Traffic pro

The owners of the house we are trying to rent were supposed to call James Sunday so they could all meet at the house and talk more. We waited all day and did not get a call. I am not good at sitting still. I looked on the Craig's List web site, which is where we found the ad, to see if it was still on there. It was not.

Once it hit 3:30pm James called them and left a voice mail letting them know that if they still wanted to meet that day he was going to be only in town until around 5pm. He went shopping after work to get Noelle some stuff for her birthday so he could kill some time because he was worried that they would call after he already left. They never called so he decided to drive by the house as he headed home. I thought maybe they might have gone over to the house and lost track of time or forgot to bring his number with them since they had it on an email.

When James drove by he said that the house was completely dark and the "for rent" sign in the front was gone. So we still hoped that we got the house and they just had not called back yet. James got probably 30 more minutes of driving done when the man called him. The man said that they still had not gotten the keys from the woman so they had not been able to see the house yet. He said the woman told them that she had everything out of the house but she had put some things in the garage until she could get to them. He then told her that she could not keep things in the garage and had to have them out by today. So he said that he would be getting the keys this morning.

Anyway, the man said that he has only had 4 tenants and one of them was his son that usually did not pay rent. He said that he would rather have an established family in there rather than a partying single man or a young couple that could split up or have kids that they were not ready for. So he told James that we could have the house!

He asked James when we wanted to move and James told him as soon as possible. James said that he was willing to do any work that needs to be done if it means that we could move in right away. So the man said that he would work on the house the next two days since James is going to be here any way and then Wednesday he will bring the lease over to James' work since he will be driving home from work that way. I am soooo excited but I am still worried a little. I would rather the lease be signed already. I will not feel comfortable until it is.

Well, James is back from the store (he has to have frozen pizza for breakfast on his days off) so I better get some coffee made so I can start packing.

Now that Christmas is over we are back to being super busy getting ready for the move. I have been spending hours a day going through websites looking at ads for a house to rent. James has only looked at 3 houses so far. A lot of the places are already rented. Most of the houses are with property management companies. James applied at two of the places but he has not heard anything back from them. I do not know if they take a long time or if they have a lot of people applying.

Well anyway, the very first house James called had told him that they actually do not have the house available yet. The tenants had not been paying rent and she said that she gave them an eviction notice but she has not been able to get a hold of them. She said that she had hoped they would be out of the house last weekend. James called again Monday and was told she was unable to find them but she saw that they still were living there so he should try calling her again Thursday. So yesterday being Thursday James asked me to call her. The woman told me that she finally got hold of the woman and was told that they are in the process of moving out and should be all out this weekend. She also said that she would show the house to anyone that wants to see it before she leaves if she needs to.

The owner of the home then pointed out that the house is older and small. She also made a point to say that she has not seen the house inside lately so she is unsure if there has been any damage from the people that are moving but that she will make sure it is all fixed up. So James tried to call the woman's cell number and it is disconnected. He did drive by the house and said that it does not look that bad. He said it is probably 50 years old but it looks in good shape and it does not look as small as she made it sound. The yard is great. He said that the yard is very big and there is a big field behind it. There is only a house to one side of it but it is not very close and that the back yard has trees all around so you can not even really see the neighbors.

There is also a fenced in dog area in the back. The place is a lot lower price than any of the other ads so James really wants it. The less we pay in rent the more we can put back into our savings.
James is going nuts and wants me to call the woman today and ask her if we can give her the down payment in cash right away to hold it even though we have not seen the inside. The woman is not taking any names or numbers from people since she has not been able to show the house yet. She just keeps telling people to call her back in a few days to check if it can be shown yet. I know she has talked to at least one other family because she asked if I was with Michael because she had talked to a Michael that told her he was coming in from out of town too. So James is freaking out that someone else will get to the house before us.

He asked me to call her today and see if she would take cash to hold it. I told him that seeing as I had just talked to her it would not look right if I called her and asked her that. She told me to call her back if the woman let us see it or after the weekend so she could show it to us. I told James that if he wanted to call he could call her. I do not see her agreeing to it though. She would still be unsure if the people would actually leave when they said they would. Plus she sounded like she really wanted us to see the place first.

James once again has his hopes up on this house and it worries me. This house is why we do not have anywhere to go yet. Each time he talks to the woman he tells me to stop looking at ads and trying to make appointments for him to see houses. Then she tells him to call in a week because the people are still not out and we go back to looking at ads. Madison is supposed to get 3 to 5 inches of snow today so it worries me that these people will not actually move out. I guess we will wait and see.

In the meantime we have only gotten 3 boxes a day packed for the last two days since I have been going through house ads. So we really need to get our butts in gear today. Plus we are also supposed to get that 3 to 5 inches of snow so we will be shoveling too. Now we have two adult shovels and a child's shovel so it should go faster. Dogs are waking up so I better start my day.

Update...


Well it did not turn out as well as I had hoped but I guess in the long run it is for the best. I really wanted them to hand over a check for James right away so he could start looking for a house. We are not ready to move yet and James loves buying things for the kids so he would probably end of spending part of it on the kids before we found a house.


When he got there he found out that they have already began to split Madison into its own region away from Chicago. They had also just brought in a regional manager yesterday to head up the new region. He was told that right now they have to get everything taken care of with the new regional guy and then they could take care of everything with James.


They said that they do really want him and will do just about anything for him but it has to wait a bit. They have a corporate account with a hotel there so they want him to start right away tomorrow. He will leave tomorrow morning and then we will not see him until Saturday night. They are going to try to make sure he gets two days off in a row so that he can sleep at home three nights a week.


As of right now they said that this could go on a couple of weeks until they can get everything settled and can get him the money for the move. We had talked about this being a possibility when this all began but we really hoped that it would not happen. The girls are upset about him being gone but we have done this many times before. I am more worried about what will happen with the neighbors without him being here.


Well the girls are playing a board game with James so I better get back to making dinner.



Oops James already finished it. I better get going.

So we are definitely going to move to Madison. Now we just have to see what Heartland says about a moving package. Then we will know more about when we will end up moving. They are supposed to call Monday and then James will tell them he can start as soon as they want him to.

James has been home while we wait for him to start back with Heartland. Him being home has been driving me nuts. He had already hurt his back so he lays in bed most of the time with my laptop or watching TV. I have not worked in almost a month so I can not just sit around lazy or he will think that is all I do all day. ( Even though it is. LOL ) I have to look like I do something normally so I have been keeping busy cleaning and organizing.

I do not see how we can keep organizing and throwing away things we do not really need every time we move and yet we still have tons of junk. Each time we moved I got rid of books, toys, and clothes that were too young for the kids now. Some how we have too many things to fit in the house yet again. This morning we started on Nicole and Neona's room. I am going to start throwing things away and then when I am done I will start packing up things we do not use often.

There are two main things I have learned from moving all the time. There is no such thing as starting to pack too early. No matter how early you start you always end up at the last minute saying. OMG I did not realise how much stuff was still left to pack. The other thing I have learned is NEVER tape the boxes shut until they are about to get in the moving truck. Even if you have not used something in years, the second you tape it shut in a box you will need it. Oh yeah, and label everything on all side. That way when you do have to look through boxes you do not have to move them all around to see what is inside.

Well, James took the girls to visit with his grandparents and help them put up decorations for Christman so I am going to change a load of laundry and then relax while I can.

My goodness, my life can and will change at the drop of a hat.

James called me yesterday afternoon. He said that Heartland called him and they set up a meeting for Wednesday. I asked him if the meeting was in Chicago. He said no, Madison. HUH? How does this keep happening?

They told him that they are still unsure about Chicago but they wanted to know if he would be willing to take District Manager of Madison. (I knew something was up when his old bosses told him that if he did not get the job they still wanted him back in the company.) He asked them about pay and said that he would never even consider it if it was below what he made before. They said that it should not be a problem.

Chicago and Madison are in the same region of stores. Apparently Madison wants to split off into its own region and buy more stores. Maybe they are not even hiring for Chicago any more if they are going to split. They said that James would be DM in the Madison area.

DM and RM normally get relocation covered but he is not really relocating since he has not worked for them since April. James brought up on the phone that he would have to move if he took the job since it is two hours away. The guy said that they would talk more on Wednesday.

James said that if they want him enough they will pay for it. He said that he has also heard of them loaning moving costs and then just deducting it from bonuses. I told him to make sure he reminds them that we just spent thousands moving here.

I did a city comparison for our city, Chicago, and Madison and found huge differences. The schools are better in Madison and the crime is lower. I worry about the cost of living being higher in Madison though. I found that the average person makes $10,000 more a year there than our town and Chicago. I also found that the vast majority in the city have at least a 4 year degree. So we will be lower on the totem pole there. LOL

Well, James meets with the guy Wednesday in Madison. He asked what I thought and if I was willing to move there. I told him that as long as they offer a better salary than he had before since it is a higher cost of living and we have money to move some how, I will go along with it. I did tell him that if we are going to do this he needs to try to get it all moving fast. I do not want to have to deal with all the driving back and forth and living separate for a month again. It ends up costing us tons in gas and food.

So like always, I sit and wait. Maybe all this is not still to teach me to stop being afraid of change. Maybe it is to teach me patience or to be able to just sit and let life happen without stressing all of the time.

The kids have no school this week. They have off for conferences the first three days and then the end of the week is Thanksgiving break. It worked out really nice. This way they get a week off so families can go somewhere for the holiday. This family however will not be going any where. We will just be cleaning and organizing. Yippy.

