My new monitor for work is HUGE.

Its a flat screen and its the biggest one in the office

Gerbil Habitat

The Gerbil habitat i ordered for the kids came today. I can't wait for them to see everything in a couple weeks. I'm going to take them the 3rd week of this month and get the Gerbils. I know they will love them. This is the top for a 10 gallon tank.

Scratches

Last week i was coming back from dropping the kids off at school and i hit a tree that was blown down from high winds the night before. The road was 2 lanes, but a cop car was right beside me so i could not get over! I don't know if theyre permanent.

Kentucky Horse Park Christmas Festival

The Nall's at Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington

The Davis' at Kentucky Horse Park!

The Tool-Time Kids

This is all three of the knotheads at Home Depot making Treasure Boxes!

Lexie and Logan Building Treasure Boxes

This was at Home Depot today!!!!!!

Backwash

Lexie and Logan were sharing a bottle of water and she just sternly told him " And don't put your mouth over the whole bottle, cuz nobody wants to drink backwash! Right daddy?" I was dying laughing!

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Lost Movies

I can't believe it. I've lost two rental movies. The kids got ready to watch The Black Stallion, and noticed there was no movie in the case. When I turned it in, I told them and they were just like "ok". Then I turned in several other movies, and they called the next day and said that Twitches-Teen Witches was not in the case when I turned it in. Now I am 100% positive I saw that one! I can't figure out what's happening.

Logan's Pants

Last night I hemmed two pair of pants I just bought for Logan. One of them got hemmed wrong with the cut portion turned outside instead of inside. I got up this morning, took that hem out, and turned it over. He put them on and wore them today...and I see they are almost too short. I spent $30 on two pair of pants and now they are short. I am so aggrivated.

Lexie and Logan at School

This is when I came in after work and picked Lexie and Logan up from the YMCA program. They always like to stop and get a drink before we head home.

Long Weekend Sunday

Sunday was fun. I relaxed that morning and finished my book. It's the third in the Brian Lumley "Necroscope" series. I'd read it before long ago, and it had been time to re-read some of those old books I've loved in the past. I get them as used at the bookstores for cheap and I will keep them until the kids get old enough to read them. I hope they will like them as much as I do. Finished that, and Theresia made us coffee. Then I went out to Autozone. She needed bulbs for her driver-side front turn signals. Also, my lower fog lamp was out so I got that. I replaced them all, including her headlights (she'd already bought those and I put them in first). So I did that, and she made lunch-the best salmon patties I've ever had! She also made broccoli. You know, she keeps saying "I can't cook..." but it's all a smoke-screen because she HATES to cook. I just know it because everything she ever fixed for me has been tasty. She also made chocolate pudding the night before!!! I KNOW SHE CAN COOK AND SHE'S NOT FOOLING ME!!!

After that, Jeff came over and got Kendall. I was finishing laundry (well she finished it and I sorted it), and then she was up on this chair putting a new smoke/CO filter in and was having trouble with it so I did it. Then she said "next weekend or sometime I want you to help me put in this new light. I told her to turn off the switch and I just got out my screwdriver and took the old one out and put the new one in. It's much easier having somebody who will hand you stuff, be patient with you, and freak out when you act like you're getting shocked. It made me feel good to get those lights changed and help her out a little around the house. I am DYING to get over there with my cordless drill and put a new toilet paper roll holder in. Man that is bugging me!

Well, we left after that and went over to my place. Watched a little more TV, then she had to go get Rachael. I was alone, so I put some laundry away and just bummed around. I remembered I had to go to the store, but it was 6:30 and I didn't think I'd have time. I needed to go to get Lexie and Logan socks-I'd thrown away about three pairs that had holes in the heels. Also since I'd bought pants that needed hemmed, I needed thread in colors to match. I picked up the kids and we went to Michaels, then Wal-Mart. Then we went home and got ready for bed. End of weekend.

