Friday, October 31, 2008

Boo



Here are some pictures from this morning. Ryan was so excited!

Also here are some pictures of all of my black cats. The baby will be going back to the shelter soon, but the rest are mine. And yes, I can tell all of them apart!

eco friendly friday



Well here it is another Friday. It is also Halloween. So what a better topic for eco friendly Friday.

I am sitting here in my bath robe, with a black cat sitting on my lap. I have been up since 5 a. m. I had to get some coffee in me before I got Ryan dressed up for school.

Once again Ryan is going as a marine. I borrowed the Cammie's and the boots. Another marine is letting Ryan borrow his body armour. Rusty found some Cammie paint. O.K. Ryan is set.

Nothing in my life goes as planned. I got Ryan up and gave him the Cammie's to wear. I woke Jake up and asked him to paint Ryan's face. While Jake was waking up I tried to help Ryan put on the boots. Oh crap they don't fit! Ryan grew.

So I send Ryan into the bathroom to get his face painted while I try to figure something else out. I go into my closet and I start looking at all the combat boots that are lined up. Rusty's are way to big, Elle's boots are to big and they don't have boot laces, and then I spotted them. My dads combat boots. I grab the boots and head back to the kitchen.

Oh crap one of the boots is missing its laces. Now I am on the hunt for boot laces. I just went and grabbed what I could find.

In the end Ryan left for school all dressed up. The cost of the costume? Nothing.

I know that it is a little late to start talking about making a costume. But I want to challenge people to really think outside the box when it comes to stuff for our children.

Halloween comes once a year. So why not make a costume instead of wasting money on something that the child will wear once. Try to find something that can later be used for playing dress up, or something that could double as p.j.'s.

Next year start looking early. Look at garage sales, or go to the good will. There are some other options.

As for the pumpkin.

As a child I remember carving pumpkins and then my mom would cut the pumpkins up and cook the pumpkin down. We would eat pumpkin bread for a long time.

I do not see very many people using fresh pumpkin anymore.

Next year try growing your own pumpkins. They are very easy to grow and very low maintenance. Heck I grew them here in California and I gave them limited water. Pumpkins are a vine, so be prepared for them to spread, but I was still able to grow them in my flower bed.

Once you are done with your pumpkin this year make sure you cut it up and compost it. It you do not have a compost pile you always just dig some holes, throw some pumpkin in and then put the dirt back. The worms will do the rest, and you will have some nice black soil.

Please post your comments on how to green up Halloween. I want to hear from everyone. I want to hear about costumes that you have made, other uses for the old pumpkins etc...

Thursday, October 30, 2008

went to the doctor



I must say that my doctors appointment went better then I could have ever hoped for.

First things first. My plumbing must come out. As soon as medi cal come through I can start getting for that. Sixteen years ago I asked the doctor to take all my plumbing out but he would not do it, so now I am jumping at the chance to get it all taken out.

My nausea and bloating is caused by hormones being out of whack. So I got a scrip for some more anti vomit medicine. I will just have to deal with the fact that I am having good days and bad days. There is nothing I can do about that. So, since today is a good day and went and bought some stuff for me to work on while I am in the bed sick.

The doctor asked me if I want to stop smoking. I told him yes and then he told me about this program and this medicine. The doctor then adds that it is very expensive... However the drug company is giving the medicine out to low income people! I got all the forms, so I am going to fill them out and mail them in. Finally some good news!

I was also able to get my birth control pills for free! Yes! That saves me so much money.

Since today is a good day, I am cleaning up around here and I am going to try to get some sewing done. I am going to make the most of this day.

Amber has decided to NOT wait for Army boy. I think that is very wise. Army boy leaves tomorrow and I still have not him. I told one of the marines that I am not sure I want to meet him. Lets face it, he is not much of man if he can't even come meet me.

I need to get my ball dress out and get it tailored down. I can do it, but it is just me getting around to it. The dress I am going to wear this year is very....unique. I have three dresses to choose from and Rusty said that he liked this one dress the best, so I am going to wear that dress.

I have never really cared about how I look. I am not into fashion and I only wear make up about twice a year. I have been like that my whole life. I prefer to go all natural and Rusty once told me that he prefers me that way. So when I have to pick out a dress for the ball I have to really put some thought behind it. I don't want to look like all the other wives. I don't want to look like a hoochey momma. So I start looking for my dress the day after the ball.

Tomorrow morning I need to wake the marines up. They are going to help Ryan get his commies all perfect and they are going to paint his face for him. I am told that Cammi paint is hard to get off, so I should have fun scrubbing Ryan's face.

I have a taste for chocolate milk shake. Jack in the box is only a few blocks away. Yum.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

what a morning!


Mornings are good for me. I got up, turned on the coffee, took my detox, got Ryan up, got Rusty up, and then grabbed a cup of coffee. I went and got back under the covers and turned on the news. I was sitting in bed working on a pet quilt when Rusty comes in and say's "George is on the neighbors roof".

George is one of felmale black cats. George usually goes out at night and then comes home for breakfast. No big deal. Now she is stuck on the neighbors roof? I went to see this for myself. Yep she was on thier roof.

O.K. I opened the garage, stumbled over all the crap and finally found the ladder. I grab the lader and attempt to stumble way back out of the garage when I step on a pitch fork. O.K. now that hurt my foot.

I finally make over to the neighbors house. I get the ladder all set up and I call for the cat. She is coming closer... then she bolts back up the roof. Crap. I have only had one cup of coffee, I am standing in my bathrobe wearing wet socks and this cat wants to run further up the roof?!

I go back home and ask Amber to come help me. She walks over to the neighbors house and by now Ambers cat has followed us. Panther, Ambers cat is a big, mean persian. He gets on the roof and kicks Georges ass and then jumps down. O.K. now at least I know how George got on the roof. She jump on the neighbors fence and then got on thier roof. Amber said "Well I am going to Yoga now"

What? your cat just beat the crap out of George and you are going to leave her up there? Yep. That is what Amber did.

Now my foot is hurting and my feet are wet and cold and I just realized how crazy I must look. So I go and wake Nikki up. I said " Nikki come help me get George off the roof.