The girls went into vacation mode the second they got home from school Friday. They kept trying to tell me it was their break so they should have a break from chores too. I let the chores get backed up so they could have some fun time before we start the major work. All they have wanted to do all weekend is play video games. They do not normally get to just sit around playing video games.

This weekend I told them they could do whatever they wanted and stay up as late as they wanted but starting Monday we have work to do. I was shocked to find that given the opportunity to do anything all they wanted to do was nonstop video games. So first thing this morning they tried to play video games. This is when they got informed that there will be no video games all day. I may actually extend it longer if they are still so preoccupied with them tomorrow.

Well, I told the girls that for everyday that they get a lot of cleaning done we will do a science experiment. Today we are going to go with probably the easiest one I can think of. I like easy and not too messy.

Tower Of Ice / Icy Blocks

Place an ice cube on a flat surface.
Sprinkle salt on top of the ice cube. Press another ice cube onto the salted area. Hold the second cube in place for 30 seconds.

Continue adding salt and ice cubes until your tower topples.

*The salt melts some of the ice, turning it into water. When you place another ice cube over the salt and press down, the water refreezes and joins the cubes together.

It seems that some greater force still wants me to get further along in my struggle to overcome my fear of change. I thought I had come along way. I have willingly went along with two moves that have changed my life completely. I may have dragged my feet and even dug my heels in a few times, but I did allow change in the end.

First I left a job of 4 years where a management job was going to open up and I was next in line. I moved to Sierra Vista and left behind my job, my friends, and my family. Then 8 months later, just as I got settled in we had to move across the country. This time I left behind a not so promising job and not so good of friends. I did however leave my family much further behind.
After arriving here it seemed that all my worries were coming true. The house we are stuck renting is horrible. The neighbors are horrible.

It is now becoming more obvious that the money they promised James at work is not going to happen. First they said that they would start him at lower pay until he shows them what he can do. Then after he started making them a lot more money they said that they felt the 4% of profit they promised him was too much to pay him. Then of course there is the fact that I quit working for them. So all in all this move was not at all what we expected.

So yesterday while I was cleaning and rearranging the bedroom I started seeing things that brought back memories and thoughts. I started seeing all of the things we have from James' last company. We have tons of things with the company name on them. The more I saw the more I thought about it. I sat looking at his old business cards. James was a different person when he worked for them. He was a stronger more confident man because he was treated with respect because of the knowledge he had and the ability he had to make money in even the worst store.

Working for these owners has changed him. He is not a happy person any more. He has had to stopped acting like a strong and confident man because it intimidates them. They do not want to hear how much he knows about business because it is making them realise how little they really know. They want him to just sit back and be a babysitter.

James has already said that he wants to leave but he feels he can't until I have steady pay. We moved to be closer to his dad so we can't just up and move for another job. Jobs like his do not normally just happen to open up in the same town as you.

I decided to go online and try to find a web site for the company he used to work for. Just on a whim I wanted to see if they were hiring anywhere near here. As soon as I googled Heartland I saw a job ad on careerbuilder.com for a district and regional manager in the Chicago area.

I was always against him checking into jobs in Chicago. He mentioned checking into if Heartland had jobs available way back when we first started considering moving here. The only regions near here that they own are Chicago and Madison,WI so I said no way.

As soon as I saw it I knew that I had to tell him about the ad and I had to go along with whatever choice he made. He is so unhappy right now and if he stays where he is he will never be any more than he is today. He was only going to work a half a day so I gave him a call. I told him that there was a job ad that I did not think he should ignore. He tried to not seem excited about it but I knew he was.

He came home right away and started to update his resume. I do not know if he was too anxious or if he just knows that I am great at all things (LOL) but he asked me to make him a new resume. As I made his resume he called his old bosses to see what their attitude was towards him applying so he would know what kind of reference they would give.

The first one said that he better go for it and if they called he would tell them that they better hire him. The second one said that they just had an Arizona regional meeting last week and talked about how he would be perfect for that job but thought he would not want it since he was promised so much at his new job. He also said that he would call his boss and ask him to put in a good word. James had forgot about their boss Drew so he never added him to his references. Drew loved him and golfed with him.

So James applied to the ad after I finished his resume. The ad was posted 6 days before but it did say ***Needed Immediately*** so hopefully it has not been filled. We also do not know what corporate put in his file when he quit to move. We both are now excited but not admitting it because we do not want to get our hopes up. If he is rehire-able and they have not hired anyone already it should be a very good chance. He already knows the company up and down and has been trained, tested, and certified level 200 (district manager).

The reality though is who knows what will happen. If he does get the job we will have to move again. This time would be less far than the Sierra Vista move though. Chicago area is only 45 minutes south of us. I already told him I am not ever going to live in Chicago but I will live close.

So now back to sitting, waiting, and wondering. I hoped that James would get a call first thing this morning and then he would call me and then all the stress would be over. I want to text him and ask if he has heard anything from anyone but I also do not want to get him more excited and then him get upset if he does not get it.

AAAAAAHHHHHHHH, I just want a normal life. You know one of those lives where you live the same white house with a picket fence your whole life raising kids and then grand kids. I want a plain old boring life.

Wednesday...
I went through some of the employee files just like the owner had said. He told me back on Saturday that after the phone call from Immigration he is not too worried about it all but he wants to have a list of when people's green cards expire so we do not have any working that are expired. When I pulled some of the files I found that a bunch of them looked fake. One of the guys expired back in 2003 and two of the people did not even have picture id to prove it was there social security cards. I wrote it down for him so he knew who needed more stuff in the files.

Juan, in the middle of me checking files, flipped out and started screaming at me that it was none of my business and I had no right to be in the files. I told him the owner asked me to and since I make the files it should not be a problem any way. He said he was going to complain to the owner when he got back from vacation.

Thursday...
I was working in Milwaukee and a woman came in to translate for an old man that could not speak English. The man was being audited by the IRS because it said that someone had been using his SS# and working at one of our locations. I still have not found out who was using the number though and if they are still employed with us.

Friday...
I had off work but James said that when he left the owner and Juan were in the office.

Saturday...
I went in to work and the owner was not there yet. He is always very early. When he came in he did not even look at me he just went straight to the back with out even getting coffee. I tried to tell myself that it could not possibly be me that he was mad at since I did nothing wrong. A few minutes later a detailer come to the front and said that The owner was pissed off and throwing things around.

Then Juan brought me a new guy's green card. Right away I knew it was fake. The picture was too big, close up, blurry, and it was not a side view. Then I saw that the plastic was peeling at the corner and it was not cut evenly around the edges. It was a horrible fake. I told James and said that he could ask the owner if he wants to accept it because I figured the owner was probably mad at me.

He went back to the office and I heard what sounded like the owner throwing things. He has had a very bad temper lately and needs to grow up. Then James came back out to get the guys folder and said that the owner is all pissed off and said he is not in the business of law enforcement so he does not give a **** if it is fake. When James came back out of the office again he told me that I should look for a new job Monday because the owner was all upset and putting a lot of the blame on me. Some how he gets questioned twice in a week about illegals working there and I am pissing him off because I am trying to help him not get shut down.

I then told James that I was not going to stay and work 10 hours while the owner stormed around the building pissed off at me. James tried to stop me from leaving. He even called me while I drove home and when I got home begging me to come back. I know I should wait to find another job before leaving a job but I could not take any more. I was going to be upset all day so I had to leave.

James has been too busy to even let me know what was said after I left. I am sure many people are glad I left because I was the only one that made the wash guys work and follow the rules. I am sure the owner is probably happy I left because now he thinks he can ignore all the problems and they will go away. The only reason I did not call immigration on him was because James still works there. I am sure they will be after him soon enough any way.

So we went to Six Flags, Great America yesterday. I would have no luck if it were not for bad luck. So of course it rained for most of the day.

Maybe it was good because there were not as many people there. The lines were never more than 15 minutes so we got to see a lot more than we would have had it not rained. We kept telling ourselves that all day at least. In the morning James kept asking me why I had not started getting ready yet. He was very surprised to see that all I did was throw on jeans and a sweatshirt. I tend to be very high maintenance but I did not see a point in walking around with hairspray and makeup running down my face in the rain.

James insisted that IF it rained it would only rain for a short time only in the morning and the high was supposed to be 68. So we just wore sweatshirts so that we would not have to carry anything. As soon as we got close to the park it started to rain. We went straight to one of the arcade buildings and played games for awhile hoping it would stop raining. After we spent $20 on games and it was raining even harder James decided to go buy rain ponchos. He came back as happy as can be in a Batman rain poncho. LOL

They had run out of normal adult size ones so him, Noelle, and I had to wear Batman. It looked like a batman costume complete with bat ears on the hood. I felt like an idiot but we got to go and do some stuff finally. At first every where we went people stopped, stared, and pointed at us. Some of them asked where they could buy some. After awhile more people had them on so only half of the people stared.

The girls did a lot more rides than I thought they would. I absolutely HATE rides so I only went on bumper cars, a movie ride thing, and the worst one I did was the spinning one "Easy River Crawler" that used to be "The Lobster". I of course hated every minute. They convinced me that I had to go because Neona and Nicole both wanted to go but they both needed an adult in the seat with them. The second time they went on it they allowed Noelle to ride with Nicole. There was no way in I was going to do it again.