Long Weekend Saturday

Ok. We woke up and watched some more TV, ate some of the never-ending leftovers. Theresia left to go get some things done before she had to watch her granddaughter Kendall. I was lounging some, and getting laundry packed together. I came over and mowed her lawn while she started my laundry. We had broiled salmon and salad for supper, watched TV, played with Kendall, and did laundry. We saw "Slipstream", "Dead Meat" and something else I don't remember--nothing outstanding. You know if it was, I would blog it. Dead Meat was interesting and kept your attention for a b-grade horror. It was better than a lot of them I've rented recently. I stayed late, still not done with laundry, and woke up and Theresia had almost finished it.

Long Weekend Friday

Friday the kids went out to play outside, and I stayed in, cleaning house, getting laundry together, and doing the huge pile of dishes from the day before. Then we HAD to get them some clothes. I went to Goodwill and found several shirts for Lexie, and two pair of pants. For Logan I found one pair of pants. They hate every second of clothes shopping and it was miserable for me knowing they would be going with their mom soon and I would not see them for the rest of the
night, plus all of Saturday, and most all of Sunday. I was very bummed that we were not having fun, and I was already missing them.

We went to the mall at St. Matthews and J.C. Penny's. I found (on sale) a pair of pants for Logan and two shirts. Shellie meets us there, and I try to find a pair of pants for Lexie quickly, but
everything she tries on is either too big or too small. I give up, they are miserable anyway, and they leave while I go to pay. I saw them outside leaving as I was coming out--I almost cried. I felt so d@mn bad on the way home that I stopped at two pet stores. I got each of them a little critter keeper. I'm going to get them gerbils for Christmas. I found out it has to be mice or gerbils. Guinea pigs are too big, and hamsters are solitary and will bully and fight if put
together. I've known people who had ferrets, and I don't want my apartment to smell like that--so it's definitely gerbils.

Theresia was spending the day with Rachael, so I just moped around the apartment. I eventually watched a movie. It must have sucked because I don't remember what I watched. Friday night, Theresia came over and we went out for supper. She is so sweet--she didn't expect me to pay (sometimes I do and sometimes she does). We both have Christmas
coming up so we went dutch. We went to Bullfrog Garden in Spanish Cove shopping center. I walked in (the second time I've been in the building) and was kind of put off. The place is a bar people. Just a bar. It's not a restaurant. The booths and tables are an afterthought and you expect the food will be grill-bar-deep-fried appetizers and burgers/sandwiches. I went once before and turned around because I really wanted a restaurant. Well we were tired and
so I sat. The waitress--also the bartender--came and brought our menus which were one two-sided laminated sheet. Well, this didn't seem like it was going to be good at all, but I was resigned to find something despite the ashtray on every table, and the loud talking/sports on TV, the halter-top waitress her special greeting of "Whaddaya wanna drink?" I was just about ready to bolt. We had brought our books, and I just told myself it's not about the food or
the service but just relaxing and reading a few pages and enjoying the company of my girlfriend.

I examined the menu and it really didn't look too bad. The steaks were too expensive for a bar, but everything else looked a little pricey but ok. I got something cheap--a hot brown, and also onion rings to share with Theresia. It came with a side of soup. Theresia got smothered chicken and a side salad. Well the food got there, and--WOW! The soup was chicken pot pie soup and it was killer! Likewise, T's salad--which was a hell of a salad (it had a lot of optional veggies, not just tomatoes: banana peppers, carrots, green onion, green pepper, mushrooms) and it was fresher than entrée salads I've seen at EXPENSIVE restaurants! Next was the hot brown and onion rings. The onion rings were greasy--to be expected, and crunchy. They were good onion rings. The hot brown was ok, but the only problem I had was the gravy was so thick it was more like mashed potatoes in consistency. But the flavor was very good. Theresia's smothered chicken was nothing to sneeze at. We both realized that after eating turkey and then leftovers, we'd both gotten poultry AGAIN--AND I EVEN GOT TURKEY!!! We were not disappointed though. It was very good and we'll be back.

We went back home, watched some TV, then went to bed.

Long Weekend Thursday

Here's the quick and dirty on my Thanksgiving extendo-weekend. Wednesday, the kids were off school. I had to arrange daycare for them at $20 per kid. Originally when the divorce was final, I had thought that since I got custody of the kids, I could count on Shellie wanting to spend as much time with them as possible, so I *cringe* assumed that she would keep them all day and do something with them if they were off school, and it was her regular day (i.e. Tuesday or Wednesday). Man, am I a dumb@ss for assuming THAT. Her basic answer was "No, I need my sleep." So...