Bless Nikkis soul. She walks around to side of the neighbors house and stands on the gas meter and pushes herslf up onto the neighbors fence. George starts to come to Nikki and then at the last moment she bolts back up the roof. Now Nikki is pissed, so she attempts to get on the neighbors roof. Then she knocks thier sitalight dish. George finally got close enough to Nikki that she grabber her and threw her down. Nikki kinda put thier dish back in place.

So, what did you do this morning?

One to another subject. I was feeling so good yesterday and then about 1p.m. I got very nause and lost all of my energy. Back to bed I went.

When Rusty got home I called my mom. I told my mom that I have a list of questions that I want to ask the doctor, and I wanted to know what else I should be asking.

My mom wants me to have another white blood cell count done. In the hospital my white blood cell count was high, but they never put me on an anitibotic. So, my mom think I septic. I have fluid from a cyst leaking into my belly, none of it is draining and my belly is very big now.

I also found out that I have something called a vega nerve? I think that's what it is called. Anyway she told me to go to web md and read about it. Since everything is so compressed in my belly, everything else could be pushing on this nerve causeing me to feel sick.

So I have my list ready for tomorrow. To be honist I know that doctor won't do much of anything. Lets face it. I have no insurence, and no way to pay for another ct scan or and ultra sound. So he will most likely just give me drugs and hope that I feel better.

I call my case worker every week and ask him the status of my claim. I am hoping that by keeping my name in the front of his mind I might get an answer....eventually.

So life moves on. I think I am going to go cook dinner now. Since mornings are good for me, I figure I should start cooking early and then that way iof I do get sick... well my family will be taken care of.

I want to tell the world that I love my husband. Rusty has been a trooper through all of this. Never complaining about me not having dinner done. Never complaining about me having no sex drive, never cxomplaining about driving me places because I don't feel good enough to drive myself. Rusty even stopped bitching about my no plastic bag policy. Rusty even told one sales lady, no bag please! I wanted to cry.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

sewing frenzy



So here I sit on this crisp Tuesday morning. I feel good today.

The trip to 29 palms was good. I told Leeroy that Lewis was loosing love points and that he had better come in soon. By midnight I was freezing and I had on a hoody and a big blanket! The desert gets cold at night. Finally about 2 a.m. the buses rolled up! I was so happy to see Lewis. It was so nice to see the twins together.

I let Lewis use my phone until Sunday because no one could get a hold of the twins dad. This poor dad had no idea that his other son was home from Iraq!

Lewis lost my phone. I am phone less until this weekend when Lewis replaces my phone. I am just glad that he is manning up and doing the right thing.

We arrived home at 6:05 a.m. I went straight to bed. I stayed there the entire day! I pushed my body way to far. I hurt all over and I could not keep my eyes open. I do remember at one point that I was able to eat some banana baby food and drink some club soda. I took my pills and went right back to bed. Saturday sucked!

Rusty was worried about me. He sat in the bed next to me most of the day. He said that if I was in the same condition on Sunday we was going to take me back to the doctors.

Yesterday I looked at my piles of material and decided that I better get busy. I want to use up as much of my material as possible, before I go get more. My goal for today is two baby blankets. One for a boy and one for a girl. Yesterday I got several pet quilts done. I have been slacking in that department. I have a talent and I better get to using it.

What is it with my children and laundry? I swear to you the girls can only bring their laundry out when I already have stacks of it! I try to use my dryer as little as possible, so I can only do about two loads a day. I hope their children do this to them.

Rusty and I have a policy when it comes to the marines. We never loan them money. One of the marines named Hailey is really struggling. Her rent got raised and she is looking for a new place to live. She is still on active duty and going to college. So a few weekends ago Hailey came up to visit and she brought her dress blues up. I took her uniform and put it in a closet because I did not want it to get ruined.

That was when it hit me. I said to myself, "you know you have not done anything nice for Hailey in a while." Hailey left and she forgot to grab her uniform. She did call and ask Leeroy to bring it down to her, but I told Leeroy to leave it. I took her uniform in and got her new rank put on and I got it dry cleaned for.

Hailey has been bugging Leeroy to bring her uniform down, but he knew what I was doing. So yesterday Hailey called and said that she had an inspection. Now Hailey is stressing. So I called Hailey. We talked for a little bit and then I said "... um about your uniform..." Hailey started freaking out. She just knew that something had happened to it!

I finally said "Nothing happened to your uniform, we took it in and had your new rank put on and had it dry cleaned for you." Hailey just started crying! I knew it would help her out, but I had no idea that it would make her so happy that she would cry!

Life is good.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

karma



Lets back track several years. Back to when I was the wife of an active duty marine. It was then that I read an article about a group of women in Germany. These women heard that our service men and women needed some quilts. It was not just any group of service men, these were our wounded warriors that were being flown from Germany back to the states. The air craft that they fly on is very drafy, and these women decided to help out by making quilts.

I loved that idea. When Rusty came home from work I asked him if we could move to Germany. My answer was a very quick no.

O.K., so I packed my idea away. There was no way that my husband could get stationed in Germany.

Fast forward to last friday. I got an e mail and I did not know who sent it, so I opened it. This is something that I never do! This lady was talking to me like we had been friends for ever. Then in the last half of the email she gave me an update on the wounded warrior center down at Camp Pendleton. This lady even showed pictures of some of the quilts that were donated to our boys.

I email this lady back and said " I am not sure how I got your e mail. I am a quilter, but my quilts are not near as fancy as the ones you took picturers of." I gave this lady my number.

About an hour later this lady calls me! We talked on the phone for almost two hours. At the end of the conversation I asked her how I could help out.

I was told that the wounded warrior center needs baby blankets. What? Why would the wounded warrior center need baby blankets. The wounded warriors want them so that their children can have a blanket just like dad. The blankets don't have to match, they just want something to give to thier children. They also need bigger quilts that they can send to Germany! What I can finally help supply blankets to our wounded warriors who are flying home? Yes!

I mentioned to this lady that I had a stack of baby blankets sitting in my closet and that I was getting ready to donate them to the aniamal shelter because I could not find anyone else to take them. Now I know why making baby blankets was so heavy on my heart.

I will be getting together with this lady in a few weeks. I found out that she is a big tea drinker, so I am bringing the kettle and some fine china cups, and she has tea. This lady also said that so many people have donated fabric that she has more then she could ever use. So I will be going through all of her fabric.