We decided not to eat at one of the restaurants and just eat snacky things that we do not normally get. So we just shared a bunch of unhealthy snack food for lunch. Corn dog, chili dog, nachos, chili cheese fries, and regular fries. Followed by candy, caramel corn and cotton candy later. The bucket for the cotton candy did come in handy later when it was time to take off the rain ponchos. They fit just right inside. Plus since I had to carry the bucket and the snake things I had an excuse as to why I could not ride anything. LOL

We also went to see a 3D movie that was very short but it worked out seeing as was really bad. The kids loved that it was 3D though. We also went to a little Halloween musical and a haunted trail. They had this neat two story loony toons indoor play area full of air cannons and foam balls to shoot at each other. The kids loved it. We tried to space out the rides with indoor things so we could at least get a little drier and warmer once in awhile. The musical even had a place selling coffee just outside. Coffee has never tasted so good.

It finally stopped raining around sun down. Just in time for the temperature to drop. After it got dark we stayed to see it all lit up and for a few last rides and shopping before we headed home. The girls got mood necklaces, fuzzy snake scarf things, and little stuff. Nicole also got a fuzzy hat since Noelle already has one.

We got back home after 8pm so we quick got into warm dry clothes, had a snack and went to bed. When the alarm went off this morning I wanted nothing more than to go back to bed but then I would be stuck with a house full of kids. So I got them all off for school and THEN went back to bed. I finally got up and did a few loads of laundry before picking the younger two up from school. Now they are done with their after school snack so I better get something done for the day. I think I will change the load of laundry and watch TV while I fold all the clothes. Then it should be just about time to start dinner. There goes another wasted day.

I just got home from a very busy day at work. I actually remained busy all 10 hours. I had my normal work of entering the employees hours for the week so far to catch up on. Then I also had to pull and separate all of the charge accounts for the month of June and then I had to put in an order for the store items. The day flew by which was great considering I am stressing out.

I am going to full time at work. I will be adding 2 days at the Milwaukee store. I have never worked at that location and I do not know any one there. I am told that their register there is different and they want me to learn the oil bay computer. I was only at that location once and that was 5 years ago. I do not even know if I will get lost on the way there. I hate driving on the interstate in Milwaukee. I freak out big time. It is lanes and lanes stacked on top of each other wrapping around skyscrapers.

I know it sounds silly, but I hate starting new jobs. I feel like this is starting a new job, but I am expected to already know everything. Who knows, maybe I will like it. They said that they will give me gas money but I have not been told the details. As of right now I will have to cashier 10 hrs on Thursdays and probably have to be a computer tech in the oil bay one day. I know what the oil bills should look like but I do not know their computers and I do not know anything about cars. I do not like saying no to money and I want to help James out so I just agreed. I always get stuck doing the odd jobs when they do not want to hire a new person for just a few hours. At least I should be getting overtime. I will probably end up with 45 hours.

Well, tomorrow is my first day working in Milwaukee so I better get to bed early for the longer drive.

I finally finished Harry Potter this morning. I feel weird. I spent so much time reading and trying to get them all finished and now it is over. It sounds silly because it is just a book, but when you wait for years getting a new book and clues every couple years and waiting for more. Anticipating what might happen. Then all of a sudden it is over. I feel a kind of loss. Like, OK so what do I do now? Kind of silly.

The girls are doing their math home work. In the summer we have a more strict chores list. Each kid is in charge of their room and one other room. They must make sure the rooms they are in charge of are clean all the time and they have to put away their own laundry when I have it all folded. Noelle has to do the dishes and clean up dog poop in the yard.

Then they have their summer "homework". They have to read for at least 30 minutes any book from their bookshelves. They also have at least 30 minutes of math to do on any one of the educational game web sites. They are not allowed to go outside to play until they have it all done. It should not take long seeing as the rooms should always stay clean but they like to have "breaks" all the time.

James called the school district offices yesterday to get the kids all set up in school. They told him what I was afraid of. I remembered kids going through it when I was in school. Wisconsin believes that it's schools are so superior to other states that you have to be tested to get in. They believe that children coming in from other states are not at grade level and want to be sure that they should not be held back a grade. James got worried since kids tend to slip back in the summer as it is and our kids have been out of school for 2 months already. So they are doing real homework for the next 2 weeks until testing. He found a website with printable math homework so they are working at it.

Well time for me to go correct math homework

Just a quick blog to say sorry I can not blog but I should be done reading Harry Potter soon.

James and Noelle went out for the midnight release just like every other time. I stayed home seeing as we had to work in the morning which meant that I had to wake up at 5:30am. They came home and went right to reading. James was already 7 chapters in when we went to work. I brought my copy with to work but I did not ever find time to read.

Why is it always that when I actually have something to do I end up busy at work and other days I just sit bored? James took my copy at work and read it when he had time. All day him and 3 of his mechanics kept threatening that I had to be nice all day or they would start telling me what happened in the book.

I finally had time to read it Sunday afternoon when I got back from doing payroll. James had already finished his copy so every once in a awhile he teases me and says,"Guess who has a baby and who it is named after? It would give it all away!" He finds it funny to chase me around the house annoying me.

Well, today I have been reading between household chores and feeding kids. Some how they think their getting food is more important. LOL

I am up to page 511 out of 759 pages so life will get back to normal soon. Right now though I have to quick shower and make dinner so I can get back to reading. One of my other addictions is on TV tonight too. I can not miss Kyle XY either.

I am having a hard time finding the time to read blogs and make my own so today I decided to make mine first. I can read blogs at work tomorrow. It is easier for me to read at work than it is to actually write. I get interrupted way too much to be able to stay on track with my thoughts.

Saturday...
We got up for work like normal. Saturday is the only day we work together. I definitely do not get any special treatment at work. I have asked him why he is so hard on me at work. He says, "I expect more from you because you are not an idiot like the rest." I am thinking stupid people must have an easier life. LOL

Sunday...
I got up for work and James was already on his way out the door. He had to work on the computers in Milwaukee. Sundays are fast easy days. The oil bay is closed on Sunday. We just have the car wash open for 5 hours. I just work Sundays to do pay roll and so someone is there.

James and the owners do not work on Sundays it is just me and Juan the head of the car wash guys. I had already done payroll early so I just sat reading the paper and drinking coffee.
I got home to find out that the power in the house kept going off. We had this problem about 2 weeks ago and we thought it was a bubble lamp that got a leak from the move. When it happened Sunday they thought a puppy bit a cord and it only sometimes kills the power. After they unplugged the surge protector for the entertainment center in Nicole and Neona's room the power stopped shutting off so they figured it must be something on that and just left it unplugged. Whatever it is that is doing it kills the power to the entire house not just one circuit.

Monday...
We stayed up late watching TV so we slept in. One of James' employees came and picked up another puppy so we are down to 3. We are keeping one and a girl that used to work their wanted one. She had told me that she wanted to get fully moved into her house before she picked up her puppy but that was over a week ago so I think I better email her. I want these puppies out of here. Once the last one finds a home she needs to come get hers or I will find a new home for it. I am sick and tired of all these puppies chewing up all of my stuff.

We had a ton of laundry and cleaning to catch up on because of the holiday and then working Thursday. About a half an hour after I started laundry the power went out. I started to think that the house just can not handle all of the power we use. It seems to happen when the laundry and the A/C are going at the same time. So I decided to start unplugging some things to test out if it is a cord, an outlet of just the house. I went all day yesterday with no computer. I do not know how I ever got by without one in the past. I go to the computer for everything.

I had to turn the power back on twice just so I could finish shampooing the carpet in the living room. I am starting to find this to be very annoying. The power went off 4 times yesterday. At least it goes right back on when I go down and turn it on again.

Tuesday...
Well, all I have planned for today is more laundry and some papers for work tomorrow. If I can get the girls to do their chores early enough in the day I think we may start a craft. They have a whole Rubbermaid of craft things that they never get to do because they take forever to do chores. They always want to have breaks between chores and the next thing I know it is dinner time. James got them each a hemp bracelet kit. I don't know if anyone but Noelle will be old enough to do all the knots but we have friendship bracelet stuff also.

This summer is going by so fast and we have not gotten anything done that we planned. We make beaded bracelets too so we talked about trying to make some dangle ankle bracelets for summer but we still have not.

Oh well, back to laundry.

James came home early and is laying down watching TV so we stopped chores early. He does not like all the running around the house that doing chores creates and it gets me out of doing any more. So the girls are going to play outside and I can relax.

I have been keeping very busy updating all of my old files and paperwork. Thank goodness I still have all of my old files because they have not had anyone doing the stuff I used to do so they just have hand written papers with scribbles and white out. They have a new weekday cashier that started a couple weeks before I did. She is kind of trashy and rude. I know it sounds like I don't like her and that is because I don't. LOL

James has had many problems with her. She is lazy, dishonest, and stupid. I never work with her but I see her on Wednesdays when she gets her check. The biggest problem has been that the owner is not very good at standing up to people so she gets away with a lot of it.

Now since she has seen how much I do she feels she has some right to do some of it since she started two weeks before me. The reality is she does not know how to do any of the spreadsheets, sales sheets, or accounts... so she wants to do the work schedule, payroll, inventory, and ordering of all the lobby store items.

All of which she also does not know how to do but she thinks she can figure it out. She believes that I stole these jobs from her and she always starts a fight when she asks me for her check on Wednesdays. The owner who can not handle standing up to people has asked me to just let her do some of it if she wants since I am still getting paid to do it even if she does it.

