hello, yes, this is the principal calling

she's so nice to call & check in once in awhile....
too bad it always coincides with Z pulling some shit at school.

his behavior has improved, but there's still plenty, PLENTY of room for improvement. we re-instilled the chart, you remember?, yeah, we kept it, thought of passing it on to good will, but it's come in handy.

again.

so it seems he can only manage to either be good at home or at school; it's much too taxing to be good ALL day long.

by good at school, i don't mean a week of greens (green/yellow/orange/red, although sometimes Z has achieved a double red. [we're so proud! no, we are not!]), we're 2/3's way thru the year & we have yet to have one, single week of all green. he has done well with cutting back on the oranges though, for the most part at least.

remember, boy? 8? child of B?
hmpf...

so this time the principal called & although i was driving i recognized the # so i answered it [if you're a cop, i safely pulled over to the side of the road first]. she told me Z was fine but she needed to discuss "an incident" & asked if it was a good time to talk, so i told her i was driving [really, side of the road, you believe me right?] but i could call her right back. she had a meeting so she said she would call me back.

minutes, then hours past & no return call & i was a friday & i really needed to know how many lashes much punishment to issue before the day was complete. so just before school's end i went to the office & she explained to me the incident had happened the prior afternoon. that Z had been playing with another boy earlier in the day & at the end of the day the kid didn't want to play with him or something so Z grabbed him by his jacket & swung him around. then he kinda did a little bend the finger back mafia-style thing.

but he didn't bite anybody.
anywhere.

on the scale of Z = not so bad;
that Z has his own scale = not exactly good.

either the parent saw or was told & reported it to the office. rightly so, Z needs to realize he can't do such things & i'm glad they call him on it, whether it's immediately or later. i just wish they didn't have to call me on it.

i also went over & spoke with Z's teacher. i explained that i needed her opinion, that Z's an only child, that i'm an only child, that i have nothing to compare him to. i know he's difficult, but i don't know if he's on the outskirts of normal. i know she's not a doc & i wasn't asking her to prescribe; but she's around 60 kids a day & been teaching for 9 years, she knows children more than i ever will.

she said he's not a bully & he's not mean, but in certain situations his self-control isn't where it should be.

cub scout camping

the trip was planned some time ago & let's just go with yeah, i was bit worried....
camping.
in a tent.
outside.
not exactly me.

however a long time ago i told Z i would try it, so i was up for it worried or not. we found a tent & bought a sleeping bag for Z, figuring we could sleep on the air mattress. then came food planning, which i have no clue about. most of the meals would be in a group; but hello, it's us, we eat, a lot & often, then some more for good measure, then we snack.

we planned on bringing additional sausages to grill & have with hotdog buns & a can or 2 of beans. i was also looking up granola bars recipes, something with dried fruit & nuts but not overly sweet.

then a couple of days before the trip it was canceled due to bad weather. crazy i know, but we did get a good storm over the weekend & if we had gone camping, that would have been my one & only time for sure!

so i have a little more time to get used to the idea of sleeping in a tent & figuring out wth people eat whilst camping.

valentines

it was quiet around here, mainly bc i think it was the first day i was able to move off the sofa. when B asked me what my plan was for the day i told him i had a list of errands to run & i needed to visit nana. he made a face & told me i couldn't leave bc he was having something delivered.

i said - yah, we're having pizza for dinner! how sweet of you!

so bc i hadn't moved in a few days & now couldn't leave the house, i went outside to work on the yard. then a few hours later, when i was completely exhausted, dirty & everything hurt he told me he'd received an email & the delivery wasn't happening.

however, the next day i got 3 dozen red roses!!!
& bc they were a day late costco refunded B's $$ - sweet!!!

