I'm a Toys R Us Kid

Okay, time for another update!

Sorry it’s been awhile, but I’ve been really busy. Lee and I have been talking for awhile now and decided that it was time to call it quits. Its not that we don’t love the kids, but we felt it was time to walk away before things got bad. I had mixed feelings about this at first, but now I’m glad we took that step.

For those of you who were mislead by that opener, no worries, Lee and I are not divorcing (sorry single women, didn’t mean to raise those hopes! He’s still mine.). We are, in fact, doing really well in the relationship department. I am talking about the Daycare.

We closed our doors earlier this month. My home is now a home and not a business. I am now working for Toys R Us as an “HRA”. That is a glorified term for “recruiter”. Unfortunately, it is a seasonal position. They said it “may” turn into a permanent position, but in retail, you know not to hold your breath.

I really enjoy the job itself. I like many of the people I work with. I feel bad because they need people now and I can’t hire them fast enough!

Last weekend we did a suicide road trip. It was for a good cause. Lee’s grandmother turned 80 and the family was throwing a big party for her in Pittsburg. Yes, I said Pittsburg. We spent 22 hours in the car and 3 to 4 hours at the party. It was worth it though. She was happy, we were happy, everyone was happy. We had a nice time catching up with Lee’s cousins and meeting extended family.

The kids and the dog did really well too. Hardly any fights, accidents or anything else that could have gone wrong. Both girls threw up on the way home and the dog went potty on a blanket. I know that sounds bad, but really it wasn’t. They were quick fixes.

So that is pretty much it. I’ll keep you posted on more events coming up. :)

What a Weekend!

Wow! What a weekend I had! Saturday had so much going on that I’m not sure where to begin!
Well, my daughter turned 5 this month. I thought it would be nice to invite her class to the party, along with a few of the neighbor’s kids. Because of the short notice about the party, I was expecting a low turn out. Boy was I wrong!

We had 16 kids show up! To make things worse, many of the parents just dropped the kids off. This left Lee and I handling the kids alone. Two parents took pity and stayed, but it was still difficult. Especially since a couple of the kids was high maintenance. I can’t say that the kids were difficult, just challenging managing that many. I can’t really complain either. It was a good turn out and the kids had a great time.

In between all of this I had graduation. Luck for me, it was online, but non-the-less, it still added chaos to the day. That also went off without a hitch. Now, you are probably wondering why I would plan a birthday party and graduation on the same day. It is because my graduation only required 30 min of my time AND it was the only day I had available for said daughter’s party.

Now, onto the next part of the day…

We were supposed to go to a neighborhood BBQ that evening, but plans changed very quickly. My in-laws had been out of town for a few weeks and due back on that Monday. A neighbor had promised to look after the house. The in-laws gave them our number in case of an emergency. An emergency did arise.

The neighbor called complaining of a strong odor emanating from the in-law’s home. He told us that the power had been out for sometime. Come to find out, about a week prior, he saw the power company pull the meter from the house, but did not bother to call us until the house stench was so bad that you could smell it from their home.
When I opened the door to the home, that smell hit me like a ton of bricks. I am not going to go into details about the cleaning, but I can honestly say that it was rough.
To make things worse, after I thought I was done, I discovered that there was a freezer in the garage. By this point all I could do was throw out the contents and come back the next day to clean it out.

“What caused all of this?” you ask. They have a brand new home and come to find out, there was a mix up at the electric company between said company and the builder. This caused a work order to be kicked out to remove the meter from their home.

All is not lost though. The president of the electric company personally came to the home to evaluate the damages. He is making sure that the electric company does everything in their power to make everything right again, including replacing the fridge, freezer and hard wood flooring (the fridge leaked onto the floor.), along with other miscellaneous costs and damages. So this bad situation is coming to a happy ending.

