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Knock Knock....

Who's there?

Illegal activity from a 12 year old.

So this blessed child of mine who couldn't be more loved if she's invented the internet and shoes, has lost her flipping mind. And strangely enough since Dave is off on assignment in another state, I kept calm and rational. I didn't even pull her across any furniture by the hair, cookie for me.

Yesterday she and the sitter's daughter (happens to be her bestest friend ev-ah) celebrated Friday by writing their names in marker on the sitter's front porch. Vandelism at 12, wow....oh the places we can go from here. The felonies are endless.

She just spent 2.5 hours in their yard with said bfe.... picking up pooh of their extremely large and healthy dog, raking a ton of leaves, sweeping porches and etc. Restitution at it's best. One of the most impressive and successful components of modern criminal justice. I highly recommend it, in fact I did such an excellent paper on it last semester that I got 100% on it. Interesting.

So now she is working like a dog in my house. This would be punishment. Then tomorrow she gets to do my yard.

Ohhhhh the utter joy of parenting.

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Oh My, this one deserves a title

First off, I am so thankful for my morning commute. It's a time for me to really think and praise. This is something I've been missing! That said, go here and listen to this.....really opens your eyes and bring about a thankful heart....at least it does for me. I adore this song and I just had to share with someone!

So after a productive and busy day in which half was spent on the phone with vendors (they eventually brought me a headset after seeing me typing and shouldering the phone for 2 hours straight) and the other half  in meetings, I got home to my babies. Who handed me a package that was propped up against the door, it was my degree. I can't really explain what it felt like to open that beautiful portfolio with my official degree in it. I was overwhelmed and underwhelmed and just whelmed. It's been such a long, personal journey that benefits noone but me. Something I did just for me. I graduated with a 4.0. I cried cause I'm a big baby. But I'd better deal better with the next, cause it'll be finished up in May.

Wow, what an amazing day.

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8955321

So the first night without my guy this week. I do so miss him already. Especially since the stinker took off with my cold snickers I had hidden in the fridge. Dayum boy!

Although he made up for it when he left us girls each a note under our pillows and one of his tshirts with some of his smell good stuff on it. Bless my baby, I think he's missing us before he set foot out the door.

But I do so appreciate his putting the kids on the bus, and me in my car waving us off....before he packed up and took off.

Sigh........off to bed I go.

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128765

I'm gonna start giving random government codes to my blog posts. Just cause I can.

So Sunday night at 1030, Dave got a call.

Yesterday he filled out paperwork.

This morning, he's off to Oklahoma for another assignment.

Sniff, miss him already.

Only good point, I get the tv remote back.

Sigh.

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What Happens When H4G Can't Talk

Oh boy, I bit wrong during lunch yesterday. The 3rd BBQ in a row, thanks to every satelite office meeting their quota for the last quarter. Good grief, I'm so sick to death of that mess. But seriously I bit wrong and then sliced the side of my tongue in some weird, abstract funky way. And after talking on the phone and dealing with issues all dang afternoon, my damn tongue was so swollen by evening time that I can't talk without hurting.

Which worked fine when it was just us, but my neighbor chick and her kids came to play. So playing dominoes with Ann and Dave doesn't work cause there are only so many hand gestures I know. So I downloaded this nifty amazing program that allowed me to type and the computerized voice "talked". Oh boy.

Anybody remember War Games? Do you want to play a game?

We had so much dang fun with that stupid program that would literally "say" anything. We quickly digressed to the vocabulary of 13 year old boys. Woohoo.

However this morning, finally the swelling is down, hope it lasts. However, if not, then I have my new way of yelling at them.

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Friday Eve

I'm so ready to sleep in this weekend. I'm exhausted. Still trying to juggle everything, but it works great if I sacrifice sleep and stay up to fix lunches, do laundry, go over their homework, wash dishes, replace empty toliet paper rolls, and etc. Sigh.....

