'Bout time....

Wow!  Can you believe it's already the 16th of May??  Half the month is gone already and this is my first entry... Where does the time go?

 

Mother's Day was good.  Grace got me some flowers in a vase with a stuffed bear on it that says ' #1 Mom'... but she took the bear.  Hmph ;)

She got me some pre-mixed tuna salad and a pecan roll, too.  May not be much to some here, but to me~its all my favs and she knows it already. 

 

My brother took my Mom and I (and Grace) to brunch at Waffle & Steak.  We love that rinky dink place :)  Closest thing to a truck stop 'round here...  I loves me some truck stop food... LOL

 

Been a sad week for my tv programs.  The final episode (ever!) of The West Wing aired Sunday night, as well as the final episode of Malcolm in the Middle (comic relief~I loved their mom, Lois!)

 

Of course Grey's Anatomy was awesome for its two night finale!  Between that and Lost... I can hardly wait for re-run season to begin :)

 

Now, AI is on.  I must say Taylor and Kat did magnificent with their judges choice songs.  I missed Elliott, so I can't comment on him.  Simon picked the perfect song for Kat, too.  Over the Rainbow is one of my most favorite songs ever.  I'm thinking I heard a little Eva Cassidy influence in her performance, too... Anyone else think so?

 

And Randy's choice... well, I knew Taylor would hit 'You are so beautiful' outta the ball park. That he did.  Even Simon liked it!

 

In other Kitty news, work is going fine.  I am resisting the urge to play hooky this week big time.  Was gonna stay home today, but today was a half day, so I made me go :)   If I'm gonna waste a sick day, its going to be for a full day.

 

Found out that the current Lead Teacher in my room is on her last year or two with us.  She and her husband are looking to buy property and start a family.  When that happens, she said she is not working anymore.  So, opportunity will be knocking soon. 

 

Lead teachers make way more than Assistants (obviously).  Maybe even enough to get me to stay there permanently :)  My hours would probably change to 6:30-2:30 (with no lunch hour), which I'm not at all thrilled about, but only if I want them to. 

 

Those hours would be more suited with Grace once she's in school.  Only I do not like getting up that early.  Kitty's a late night type of gal...

So, we'll see.

 

Lets see... took Grace to the dentist last Friday.  She had a cavity and the dentist could tell I was about to cry!  I have tried very hard to keep her teeth clean... but on her paperwork was written "poor oral hygiene".  I damn near lost composure. 

 

The dentist was like "I can tell you are totally shocked!"  Well, no shit, Sherlock!  I have brushed Grace's teeth twice a day and flossed before bed.  I even bought one of those plaque scraper thingys and used it.  Guess we weren't brushing her long enough!  So, now, we sing a song or two (for 2 minutes) and brush until we're done.  And she goes to get her cavity filled next Friday :(  I am not looking forward to it because this place doesn't use the lasers/ultrasound/air abrasion.  Nope.  They're old school and she's gonna get drilled....

 

I may cry.

 

Good thing I won't be in there with her.  This place doesn't allow parents in while the dentist is working.  In this case, I'll gladly not watch or listen.  I don't like it when they work on me... I know I'd deck somebody doing it to my kid.  So, I'll be patiently waiting in the lobby.

 

Well, other than this... not much else going on.  I will say to my friends heading to the East coast next month that it looks like I'm not gonna join you.  Some of you knew that already.  But unless some monetary miracle happens in the next two weeks, I'm broke as the proverbial camel's back.

 

I'm sorry I can't join you all!  I really wanted to meet everyone :)  But, my plan is make some journeys with my tax check next year.   I wanna go West to see Julie and Stacy first.  Then I wanna go East for Nae, Colleen, and Bernie.  From there, I'd like to head South to my most favorite dock master in my most favorite city~Savannah!  Sam suggested I drag Jimmy (aka Stupid) southward to escape the city life :)

 

So, that's my plan.  Its early enough to expect issues with it.  But, I will take a vacation next year... somewhere... even if it kills me ;)

 

Hope you all have been well!  If not, here's some baby-love for ya....

 

 

 

Cat~

 

PS~ AOL makes my pictures blurry!  Grrrrrrrrrr

Alive and kicking...

Hey all!