My little place in this whole big world has been changed a little bit. I am now going to be the go to lady for baby blankets. Wow how did this happen? How did I get put in charge of making baby blankets for our wounded warriors? I have no idea, but I am up for the challenge.

On another subject. Yesterday was the worst day yet! I could keep my eyes open and I was so sick to my stomch. I did make it to the kitchen to get some baby food and one of the marines just walked up and gave me a huge hug and told me that everything would be o.k.

Today I feel great! So I am going to take advantage of it and get my house cleaned up and maybe run a few erronds.

Friday, October 24, 2008

three cheers for me



I just got a call. One of the marines has landed back on U.S. soil!

That means that yet another one of my boys has made it home safe and sound. I only have three boys left over there.

The young man that is coming home is Leeroys twin. Needless to say Leeroy can't wait to see his twin.

For me that means that I need to get off here and get some stuff done. Once The marine lands in California we have to take off to go get him. We are driving all the way out to 29 Palms! Yes I am driving 3 1/2 one way just to welcome a marine home.

That is the love I have for my boys.

I will chat with everyone on Monday.

eco friday



Yes I am a tree hugger. Sometimes it drives my husband nuts, but for the most part he just rolls his eyes and lets me do whatever I want!

I do not like plastic bags because once they reach our landfills they never break down. When the plastic bags make it to the ocean sea animals try to eat them and then they die. Plastic bags are made from OIL!

I do take my own shopping bags with me when I go to the store. I think it is the right thing to do. I hate it when people say things like, you are only one person. Yes I am only one person, but if all of us ones banned together then we can make a huge difference.

In Ireland you can not get plastic bags anymore. There are some cities here in California that don't allow plastic either. I even know of one store that is starting to charge for the plastic bags.

I have decided to start eco Friday. Every Friday I will post one simple way to save the planet. I am sure that I will loose some readers, but oh well.

This week I challenge everyone to cut down on the amount of plastic bags that they use. Here are some simple ways.

1. reuse the plastic bags that you do have. Just take them to the store and ask the person bagging you stuff to reuse the bags you already have.

2. Buy just one eco friendly bag and keep it in your car at all times. Then you will always have a bag.

3. Get creative. You do not have to buy an eco friendly bag, you can reuse any bag. For small items I have reused old purses.

4. Skip the bag. If you are only buying a few small items them just stick them down in your purse.

5. If your plastic bags are ripped then make sure that you take them back to the store and recycle them.

6. When I make sandwiches for Rusty's lunch I reuse the bread bag's. There is no real need to buy a zip lock bag that is just going to throw away.


I challenge everyone to try just one of these idea's for a week. There will more cash in your pocket and less waste in our landfills. If you have another way to reuse these plastic bags please leave me a comment and please let me know how you did!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

roller coaster ride



Can you believe that Amber just walked in with a plastic bag! I asked what she was thinking. I do not like plastic bags and I do not allow my family to use them. Amber said "well mom it is a good sturdy one, so you can scoop a lot of cat shit into it!" LOl O,K, she got me there.

Yesterday I went to the bank to TRY to activate our new ATM card. I explained to the lady that we tried to call the 1 800 number but that got us no where. The lady took the card and pulled up our account. Here is that conversation.

Lady: I can't active this card because it has James on it.

Me: blank stare. My name was on the card that was lost. Why didn't you send us new card with my name on it?

Lady: blank stare. I am not sure why they sent you a new card with Jame's name on it. All James has to do call this number.

Me: We have called that number several times and it has gotten us no where, can't you just activate the card for us?

Lady: just tell James to hit zero when he calls the number and he will get alive person. Would you like me to order you a card in your name?

Me: no. I do not want to wait another 7 to 10 working days just to get my new card. This whole ordeal has inconvenienced us enough.

So I call Rusty....real name is James..... and tell him what the lady said. So Rusty said fine and that he would deal with it when he got home.

Rusty gets home and calls, and he says o.k. it is all taken care of. Fine.

Then the bank calls us and says that they have to cancel that card because Rusty can't have two ATM cards with his name on it! What? So now the bank is sending us yet another ATM card with my name on it. I swear on all that is holy I was going to strangle someone at the bank.

Today I had the great pleasure of seeing Leeroy put on his dress blues. I love seeing my boys in their blues. Like the marine wife that I am I started telling him all that he needed to get done. The sleeves needed to be taken in, a hem needed to be put in the trouser, the flap on the back needed to be taken in. Then all of his brass looked like crap so that has to done. Oh I have been married to a marine for way to long.

I must admit that I love seeing all of my boys dressed up. I will have to get another picture of me and all my boys. I can't believe the ball is right around the corner.

Today I put the marines to work. I had them move furniture so I could clean the carpets. I had them hang my quilt racks up. One of them is with Amber right now while she is getting an estimate on getting her engine mounts replaced. There is one thing about marine, they may not always be the brightest, but they are good people.

Well, one of the marines just went to get me some lunch, so I need to go.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

I went there



Well.... Yesterday I went there with Amber and this new army guy. I told both of them that I think it is wrong for Amber to wait on him, I think HE is wrong to expect Amber to wait for him. I think this new guy is very spineless.

Amber and the new guy are not happy with me. Amber is not speaking to me and now the new guy won't come over and meet us.

A very little part of me is sorry for the way I handled the situation, but for the most part I am not. I think both of them are mad at me for my in your face approach. I am still totally against Amber waiting for this guy. He will be Iraq for 8 months and then he will be going back to Texas for another year and half. Is it fair for Amber to wait around for a guy? I don't think so.

I am glad that I have not met this kid. What kind of spineless piece of trash can't even come meet us, but expects Amber to wait on him. This guy needs to grow up, get some balls, and come meet Amber's family.

I need to wake up. I am on my third cup of coffee and it is not helping me. I do have a lot to get done today, but it is the usual crap. Screw it I am going back to bed.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

this morning



So here I sit this morning. My coffee is hot and my feet are cold. Yes I have big fuzzy socks on. My family has been making me think. I don't like to think to much.