10 YEARS

wow, it's pretty crazy to think we've been married for 10 years.

in the morning i got Z off to school & when i returned B was up on the computer. i started getting things together to pack up for our night away from home. i found B's card on the vanity; it was classic, i had depilatory on 1/2 my face [what can i say, i didn't want to have a fuzzy face] & went over to kiss him & said "this is what you get 10 years later...lucky you!"

we picked up Z from school then took him over to the neighbor's house. oh, not the intended neighbor, unfortunately our planned babysitter ended up with forgotten plans so i had to ask another friend. gotta love someone coming & asking for last minute overnight babysitting! yeah, 10 years, non-refundable hotel, at a casino & a comedy show. all completely not kid appropriate; but thankfully the neighbor came through - YAH! thanks J!

so we headed up to one of the nearby casinos, i didn't realize there were a few. we checked into our suite, then checked things out. i have to say i was disappointed they didn't have a bigger pool spa area, a definite opportunity for improvement especially if they want to get summer guests. they also have a spa, although we didn't attend, instead we headed to the casino bar area.

i actually managed the impossible & embarrassed B by asking the bartender if he knew how to make a tom collins. he did, they were good & i had 2, but B said i should have just ordered it. i wasn't trying to embarrass the guy, it's just i've ordered one several places/times & most of the time i will get "if you know what's in it, i can make it" - no thank you!

after our couple of drinks we decided we needed some food to balance out our alcohol content. the buffet was not all that but they did have prime rib, so we were pleased. i managed to save a little room for dessert, a small piece of 4 layer chocolate cake! it was SO good, surprisingly not overwhelmingly sweet with 4 layers of frosting.

shortly after that it was comedy show time. the 1st two comedians were crap, sorry but just bc you throw "f" in every sentence does not make it funny, you still have to have some comedic factor as a base [the "f" exemplifies, it does not create]. the headliner was great though, he didn't even get into his routine bc he was interacting with the audience the entire time. after the show we threw some cash in the machines then it was time for bed, we were done.

the next morning i felt like i'd been hit by a truck; good thing 10 yr anniversaries are spaced out a bit. i was going to need a few days to recover; not from what you think though, although the bed was comfortable i woke up all night long either freezing or drenched is sweat [sexy, i know]. we got up, had breakfast & were home before noon.

anniversaries, yes, with an -ies - pt II

ok, so pt I was about how we found the house & like i said we were going to be way out of our comfort zone taking on this thing called mortgage with an impound account & pmi (private mortgage insurance which sucks!!!) bs. even though it worked out on paper we still weren't feeling cozy about it, so we decided there were a few things we could do to ease us into the situation.

we were engaged, we knew we were getting married. actually months into our relationship B was telling me he was going to marry me....i didn't believe him though, back then that is, 5 years & a deployment later i did. we chose to use our savings that would have gone to wedding expenses to put down on the house, it was an either/or situation & this girl definitely chose the house [hello, trailer park calling].

we decided to elope & keep it secret.

we were buying the house together, this made that paperwork easier & we wouldn't have to change it later. B would get a pay increase & we would be able to save more $ so we could have a proper wedding sooner. the idea of keeping it a secret was so it wouldn't take away from the formal event when it happened.

we got up one morning, got dressed, we were both wearing jeans & black sweaters, it was raining. we were at my mom's i asked her if she wanted to come with us bc we were going to get married & she did [subtle, i know]. we drove down to the county office & were married by a justice of the peace with my mom as our witness.

not what girls dream about, but we had a plan.
[see blog title, says it all...]

anniversaries, yes, with an -ies - pt I

i hadn't really made the connection beforehand; the girls were coming to visit, it was superbowl weekend & there was a possible cub scout meeting. for us, that's a busy weekend & we ain't even football fans....

see superbowl weekend is actually another anniversary for us from the year of 2001 [remember the year of crazy?] yes...i didn't even get into house hunting details. so when B was about 4 months into his 6 mo deployment i remember telling him my mom was driving me crazy & the first thing we needed to do as SOON as he got home was to find somewhere to live. we started apt hunting but didn't like our options & prices so we'd started house hunting.

we liked the area our old apt was in, it was somewhat central to our work/school environment so we were hoping to stay in the same vicinity. um, in case you haven't noticed, B & I are not planners nor are we into sports so without even thinking about it, superbowl sunday morning we were calling real estate agents to view some houses. i know i called & left a few vm's, probably 3 or 4 & finally one lady called us back & it was on.

the 1st house we looked at the front was so small the entrance was on the side [ie, narrow lot]. the owner's creatively spruced up what they could via paint, i remember one of the bedrooms all red, white & blued out, talk about patriotic. it was cute house but about the size of a postage stamp inside & out.