 

It seems like I have no time left to write here these days.  Honestly, I'm not sure how some people can handle working full time, taking care of their household, and keep up daily or even weekly entries...

 

By the time I sit down, I'm done.  My brain refuses to think anymore, so I try to catch up alerts then.  When that is finished, so am I ;)

 

Let's see... what's been happening.  Well, sometime last week or the week before, Grace decided her hair had gotten too long.  I came home for lunch and was pulling down both sides of her braided pig tails, like normal.  One stopped way short of the other, and the first time I thought I let it go, so I found it again.  Nope.  It was missing half.

 

My father is like laughing, and said he didn't even notice!  She did it after her nap, while she was upstairs.  She had dumped her dirty laundry out of the basket and used it to climb up and unlock the bathroom door.  All while my father sat on his ass downstairs, thinking she was sleeping.

 

This was the icing on the cake for me.  I have been considering part time daycare for her since his breathing issues.  Now it is a done deal.  When preschool is out for the summer, Gracie will be in daycare 2 days a week from 10-6, and one day from 9-1.  This move, my friends, will cost me $296.00 per month...

 

I also just enrolled for health insurance, which comes with dental and vision... for another $190.00 per month, for just me.  Good thing the girl's father will cover her... or I couldn't afford it.

 

Just paying those, leaves me about $40 a paycheck, not including student loan payments or other bills....  I am really bummed.  I thought I'd have some money for working all these hours.  Its to the point where I may have to give up the job I love for something that pays more.

 

I am still due a raise from January, and that should be retro-active.. won't be enough, but its something...

 

I won't be paid for the time I took off in June to try to head East to meet everyone, so that may be a kink in the chain, but I do have the time scheduled off anyway... just in case.

 

I won't know until closer to the date if I can actually go or not, and that sucks because I'm such a planner.  I like to have as many ducks in a row as possible :)  I am still hopeful... very hopeful... that I'll make it.

 

Grace had her dance class pictures taken last Friday and that went well.  I went $24.00 over my budget, but I do that frequently... LOL.  I couldn't decide between 2 poses, so I got both!  What the hell?  They're only young once...

 

In news of moi, its been the same.  I'm trying to get back into some kind of shape... even if its wrong ;)  I started getting non-fat mochas from Starbuck's instead of regular ones.  They really do taste the same!  That's a big step for me in itself... Ha!  If I could only give up Cokes.  At least I'm buying the little 8 oz bottles instead of the 20 ouncers  :)

 

Now, if I could only get up early enough to go walking before work...

 

Have a good week if I don't get back before then :)

 

Cat

 

PS~ A big CONGRATULATIONS to Bernie & Chris!  She's having a baby :)

For Vernae...

No words can express my sorrow. 

 

You bring so much laughter and love to this little 'world' of ours, its difficult to see you down.

 

Know that as hard as this time is for you and your family, that brighter even more beautiful days, are ahead.

 

 

Your Granny is home.  Healthy, free and young again.  She's in good company, too.  I know that's not much consolation, but it is so true. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All I can offer is my voice and big 'ole self-padded shoulder to you... I'm here if you need me, Love.

 

My sympathies and prayers to you and your family....

 

 

Kisses from Kitty~

Goodbye, my friend...

Today is a day of mixed blessings, as one of J~Land's own follows Jesus' journey.

 

Pam, of One Girl's Head Noise, has passed away, after an almost 10 month battle against lung cancer.

Pam, you are one of the strongest, bravest, loving people I know.  With all that you were experiencing, you never once stopped caring about others.  You were an angel on this Earth, now you're free....  You'll be missed greatly.

 

There is a room, setup by Andi and Jimmy, if you'd like to talk.  Also, here is information on making donations.

 

My prayers to her children and the family....

 

Cat

Long time coming...

Hey there JLand buds....

 

How've you all been?  Things here are slowly, very slowly, falling into a new routine.

 

This is my first week I work daily.  I've been initiated in with an extremely busy week!  Last week was Spring Break here, so we had 1/2 the number (between 9-11) of kids we normally have.  So, that week wasn't too crazy.

 

This week, however, has been non-stop, action-packed activity since Monday.  We have been working on Easter projects all week, which haven't been too tedious on us teachers. 