Amber is seeing and Army guy. Army? With a dad who is a Marine? Why? Why would this child want to date someone in the service. Has she not seen my heart break? Has she not gotten up one morning to find all of her fathers bags packed and sitting by the door? Why would she date someone in the service. I want better for my child. I want her to have a better life then what the military can give her.

However, I can not say of this to her. It is not my place to tell her not to date him. I just hope her heart does not get broken when he leaves for Iraq in a few weeks.

Nikki has to go see her teacher today. Nikki is really struggling with math. It is sad to say that my daughters math level has passed me up. I can't help her. As a parent I feel dumb. I guess that is how it is suppose to be. We always want our children to do better then we did.

I had to call Ryan's teacher today. They have not given him a calculator yet. I have waited to see if they would get off their asses and do what his iep says, but they didn't.

I was assured that this would be taken care of today. I guess I just can't figure this out. There are only five children in his class. How hard is it look at five children's files. California has has some of the highest paid teachers, and yet I think we have some of the laziest.

Rusty has been on my mind a lot. I wonder how he is holding up with everything that is going wrong with me. I know that he is scared and worried, but I can't change that. I know that he must want sex, but I have no sex drive at all. Not that I feel well enough to have sex anyway.

I am only 38 and I want to have sex. Is that to much to ask for?

Today I am going to call my case worker and see how long it will take to get my medical approved. I know the case worker said that it would take a while, but I just want to keep my name fresh in his mind. My medical bills are rolling in and right now we are up to about $10,000. I have not shown them to Rusty. That is just one more thing that he would worry about.

All of this may be going on, but so does my life. So I better get busy and get into a shower and start my day.

Monday, October 20, 2008

pictures



Here are some pictures from my friend were out here.

Oh side note. I have never Emma yet. The one of Rich,Jen and Emma was taken back in Il. Maybe oneday I will get to hold and spoil this little girl!

I hate my kitchen



O.K. so I was going to sit here and complain about how dirty my kitchen is. Then I found this tag.

Screw it I am still going to complain. I swear I am the only one who knows where the trash and recycling bin are. Am I the only one who knows how to load dishes? Last night someone ran the dish washer, but when I went to empty it I was shocked to find it only half full. People! Look around. I think everyone else is blind. GRRRRR

Yesterday was a bad day. I started to get some really bad pain. I took my pain pills before they got to bad, but I did not get much sleep last, so today my butt is dragging.

We did not really do to much this weekend. Which is good since all I wanted to do was chill. It was nice to just lay around and do nothing.

I need to take advantage of my down time, because next week is going to be crazy. Ryan has a doctors appointment, I have a doctors appointment, the kittens will need to go back to the shelter. Oh crap is next week Halloween?

I have decided to be the Grinch that stole Halloween. I am not even going to pass out candy this year. I can't stand to hear the door bell ring and the dogs will bark non stop. So I am just going to skip Halloween this year.

Tonight I am going to make spaghetti for dinner. That is quick and easy. I think I forgot to mention that we will have two marines living with us this week, so I will need to really stretch my food budget. Then again I could make them go buy Chinese one night? Hmmm now that is an idea.

I wonder if I can train the marines to clean the kitchen? Oh I should just stop complaining and go it. Then I am going to go lay down and rest.

Friday, October 17, 2008

good for the soul



Today I have gotten a ton of good news! Oh today has brought some bad news as well, but we are not going to focus on that right now.

1. One of our marines called me. He was drunk in Guam, but he will be coming home soon and he can't wait to see all of us. News flash! We can't wait to see him either.

2. I opened our car insurance bill today and we actually got a credit on it!

3. Another one of our marines just picked up and should be home sometime after Christmas.

4. Then yet another marines called us from Iraq. I was standing in line at the store and I told the sales lady that I was not trying to be rude, but this was a call from Iraq. The lady just smiled and said, "My son just got back, so I will say a prater for your friend." Then another lady said " Please Tell your friend I said thank you." I did tell all of this to our friend. His voice suddenly broke up and he had to go.

5. Some of you may remember that I did a blanket drive for the veterans. Well I also met a veteran in wal mart who wanted one of the blankets. I got his name and address... well today I kept my word and I delivered those quilts. One for the veteran and one for his wife. They were not home, so I just left them by the door.

Life is good.

simple things



So yesterday I made some bread. It is a family favorite. I think this is one of the things that I can make that the whole family loves. Then I got a taste for some honey butter.

I have never made honey butter before but I figured that it could not be that hard, so I looked it up. And yes, it was very easy to make!

I searched through all of my cabinets until I found this dish. I got this dish several years ago at a yard sale. It was Pyrex and it was unlike any dish I had seen before. I looked through my "Collectors guide of Pyrex" and sure enough there was that bowl! This is a butter bowl. It is suppose to have a lid, but I am sure that the lid is long gone.

As I was mixing the honey butter up I had to wonder about this butter bowl and what stories it could tell.

I am spoiled. I do not have to sit and churn butter and then put the butter in something. I just go buy the stuff. My mom said that as a child she would churn butter. HMMMM the homemade bread and honey butter were very good!

I am going to start walking again. Once I got sick I stopped walking, but I think it is safe to start walking again. What I would really like to do is work on my belly, but I am positive that a doctor would tell me no crunches! So I will walk.

I do not have a lot planned for today. I need to do a few loads of laundry, and pay a few bills, but other then that I am just going to chill.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

let the hoop jumping begin



Well Ryan had his appointment with regional center the other day. I just got a call from them and now he has to go back in for a physical, and then at a later time go have blood drawn for yet another genetic test. I swear all of this better be worth it! At least it looks like we might get that free medical for life.

The lady I spoke with was rather short with me. I asked if I could just take Ryan to a doctor at our local clinic and get his physical done there. She said well you have no medical insurance. Yes, that may be true, but I would rather pay $20 then have to drive for an hour and waste $40 in gas. She did not like that answer, and it looks like I will have to drive the hour.....each way!

Do you think they could do the blood test on the same day? Oh no. That would be to easy. We will have to make that drive yet again. So goes life.

I have not really done to much today. I have some bread rising, and that is about all I have gotten done.

Amber called me at 1 a.m. to tell me that she was stranded at a friends house with a flat tire. I told her to put the spare on. Someone did put the spare on, but that was flat as well. So she spent the night at her friends house and went to get a new tire this morning. There were 5 nails in her tire! Amber said that she went through a construction zone yesterday. Yep that will do it. I am just glad that Amber had money in her savings account. I sure as heck was not buying her a new tire.