Highlight of my day:

A tech was amusing a group of us at a lucheon with the story of visiting a lady on the edge of town. She met him in the driveway and said, please stay next to your van while I put the dogs away. While waiting on her, he's playing with his phone. A small group of goats started bahhhh-ing at him from the fence next to the driveway. Ignoring them, he kept texting...

Bahhhhh
Bahhhhh
Bahhhhh
Whatttttt
Bahhhhh

After a few minutes, he realized one of the goats was "whatttttt"-ing him. The lady rushed up and says okay dogs are in the pen come on back and he asks about the goat in the red bandanna....turns out, he's "feeble-minded" (per the lady) and can't say bahhhhh so he says whatttttt. She was dead serious, lol.

Okay, the video of this crap on his cell phone had tears rolling down my face. Hysterical.

Whattttttt!

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Gizzards and Boudin

What a long week. I'm mentally and physically exhausted. Haven't been sleeping, juggling everything but life is good.

Prin is still breathing, bless her little 12 year old stubborn ass heart. Life sucks for her lately, especially those 4:30 am jogs with daddy. But you should be more careful before complaining to daddy about how your life is sooooooo hard. Now for the next couple weeks, she's on his schedule which explains why she's going to bed at 730 pm everynight. After those jogs, she gets to practice her piano lessons until momma's alarm goes off then start getting ready for her day. The kids' in bootcamp around here. Once a military man, always a military man. She's learning a powerful lesson but that little spark in her eye is still there so we ain't completely breaking her.....which is perfect.

Duch is great. Should be rocking straight A's on her report card Friday so dinner/movie for her! Piano lessons going well and all around helpful....guess she's learning from Prin too. Sweet child was overheard offering to run Prin's feet since they were sore from the jogs. Although honestly, I'll level with you on the fact that she charges for footrubs so she gets somethign out of it too. She keeps her cash in a little wooden box that I've apparently been carrying in my purse for some time. Crazy! She was digging it out to put another dollar in it earlier and I was like ummmm how did that get there? Safekeeping she says, so she won't be tempted to spend it all. lol. okay.

Work is great. Still waiting for the shock of that to rub off. Somehow I ended up doing exactly what I've always loved...projects. IT projects, phone projects, anaylsis projects on data.....love it all. Got I9 qualified today to handle the in-division HR paperwork for the company. Got some of my perks scheduled today too. Went to a satelite office to personally meet all the managers/sups/techs and eat bbq with them in the parking lot, was nice. Humerous even as I came face to face with the internal candidate they interviewed last with me, she was not happy but luckily I didn't know who she was until after she'd stormed off and slammed a door...........hello, mature much? Goodbye temp badge, my official badge came in today and I have to say...I have a HUGE head apparently. Either that or someone had fun with photoshop. Cause there is no way my head is really that BIG on my shoulders. Good grief. If it is, say nothing and we'll move on. Two teleconferences and a crap ton of data sorting and I was done for the day. I love how the work is a variety of things and each day is different. Plus I love my tv and cable in my office....although I'm ashamed to say I've never turned it off Fox news, guess you can actually be too busy to watch tv, now I listen to the news all day long. Daddy would be so proud of me. Hell, I even know what tomorrow's weather will be, very unusual for me. Quick, check and see if it's snowing in Arizona!

Murphy the wonder dog still acts like I've been at sea whenever I come in after work. He gets to me before the kids and he's still so excited that he shakes all over. True love!

But I'm still up battling a tummy that is cursing the bbq I had today, only in Texas will you have a bbq in a parking lot with gizzards, boudin, chicken legs, pork chops, sausage (regular), and baked beans. No other sides, just some slices of bread, lol. And guess what? I didn't have to set up, cook it, order it, or even gasp clean it up........life is good.

Hugs and kisses everyone. Keep praying for Prin as she works through this issue she has going, and keep praying for us the parents, sigh..........kids, dang.

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Tough Love

Prin has really stepped off the pier into the deep waters of "oh shit" around here. Not even gonna go into what she's done but we hit the wall tonight.

She had better be glad Dave got home when he did.

She had better be glad that he can pick me up and keep me back.

That is why she still has a face and some hair.