 

Yesterday, we took 24 kids to the Children's Museum.  I had a headache from hell when I woke up that morning, too.  Can you imagine all those kids at the museum with a headache?!  It wasn't a pleasant experience, but I faked it well. 

 

We divided the kids into groups, led by a parent or teacher.  That helped tons!  I only had 3 kids and they were content in wandering around with me :)  I forgot about my head throbbing until we boarded the bus to go back the daycare, then it let loose.  Nausea and all....

 

Somehow, my Lead and I managed to get lunch done~I do not remember anything about it.  Seriously.  When I left for lunch at 1:30, I asked my boss if my Asst could close for me, and she told me to take a long lunch (2 1/2 hours) to get rid of it.  It worked, too.  I had until 4 o'clock, but made it back by 3:30 headache free :)

 

Today, we went down the hall to the adult daycare to have an Easter egg hunt with them and enjoy our snacks with the 'grandmas and grandpas'.

 

The kids really did well!  My Asst (I only have one now~yea!) was freaking out about it because she didn't know how the kids would act.  But they were all very quiet and very well behaved! (We had 21 kids today)

 

They loved the egg hunt and even said thank you to all of them without being prompted!  They all got high fives for that :)  And the older folks just ate up all the attention, too....

 

After they were finished, we went back to our room for a few, while we divvied up the stash so all the kids would have the same thing.  Some kids' bunny bags were full while others had one or two eggs, so we made it all fair.

 

The last couple of days in Indy have been very, make that viciously, hot!  We hit 80 today.  Now, this is actually normal for Indiana.  We'll drop down to the 40s and 50s one more week, then straight into summer it'll be hot.  No in between, or transition period.  Just heat and lots of it.  Nae would like it.  Me~not so much ;)

 

We went to the school's playground by the daycare and I had Mom (who is now off on Thursdays) bring Gracie up to play, too.  She loves going to my work and being the teacher's kid.. LMAO.  One of my little girls got a splinter in her finger and I had to get it out.  Well, Grace started getting mad and yelling that I wasn't their mother and to get away from me.

 

She was tired,very tired, but I had never seen her jealous before.  She wasn't jealous ever when she visited in the toddler room... but since these kids are her age, it makes all the difference.  But she had fun, despite that.

 

Tomorrow we are dying eggs with all the kids.  Can we say disaster?  I can see dye being spilled everywhere!  And that stuff is not washable.  We are also making a special snack that I have no clue as to what it is, but I know it involves cream cheese and english muffins...  I doubt any child will eat them, but I bet they'll make a huge mess making them!

 

Thinking I'll be happy when Easter is over.  Gracie has 3 egg hunts this weekend, too.  I'm sick of it already...

 

Mom is leaving for PA tomorrow morning to visit my Grandma and my Aunts, so I'll be on Grace patrol until Wednesday.  Its gonna suck not having my Saturday morning sleep in.  I'm such a spoiled baby ;) 

 

Thinking about playing hooky on Monday, but we'll see how tired the weekend makes me. 

 

Speaking of tired, my doc keeps switching my thyroid med to higher levels.  She says its not working at all.  Great.  That would explain why no matter how little I eat or much I exercise, I cannot drop any poundage.  I weigh more now than I did when I was 9 months pregnant.  I've topped my highest weight ever.  More than what I weighed at 19, my previous 'heaviest' period.

 

It does explain a lot, like why I'm tired all the time, why my periods come when they want to and not when they're supposed to, and why I cannot remember a damn thing.... but I don't get why it just stopped and that bugs me.  I want to know answers, not keep trying higher levels of medicine.  Take some blood or an xray or whatever, just find out! 

 

I don't know how long it hasn't been working, either... but just the fact that it isn't... is enough to scare the crap out of me.  It cannot be good.  The problem I have now is that I'm being kicked off medicaid in October and if I get diagnosed with anything, I will not be able to get medical insurance.  So I have to shut up until I get it through work, then I can find out what's ailing me.  But my boss isn't acting too fast to get me insured, either...

 

I'm going to have to go on strike soon because I was also due for a raise in JANUARY and still have not heard when that is going to happen...  I've asked nicely.  I'll remind her nicely two more times.... then I'm dropping my bomb.  They surely don't want to get me mad over this crap.  They owe me!