She threw the biggest fit about ordering. She wanted to do all of the ordering for the store so he told her to go ahead and do just that. James was furious. She is new, there is no way she should do orders. That is what is pissing James off the most. He keeps telling the employees something and they cry to the owner. The owner can not stand up to people so James is having a hard time getting people to listen to him.

I cashier while I do all of my work because the desk I work on is right there and we don't need 2 people there. So I am a over paid cashier. All she knows is that she works full time and I don't so she decided in her head that she is above me.

Well, since we were closed for the fourth I lost a day of work. James informed her that she would lose her Thursday because I would be working it. She threw a fit. He tried to explain to her that otherwise I would only work 15 hrs and she would work 40hrs. I work 25hrs a week because that's what it takes for me to get it all done.

She went on and on about how she is full time and she should not lose hours. James reminded her that she was only promised 30-35 hours a week swapping every other week with me. She got 40 because I don't want it. She then came in the next Wednesday screaming at me about how she wanted her hours. I told her the same thing I tell her every time she screams at me, " I guess you will have to go complain to James or the owner because I only do what I am told to". I piss a lot of people off because I refuse to argue. It is entertaining to watch.

So yesterday I went to work (on her day to work) and started working on my laptop. She had to come in with the puppy she got from us so James could give it one of its shots. She didn't say much to me but I have been told by some of the employees that she talks bad about me all the time so I usually just say hi and go back to what I am doing.

I was very busy yesterday and then about half way through the day James told me to make an order. I reminded him that she will throw a fit if I do it and the owner will probably freak out if she puts him in the middle. He then tells me that she has never made an order and now the store is running out of things.

He said he told her Tuesday that we were running low on a lot of things and she never made an order. I reminded him that she was going to come screaming at me again on Wednesday. I also reminded him that I have informed him and the owner that I am only nice for so long and they will soon see what can happen when some one yells at me.

He then reminded me that he was still my boss and I should go do the order. The other owner that is seldom there was there all day and he found this to be very amusing. He and James are good friends. So I did the order. I don't know when she will notice I did it. Knowing the owner that is usually around will just hope she is not working when the order comes in.

Well I suppose I should finish laundry so I can get to sleep at a decent hour. I have to wake up at 5:30am to get ready for work.

James has now gotten up and made dinner himself while mumbling. Oops

Have you ever noticed how long my blogs are?

Ok, back to more updating.
James had me start working right away. We got into the house on a Saturday at 5pm and he had me going in to work the next day. There is an old guy named Bob that used to be a manager there and is now retired so he runs errands and helps out once in awhile. So James had set it up for me to go in to meet with him and get shown what had changed in the 5 years since I left. The big problem was that we had just got here and still had stuff in the moving truck.

The thermostat was disconnected over night so I was sweaty and the shower had to stay dry because it just had tiles replaced. So I had to wash my hair and clean up in the sink while James went to the store to buy me clothes, a new blow drier and curling iron since all my stuff was packed who knows where.

I went in for about 2 hours Sunday and then started my first full day Wednesday. I was very nervous about going back to work there. I really did not want to have to see everyone again. When I left I was anorexic and I definitely am not any more. LOL

Finally, the day came for me to start back. I stayed very quiet and really didn't talk to anyone because I was so uncomfortable. I felt very uncomfortable around the owner. I didn't know what to say or what he was thinking. The first 2 days I worked I completely stayed away from him. It was probably very obvious how uncomfortable I was. I have gotten a little more comfortable but I still avoid talking to him for very long if no one is around. Also when I am in his office I try to stay away from his desk.

Some one always has to stay behind with me while I count money and get the deposit ready at the end of the night. It can be James, the owner, or a man named Juan that is in charge of the guys that work in the car wash. Usually they pawn it off on Juan because after 10 hours of work everyone wants to leave right away. Well the other day the owner came back to work at the end and said he would wait around for me. I am sure it was no big deal but I was all of a sudden so uncomfortable I rushed to get done. I quick locked the safe, grabbed my purse and laptop; and tried to race out the door. The owner started talking away so I tried to talk about work things that would stress him out and make him want to leave. I don't know what he would end up talking about but I for sure did not want him to bring up the problems that happened in the past.

Then Bob came in and started talking so I hurried out the door. He has been perfectly normal with me and we both talk to each other as if nothing happened in the past. I don't feel like it is too uncomfortable to work there. I guess I am just being silly. I am just worried that some day he is going to bring it up and it will be very uncomfortable.

Well the weekday cashier just called to say she wants to come pick up her puppy so I have to go straighten up the house. I can't stand this woman but that is for the next blog with more work updates.

The morning after we got to Racine James had to go into work for awhile. That gave me and the girls time to try to look half way normal given what we had available. James came back from work and we headed off to his dad's house to visit with him. Then off to his grandparents house to pick up the moving truck again. The older woman that owns the house we are renting had started to say that she didn't think the house would be ready right away. She still wanted full rent though. We had called her before we left Arizona and told her that we had to be there and if that meant we had to stay in a hotel if it was not ready then we would be deducting everyday that we could not be in it. When we got to Wisconsin she told us that it would be ready the next day (Saturday) at 5pm.

James' brother-like person (Steve) met us and we headed over to the house. When we got there the owners' son and his wife were still there working. We sat outside for an hour and then James got sick of waiting and started to bring things in the house. They cleaned up what they were doing and got ready to leave. The son then told me that the woman that lived there before just left Friday so they only had Saturday to work on it.

It was a disaster. I was so upset. It was filthy and only half of the rooms got painted. Carpets are stained there were still things left behind in drawers and cupboards. Then he tells me that she will be coming back Sunday to get more stuff that she left in the garage and in the basement. He then said he would continue to work on the house after we move in so that he is not in our way.

As James and Steve started unloading the truck the neighbors came outside. At first I was relieved, they are a middle aged couple with 3 kids and a dog. James recognized the husband as a past bartender from the bar he used to play darts for and he used to work at a car dealership he would buy parts from once in awhile.

They said they just lost their house and had to move here 3 months ago. They then said the youngest is a 12 yr old boy, they have a teen aged girl, and the oldest is a 17 yr old boy. First I saw the youngest. He does not look 12 but I guess they say he is because he is home alone all the time. Then I saw the oldest boy. He is a chain smoker and talks like he is living in the ghetto doing drive by shootings when he isn't rapping. Only problem is that he is a short and scrawny 17 yr old white boy.

Then the mother starts telling me that the house she lives in is owned b y the same woman as the owner of the house we are renting. She then tells me that the woman is racist and said that her son can't listen to rap music. I have come to REALLY hate rap music now after having to hear his for 2 weeks. He plays rap music very loud and all day long. He dropped out of school and does not have a job so he just sits at home blasting rap music.

I helped unload some more stuff but the humidity was killing me. I have been having a hard time breathing outside. I am used to no humidity and elevation over 4,200 feet. So I stopped to have a beer. The neighbors this whole time had been leaning on one of their cars that is all banged up and has no license plate. They just stood there drinking beer watching us. So when I stopped to have a beer they started talking to me again.

I was still trying to be nice. I had been hoping to get along with the neighbors. I made small talk for awhile before they got weird again. The mother tells me that the car is all banged up because the son got mad and stole it. The father then tells me that if you go behind everyone's garages a couple of houses down there is an opening in the fence and it goes to a bar. He continues to add in that at 8pm they smoke pot in the back and then at 10pm the kids go to bed and it is time for the bar. I have come to find out that he smokes pot with the 17 yr old.

At that I decided to go back to unloading the truck. LOL

James thinks it is funny to shock people, so he gives Ally his old pellet gun he still has from when he was a kid, it looks like a little rifle. I always worry someone will think we are bad parents so I reassure them that it is not really a rifle. The father then says that he has 3 felonies so he does not mess around with that stuff. OMG Who are these people that will be my neighbors?

Then the woman that used to live here shows up. She packs stuff up and does a few trips before she comes over to talk to me. She tells me that she is done getting things and to tell the owner that since she did not get her deposit back she is not going to bother to get rid of her stuff. She then says to be careful with the neighbors. She said they just moved in 3 months ago and they had come to her door and asked her if she wanted to do drugs with them. I really am not looking forward to living here.

We are still unpacking and cleaning the house but it is looking better with all of our things in it. The neighbors have started to hide from us now. The owner's son comes by from time to time fixing things and noticed they had a puppy so he made them get rid of it. He knows we have puppies that will be leaving when they are done nursing and is fine with us.

Then the neighbors started screaming at him about some note on their door over a week ago. All he said to us was that is what happens when you don't pay rent on time and your kid is a piece of crap. We had already heard that they were not going to let the kid stay after he turned 18 in a couple months because the lease says 2 adults and 3 kids. So we assume that is what the note said. I hoped it said they are all evicted but they are all still here so no such luck.

The owner has come by a few times knocking at their door but they don't ever answer. They are just weird. I went to the store the other day and left Noelle at home. She said that the father came running out the door after the wife kicking her car and screaming at her. I think they are all smacking each other around. I can hear the kids beating the crap out of each other and screaming from my house. When I look the mom's car is here. Well at least they hide from us. I just have to turn the TV up so I don't have to hear them.

Well, the kids are starting to wake up so I better make tea and breakfast.

Well, I guess I have a lot of updating to do so maybe some time in the future I will get to present day stuff. It took forever for the cable company to get out here to install everything and then I was busy doing papers for work.