I know they do face transplants now so really that's not an issue and hair grows back.

Just to let you know how seriously her little life has changed...she now has the following items:

1 towel - to be washed everynight (gots her very own name on it too)

2 shirts
2 pairs pants
2 plain colored cartigans
1 pair tennis shoes
1 pair boots
1 really warm and ugly ass jacket
Guess she'll be doing wash and wear every other day

1 pillow
2 blankets
2 sheets
1 wooby

The rest of it, packed away in the attic. Hundreds of dollars worth of electronics, games, toys, clothes, cds, etc.........

The books we left. She'll need something to do in the evenings.

Bootcamp starts around here for her asap.

I'll make a citizen out of her yet.

MARK MY WORDS

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Various Ponderings, just cause I can....

Children are blessings that will warm and break your heart. Sigh.....praying and lifting up my oldest as she makes simple bad choices over and over. That said, she came straight home and told me straight up that she'd watched Twilight, even though it's off limits to her. Sigh.....knowing it was off limits yet did it anyway, to which she said, I didn't understand it at all. Well sweetheart, that is why it was off limits.

Church was amazing today. New church two blocks from house, we previously understood it to be traditional penecoastal so it wasn't until just recently we realized it was our new home place open to anyone and everyone. Non-denominational, spirit filled church. Today's lesson was simple....we have to outgrow things to grow into things. And the best line of the sermon that really spoke to me and came home with me was simple: Blessings are a door with a sign that says PUSH. Nothing falls in our laps and trails/tribulations are a given but if we put effort into the areas of our life and walk on faith, the Lord has our back!

The last classes of my school are really dragging on me. Can't decide if it's because I'm at the end and ready to be done or if it's cause I'm at the end and it's almost over. What a journey my schooling has been for me! So very glad that I'm progressing finally and that paper is in reach.

Confession: I ordered HBO today for $5.00 a month just so I can watch the final season of Big Love which premiers tonight. Cause it's a guilty pleasure! Being stranded in Utah for three years is actually not the reason I love that show, we were hooked the first season before we even moved to Utah. While that show is obviously dramatized and out there, the entitled mentality and better than you attitude is REALITY for Utah and those they consider outsiders. There are a few there who obviously are not of that school of thought but it's damn rare.

I about wet the couch watching Dave watch an old Bill Cosby Himself show earlier today. He laughed till he was wiping his eyes, pointing at the tv and gasping for breath! The man really amuses the heck out of me. I love him, simple as that.

Dave and I have embraced a total, completely out of the ordinary freak of nature: we switched sides of our bed. Um, seriously for the past 14 years he's had the same one side and I've had the other. Except, last week he wanted to stay up and read for once but the bedside light is on my side of the bed so he proposed a switch. I think we both sat there quietly in shock then was like , um okay. It's become official. Turns out he doesn't HOG the entire bed (yet) and I have surprisingly more room. Plus, the dog hates change and he's still sleeping on the edge of that side of the bed, spooning with Dave now instead of encroaching on me. Woohoo....

The little one broke down in crying concern during a trip to Sears to buy Dave some new work boots. Stay with me here: our shoe deptment clerk was foreign with a THICK and heavy accent but was so stinking sweet and helpful! It took alot of concentration to understand the guy but he helped us find the perfect. So after we find the boots that Dave needed, Dave shakes his hand and with alot of enunciation asks if he's from the Phillipians? The kid just was like what? Then finally, no Napal. And they talked about the area and then we left. While Dave was checking out, I told Duchess that I was totally going to visit Napal one day once she was off to college. The kid freaked. #1: what if I need you? you have to come visit me all the time.... #2: I worry about you cause bad stuff happens to you all the time (eyeroll) and #3: you're weaker than daddy! (wtf?)

And on that note, gotta run: Dave is giving the oldest a "talk" on how he'll kill someone for disrespecting her.... i.e. she can do anything a boy can do etc..........wow, love hearing my alpha male break it down to my sweet daughters how he will fight the world for her right to equal rights.

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My Day....