 

So, that wraps things up for now.  I hope you all have a Happy Easter holiday with friends, family, or whomever you choose to spend it with!

 

We're not celebrating family Easter until next week since Mom is gone.  Can't have a holiday without Momma....

 

 

Ya'll take care now, ya hear!

 

Kitty~

Gripe, bitch, moan....

 

 

 

Well, we've done it. 

 

Gone and joined the masses of twice-a-year clock changers.  Damn Republican, Bush-suck-up governor, its all his fault.  He claims this will boost Indiana's economy.  Ha! I say.  Prove it, asshole.  I'm tapped into local government and they have the next few months to prove it before I start yet another campaign against this fool.

 

We've survived some 30 years not changing times, what makes him believe it will help now, when businesses dealing with our state are used to us not changing times?  I'm betting nothing changes, but the clocks. 

 

I'm bitter about the whole issue anyway.  Anything that makes me lose an hour of sleep, I'm against.

 

In other news, it seems Wayne has found a new business partner.  I told him before that no single woman is just gonna give and give and not expect something in return.  Today, he tells me she wants it to be more than just business.  I said, yeah well, I told you so....

 

He says she's not his cup of tea, so he won't pursue anything. <cough, bullshit, cough>  Then he tells me since he and I worked so well together-when the relationship ended, so did the business aspect of it... he didn't want to go down that road again.  I told him he was nuts if he thought the business side ever ended.  I am still doing work for him.  Duh!

 

I told him I backed off because I was tired of feeling like I was doing all the work, while he was out partying.  He would call and say I need such-and-such ASAP, and I would immediately get to work.  Once I had what he needed, he acted like it was no big rush.  But, God help me if I didn't get right to it and didn't have things when he asked.  I told him I stopped making his shit a priority for me!  That's the difference.

 

Not to mention, all the hours I would spend researching things only to have him throw the information away and then ask me to do it all over again.  It is a huge pet peeve of mine to waste my time.  Especially if I'm wasting my time on the same crap over and over.  He doesn't get that.  He would say 'practice makes perfect' and I would reply 'but I'm not the one who needs the practice'...

 

So, this woman has done a lot of grant proposals and she knows how to accomplish it.  He does need someone like that.  Half joking, I asked him if I will get a job.  His exact words were "for what?"  I got so pissed off, I hung up.  I spent all of my 20's getting his butt to where he is now, and he's just gonna blow me off like that?!  Ask me for something else, moron.  But I'm playing it cool for now. 

 

He called me this morning, as usual, to talk about the Sunday morning news shows (An old habit of ours).  And I didn't bring up yesterday, neither did he.  He knows he owes me for all I have done, despite the fact that I had our child against his wishes~for which he still, and probably will forever, hold a grudge against me.  I have lived up to my end of the bargain.  Now, its his turn.  Funny, how shit slips his mind.

 

I told him that I am jealous.  Not for the fact that she's working with him, more so because she knows how to do this stuff and I don't.  See, I like to consider myself invaluable.... even if it isn't true.  I like to feel that way.  I like to believe I can do anything.  I just need to learn how. It was an attitude adjustment that, I admit, I do need.

 

He says his issue with her is that she is not teaching him what she's doing, she's just doing it herself.  So, I told him to speak up.  Get some balls, Man!  I told him its not going to work like that.  That he needs to make sure she is telling him step-by-step of what and how things are being completed.  I hate how he counts on other people to always be there to cover his ass.

 

Then I laid into him.

 

I told him this has been an issue with me since he and I started working together.  That he likes to let everyone do the work for him that he NEEDS to do himself.  This was why I started easing up on the stuff I was doing~ to get him motivated to do it himself.  It didn't last very long.  I said he needs to be captain of his own ship, and not be clueless as to how he got there.

 

He hung up on me.

 

But, like always, once he sat back and absorbed what I said, he said I was right.  That he needed to stop depending on other people to accomplish his goals for him.

 

Wayne has always had this need to have help.  He has confidence in himself and his ideas, but not in the execution of those ideas.  He needs to be reassured often, and it drives me up a wall.  I told him that and he said hedidn't realize how needy he really is.  <light bulb moment>

 

I don't like how much control he gives away in the beginning, then tries to come back and take command later in the process.  He's letting her think she's running the show, and then he'll drop the bomb...  He says he's letting her know that upfront~that this is his thing~but, come on, I know better...  so I just chuckled at him.