We had gotten everything ready to go the day before so all James and my dad had to do was fill the truck. It still took James and my dad 6 hours to fill it up. We almost did not get it all in. We had to stuff it full to the top stacking everything. We got the 26 ft diesel truck thinking we would have extra room but we did not want to get one that would be too small. I had no idea we had so much stuff and that was after the yard sale.

Then the car filled up and we had no room for the suitcases we had set aside for the trip so I only got to change clothes once during the trip and I ended up wearing a baseball hat and no makeup. Yes, that is a big deal to me. LOL

Well after showering, getting dressed and taking off it was already 3pm. James was in a big hurry to get going since we were behind schedule so we still left that day. We drove an hour and then stopped to eat. Then drove another hour and a half and he was too tired so we had to get a hotel room already.

We were wide awake at 2am so we headed out early. Between the dogs, kids, and me drinking caffeine to keep going we stopped about every 2 hours to pee. We got on a weird schedule of stopping at hotels early and going to bed at 8pm and then driving at 2am. We were trying to make up for time we lost the first day but we kept getting too tired to keep driving past 6pm.

Driving at 2am helped with traffic though. The third day I started feeling sick and run down. We started to get stressed and annoyed with each other on top of it. James thought I was just stressed and having panic attacks all day because I kept calling him telling him I needed to make stops because I felt like I could not breath and needed to puke.

By the fourth day James was sick too and realized I really was sick. We spent most of the fourth day rotating driving for 2 hours and then sleeping at rest stops. We were both too tired and sick to drive very long. On top of it all we kept having to dodge storms. There were a lot of trucks flipped over along the way in Iowa. When we got to Illinois the storms were right behind us so we had to keep in front of them.

Finally we hit Wisconsin and just about 1 hour from the end of the trip the storm caught up with us. The interstate was only going 40 mph and it ended up getting so bad I could not see enough to feel safe so I pulled off at a rest stop and sat for 30 minutes until it passed. The windshield on the truck was straight up and down so James could see and continue on. He met me at the hotel.

The trip was finally over at 8pm the 4th day. According to Mapquest it was a 28 hour drive.
We left Tuesday 3pm and got there Friday 8pm. Well, Children are now calling me so I will do more updates later.

Oh yeah, and just my luck the 1st and 2nd hotels internet didn't work. The 3rd I was too sick and just slept, and then the 4th did not have any.

I am always back tracking so why should today be any different.

Friday and Saturday the girls and I packed like crazy. Well I should say I packed like crazy and had to yell at the girls a lot for sitting down every time I left the room. Sunday James flew into Tucson. His friends in Tucson wanted to have a last cook out so they offered to pick him up at the airport and drive him here after it. That helped me out because that way I could get more packing and cleaning done. I stopped to shower and get ready for him to come but he came too early so I still looked horrible. I had really wanted to look nice since I had not seen him in a month. I was in the bath tub shaving when he text me that he was on his way and they wanted to come in the house to see the puppies. So I had to clean some of the packing mess instead of getting ready so I could look nice.

Monday my parents called and said they were going to come and help finish the packing and take apart furniture. They even went and picked us up some lunch. My dad retired in January so he said he would come today to help pack the truck. That made me very happy. I am not much help with that. I am too weak to carry the huge furniture and then James and I argue when he needs help with things. Between my height or lack there of and my less than long arms I can't be of much help.

So today we pick up the truck, fill it, shower, and start driving. Plus I have to go to the MVD to get a new title for my Jeep while they start loading. If I am not too tired at night and the hotels have internet I might be able to blog. Otherwise who knows when I will get to next. I don't think James has made any calls to get anything hooked up at the house yet. I don't even think he decided what we will get yet. I think we have a satellite dish there unless he ended up giving it to his dad.

Well, I need to get going and get some stuff done. She you when I get to the new house.

Today was the last day of School !!! I am excited but the girls took it very hard. I am liking not having to wake up early and having them home to help me with all of this.

Back to catching up on everything else now that we have the puppies. James finished looking at all the houses and we made a decision. I am not too excited any more but I want the move over with so we can all be together again. We picked the only thing available in the time we need it and the better of the neighborhoods. It is the one that James said he does not think will fit all my furniture. James keeps trying to make me feel better by pointing out that it will only be for a year.

At any rate, we will be in Sturtevant which is a village in Racine County. It is just outside of town and where the rural area begins. We decided to stay outside of Milwaukee.

We have not gotten much more done for the move. We have been busy with the puppies and Noelle and Nicole are both depressed about leaving friends. They usually do the same stages. First we ask them what they think and they say they want to move and they are all excited about it. Then the last week they get depressed. As we are moving they like the adventure of moving. A week after the move they get depressed again and then they meet friends and are happy again.

This time we are moving during the summer so it might be harder to find friends. Plus Noelle has an actual best friend now that she talks to nonstop. We do have friends there from before and a few of them have kids so I hope they will be able to keep busy. Noelle is doing her last sleep over with her best friend tonight. Her friend goes on vacation the next day so this will be the last time she sees her.

Noelle spent all last night searching the house for things she could give her friend as gifts to remember her by. She is taking this very hard now and cried most the night.

Hopefully we can get our butts in gear tomorrow so we can catch up on things. We have set back our moving day so that helps. The house we picked has the earliest move in date, but it is still not early enough. The owner said she does not think she could possibly have it ready before next Saturday or Sunday.

I am assuming that means she has to paint it and does not want to until Saturday. So I am figuring on Sunday to move in. Problem being we made these plans awhile ago. So, James has a flight to Tucson this Sunday morning and he has to be at work in Wisconsin Saturday morning.

Since we can't get into the house right away we are delaying leaving until we have to so this way we will most likely avoid extra day charges for the truck. The truck rental gives us 6 days so if we can't unload it until Sunday we do not want to go over the days allowed. We are already paying $1700 for the darn thing.

So I changed pick up of the truck to Tuesday. That way James comes back Sunday and we will have more time to get things ready and cleaned. We will pick up the truck Tuesday to fill it and rest over night before heading out Wednesday morning. That should get us to Wisconsin some time Friday so James can work the next morning. However that means we won't have a house yet and we will have to stay in a hotel with the dogs and puppies 2 more nights. That would bring us to a total of 4 nights in hotels. I hope they never notice we have the puppies.

The 2 dogs are no problem (other than $20 more a night). I don't know what we are going to do with ourselves Saturday. After sitting in a car for 3 days everyone is going to be stir crazy and not want to just sit in a hotel, but we can not leave the dogs alone.

I wish this was all over with. I need to just worry about one thing at a time. So right now I am going to try to just worry about getting all this packed and cleaned.


Countdown ...
3 Days Until James Is Back
5 Days Until We Have To Pack The Truck
6 Days Until We Start The Drive
8 Days Until We Arrive In Wisconsin
10 Days Until We Move Into The House.

It has been very stressful waiting for the puppies along with everything else, but they have finally been born.

I had to work night shifts on Sunday & Monday so Noelle would call and text me all the time. Every time was for something like... "She is panting", "She looks sad", or "I think she stopped eating". We have been reading many web sites about dog birth lately. All said that the first stage of labor lasts 6-12 hours. Most said they stop eating 24 hours before hand. They also said that they strain and struggle in pain for about 30 minutes before they get to the pushing.

So I kept telling Noelle that even if it was the first stage we would have time for me to finish work and come home. We were very worried that the web sites said that the first time dogs give birth you have to help because they do not always know what to do. Every night I got home hoping and thinking this would be the night.

Well, when I got home Monday night (which was my last night at work) the girls were asleep and I found these poopy slimy globs on the kitchen floor. I figured maybe it would be happening soon. She seemed fine otherwise and ate and went to bed. Tuesday morning she went out to go pee and was jumping at the birds in the tree. She came in and ate a ton so I started to feel like she would never give birth. She had some more of the slimy diarrhea globs so I looked it up online to find nothing.

I started to feel very tired because I didn't get much sleep so I took a nap around 2pm. I started to wake up and saw Jack in Hermione's nest. I told him to get out as I still lay there on the couch groggy.

Again he jumped into her nest, so this got me up to yell at him. I did not want all that time getting Hermione comfortable in her nest to be ruined because he was all of a sudden getting in it. So he got out and went over by Hermione who was sitting in the kitchen.

I heard a dog cry in the nest and after a second it dawned on me that no one was in the nest. I looked and didn't see anything. We had put a blanket in the bottom, then an old comforter, and then sheets to soften it for her. I started to pull everything out and then I saw a little puppy. Hermione had cleaned it all up and chewed off the umbilical cord just like she was supposed to.

I take awhile to fully wake up. James and the girls always laugh at how out of it I am when I wake up. It started to dawn on me that she had her first puppy and I didn't notice. Then I started to freak out because my house was becoming crazy and the girls were still at school. Jack was running around trying to see the puppy, Hermione was leaving a blood spot anywhere she sat but she would not go back in her nest because Jack was running around, and I still had not checked the puppy.

I decided to first put Jack outside. I ran back in to get Hermione in her nest. Then Jack started crying like someone was killing him. So I went back outside to find that he had stuck his head in the gate and popped it. Any time he really wants to come inside he shoves his head in the gate.

He has learned that when he pulls it back out the gate pops open. After running around the neighborhood a few times we got smart and put 2 bungee cords on it too. So I latched the gate again and went back to Hermione to put her in her nest again. Jack again was crying bloody murder and popped the gate so I had to bring him in and put him in the kennel.

He continued to cry and bark but at least I could tend to Hermione and know he was not getting out of the yard. He REALLY wanted to be by the puppy.