Nikki has been my case to take drivers ed. I finally just said "Look, I know you have been looking for a job, and as of yet you have not found one. However I am still paying your phone bill. I will not pay for your drivers education class, and then have to add you to our insurance and then have to pay for that. You will have to do what Amber did and get a job, and prove to me that you can handle two bills." Nikki is not happy, but welcome to the real world.

I should go clean up the house and at least make it look like I have done something! Oh the joy's of a stay at home mom.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

What about the rest of us?

As most of you know I grew up outside Chicago. I went to an inner city school. I had teachers that were just there because they were waiting on retirement. Oh sure I had a few good teachers, but for the most part I spent three years just trying to remember what the gang colors were and trying to remember not to wear those colors.

My parents had no choice but to send me to this school. They were working people that were just trying to keep a roof over our head and food on the table.

Not much has changed for my children. I did home schooled my children for a while, and that was fine, but I got burned out. My only other option was to place my children in the public school.

Amber did o.k. She was never into sport's, nor was she the popular one. Amber was one of those students that just got lost in the shuffle.

Ryan is in a special education class and some would say that he is doing great. I however would like to see a more drastic improvement, but I can't hold my breath that long. I am stuck with what the school system provides.

Then there is Nikki. Nikki is my all around American child. Very popular, plays sports, and excels in classes and needs to be pushed to do more. Nikki is now home schooled through a charter school and doing very well.

We are just the average American family just trying to get by, but wanting nothing but the best for our children.

Yet tonight I caught part of the presidential debate and they were talking about education.

I asked myself what do they REALLY know about our educational system. They have the money to buy the best education for their children. I bet none of their children ever went to an inner city school.

So why is that? I know that money talks and with money you can buy anything, even a good education.

There is a prep school not to far from us. All of their students go on to ivy league colleges. I do not have an extra $2,000 a month to send Nikki there, so I am stuck with what the state provides.

Just once I would like to see SOMEONE make some real changes in the way the system works.

I want to see the drug dealers taken off campus and not allowed back. I want the pregnant girls to be sent to another school, because being pregnant should not be a fashion statement. I want to see teachers rewarded for a job well done and fired for when they fail to teach. I want an education to be more important then sports.

Rich or poor we all want the best for our children, however the poor in America can't afford to buy the best education, so we are stuck with what we have.

Tonight I can only hope that SOMEONE will figure something out. America use to be a super power, but I am beginning to question the next generation.

My only hope is that someone does figure something out soon and MAYBE then all of us can have the best education for all of our children.

That is my hope. And hope does float.

the ladies would be proud



I got woken up this morning by a cat knocking over a glass of sweet tea. Now that is going to attract some ant's.

So I got up, grabbed a cup of coffee and went and a smoke. Now I have to go clean up the mess that the cat made.

O.k. the tea is on the floor. I need to move all the blankets so I can clean the carpets. Oh screw it. I pulled everything off the bed and into the wash it went. I even washed the remote because it was mixed up in the blankets!

The bed is stripped. Now I need to move the end table, so I can shampoo the carpets. Oh I should go move Rusty's end table as well. Now both of the end table are sitting in the bathroom.

Next is the cat box. No scooping it out today. Everything got dumped. I poured in some bleach and some soap and fill ed the rest with hot water. I even threw in the pooper scooper.

I look around the room. The only thing left is the curtain. So down it came, and it got tossed into a huge pile of laundry.

Now I can clean the carpets. Water and soap and I am ready to go. I even went back over the carpets with a little bit of bleach water. The carpets look so good!

Now I have to put everything back, but you cant put dirty stuff back. So I grabbed the glass cleaner and the furniture polish. Both of our end table were scrubbed down. Man they were dirty!

Next was the bedroom window and the window sill. I can't forget the t.v. and the thing that it sits on. That also got scrubbed down.

Now I have to get the Lysol out and spray down the mattress and the pillows. Now everything is starting to come out of the dryer. Not only did our bedding get washed, but the dogs bedding was also washed!

Now I am to tired to enjoy my nice sparkling room. I guess I can enjoy the smell of clean while I sleep.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

to much BBC and looking a head



I do not usually ask the girls to do much around the house. Today Amber's chore was to sweep and mop all the floors in the house. No big deal. Then I was walking down the hallway and there stood Amber with buck of bleach water, comet and her rubber gloves. Amber said "Look at this loo. There is stale pee all over it. I have my biological powder and some bleach. It is time to clean the loo!" Oh I need to block the BBC.

Today was the day I had to take my birth certificate down to the public aid office. I must say that my case worker is very nice. There are only two concerns for me. One is that he said you don't look very sick, and this could take a few months to get approved because we are very back logged. Oh pray that all of this goes quickly and smoothly. I can't wait a few months. I will be out of some my meds by the end of the month! I can afford them, but I don't have a doctor to write another prescription. So the cycle will begin again!

Tomorrow we have a interview with a place called regional center. Regional center works with handi cap people. The case worker said that Ryan's case should be open and shut since we have documentation that he is mentally retarded. We are not trying to get money out of the system, or anything like that. We are looking into the future for Ryan. Tomorrow will be step one. We are applying for this form of medical coverage that is not based our income, but rather on Ryan's needs. Once we get approved for this medical he can stay on it for the rest of his life.

A few times over the last few months the subject of Ryan has come up. One time Amber and Nikki looked at me and said "don't worry we will take care of Ryan." Is that fair? Is it fair for the girls and their future husbands to be responsible for Ryan?

These are question that are to soon to answer. So for now we are going to ensure that no matter what happens to Rusty and I Ryan will have all of his medical needs taken care of.

I am going off my spending diet for one day. Nikki just gave me the flyer for the Christmas in a shoe box. This year I am going to pack a box for a little boy. What you do is stuff a shoe box full of stuff and then an organization sends the boxes to Haiti. I have some sot wheels, toothbrush and toothpaste. I even made a small quilt with no batting. I need to go buy some flip flop, and some other stuff that is on the list. I think this is for a good cause, so I am going to stuff a box and pray that it will be a blessing to some little boy.