Even More Updating

Yes I have more to tell! A lot has happened over the last year, so I am updating as I remember to! :P
In May my husband and I managed to slip away for a week and take that vacation that we’ve never taken. We settled on Vegas. It was a lot of fun, but after a week, it made for a long trip.
We started off going to California over Memorial Day weekend to visit my family. I had promised my mom we would come out to visit before going to Vegas and decided to stick with the original plan after she passed.
My dad threw a party for us (dad’s are great, aren’t they?)! My Aunt Bonnie made an awesome spread with Turkey and all the trimmings! Talk about good eats! Later we cleared off the kitchen table and let the real fun begin… Poker Party! My family is porker playin’ fiends! These are the down and dirty bunch. Lee did really well and held his own until the end. Sleep deprivation got the best of him and my cousin walked away the champ. It was a good game.
The next day we visited my mom and had a great lunch with family and then flew out to let the real party begin! We met up with two other couples who stayed a few days with us.
After getting checked in and settled, we set our sails to the Wynn. What a beautiful hotel! We were there to see the last show of “Avenue Q”. If you have a chance, find out where it is playing and go see it! That was the funniest show I’ve seen in a long time! Well worth it! After that we went back to our rooms, hung out for a bit and then crashed hard!
The next day we wandered up and down the strip checking out the different hotels and such. It was HOT!!!! Each stop at a hotel was a welcome refuge from the heat. We checked out the fountains at the Bellagio; which is pretty cool. Later that afternoon we did the “Borg Invasion” at the Hilton. They have one part of the hotel completely dedicated to Star Trek. They have a small museum with featuring set costumes and small props, a gift shop filled with more Treky mementos the one could ever imagine, an awesome restaurant and two rides. When you purchase tickets to either of the rides, the museum tour is included. This is self guided. I learned little tidbits and trivia about Star Trek. Now the rides… They were both well done. They have live actors that interact with you and make you feel like you are apart of the experience. My biggest issue though was how much bang you got for the buck. Not being an obsessed fan, I felt that it was over priced. It cost $40 a piece to ride both rides. Like I said, I was impressed, just not $40 impressed. After the ride we headed to the restaurant. It is set up like XXX’s Bar. They had these awesome drinks that were too big for one person. The food was okay, what made it unique were then names of everyday items, i.e. hamburger = hamborger. After that we headed back out to enjoy the strip.
The next day Steve & Amy left, leaving Arik and Sam to pal around with. This was a lot of fun. We again set out to wander the strip. That night we saw Zumanity. It was the naughty version of Circus Sole. What a great show! If you have not seen any Sole show, you must! It is amazing!
The next day I don’t remember much, but I do recall that Sam and Arik left later in the afternoon and that Lee and I wondered around the strip that night. Later that week we saw “Tournament of Kings” at the Excalibur. That was fun! We were in the Black Knight section, which meant we were to cheer for the bad guy. You know that evil never prevails in the medieval times, but it was fun non-the-less.
We also went to see Anthony Cools. That was hilarious! He is a hypnotist… a dirty hypnotist. He had people running around doing things that would make a sailor blush. I know this to be true because there were some sailors in the audience (including one of the victims) and yes, they were laughing, but also blushing!
Since we were “kid-less” we decided to hit up the movies. This was one of the cheapest events we went to. Even the bottled water was reasonably priced! We saw the “Davincci Code”. Great movie, but read the book first. I don’t recommend going to the movies at night though. The theater is tucked away in an alley. There are scary people attending and standing around outside. It was honestly scared that we were going to get mugged and we were there during the day!
For the most part, the food was great, but there is one place that I urge you to avoid at all costs… even if you are the biggest NASCAR fan! At the Sahara (where we were staying) is a section dedicated to NASCAR. The food and service was the worst I have experienced. The food had no flavor to it. The service was horrible. We actually got up and left without leaving a tip. It wasn’t worth it.
Other then that, we did gamble a little and left in comfort knowing that Vegas is not in any threat of going out of business because of us.

I'M DONE!!!

I’M DONE! I’M DONE! I’M DONE! Thank God, I’M DONE!

I’m finally done with school! I’m done! That’s it! I have my MBA and I’m done! Saturday my loving husband had a drink ready for me to toast the occasion when I turned in that last assignment. Let me tell you, this has been an uphill battle for me, but I did it and I’m done!

Onto other happy news, we have a new addition we happily welcomed into the family about 3 weeks ago. We have a Yorkie puppy! He is absolutely adorable! The poor thing went almost 2 weeks without a name because I couldn’t figure out what would suit him. Finally with a little coaxing, I went with Toby. My loving husband bought Toby for me as our 10th anniversary present. Our anniversary isn’t until September, but Toby was a perfect fit! I recommend YuppiesPuppies.com. I spoke to this woman for almost 6 months before deciding to adopt from her.