Just as I got able to check on the puppy the girls came home. All of this from me waking up until them getting home took 15 minutes. So I figured we had awhile to rest. The web sites all said they rest around an hour to 4 hours between puppies. Hermione kept trying to come out of her nest so Ally sat inside of it with the puppy. Right away she had another puppy.

This one had the sac very tight around it so after she kept licking it and it would not pull away. I tore it a little for her. We got that one all cleaned up and then another one came. We let her clean them as much as she wanted and when she walked away from them we would take them and dry them, tie the cord, and cut them shorter. We ended up rushing as it went on because they just kept coming one after another.

Finally after the 5th one she laid down to rest. We left her alone for awhile to rest and see if she would have more. After about 30 minutes she got up and started looking for her puppies. She really wanted them so we figured she had to be done and so we gave them back to her to start nursing. She nursed for about 15 minutes and out came puppy #6. Finally she was done for real. She did great !!! She made it look so easy. She just turned to lick herself and by the time we got there to check she had a puppy already cleaned off.

She ended up with 2 girls & 4 boys. Of the puppies 4 are black with white spots and 2 are all white.

Well, it is Sunday night and I am at work. Tomorrow is my last night. It feels so unreal that it is coming so fast. That gives me 5 days without work to get things done before James comes back for the move. I have been so busy that I just never had time to blog. Let me see... I have some catching up to do.

I did the normal working thing Friday - Monday. Tuesday I finally had time to go out to some stores. We picked up Noelle's new glasses and got stuff we needed for the up coming puppy delivery. The one girl I work with mentioned that they kept their dog in a baby pool. It helped with clean up from the delivery and allowed the mom to get in and out for feedings,but keep the puppies in.

So we bought a baby pool and it just fits in the front door way. We put in towels from the hotel that got a stain on them so they can't be used. I also got carpet that was removed from a room because it got a stain. I can put that in the back of the Jeep during the move. It should be enough to make a few layers and we can just pull out a layer if it gets dirty along the way.

Next comes us looking for a house to rent in Wisconsin. We have had a hell of a time finding anyone that will allow dogs. Here everyone has dogs and it is no big deal. There are barely any houses for rent there and none allow dogs. James asked if we should get rid of the dogs and I said no way. So we had to start checking into townhouses. There are some townhouses that allow dogs but most are not in areas we wanted to live. I have been busy making phone calls and James has been checking out places. It has been horrible.

We are stuck choosing between a neighborhood we didn't like or a house that is too small. James is waiting to hear from one more person tomorrow and then he said we will have to just decide. He wants a lease signed tomorrow before we run out of time.

I also spent my days off scrubbing my whole house so I did not get any packing done. The land lady called me and said she wanted to come through and do an inspection of the house so she could get an idea of what work might need to be done after we leave. With all the people we are applying for a house with worried about the dogs we wanted a great reference from her so I scrubbed and scrubbed and shampooed carpets for 2 days.

I have had a package of those magic eraser things under my sink for ages and never used them until this week. I LOVE THEM !!! I went through 7 of them. I had to go to the store to buy more and also get oven cleaner and carpet stuff. I scrubbed everything.

When she came she didn't even open the fridge or oven. I was sooo mad that I spent all that time and she didn't even look. She did how ever say that it was very clean and looked like I had a maid clean it all. Little did she know that I cleaned like a crazy woman.

Next comes the dog issue. Hermione still has not had her babies. Average is 62-63 days. Which will be Tuesday or Wednesday. We had just hoped it would be sooner so the puppies would be older during the move. She looks so big and sad. I feel bad for her. Every night I hope she will have them but nothing yet. James keeps telling me to try to get her to deliver them. I don't know what he expects me to do. Squeeze them out of her? I think on Tuesday if they have not come yet I will take her for a little walk. Maybe that will help and I won't have to worry about going in to work.

Lastly, Mother's Day. I didn't feel like trying to make the hour and a half drive to my Mom's house since I worked all weekend and I worry about driving that far when James is no where near here to help if something happens. So I decided to send flowers. I ordered FTD online and spent over $70.

Mother's Day came and went and my Mother received nothing. I let it go thinking maybe they ran late and she will get them Monday. Tuesday I called to complain. I sat on hold for 30 minutes to be told the florist is not answering their phone so we have to wait until they respond to a message. Wednesday late at night I called again to be told they still have not responded.

They would try to call Thursday morning and if the florist does not answer they would call another one. I was promised a larger arrangement with an apology for my Mom and 20% off. Friday came around and I still had not heard anything from my Mom about getting them so I called FTD again at 4:45pm. They said they had to call a different florist because they still could not get a hold of the first one. They also said the place still had until 5pm to deliver them. I pointed out that they were supposed to be called Thursday morning to deliver them and it was Friday.

She said all we could do was wait since it was not 5pm yet. So after work Saturday I was busy calling ads for rentals when my Mom called me around 6pm. She said, "You are never going to guess what your Dad did while I was shopping. The flowers came and he yelled at them and told them he would not sign for anything and they needed to take them back since they were a week late." I wanted to scream at him.

The florist never called me to tell me what happened so I waited to see if FTD would. Nothing, Not one call from anyone. Finally after two weeks my card was credited the full amount that was originally charged. I will never again do business with FTD.

Saturday Night continued...

After dinner I had a few beers since it was St Patricks Day I had to. Then I went online to search for answers to our Zelda game problem. One night we were hurrying to get a part of the game done so we could save it and eat dinner. The next day we turned the game on and we were stuck in the room and couldn't go any farther. We messed with it once in awhile till we got annoyed and then turned it off for another day.

After over a week I decided to go online and do research to find out that it is a huge glitch in the Zelda game and Nintendo hasn't done anything about it so I am stuck forever and have to start all over again. We spent many many hours on that game and we only had a few hours left to beat it. Now we have to start all over again.

So after I saw everyone fell asleep while I was looking up info, I grabbed a beer and started the game over. I played with all the lights off and the volume off since everyone was sleeping. I couldn't sleep so I just kept playing.

At 2:30am I heard crunching in the front yard. In Arizona we don't have many yards with grass. It would die and look nasty. So most people have decorative rocks. Thats one things I will not be missing. You have to clean rocks up from on the walkways all the time. Then there are the guys that come through the subdivision with blowers to get them off the road. The worst part though is when you have to run outside and don't notice one till you step on it with barefeet. Just think of a yard full of gravel. It looks nicer than gravel but it still hurts your feet.

Anyways so I heard crunching in the front yard and I looked up at the window infront of me and there was a guy looking in it. I jumped up as he quick ran past the next house and around the corner. We have an alley that starts just around that corner. The subdivision has strick rules for parking on the streets. Only guests are allowed to park on the road. For residents we have alleys that all the driveways are on. No cars are supposed to be visible from the front on houses.

So I went back to the bedrooms and looked out the windows to see if I could see him back in the alley. James woke up groggy and didn't seem to care. He looked like he thought I was over reacting. He went to the bathroom and then came out to the kitchen. I then knew he wasn't taking it lightly.

We keep a Ruger handgun that James had one of the border patrol guys order for him above the kitchen sink. As he put the clip in it I started to worry more and kept telling him that I was sure I must have scared the guy and he was long gone. James is an exmarine so he had to be macho I guess. He then got his flash light and walked around the yard. When he came back in, after not seeing anyone, he unloaded the gun and put it back.

He then looked at me and said that next time I just need to grab the unloaded gun and pull back the slide so the guy can hear it. After all this is Arizona and guns are everywhere. One problem with that though. I don't think anyone will wait around while I get a step stool and then climb on the sink so I can reach it. LOL

So James went off to bed and I sat back on the couch staring at the window. Every time I nodded off I woke back up quick after to stare at the window some more. It finally got light out and I figured I would sleep then since I felt safe. The girls woke up and made noise and then James started making corned beef and cabbage so the house stunk. I then gave up trying to sleep.

I had to work Sunday from 2pm -10pm. It was a very LONG night. I drank tons of coffee and that's also why I started catching up with my blog. I had to do something to stay awake.
Well, my battery is about to die on the laptop and I'm too lazy to do anything about it so I'll blog more tomorrow.

I'm at work and bored so I will try to catch up on things. I feel like I will never catch up on here. I am always days behind. Well at least they are not as long as they could be since after a few days somethings don't seem important enough to add. LOL

Friday, I woke up for work like always and had to rush so I could also help carry things outside for the yard sale. Surprisingly the kids are being ok with selling their TVs and entertainment centers from their rooms and their Foosball table.

James told them that they would break going across the country and they will get new ones after we move. I thought they would put up more of a fight. James was going to sell his casino table thing but I reminded him that back home we actually had friends that used to come over for poker nights and they would like it. The kids never knew what was inside of it because the house was so packed with stuff we just always used it with the cover on it behind the loveseat to hold plants and an aquarium. So now that the furniture is all moved they play roulette and craps all the time. James taught them, I'm still not sure yet if I'm mad about that. I can just see the girls telling my over proper mother that they play craps and roulette. Well he hasn't taught them the Texas Hold'em or Black Jack yet. LOL

So I went off to work. It was the first day back for the girl that just had the baby. For right now they have decided for both of us to work together for 2 days a week. Since I only work 4 days they didn't know what to do so that I wouldn't lose hours. So they are paying us both to do 1 persons job. I don't want to lose the hours but I feel very weird. I find myself trying to do everything so I look like I'm worth the money. Which is hard when I only have half of one persons job to do. The other girl seems like she is bored and wishes she could just have it alone like before and I don't blame her. I wouldn't want to work with someone else. We will see how it goes next weekend. I really am not looking forward to it. I hate feeling out of place. James says to just go to a temp agency till we move, but I would rather not have such a short employment on my resume.