 Okay, I'm def getting this for a friend's upcoming birthday, snicker.......

 So this appeared in my office, then I came back and it was gone......

And came back again to this. TV and cable in my office, wow! Awesome.

Good day all the way around.

Tomorrow I'm cleaning up the last of the week's fires and then prepping for an upcoming inventory I'm doing which will try everyone crazy but will make our lives' easier down the road.

So far I'm really liking the new job.

Thanks for all your thoughts, prayers, and comments. They lift my heart friends!!!!

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Updates!

Cause I couldn't think of a better title........I really dislike titles...I'm gonna start numbering them for giggles.

3rd day on the job and already I'm on the crew. My new company logo-ed polo and button up shirts came in today. They ordered them before I started. For an office full of old guys, they nailed the sizing surprisingly and the jacket is comfy. I kinda like this. The colors such though, all pastels and crap. If you know me, you know I don't do pastels. Gonna ask for some black shirts, that's so much better.

Today I got some much done. Bargained with Verizon on cell phone repairs, worked on laptops and made friends with the coporate IT guy who is in balmy Dallas. Took up the offer to rearrange my office the way I wanted and the boss wouldn't let some of the sups go to lunch until they got it done, woohoo. They rock. Now it's much better organized so I'm loving that. Now to get everything out of the boxes and organized and labeled cause I be OCD........I feel better saying CDO though cause Mary tells me it's in order that way, lol.

I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop but so far I'm really enjoying my work. It's a variety of stuff and the people are super respectful but still normal so unlike Utah, really unlike the stuffy nature of Utah. I was like a pig in a chicken house up there, out of place!

I have to get better at taking an actual lunch break though, cause I'm quickly slipping into the eatting at my desk while working mode. Bad, me....bad.

My commute is actually nice. It gives me breathe time. Time to switch hats between work and mom. I blare the music and sing and weave through traffic. Then right when I hit the same exit on the Interstate, Dave calls me every afternoon while he's leaving the refinery and on my headset we chat the rest of the way home. It's nice to have that talk time, he cracks me up. What a blessing he is to my life! But don't tell him, he'll get the big head and expect me to pick up his dirty clothes off the bathroom floor.

So, I got home and the race was on. I ran in, threw chicken in the microwave to dethaw, started the oven to preheat, ran next door and grabbed the kids, loved on Murphy, chatted with kids over their day and homework, and school gossip while throwing together some coleslaw to chill in fridge and season chicken for broiling. Mixed up some potatoes and then fed the dog. The landlord came by to check on the paper blowing out of my heat vents. Dave came home and we ate. Then we headed to walmart so we could get a few basics and more lunch stuff, cause Duch won't eat bollgna (had to sing the song to spell that) so it was desperate times. Of course shopping at the WalMart is fun times.....we always think of more crap, like gloves for kids cause they be freezing on the bus ride, a new bra for Prin (who announced in the frozen foods section to her dad that she now wears the same size bra as her mom but the cup sizes are different, OMGawd, poor Dave, he looked like he was frantically searching for an escape route through the ice cream), and then the toliet paper that we seem to eat like candy around this place. Got home in time for family bible reading and tuck in. Now I get to lay out their clothes (cause the little lazy bums forgot which is fun for me cause then I get to pick what they wear, lol), pack lunches and then if I can still see straight, shave my legs.

Forget the legs, it's winter.....it's warmth.

I'm going to bed.

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Back in The Saddle

Well today was the first day in over a year that I've punched a timeclock.

Okay that's a bit dramatic. There was no timeclock, I'm salary. But you get the idea. I put on my business casual except I learned a long time ago to kick up a few notches on the first day. I met all the people in the district office. Luckily noone will have to bother me. My boss is next door and his three managers who will work with me are in offices surrounding us and then there is a locked door between us and everyone else.

It's heaven!

Seriously, heaven!

No yakking idiots. No whining people. Silence.

And I have a door.

It's been a long time since I've had an office with a freaking door. I was so tempted to shut it and close my blinds and just rub up against it. But that's pervy and I promised myself to wait till end of day Friday before I do that.

