed to say, "I want my mommy!" The Orangutan that patiently waited for his admirers to throw food across the water.



We left the zoo and drove to CiCi's Pizza for the all you can eat pizza buffet. Not the greatest pizza but we had all worked up an appetite from the long zoo walk. We quickly filled up the restaurant with teachers, parents and 2nd greaders. I was surprised how well the children behaved and kept the noise down to a minimum. Its truly amazing how much they have matured since the end of first grade.

Monday, October 17, 2005

Born at the right time.....






I'm so glad I wasn't born 400 years ago. We visited the Jamestown Settlement yesterday and I came away from that experience thankful for many things. Thankful I live in a house made of something more substantial than the clay and sticks and thatched roof of the settlers of Jamestown.
Thankful that I have heat in every room of my house. Especially this morning, the first day of which I needed to turn on the heat this season.

Thankful I didn't have to suffer the long ride across the big blue ocean on a small ship in rough waters.


The ship was beautiful none the less.



With some wonderful costumed shipmates.....
And some stow away eager to shoot the cannon.

I was thankful that the natives (Powhatan Indians or is that Powhatan native Americans?) that we met were friendly and informative (not the case when the first settlers arrived). We learned the groundhog ate the crop this year. We also learned that the natives thought it bad luck to let the fire go out inside their huts. The natives had to work diligently to keep the fires burning. Again I found myself thankful for not living in those times.
I was amazed by the ability of those settlers who nearly 400 years ago braved that long ship ride to Virginia. They were completely unprepared for the task of facing the native people and survival in an unfamiliar territory. I would never have survived the harsh conditions. I'm thankful they braved the conditions so today nearly 400 years later I have the comforts I'm so very lucky to possess. We don't have much but by God we have so much more than those settlers had and for this I'm very thankful.

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Leggo payola


Wow what's in here?



You mean there's more?


WOO HOO!
MM you made my son a very happy camper! He's been busy this afternoon building and he has hours and hours of fun ahead! Thank you MM for the leggo payola.

Friday, October 07, 2005

Paying forward....

As I promised MM I would do I promised not to fuss for a minimum of 2 weekends when Jackie asked to be run around town. I did darn good today! I dropped Jackie off at her friend Stephen's house fully expecting that she had a ride home. Sorry to say that wasn't the case but I didn't fuss. She wants to go out with him again tomorrow and "hang out". I will bite my tongue and take her to and from their outing. As you all know my life is busy and crazy. Last week was one of the worst for many reasons. This week started out much better and I hope Monday to find out some great news. I will let you know as soon as I know.

Monday, October 03, 2005

Day of online quizes




You Are 35% Addicted to Blogthings



Okay, so you know how to take and post a Blogthing.

But you're no addict. (Hey, this quiz *proves* it!)

For you, Blogthings is more of a healthy habit.

At least, that's what you tell yourself!

another




You Are Mexican Food



Spicy yet dependable.

You pull punches, but people still love you.



This is so not me I'm not into hot and spicey foods.

country quiz

I know yet another online quiz. There are only 6 questions to find out your true origin. I always loved Australia but I never knew it was my true origin. Move over Murray I'm moving in!




You're Australia!

You're easy-going, relaxed, and yet somewhat tough and hardy all at the
same time. You can appreciate culture, scuba diving, and even safaris. This
makes you pretty interesting and intriguing to others, though also really unpredictable and
even wild. Your knowledge of nature is unthinkable to most of those around you, even
though your respect for it is sometimes less than perfect. People really like your
accent.



Take the Country Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid

and another




Your Personality Is


Artisan (SP)




You are both grounded and flexible. You adapt well to new situations.

You are playful and free spirited - but you are also dependable and never flaky.



You don't do well in conservative, stuffy situations.

It's probably very hard for you to keep a normal job or stay in school.



You are always up for fun and adventure. Most people are too boring for you.

You take risks and bend the rules. And if things don't work out, you chock it up to life experience.



In love, you tend to take things quickly - but you have a huge problem with commitment.



At work, you need to make your own rules. You're best suited to be an entrepreneur.



With others, you are animated and physical. You prefer doing something with friends to just hanging out.



As far as your looks go, you tend to be buff and in good shape. Your spend more time on your body than your clothes.



On weekends, you need to keep active. From cooking up a storm to running a 5K, you wear yourself out.

and yet another




Your Blog Should Be Yellow



You're a cheerful, upbeat blogger who tends to make everyone laugh.

You are a great storyteller, and the first to post the latest funny link.

You're also friendly and welcoming to everyone who comments on your blog.



Wow, did this one get me all wrong or what? Me cheerful and upbeat? Sarcastic maybe... Cheerful I think not!