Ok, back to yard sale. I got home from work to find that James only made $23 since the sign at the subdivision entrance had blown down and they didn't know. Then we realised James never defrosted dinner so we had to figure something out. I said Chinese; James said groceries are cheaper. James then came back from the grocery store after spending $90. LOL

Saturday, woke up for work, carried out yard sale stuff, just like Friday. At work I helped the girl get an email account and upload pictures to a photo album so I felt a little more useful. Then back home I went to find that James sold a bit more that day. The rest of the stuff however; was all back in the house just left where ever. So I get to clean and organize again. Yippy. I now hate yard sales and I didn't even have to be at home and do it.

Well, it is almost time for me to go home so I will finish Friday night tommorrow.

I can't believe it is already Sunday night and Spring break is already over. We have been so busy and I really haven't gotten any thing done that I wanted to. Hmm where did I leave off.


Tuesday, Nicole had an eye doctor appointment. James and I have very bad eyes and Noelle & Neona both wear glasses already so we wanted to get Nicole checked since she is in the middle of them in age.



She has recently refered to her one eye as her "good eye". We got to the eye doctor and she was fine till we had to go in the back. She was very nervous and then upset when the doctor said she didn't need glasses yet. She started to cry when she realised it was time for the glaucoma air puff test. The doctor whispered in her ear that is she didn't tell her sisters she wouldn't have to do it this time since it was scary enough being her first time there.



As we were leaving she informed me that her ears were still itchy and hot like they were the night before. I looked and the skin was dry and flakey. She has always had sensitive skin and her old doctor said she probably had mild excema. I dropped Nicole off at home and then it was time to bring Noelle in to get her 2 new pairs of glasses fitted at a differant place and go get groceries for dinner since I forgot to defrost anything.


Wednesday, Nicole woke up with a "hot rashy beard" as she put it. It went from ear to ear on her cheeks and under her chin. She had no other symptoms so I slathered her up with noxema and sat her on the loveseat/quarantine area like when she had pink eye a few weeks ago.



Then on to cleaning and organizing for the yard sale over the weekend minus one helper. I of course did most of it with kids just watching to argue that they need to keep everything. We got Noelle's room done. The worst part being her desk, which resembles a garbage dump.



Then on to my room. OMG, James started "cleaning" last weekend which means I had a rubbermaid in the middle of the floor full of tools that he hasn't had time to put back in their cases. Plus a pile of papers on the coffee table (Yes, he needs a coffee table in the bedroom. I'm just glad the loveseat is finally gone so there is only a chair now.)



The papers are on the coffee table because he "cleaned" the desk and they need to be filed. There is also a pile of cords on the floor by the door to the bathroom because he "cleaned" the desk drawer. I left everything as it was for days waiting for it to get finished and now I can't handle it any more.



I must say that I think when I put cords in the desk they breed. I don't even know what all the cords go to any more or if I even need them. I then go to make dinner since I actually remembered to defrost it today. I made one of those boxed chicken meals that you add water to, put in a casserole pan and bake with chicken breasts on top. It was Southwest rice, James picked it out. We ate a late lunch so only James ate it. I left it on the stove to cool off before I put it away. It remained there till I found it when I woke up in the morning. :( Oops


Thursday, after waking up to find a whole wasted dinner, I woke up the kids to continue cleaning. Nicole was still rashy and now Neona had pink eye. Neona, got the quarantine loveseat now and Nicole after jumping around fine for a day had to clean regardless of rash.



We woke up late because we stayed up late playing video games. So we didn't get much done when we had to go to the bank for change for the yard sale. Then off to the hardware store for signs and to get a hose since the dogs ate ours.


It is almost time for me to leave work and go home so I will continue more tommorrow.

Well, today was a half day at school and the beginning of Spring Break. Today started out almost normal. I woke up early so I could get the kids and I ready to go. Noelle had a science project due so we had to get that all packed up.

It was a half day so she needed a pillow for her class's traditional half day reading on the floor thing. Then off to work I went. I got my second 25 cent raise since I started there in January so I was feeling good.

Then I went home...I walked in the door to find an extra kid,the bedrooms are a mess, and kids screaming; "Can you bring us to the pool", "It's 80 degrees out and we haven't gone swimming yet this year",and "Dad is sick on the couch and says to ask you".

Our subdivision has a pool 2 blocks away but after waking up at 5:30am and having nothing but coffee until 2:30pm all I want is to sit down and eat lunch. Well now Noelle went to sleep over at a friends and Nicole and Neona decided it is too hot outside to play any longer so James decided he is feeling good enough to watch a movie.

I am going to grab a drink, start dinner and watch a movie. This maybe the last time for over a week that I won't hear how bored everyone is.

I can't believe I almost went a whole month without blogging. This has been a busy month and I didn't realise it had been so long.

Well, I will try to do catch up as fast as possible but lord knows I can't make long stories short. I can't even make short stories short.

About 3 weeks ago I got home to find a message on the answering machine from James' aunt. She said we needed to call her because James' dad was in the hospitol. James' dad has had his arteries in his legs replaced twice. We have always worried about his health but whenever we ask anything all he says is that he is alive. He has only called us after he has surgury and that was just while we lived in Wisconsin. He would just call to ask us to take out his dog.

Well, this time he had a blood clot in his leg. He was in ICU when she called us because he had to have angioplasty and the meds he was on. Both of James' aunts are nurses so they could help care for him a bit but they work alot too.

James decided that he had to go and see his dad and see what kind of condition he is in. We have always known that one day we will need to move back there to be there for him. He never remarried or even dated. He raised James on his own so they have a differant kind of bond.

James started to get everything ready to leave. He had to bring a guy in from Tucson to run the store here and he worked on my Jeep. There was small everyday stuff he wanted to check since he was going to be gone and I had to drive back and forth to the airport twice.

The drive to Tucson is only an hour and a half but it is just desert between mountain ranges. No businesses and no cell phone signals. The most you see are border patrol mobile station like things. My Jeep was starting to squeek so he wanted to check everything. He noticed I was leaking coolant the day before he had to leave. I needed a new water pump and he didn't have the tools or the time to do it. That is when I started to freak and feel like this trip was going to be horrible for me.

SATURDAY
I went to work at 8am, worked until 2:20 because the next girl was late, and then raced home. James claimed I shouldn't worry about the coolant leak and that he would feel safer if I drove the Jeep instead of his Land Rover. So we all hopped in the Jeep and headed off. First the bank, then gas, and then A&W of course. When leaving this town there is 30 minutes of empty highway before you hit the interstate. There is a truck stop at the interstate with an A&W in it so we have to stop for food everytime we go anywhere out of town. The kids love A&W.

We inhaled our food and then off to the airport. Tucson Airport is small compared to what I am used to but James did not want me driving the extra 2 hours to go to Pheonix like we did when we lived in Oro Valley. James flew out at 6:20 and we drove back home and played video games all night.

TUESDAY
James tells me on Monday that he does not want me driving the Jeep to pick him up without getting the water pump replaced first. So he has made an appointment for me at 8:30am so I can get back before the kids are done with school. I never have to deal with this stuff. Maybe I'm spoilled but I don't do these things. I rarely even get my own gas. James says it is about a 2 hour job and I should call a cab. I figure that is a waste of money for just 2 hours so I bring a book and plan on finding a restaurant to sit in.

Since this is a military town all of the businesses are all crammed together on the one road that comes out of the base. I get to the place to drop off my Jeep and they are packed full of cars and tell me they won't be done until around 1pm. Where am I going to waste time until then? I have no cash for a cab or even their phone number.

So I call James and tell him how upset I am and then start my walking around to waste time. I see a Jack in the Box and decide to have coffee and breakfast. I sit and read while eating my breakfast burrito and drinking my coffee. I look at my watch to find it is only 9:15. I can not waste all this time like this.

So I start to walk figuring I will find an ATM soon and then call a cab. After awhile I find a bank, get money, and decide to walk till I find more coffee so when I call a cab I can sit and wait. I walk for ages and see the Dennys sign and think well maybe I should just go there and sit and just wait there instead of taking a cab home.

I keep walking towards it thinking about if I could sit that long or would I just go insane. I walk and think some more and remember that the sports bar I used to work at is in that same parking lot as Dennys, but is 10am way too early to be seen at a bar. I decide that 10am is way too early but I will anyway.

...After I talked to old coworkers for awhile James called to tell me he went to visit one of the owners of the businesses he ran when we lived there. They met with the other owner and started to talk about things and next thing he knew they told him they just bought a little island in the U.P. of Michigan together and they want to be able to spend summers there with their kids and not have to be around to run the businesses.

They never hired anyone to over see both businesses after he left so they can't ever both leave. They said that since James had said we were seeing if we needed to move back home they wanted to offer him his old job back with the much higher pay he is making now. They said they don't want him touching cars any more they want him just taking care of the businesses and the money. Plus they don't want to deal with salary they want to pay him the equivalant in hourly pay at 50 hours a week.

Right now he is working around 65 hours a week because he doesn't have enough managers and he is salary. He said he would change around the whole business if he did because he has learned alot since he left. They said they didn't care what he did and they would continue to give him free reign like they always did. The catch is that they don't want to wait that long or they will find someone else because they want everything ready for them to go by summer.