Along with all of these wonderful things happening, I got an awesome haircut! This woman introduced me to a straightening iron and I have been straightening everything I can get my hands on! That thing is fun to use and my hair looks awesome!

Let me tell you, the time has flown around here. My son started the 3rd grade today! I’m floored! When did he get so big? Who gave him permission to grow up? Even more unsettling, my middle child is starting Kindergarten on Thursday! She is getting so big so fast! She cannot wait to start!

Catching Up, Continued

OK, Time to continue on with my story. As you know from the last post, I have not had an easy time of it. When my mom died, I had the heartbreaking task of breaking the news to my sister who is mentally handicapped. We weren’t sure how she would react. She was shocked, but wound up being the champ though all of this! I find inspiration through her.
We were warmly comforted by many people whom I have not seen in a long time. I was quite shocked to be honest. It is encouraging knowing that you still have friends even if you do not keep in constant contact.
Planning the funeral is a blur and to be honest, not something I want to share with the world. My Aunt Vernie (dad’s sister) and my cousin Larry (Vernie’s son) and his family came down and supported us through every step. My dad and I were grateful.
My Auntie Mern (who is my mom’s sister) is a renowned florist. We asked her if she would do the casket spray. She was honored. I’ve learned a lot from her. She made me feel comfortable with the parts that were either socially unacceptable and/or emotionally scarring. She had lost her daughter to cancer 3 years prior to this. She recommended that we allow everyone to remove a flower from the spray to take as a sentiment to remember my mother by. This was such a thoughtful and beautiful idea, how could we say no? She also gave my sister, father, my kids and husband, myself and all my mother’s sisters a pink rose to remember her by. This was my mom’s favorite flower.
Let me tell you, I was not ready for the responsibility that was passed on to me. My father and I have been working closely on getting my mother’s estate together. That has not been an easy task. I’ve been trying to remember what my mom has said over the years on who gets what. The nice thing about this though is that my mom has a beautiful and bountiful collection of pins. All of the women will have an opportunity to have one. I won’t have to listen to “I didn’t get ANNYYYTTTHHHIIINNNGGG!!!!”…whiners.

Speaking of which… What really surprised me about this entire ordeal are all the people who came out of the woodworks wanting things that they are not entitled to. We had people ask for things that were still on the wall! Believe me when I say beware if you are ever in this situation! A close family friend is a probate lawyer. He had warned me ahead of time of this and highly recommended that I take her jewelry home with me and put it away until I’m ready to go through it. I’m very glad I did.

Now the real hero though all of this is my husband. At the time, I ran a daycare out of my home. He contacted the parents for me and ran the business in my absence. He called it “Daddy Daycare”. Even better, the kids came out alive and well! He flew out to Cali almost immediately to support me and flew back a week ahead of me to take care of our home. I cannot express how grateful I am for this!

Thank you Sweetheart!

So that’s my story. This is an evolving process and I will try to keep you posted.

Catching Up

So, a friend of mine kindly reminded me that I have not updated my blog in quite some time. Yes I’m guilty, but in all honesty, it has not been a priority for me. My life has taken a full spin this past year. Let me give you some of the highlights.

As you know, we purchased our first house. This is one of the best highlights for us over the past year. This has been an adventure to say the least. I had a constant sickening feeling in my stomach. As the date to sign got closer, the worse I felt. The day of signing was a relief, but created new anxieties. If something breaks, we have to pay to get it fixed. Over the past year we’ve been lucky, but I have a feeling that our luck is going to change… more on that later.
Another great highlight is I finally got my BA in HR…. too bad the next day I started my masters. I finish that in August. I’m ready to claim my life back. I have projects that are now demanding my attention and I can’t give it to them until this is all done. August 12th, here I come!

I’m hesitant to tell you the next big event in my life because I don’t want it to be a pity-party, nor do I want it to be taken as a cry for attention. This is another chapter in my book that I’m telling you about.

Let me give you a little background. My mother has always had heart problems. She was one of the very first open heart surgery patients at UC Berkley. She had a hole in her heart that went between the two chambers. At the time (in the ’50’s & ‘60’s), they did not consider this a threat. Since then the medical world has discovered that this is in fact a problem.

In August of 2005, she was told that she needed to have surgery to repair this, but because of other ailments going on, she was not strong enough to have it done right away. Eventually it was aimed for February. She was in and out of the hospital until November when she fell and fractured her hip. She was in the hospital until just before Christmas.
She was doing ok and getting around but, In February she was in the hospital because of a mysterious pain.