But it's a door.

The office is huge, the desk is huge. The chair is awesome and the computer screen is as wide as my dashboard.

The work is piled up so you have to go around the desk to actually see the chair.

Perfect.

Bring it on!

That said, I tripped twice over a piece of worn carpeting (the office is scheduled for remodel next month, and it needs it!). I kept forgetting that there is NO PRESSURE needed on the handle to the ladies room door therefore ensuring that when I went bursting in that I slammed it against the wall and fell into it every single time today. The first time actually brought people running cause it sounded like a bomb went off, kinda embarrassing! Didn't help that I was crumpled up against the damn door either. Sigh. But other than that and the mouse nibbled chocolate they left on my desk, it was a good day.

Tomorrow will be about work work and work. I have to get my butt busy and make my mark.

First thing, organize!

That said, I missed my kids so dang bad. I missed my dog. I kept texting my kids till they just stopped texting me back, not a good sign. Seriously thinking of getting the youngest a phone so I'll have someone else to text with. Don't tell her I said that.

The commute wasn't too bad, much better in the morning than on the return.

I survived.

Now if only I sleep more than two hours tonight.

The damn insomnia is back.

Thank you for your prayers and patience!

Hugs.

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Old

I'm getting old. I can't believe how old I'm getting. It's ridiculous. Yesterday we went on a mission: shoe shopping. Princess is now 12 and we had to buy her new sneakers for gym class. The kid is in a size 7 women's shoe. Good Lord have mercy. But the kids got their new shoes with little stress. It was my search for flats.......um yeah you heard that right, flats that took us all over the mall. Dave sent me to the shoe mecca: Dillards. But my frugal nature won't allow me to pay what they were asking. Although I did browse through the latest Michael Kor purses, cute! And fell in love with some new boots, but alas I left empty handed, cause I be of the cheap nature. I tried Penneys, and then every other shoe place except the one where I eventually found the shoes I needed. The sweet lady at the last store pointed me back to the exact payless type store where the kids got their shoes. Oh the irony.

Except I hated all the flats in the work section....too fru-fru for me. Too cutesy. Not comfortable. Then I saw them......Dave had put one over my shoulder. It was my worst nightmare. It was a full flat with a freaking tassel on the end.....all it was missing was a place for the penny. Good night, no! He sweet talked me into trying them on. And I fell in love. They are ugly as shit but oh so comfy. Oh boy!

Without thinking I announced that I was officially an old lady of comfort and no style. Then I latched on to the bright idea of canvasing the store following the other old ladies to see what shoes they were trying on but I drew the line at the boat shoes. Good grief, I have some respect for myself.

Mary, stop laughing.

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Working Girl

So after a few phone interviews and a few in person interviews, I beat out 502 other people for a job. I start Monday. I have an office and a door. I get to wear jeans cause I'm not anywhere near customers. It's a district level job for a company that I actually use so that's pretty cool. I'm someone's assistant. I'm a little stressed about the juggles of going back to work while my babies are at school and then home afterwards but I'll make it work. I always have. So here I go...........

Unless the phone rings today. However, cause I happened to answer a call yesterday about a possible position. Cause I'm an idiot. But it's in the Lord's hands.

We'll see.

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well hell

So in order to be frugal and in my attempt at better budgeting, I decided to color my hair myself instead of dropping money at Lance's. Shhh, don't tell him.

Back in the old days, Dave always came into the bathroom, slapped on the rubber gloves and colored my hair while we chat. Then I wash, rinse, and repeat. All done.

So he seemed miffed that I was trying to do it myself, but I love how helpful he is and frankly he is better with the details than I am...I always end up with a small patch of grey left somewhere. So we colored my hair tonight.

Except, I forgot. Thanks to the natural red of my hair, I'm now a redhead again. First time in years. Was suppose to be blonde but oh well what the hell.

We'll just go with the flow.

I asked Dave is it made me look younger and without breaking eyecontact with the OU game on tv, he said abso-freaking-lutely.

There you have it, I look younger ;)

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