I need a bath, and to get my body into bed.

burning



Here I sit this morning with fires to the north and to the south.

All of my marines are accounted for, so that is a good thing. Yesterday the haze from the fires started to drift over the mountains, so today I am really hoping that the wind changes directions and bl owes the smoke some place else.

I do believe in karma and fate, and yesterday was a prime example of that. I was trying to call one of the marines and I mis dialed the number. So I hung up. Then the dude I called, called me back! So I told him that I had mis dialed and that I was trying to reach one of my marines. The gentlemen on the other end of the phone was retired from the Coast Guard. He was stuck in San Diego and Lives not that far from me! So all night I was calling him and letting him know which roads were open.

I am really enjoying our cooler weather. Yesterday I actually baked some homemade french bread. The house smelled so good, and the oven heated up part of the house nicely.

I feel like there is something that I should be doing today, but I am not sure what it is. Nikki does have class today, but Amber is taking her, so I will just have to pick her up.

What should I make for dinner? I guess whatever falls out of the freezer first is what we will have. I am just really not in the mood to cook tonight.

Oh we just got word that another one of our marines is coming home. It is a twin of one of the marines that is already here. I can't wait to see him. The brothers will be united again.

I am not a twin, so I don't understand the whole twin thing. These two boy's fight like cat's and dog's. Yet they do everything together. Both of them were lost when one left for Iraq before the other one did. I am just a better person because I know these two.

Ryan has been hinting that he wants a new Halloween costume. I hate Halloween, and I am still on my spending diet. So I have enlisted the help of the marines and came up with a costume for Ryan. On of the female marines is going to loan Ryan some Cammie's and boot's. Another marines is gong to paint Ryan's face. Yet another marine is going to take the plates out his body armor so Ryan can wear that and finally Rusty is going to bring home a rubber m16. There it is. Ryan's Halloween costume and it coast me nothing.

Yesterday Rusty cut his finger really bad. I swear it bled forever. I guess it does not help that he is on blood thinners. I cleaned the blood up yesterday, bu today I want to go back and bleach everything down. I just can't believe how much he bled!

Well I should get my day started.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

a good day



I just made myself a big cup of hot tea. To night I am having African red bush. It is very good.

We are finally getting some cooler weather and it has been so nice. I was able to get some bulb planted, and get some mulch down. I love walking around in Rusty's sweat's and sweat shirt's. I am just so comfy.

Friday and Saturday I was sick. I have no idea what is going on, but I just kept taking my anti vomit meds and I was fine. Today I did not have to take any meds and I am very grateful for that.

I did finally make the time to get some sewing done. I still have some batting left, so I will be working on some more pet quilts this week. I am taking one of the quilt's over to my girlfriends house. Her son just had a baby girl. I do like surprising people with baby blankets.

A friend of mine called me over the weekend and she said "Kelli I am hooked!" I could not figure out what she was talking about. My girlfriend has fallen in love with Pyrex. For years my girlfriend would go to yard sales and buy me Pyrex, but now she is buying it for herself.

I am glad that I have another person to share my love of Pyrex with. I just love my old stuff. It has survived longer then most people. I love having dishes that don't match.

I have one pink Pyrex bowl that a dear friend gave me. This pink bowl belonged to her mother and her mother has long since passed. Every time I use that bowl I think of my girlfriend. One time my girlfriend called me and said "what are you doing." I told her that I was thinking of her, because I was using the bowl she gave me.

Tomorrow I have a few errand's to run, but other then that I am just going to spend some time with my sewing machine.

pictures of quilts

Saturday, October 11, 2008

sitting in bed



So yesterday I got up and I kicked ass getting the house cleaned up. Then out of the blue I started feeling sick to my stomach. I got my anti vomit medicine and spent most of the day in bed. Then one of my friends gave me this patch that last for 3 day's! So this morning I am feeling good.

Don't ask. I have no idea why I am feeling sick to my stomach. I am just glad that I am not in pain.

Today I am hoping to get some sewing done. I know I say that everyday, but for whatever reason I never have enough hours in the day.

I was pissed when I got up this morning. Between the marines and my family they trashed the house. I just love walking to coffee pot and being stuck to the floor! I did finally get all of that cleaned up and got all the floors mopped. Oh the joy's of my life.

I asked Rusty to leave me the atm card so I could go to the store, but he could not find it. We looked everywhere. Then Rusty called me and said "I know where it is! It is in San Diego at the depot."

Well that is just peachy. So today we need to go cancel that card and get a new one issued. At least we have another account at the same bank, so we can just transfer money to the other account.

The kittens are feeling better today so that makes me happy.

Friday, October 10, 2008

wake up call.



Well here it is Friday morning. I am on my second cup of coffee and the chili is in the crock pot.

I finally got my medical records and I was reading all the stuff to my mom. I guess she now understand all that is going on. I don't speak doctor, but my mom does.

I did finally order my own birth certificate.

I filed a complaint with the hospital. Not because I had to order the birth certificate myself, but because I was not told the whole story. If I had been told that the hospital would order the birth certificate when THEY got around to it, I would have done it myself. Instead I was told that I would I would have it in seven. Without my birth certificate, I can do nothing. I am just wondering how many other people this lady has screwed over. I will take a stand for all us low in come people just trying to get by.

Earlie this week I took our foster kittens back to the shelter. I then got a call two day's later asking if I would be willing to take to them back because they have a cold. I agreed. So now I have four sick kitten that need med's twice a day. One of the kittens is not doing as well as the other three. She just feels so bad and wants to be held all the time.

Last night I put a lambs wool blanket in our bed. This baby slept between Rusty and I all night. Rusty and I just kept petting her and loving on her. We told her that we would get her through this.

Here I was bitching about my day. When in my house there is a baby that can not take herself the vet's, get her own med's, or go get her comfy blanket to take a nap on. I have it so easy compared to her.

I don't have much planned for today. The usual house work, and I am working on some quilts. I contacted this organization that helps military families in need and I asked them if they would be willing to accept my baby quilts. I have not heard from them, so I am going to pass the quilts out to people in our community. I may also contact our church and see if I can donate the quilts and they can pass them out when they food distribution.