 

This woman is so gung-ho, she's saying by this time next year, he should have his building and grants to start up.  I asked him which job he was going to quit so he could put the time its going to take into this business.  He had no reply.  Does he actually believe he will be able to work both jobs and run a business?!  <banging head on wall>

 

So, I'm shutting up.  Staying out of it.  When he calls to talk, I will listen, but I won't give any advice.  He's going to have to find out for himself.  Of course, he asked her the same question about the jobs, and she told him she had already quit her part-time job to pursue this... (should've been his first clue that she was in this for more than just a business deal)

 

Whatever.  I hope she does get him the funding.  I hope it all works out for the best.  But he is far from ready to run a business.  I tried to tell him that its all going to fall on his shoulders when employees call in or don't show.  He seems to believe he'll be immune to the pitfalls of business....

 

We shall see.

 

Alright, I'm done bitching.  Sorry for such a crappy entry, but I needed to get this off my chest :)

 

Hope you're having a happy Sunday....

 

C~

 

Gracie and Zeus (bro's dog) on the moon :)

No foolin April here...

I am happy to report that I am here, and I am fine :)  Whatever the fever was from last night, it left.  Good riddens.  They way I see it, if I'm gonna be sick, it can only happen Monday through Friday.  Weekends are mine.  All mine.

 

Dad's new antibiotic, combined with the steroid, has him, and his cough, sounding more like normal.  Gotta love drugs sometimes...

 

Grace is still taking her antibiotics for her UTI, but has no symptoms.  In fact, she only had one day of screaming bloody murder when she used the bathroom.  I can tolerate one day.  She will finish the whole bottle though.  I'm a firm believer in finishing meds, as directed ;)

 

Mostly because I don't ever want to hear her scream like that again.  It sucks when they're is nothing you can do to make it better...

 

The NCAA basketball tourney is in town.  They were welcomed last night with typical Indiana spring storms, including tornadoes in the counties around ours.  One of local news stations interviewed some out-of-towners, who inquired if it was normal to have hurricanes here. 

 

I laughed my ass off.  Uneducated people should not be interviewed ;)  I would think it common knowledge that hurricanes only happen in coastal regions.  Where there is no coast, you get tornadoes... mostly because of the flat land and the wind currents.  So, yeah, I guess if you're only used to hurricanes (these folks were from Florida), it would seem like one~only a lot less water.

 

Anyway, it was a tremendous light show with all the lightning.  Gracie kept trying to count between strikes and thunder... it went something like this:  lightning.... 1, 2, 3 thunder, lightning...1, 2 thunder, lightning... 1, 2, 3 thunder.  I finally told her to stop.  The storm was right over us, it was impossible to count... and it was getting on my nerves :)

 

Every time it rains, storm or not, she is armed with a flashlight.  This house, I admit, is not cool in the dark.  In fact, it is quite spooky, even for me.  I used to make my dogs come with me upstairs, even with the lights on, because... you know... they can sense spririts, or ghosts.  Silly, isn't it?!

 

The only spirits in this house belong to relatives (my great grandmother and my grandma died in this house) and they wouldn't hurt family.  They do like to play hide-n-seek with our stuff sometimes, but never anything scary.

 

There was one time, though, at one of our Christmas Eve open houses, when a friend's 6-year-old daughter (after her father teased her repeatedly about the ghost here, before my Grams died) stood up on a chair and declared "There are no ghosts in this house!"

 

A bottle of wine that was on top of the fridge, came flying off and landed, upright without shattering, on the floor.  We all looked at each other, mouthing "did you do that?"  Nope, nobody touched it.

 

She then retook her standing position on the chair, and said "There is ONE, one ghost in this house!" 

 

We all cracked up.  It was hilarious what she did, despite the fact that Great Grandma wanted her presence known.  Since my Grams passed away, we've not had any incidents.  I think she was waiting for my Grams, her last child born, and the last to die, to rest. 

 

Okay, don't know why I wrote that story again.  It was just in my head :)

 

Happy April, everyone!  And no, that was no April fool's joke~Kitty don't play those anymore.  But that's a whole other story....

 

Have a great Saturday!

 

Cat~