Saturday, October 01, 2005

Up and down, down, down (part 3)

I explain to the staffing coordinator that he must fix the situation. He says he will try and he will call me back. At around 10PM I get a call from, child protective services (CPS), telling me we needed to get back home. I calmly explained to her that we were several hours drive from home and that the first I heard of any of this was just an hour earlier. I assured her that I left Richmond with the understanding that all the shifts were covered and with the assurance that the agency would take care of things. I also explained that at that late hour we would have to drive all night on no sleep and arrive in no condition to care for Nickie. The CPS worker said she was going to call the agency coordinator and would get back to me, she also said she thought this was all wrong. I hung up the phone jumped out of bed, got dressed and packed and headed to the truck. My cell phone rang just as we loaded up the truck. It was the woman from CPS and she said if I called the local hospital and made arrangements for Nickie to be picked up by them that would suffice. I said thanks but we were on our way home as we spoke and I asked her to wish us luck getting there in one piece. She said she was sorry this had happened but to call her when we got home.

We arrived at home at 3 am, we greeted the nurse and gave Nickie kisses and dropped to the bed like a ton of bricks for a 3 hour nap. 6 am came much too quickly and as I suspected I was in no condition to be responsible for a child that requires so much care. I did the best I could and we got through the day from the sheer anger that I was using for energy. I plotted how I was going to use this injustice to enlighten the world to file formal complaints against the agency and against the nurse that left my daughter in such a bad way.

Monday morning I made all the appropriate phone calls to find out with which agencies I could file complaints. I contacted my attorney to see what suggestion he had. I contemplated contacting the local NBC affiliate to see if they might be interested in the story but in the end I know just how stuck between a rock and a hard place I already am. There are too few agencies even fewer nurses and as you can see the caliber of nurses that are out there are very low. Its hit or miss and I'm sorry to say its miss more often than not. Ultimately I felt it was best not to make it impossible to work with this agency by filing complaints. Its difficult enough to find nursing care at all much less limit myself to one less agency. While I was dealing with all the phone calls and Bob and Shaun went to work the work van broke down. When Bob called to tell me about that I was stupid enough to ask what else can go wrong? Stupid, stupid, stupid Lill.

We dropped the van off at the shop and had to explain to our customer that we would return to his job when the van was repaired. By Monday night Bob began to feel the effects of a respiratory infection... Great what is this bad luck number 3? I think. I go home to find that the kitchen sink won't work and I can't believe the shit keeps coming at us. I contact a few plumbers to find the soonest I can get anyone out is Thursday. The shop calls on Tues to say the van is working fine for them they can't find anything wrong with it. They suggest we pick it up. We do just that and guess what? The van breaks down again on the way home. We finally make it home feeling whipped.

Wed morning Bob decides to try to make it in to work sick and with the hope the van makes it there. What the heck was he thinking? The van broke down again. We take it again to the shop and we head back home. Bob decides that he doesn't want to be put into a situation that he can't work waiting on his work van to be repaired so he takes his pick up truck to Truckin Thunder to have a sprayed in bed liner and ladder racks installed. This will make it so he can still work out of that truck if he needs. The cost of this work is a whopping $1,093.00 Bob and I decide to take my van, the wheelchair accessible van, to run a few errands and pay some bills.....

We make it back home in our driveway, when we notice the van is over heating. WTF? How can this be? I said to hell with this and just moved on to the car that we just got back from Shaun since he just bought a "new" car and returned mine to me. I drove it and noticed it was shimmying and decided it must need an alignment but with all the other crap going on I say it will have to wait.

Thursday the plumber comes and replaces my faucet and snakes a pipe all in 40 minutes and $293.00 later leaves. While doing dishes that afternoon I find that there is a leak under the sink that wasn't there before. I call the plumber to tell him about the leak and of course he can't come back till the next day. Friday morning on the way to take Brandon to schoolI was approached by a nice man to tell me that I needed to pull over I have a flat tire. Sure enough I look and the tire is practically sitting on the rim. One ray of sunshine was Pete a teacher at my son's school who ran up to me and offered to change the tire for me. I ran into the office to call Bob, I left my cell phone at home, and let him know I was ok and what had happened. I make it back home in one piece and pick Bob up so we can drop off the car for new tires, alignment etc. It's explained to me that 4 new tires and the alignment and oil change will come to $375.00 This is racking up to be an expensive week.

We get a call from the shop they found the problem and after we pay $200.16 they release the van. The plumber meets us at home in the afternoon and another $93.00 later I have a drip free pipes. So I'm asking myself what have I done so wrong in my life that I deserve all this shit to hit at once? I've tried to live the last several years being optimistic. Treating others the way I want to be treated and in general being a good person. Why does it seem no matter how hard I try to live that good life that I manage to attract crazy nurses, shit nurses, incompetent nurses, and why does everything break down at once. We are hard working struggling people that want nothing more than to live in peace and to provide a good, clean life for our kids. What are we doing wrong? I ask you if you know the answer please enlighten me.