Yesterday a young man stopped by with a bag full of clothes. I would like to say a big thank you to the lady that sent them over. I was able to use about half of the clothes and I passed the rest on to another family that was so happy to have them.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

is it to early to drink?




I swear to you on all that is good and holy, that today could be the day that I start drinking!

First I TRIED to import my journal from aohell. After two hours and a lot of screaming and chatting with someone in India. I finally got it imported. Not to this journal but to another journal. If I read one more post about how easy it was to move the journal I swear they are getting the one finger wave!

Yesterday I asked about changing my font size. Hmmm.... nope I have no T at the top. Am I the only one who can't change the font size?

Today I have to take Nikki up to school, so I saved some running around until today. My medical record is ready to be picked up, I need to go buy some produce, and buy some stamps.

Now it seems that I have to go to hospital and talk to the lady who send that she sent away for my birth certificate. I swear to you on all that is holly, if she did not do this I am going to strangle her. My first mistake is assuming that someone would actually do their job. Let's face it, it does not directly affect them so why would they hurry?

Oh dear Lord I just spoke to that women who was suppose to order my birth certificate. She has not done it yet!!!!!! She said that the funds are not in the account to order it. Hello! We would have given you the money.

I swear on all that is holy someone is going to die today.

Now I am smelling something gross. Oh wait that is me. I am going to go drag my ass to the shower and hope that I can wash away some of this stress.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

question

I finally got that darn e mail from aohell. Do I have to copy and paste everything before I send everything over to blogger? Oh my brain hurts right now!

I talked to my mom




Will someone please tell me how to change the font size? I hate this small font! I swear I use to be able to do it, but not anymore.

Anyway, I talked to my mom yesterday and I am getting the picture that she is concerned about me. I guess I just find it hard to believe, but I am trying to be open minded here.

The night I called my mom from the e.r. she mentioned that my sister was in the hospital. So last night I asked my mom how she was doing.

Oh boy did I learn more about my sister then I needed to know. I guess a little over a year ago my sister and the father of hell child got into a fight and she hit him hard enough to bloody his lip. My sister was arrested for assult. Instead of keeping her mouth shut or asking for a public defender she told the judge "Yes, I hit the son of bitch". What the judge did not hear was that hell childs father's was strangling her. Now my sister is a felon. What ever so am I. Then my mom told me that she lost her job and can't work in the health industry with a felon on her record.

So my sister has turned to drinking. Now keep in mind, my sister really does not have a stomch since she had gastro bypass. My sister has beeen drinking so much that her throat started bleeding. They had to give her something like 6 pints of blood and other stuff.

When I asked my mom about the gastro bypass, my mom just said that my sister has trade eating for drinking. We have a long line of drinkers in our family and that is why I won't touch the stuff.

Maybe I should feel sorry for my sister, but I don't. I now know why my mom has been wanting to anchor to me. I guess I am truely the stable one out of my sister and I.

I am still waiting on my birth cirtificate. My mom did say that if does not come by friday, that she will drive to Wis. and get it for me.

Yesterday I went to the commisarrery. I spent $238 and I had $48 in coupons! That should hold us for the month. I might have to go back and pick up some meat and fresh stuff. I think I did good considering we are a family of 5.

Today is clean out day. Our friend Jake is going home this weekend, and we always send our clothes to this other family up in Oragon. I am able to get rid of a lot of stuff since nothing fits me with damn swollen belly. Amber pulled out a ball gown that she has not worn in two years. If Nikki does not want it, then it is going.

Monday, October 6, 2008

great weekend zero spending

So here I sit. It is Monday morning and I have had a very busy weekend!

It was so nice to spend some time with our friends, and to just catch up on everything. Went down to a little old rustic town called Jullian. Jullian was having thier apple day's and there were pie's everywhere! We walked around the shops and I bought nothing! Yes I am excieted about controlling myself and not buying stuff that we really dont need. I must say that it was very cold down there and we did freeze our asses off, but it was worth it.

We also went to the beach. I made our friends walk the beach and do a beach clean up with me. This time we found a fence! How do you loose a fence? All in all we made a good haul nd got a lot of trash off of our beaches!

While on the beach we also found some bones to something. We think they were to a sea turtle, but we dont know for sure. It was fun looking at the bones and tring to put them back together.

While my friends were Diane, was looking at my fridge and reading my pot poster. Yes I have a pot poster on my fridge. It give all the stat's about pot both good and bad. Anyway, Diane said to me "do you believe in the healing power of herbs?" Without missing a beat I said "both legal and illegal"

That sparked a huge conversation about my female plumbing. Diane had the same problem that I have except they found her's at stage 3. Before you know it we are all in car and heading to the hippy store to get me a regiment of herbs. This is the best I have felt.

I also have a new perspective. I have the right to be scared and I have the right to bitch, but I also have the right to say "mountain get out of my way." And that is what I have chosen to do. I am still going to seek medical treatment, but I now taking a front row seat on my treatment. Like everything else in my life, I am going to do it my way!

Today I need to get this house put back together, but that is fine. I so enjoyed spending the weekend with some dear friends.

****** zero spending*****

I am still on my zero spending diet and here are some up dates. I bought nothing while we were in Jullian. I saw a lot of neat stuff, but decided that I really did not "need" them. While at the chocolate shop in Jullian I so wanted a chocolate covered pretzel. I looked all over the store for Rusty so that I could get some money from him, but then I saw some samples. The samples were free, so I ate them instead.

The beach was free. we took down our own stuff and I use grocery sacks to do the beach clean up. Finding the remains of an animal was very cheap...free....entertainment for me.

I am going to go to the store this week and do a major shopping trip. This will really give me an idea of how well my zero spending is going. If we run out of something then, we will do with out it!

I showed my friends the article that I read and they are now going to try it. So we will keep each other accountable.

Friday, October 3, 2008

I am running for office








So I was cleaning up our bedroom and I had the morning news on. I was listening to everyone talk about the debate last night. Screw all of them I am running for office.

1. We produce enough wheat to feed this country for a long time. So why does our bread coast $4 a loaf? I am no longer sending wheat to other countries until we can buy bread for $1 a loaf.

2. We are posting signs at the boarders that say "trespassers will be shot." If my grandparents can come here legally then so can everyone else. You don't have the properer paper work then you get shot.