So we talk about it on the phone for awhile and realise that we will be needing to move back home soon and this is a great offer. Heartland is a huge company so he never gets too much say and they will always move us to start new stores or fix them. I tell him to go for it. He says this means he has to move in 2 months and we will have to stay behind a month so the kids can finish off the school year and he can find a house. I said, yes I know, this isn't the first time. So, after just moving here Oct 22nd and not even being done unpacking it all...we are moving again.

So I tell him to call the garage and find out how long. It is now 12:30 and they say 30 minutes more, so I decide that maybe I should just walk back. I would feel silly getting a cab for a 5 minute drive. So off I go walking again. After I start walking I realise what a horrible mistake I made. My legs don't move as fast any more.

What a time to discover I am getting old and out of shape. I decided to stop at a 99cent store and get a few things for the girls. Then start walking again as fast as I can since my legs now feel like they are made out of lead. I finally see the garage and my salvation. I pay and go home. My head is killing me and I have 30 minutes to nap before the kids get home at 3:45. I could have just taken a cab home and back but I'm stupid.

SATURDAY
Saturday morning I was woken up at 5:30am to James telling me that the storm he worried about had started early and it didn't look good for his flight out that evening. They told him that he could sit on stand by and try to leave earlier if he was worried so he was driving to Chicago already. I was pissed that he woke me up early because his flight wasn't scheduled to come in till 10:55pm and I still had to go to work, drive to Tucson have dinner at my parents, drive to the airport, and drive back that late.

At work I kept the weather channel on and all it talked about was Milwaukee getting 12 inches. He did Chicago this time because Milwaukee doesn't fly straight to Tucson, it goes to Pheonix. I got done with work and called him to find out that all the flights are leaving on time and they are all full so he is still coming in late. I check all the web sites and everything looks good for his flight so we leave for Tucson.

We are running late so we drive right on past A&W and the kids are heart broken. We quick stop off at Micheal's to get more jewelry making stuff since there is no Micheal's in Sierra Vista and then race to my parents for dinner. James calls to say they are boarding the plane on time and he will text me when they start to taxi.

About 45 minutes later he calls to say they have just been informed that they don't have pilots. The pilots are stuck in a plane that can not unload because all of the gates are full. Over an hour later he calls again to say that they just got pilots but no one is deicing the plane for some reason.

Around another hour later he calls to say they have just been told to get off the plane the airport is closing. They said that they didn't think that they would be unloading the luggage in the morning and that it would probably fly to Tucson and be sitting there waitting for him. He threw a fit and got a hotel voucher because he couldn't even get through to reschedule his flight.

All the calls to the airline were getting dropped. He finally got through to get told that they couldn't fit him on a flight until Tuesday. So we headed back home. As we drove the girls decided they were starving and that we had to stop at A&W even though it was almost midnight. As I turned to get back on the highway I hear oh no that was my rootbeer. A rootbeer went flying out of one of the back cup holders and poured everywhere. We got home at 12:30am and I asked myself if it could get any worse.

Sunday
James called and woke me up before he headed out to buy more luggage and clothes and chargers and food. Stupid snow is costing me alot of money. Then I see Nicole... never ask if life can get worse. Life has a sick sense of humor.

Nicole has pink eye. I being the insane mom that I am have turned the love seat into a quarantine area. Nicole has her own remotes and games and everything she could need. Right next to which is her sanitizer bottle and her clorox disinfecting wipes. She is only allowed to go to the bathroom and back.

Tuesday
It is only a half day of school so the kids get to come with to pick up James. Nicole puts on her pink sunglasses so people don't notice she is still a bit pink. We start driving and I realise that my A/C is blowing out hot air. They must have disconnected something when they changed the water pump. So we drove in a hot car all the way there.

We pick up James and he has the nerve to be rude, and grumpy and say he is tired. I roll down the windows to cool off the car a bit before we hit the interstate. I go to roll them back up and James says to put up Nicole's window. So I push her's again. He sounding rude to me says I told you Nicole's window. I blow up about how I am not a moron and I WAS pushing Nicole's window.

Turns out the window is off track so on top of everything else now my window is messed up. I start thinking more about James being grumpy and saying he is tired. I drove back and forth 3 times, worked all week, took care of the kids, dealt with pink eye, and getting my car fixed. He has the nerve to say HE is tired when the most he did the last 3 days is shop and be stuck in a hotel room?????

As I drive home my mind is going a million miles a minute and I am ready to explode. He taps my hand that is now white clutched onto the wheel and says slow down it is only 55 here. I then realise that I am still going 85. I start to calm down and realise I am over reacting from the stress of the week.

He wants to stop and get movies and groceries for a fun night and then we go home. He tells Nicole she doesn't have to stay on the love seat and looks at me like I'm crazy and then starts the coals so we can grill some steaks and pork chops. We sit down in the livingroom to watch movies and then he sees that there are tv shows on that he likes. I can relax again, life is back to normal. LOL

Wednesday
We are finally up to today....I wake up and decide Nicole is still too pink to go to school and I get the other 2 ready. At 8am I tell them to get there back packs ready to leave for the bus. Autumn comes back from her room and tells me she can't find hers. then comes the realisation that they are still in the back of the Jeep because we went to the airport straight from school.

Well the Jeep is with James at work. So I get shoes on and look for my keys that have a set of Land Rover keys on them and can't find them. I call James, for some reason he put them on the kid's desk and he wants me to bring him some left over pork chops for lunch.

Then we all hop in the Land Rover and head to his work. I tell him I think he needs power stearing fluid or it is just angry that we ignored it for 2 weeks. He says to pop the hood. I say the kids will be late. He says he doesn't want me driving it that way and fills up the fluid. We race off and get to school at 8:35...5 minutes before the bell. How is it that my life is always so crazy?

Well then I go home and here I sit because I missed my laptop (James took it with) I don't like sitting in the bedroom facing a wall for very long. James called a bit ago to ask if I had started going through stuff to pack and throw away. I answered as if I have been busy all day ..."Can I finish all this laundry you brought home first".

So I should probably go do some laundry now. LOL

After waitting forever for the Nintendo Wii to get released (I needed a new Zelda game or I would die!) and then waitting forever for stores to get them in stock (stupid Nintendo) we finally got one today.

Words can not express how much the girls and I love new Zelda games. Ever since hearing of the new Nintendo Wii system and the new Zelda game we have been going nuts waitting for its release. We have always had "Girls Nights".

"Girls Nights" consisted of the most unhealthy dinner and dessert the girls chose for the night and a long night of video games. Our favorite games are any Zelda games. We had to play all the old games and win them again while we waited for the release.

After beatting them all again...still no release date. We had to come up with other games to calm our hunger. We discovered Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II (cool Disney games made by the Final Fantasy people for Playstation 2). Finished them and still no release date.

We discovered The Darkest Faerie ( a Neopets game that is similar to Zelda). Omg, we stooped to even playing a Neopets game. It isn't as bad as I thought it would be though.

Then finally a release date; but they were all sold out of the console before they were even released. All the stores insisted they would get more before Christmas so we bought all the other crap we needed (well over $100). EB Games said call every day because they won't know when they get a delivery until it shows up.

Curcuit City had a Sunday ad that assured they would have 20 per store at opening that day. James drove an hour and a half to that store and was 11th in line. At opening they said that some how they only got 10 (I'm sure the employees might have something to do with that). He then raced over to another store that said they would have 10 at opening that day. He was 10th in line...got a ticket...went to claim his Wii...and was told that they didn't realise the 10th one was already set up as a display one for people to play.

We kept calling and checking stores online till Christmas when we had to give the kids all the other stuff for the system but no system. We gave up trying for awhile when all the stores said they were told they might not get any more in until March.

That brings us to Saturday. James calls me from Walmart and tells me that they had an ad in the Saturday paper showing the Wii and that he was in line at the check out with one in his hands. He then calls me back and says that when he got to the front of the line the manager walked up and started screaming at the cashier and told her they were not allowed to sell any until Sunday. She then responded that she had already sold 2 and who knows who else has also.

He then refuses to let James buy one saying they were sent 20 and they can't be sold till Sunday. A very pissed off James went back to Walmart at midnight since it is then Sunday. They had a sign that read..."We have 10 Nintendo Wiis in stock and we have decided to bring them out at 6am". So a more pissed off James came back home. I was on the couch half asleep watching tv so he asked me to set my alarm for 4:30am.

My alarm on my cell phone went off and I was cold and tired so I picked up my cell phone and called his cell phone. I told him to wake up only to find out he was already at Walmart. Lord only knows when he got there. I wasn't brave enough to ask his tired and grumpy butt. Whenever he got there it was just before everyone else so finally he was first in line!!!!

Finally we got one. The system cost about $260 and people in line offered him $500 for it. Thank goodness he said no.

The girls and I played Zelda for 6 hours straight before I went to work. James had to work from 7:30am - 5pm so I figured I better have a good dinner all made for him before I left for work. I almost burnt dinner and I was almost late for work. I just got home from work and it is killing me that I can't play Zelda.

The girls and I have always had a deal with each other that even though we all have our own games saved we can never do anything new on a game unless we are all together watching. Which ends up meaning that I can't play without them because my game is always further ahead. They never beat the games so the only way they get to see the whole game is if they watch me play.

So I will be going insane waitting for the 2 hours between when they get home from school and when I have to leave for work. I do have off on Tuesday though.