i don't know if there other stops in between, but at some point i brought up the house up the street that i knew was out of our price range. now looking back at it, i'm surprised the RE lady even bothered showing us, but she did. i had driven by it several times, i had read the best thing to do was find a neighborhood you like & drive around & i had my eye on this place for some time.

the lot was much bigger & when you walked inside it had a completely open entry with a view through living/dining room into the kitchen with a sliding glass door to the back yard. one of the things i loved best was 2 small windows in the kitchen, between the counter & upper cabinets, they let in so much light & are perfect for small plants. down the hallway was a bathroom & 3 bedrooms sprouted off. the rooms were kinda small but we were told that was basically the norm in newer developments.

so yeah, we, er...i, loved the house. we left & went over to mc'ds to work over some numbers to see if it was even possible. it was, supposedly, you know, on paper, but it was insanely higher than what we had been paying in rent, we decided to go for it though.

visits

my hs buddies have been coming to visit us lately; it's been great, even though we don't do much.....we're so exciting over here, come hang out, watch some movies & eat with us!

i think the first time S came over we were in recovery mode, the next time she came over she came down with some extreme creeping crud & slept the entire time (poor thing) & the next trip M & baby came too!

fyi, Lady did not like squeaky little thing. ok, not that she didn't like her, just she didn't know what to do with such a thing that made noises like that.

for baby's 2nd birthday i crocheted pair of slippers for her, although they came out big & a hat with a ruffly edge. i chose a purple & green yarn which in hindsight i should have just used a plain simple pink or purple, the combo doesn't seem very little girl. oh well, next time! although those slippers will probably still fit next year!

now we're hoping to get a march birthday thing together, i'm excited & hope it works out.

nana

so it's been months since i've posted any real updates on nana, she was over for thanksgiving & christmas. i've accompanied her to dr appts, except that one where i totally showed up late, oopsie! i still try to go see her every other day or so, she's settled into things at the facility going to coffee & arts & crafts activities.

some days she's good, really great except her appetite has waned, other days, she says she doesn't feel well & stays in bed all day. my uncle surprisingly makes it down to visit her once a week & other family members & friends are trying to stop in to visit her as well. a few months ago nana ended up changing rooms after her roommate when bonkers bc a bunch of loud mexicans kept coming into the room. nana seems more comfortable in her new spot, the lady watches novelas all day.

i didn't make it to the Feb appt, but at the last one, which i was dreading, like i do each time, bc really what more can the dr tell us, at the last one he said nana was still doing remarkably well. i cried in the car to & from, but managed to hold it together in front of her [surprisingly]. i know she understands now, i've seen her face the realization of her life ending & she is brave.

the other day i met my cousin at nana's, we sat outside & talked while nana listened to us chatter away. she asked nana how were the tortillas i made & nana replied "she tries" classic nana!
& the other day she asked me out of the blue "are you going to color your hair?" so i asked "do i need to?" to which she replied "yes". i then asked her if i had grey hair & she said "no, it's too orange though".

went on an interview

i finally, finally got a call back that actually led to an interview. i was beginning to think there was a subliminal message on my resume that said "don't call, don't hire, i have herpes".

although i didn't have a lot of experience in the area, it sounded like one of those jobs hardly anyone really knows going in, so the little knowledge i had was a good wedge to start with. within a couple of days of sending in my resume i received a call from HR & we did a little phone interview, then set up an in person one.

i discovered the company was small, which initially is something i didn't want, but at this point i'm not going to be that picky; especially bc the location is oh so close & the pay is decent. many of the jobs i've looked at have been right on the cusp of too far & for quite a pay cut. employers now want uber experience & pay junior salaries, it's not a great time to be looking for a job. i'm so thankful we've been able to make things work for this long.

at the sit down interview i first spoke with the HR person again. she told me they had done lots of interviews & she was tired of it all & hoping to hire someone right away, really like possibly within the next week or 2 is what it sounded like. all went well with her & then i interviewed with the hiring manager.

he was the nuts & bolts, he gave a huge list of requirements & responsibilities. i really don't know how things went with him. he gave me a different schedule, saying he wouldn't make any decisions until mid-month, then probably scheduling a 2nd round of interviews, with the new person probably starting at month end.

so i'm going to have to just wait & just keep swimming...[that's from nemo]