They couldn't find what was wrong and sent her home on that Thursday. Over the weekend she got worse. She refused to eat and wouldn't take her medications and grew very weak. On Feb 13 my dad took her back to the doctor who in return admitted her into the hospital. The doctor felt it was her heart.

The next day my dad spoke to her doctor at the hospital. She said that it was my mother’s liver and kidneys shutting down and that she would not be leaving the hospital. So the kids and I flew out on Wednesday the 15th.

By Friday she was getting better. She wasn't eating much, but she was eating. In fact the doctor said that she would be home the following week. Friday I took the kids to my cousin's house to play and spend the night. My dad and I had a mission to go in on Saturday and motivate her to get better. Around 1 or 1:30 am Saturday morning the hospital called and said that she was not doing well and we needed to come in right away. She died before we got there of congestive heart failure. He heart just stopped beating. This came out of left field.

You really find out who your friends are when something like this happens. I had people who I had not seen in years come out and give support. This was very uplifting. I promise I have more to say about this subject. It has not been an easy road for me, but I can honestly tell you this; I have become a stronger and better person because of this. My perspectives on life have changed for the better.

I promise to update more soon. There is so much more I want to tell you.

Plan B

Time unveil they mysterious news that I’ve been keeping under wraps. As you know, Hubby was trying to find a job in VA. He recently had a very promising interview with a company trying to acquire a contract with congress, but this comes with strings attached.

We have a lease that is about to expire at the end of June. We don’t like the area we live in right now. He has a great job with a lot of promise here. After a lot of talking (like two months) we decided to come up with a “plan B”.

Plan “B” says that if this job doesn’t pan out, then we put the search for a job in VA on hold to beef up his skills even more and buy a house.

Unfortunately, with our lease about to expire, we don’t have the luxury of waiting until we hear word from this current prospective employer. So about 3 weeks ago we started our quest for a new home in an area that normally goes for well above what we can afford. We find 3 houses that we could call “home”. The first two were only two doors down from each other. Of those two, the first had a contract on it. It was nice, but didn’t really have that “wow factor” to me. The second house was really nice, but it needed work. Both gates were broken, there was no landscaping and the cabinets needed to be fixed, but the home held a lot of potential (most importantly, potential that we could handle).

So, now to house #3; House #3 had everything we wanted, including a finished basement. Basements are really hard to find around here because of all the rock. It’s completely landscaped and the work that needs to be done is all cosmetic (update kitchen and master bath). So nothing that really requires immediate attention. It’s in our price range so we are happy. But wait, we still don’t know if Hubby got the job yet, so we put in an offer with the contingency that we will purchase if he does not get the job. We had until May 2.

May 2 comes around and no word from the company. In fact, it’s now Thursday (a week after he was suppose to hear) and still no word. Now, this house stood on the market for 2 months and we were the first to even show interest in the place. Don’t you know that over the weekend 3 other people put an offer in too? So we had to decide on Monday what we were going to do.

I’m sure you can guess what I’m going to say next? Yes, we got the house! We’ve been approved for our loan and all is looking well. It’s going to be very strange being a home owner now.

A Whole New Me

A couple of weeks ago I got my eyes checked. I’m not happy with what the doc had to say. My eyes are getting worse, but I’m told that I have nothing to worry about. I’m not sure that I believe him considering I can only see about 6” away from my face without squinting. He assures me that I only have about 10 more years of this and then my eyes should stop changing. Great! So by the time I’m done, I should only be able to see only 2” from my face… that’s reassuring.

On a lighter note, I got a really nice pair of glasses. They make me look smart… how does that saying go? Looks can be deceiving… heehee.

I guess it has been the weekend for a make-over for me. I also got a new hair cut. It’s kinda short, but I have to admit, it’s really cute. I even got my eyebrows waxed. That is painful, but it looks really cute when it’s done.

So I’m back on the quest for a new job. I’m all set. I have the suit, hair, glasses, and resume. I’ve started hitting the force hard. I’ve applied with several agencies, sent my resume to several companies that I’ve been interested in and searching daily on several job boards for that perfect job. I hope it doesn’t take long to find it.

This week is going to be life changing. I’m not sure how but I will tell you more as I get more information.