3. If you are already in this country and you are here illegally then all of your benefits are cut off. I am so sick of seeing hard working Americans paying for some illegal to get food stamps. Hell there are Americans that need food stamps and get get them! It is time to get rid of the leaches.

4. Buy American. I don't care what name is on the product. As long as it is made with products and American labor, then you can buy it. I sick of our jobs going over sea's. We have unemployed people here in America.

5. We will stop sending blankets and food to countries that have had a disaster. We have a disaster right here in own country. Go walk down skid row and look at all the homeless people and homeless families. From now on we will give blankets to our own homeless and food to our local food banks.

6. Our prisons are over flowing and the tax payers are paying for them. They get free health care, food, clothing, and cable t.v. That is bull shit! Why should they get these rights when honest hard working people don't have these luxuries. If you are sentenced to death then you die immediately and I don't mean at the tax payers expense. There are plenty of men with gun's that will be happy to donate their time and ammo to shoot your ass.

7. Speak English. There will be no more English as a second language class, and there will be no more forms handed out in Spanish.

8. America is a "super power" and yet we are ranked last in education. When we have countries like Kenya beating us out.... oh there is something wrong there. Education will be a top priority. Teachers will teach and not just teach for the children to pass a test. I am sick of my children not know basic grammar, or who won what war!

O.K. I am off my soap box. Back to the laundry.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

it's not good to think this much




Let's see dinner is done, and Amber is finishing cleaning up the kitchen. Ryan is watching t.v. and Rusty is watching whatever it is that Rusty watches.



I am sitting here alone at the keyboard. I do have a kitten sharing the chair with me, but that is to be expected.



Today I did some research. That is something that I should have never done. I am finding out that a swollen belly, and looking pregnant is normal. The chemo will take care of that.



Chemo? I don't want chemo. I want my plumbing removed and that is it.



Will Rusty love me if I lose all of my hair? Rusty has always said that he loves my curls. What will he play with durning sex? Is a bald women sexy?



Will the girls be ashamed to be seen with me even more then they are now?



How will I explain all of this to Ryan?



Oh I need some Starbucks.



I am still waiting on my insurance to get approved. Then I have to find a doctor. Then , then, then. I swear the list is endless.



So here is my game plan.



1. Spend time with my friends this weekend.

2. On Monday I will start the great doctor hunt.

3. Keep everything as normal as I can for Ryan.

4. Most of all I will not loose my sense of humor.



So lets have some humor. Today I saw my friend Linda and she is Cancer survivor. So we were talking and I showed her my belly. I said "You know if I am going to have stuff leaking into my body and making me swell can't it go to my boobs?"



I told Rusty that I was going to buy a maternity shirt shat said baby and has an arrow. This way I could get front parking like all the other pregnant women.



My Friends should be landing soon. Life is good.

going up on e bay



So I now have some help in navigating my uncertain future. Today I have to go get some blood drawn and they are looking for something called t markers? Then once I get the rest of my records from the hospital, and get the labs back we will know if I have to go to a gyn or oncology doctor. I won't know any of that until next week.

What I do know is that this thing on my uterus is leaking. Yesterday I was so bloated that I looked pregnant. Great instead of the fluid leaking out it was pooling inside of my. Today I am not as bloated.

Yesterday I told Rusty, my mom and my girlfriend that I am going to put all of my plumbing up for sale on e bay. Heck we know that it all works! I guess the sad thing is someone just might buy them! LOL

On my list of things to do today is go get my blood brawn, go pay the rent and go get some vegi's for dinner. After all of that is done, I am just going to rest.

The girls have been a big help to me. Amber is now in charge of driving me everywhere, and both of the girls have been given orders to me help me out more.

On some level the help is nice, and on another level I do not want the help. I feel like I am being treated like a child. I am not useless and yet that is how I feel. Don't get me wrong, I know that there are certain things that I cannot do, but for goodness sake I can fold laundry!

I was really shocked by the amount of people asking for my new blog addy. I had no idea that I had so many people reading my blog.

I hate Halloween. It is the last thing that I want to celebrate. So yesterday Amber helped Ryan put up what few decorations we do have. Amber also found this really cool black cat hanging thing. So, now I want to go get a few more of them and make a wind chime out of them. I will leave that up all year long.

My zero spending is going well. I need to return a dish to the family that brought us dinner the other night. I thought "oh I should go get them a thank you card". Then my zero spending popped into my head. I think the girls have some thank you card laying around and if not then I will I will just write her a note. I that is not a huge savings, but every little bit add's up. This week I am also going to ask the marines to take the kittens back to the shelter for me. Since they will be on base anyway, and they have to go right past the shelter that will save me about $30 in gas.

I am telling you this zero spending is easier then I thought. Sometimes you just have to get a little more creative.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

here I sit

So here I am. I have made my way to this blogging page. I swear some of this stuff is so hard to do. Maybe it is not hard, but just different. Maybe this change is good for me, because it is making me get out of my bToday, I am feeling good. I have been able to get up and do a few things and not put my body in to much pain. I am really trying to only take my pain pills when the pain is to the point that I can't stand it any more


I have found a doctor that is willing to accept my state ins. I told them straight up that I want everything taken out. I am not going to mess around and then find out two year later that is was cancer and that everything has spread. So now I am starting to get all of my hospital paper work together and I am starting to move forward.


I have some friends coming in town tomorrow and I can't wait to see them! I am going to take it slow, but I are still going to have a great time while they are here. Life is way to short for me not to spend time with my friends.


I know that my friend George has lost her mind. She has been having issues for a while but while I was in the hospital she really crossed the line. It seems that there was $20 missing from her checking account and she called Amber and blamed Nikki for taking the money.


What? I don't have enought to deal with? Why would Nikki take $20 from George's account when we dont even have access to it! George did call and apoligize, but if she things that she can just apligize and that everything will be fine.... well she is wrong. This young lady needs to know that she can not just say whatever she want's and then think that she can apoligize later, and everything will be o.k.


I better go get some rest.

About Me

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lake elsinore, ca
I am a stay at home mom. I am also married to a veteran and he is the love of my life. I keep it real here and I hold nothing back. My life is a roller coaster ride, so strap on your seatbelt.... here we go!