They went to Thomas Jefferson Middle School again, with the YMCA before/after school program. The rate was $20 per child. Brutal, but I had no choice. Well, they had fun anyway, and at least they didn't sit inside in front of a TV all day, so I don't feel too bad about that.
Every time I call when they are with their mother and ask "What are you doing?" (cheerfully) They always reply "Watching TV..." That was Wednesday.

Thursday I got up at 4am and put the turkey on. I was spazzing out about it because it still seemed frozen when I stuck my hand in to get the package of guts and the neck. But it was only just some left-over ice from inside and all the meat was ok. You could tell by pressing on
it and feeling that it was loose and thawed. Just to make sure, I put it in cold water for an hour. All Thursday from 5am until 1pm I was cooking and finishing up cleaning. The kids were a great help tidying up. They really saved me...except for their ROOM!

I didn't get the giblet gravy done, so I added garlic to the potatoes and called them garlic smashed potatoes. I used an oven bag on the turkey and it didn't look browned so I took off the bag and put it under the broiler for a little too long and burned it. Just surface...all the meat was fine and tasted really good. Everybody said so. My $5 electric knife I bought four months ago at Goodwill was awesome for the bread and of course the turkey too! I made sour dough and country white breads using the bread maker. I think mom would have been proud of me. The casserole, the stuffing, bread, corn spoon bread, turkey--all of it was really ok. Nobody left hungry. After everyone left, I was exhausted. Patti helped me put stuff away except the turkey (because it was in the roaster pan). I just left the turkey out for a little bit and rested. I was really exhausted. We ate left-over's for supper. After that, I de-boned the turkey. The fridge was so full you could not see the lights in the top.

Logan's Turkey

Logan made this turkey in art class. I'm going to hang it up in my cubicle at work!

Lexie's Kangaroo

Lexie made this kangaroo in art class.

Shizue and the cool stamps

Theresia stopped in at work to see me yesterday and brought me a present! She was at the post office and said when she saw this sheet of stamps she just HAD to get it for me. These are the coolest stamps I have ever seen and she is so thoughtful for getting them for me!!!

(Logan is the one holding the stamps)

Don's Funeral

My brother Don passed away last week. I went to the viewing this past Sunday. My brother Mike and I rode up together for it. Monday was the actual funeral. My sister Patti and brother Mike stayed for that but I didn't have anybody to watch the kids over night and get them to school the next day so I couldn't go. They both told me how nice the funeral was. Don was on the police department for 15 years and in the military before that. They did the whole works with the 21 gun salute. Plus all the police officers saluted, they gave his kids the flags, and Mike said the dispatcher called over the police radio "Last call for officer [and then his badge number]"

Logan's 12 week Report Card

Logan did AWESOME! He got all Outstandings, and some Satisfactorys! I am so proud of him!!!

Lexie's 12 week Report Card

Lexie got all Satisfactory marks, except for one Needs Improvement. She says she "lost" a couple papers of class work (in class assignments). She said she'll be more careful next time.

Insomnia and Bad Dream

I woke up at about 3am this morning and couldn't get back to sleep, so I popped in a movie called "The Sentinel". It was not bad. About 5am I went back to sleep, but before I could drift off, the door opened and Lexie came in to snuggle with me. She tossed and turned for about 15 minutes then asked if she could get up and watch cartoons. What could I say? The same thing happened to me a couple hours earlier, so I understood. I said "Yeah, just don't wake up little brother." I suspect she was excited about no school today and going on her field trip.

I had this really bad dream early this morning after that. I dreamed that mom had just passed away, and that Mike, Patti, Bonnie and I were with Jack and everyone was so sad and upset. I woke up sobbing into my pillow and it was a few minutes before I woke totally up and realized it
was just a dream. This has only happened to me like twice before. Its worse than a nightmare because nightmares are so unreal It just makes me realize how much I miss my mom.

Habitrail

This is what I want to get the kids for Christmas if I have the money. I had a gerbil when I was a kid. My 4th grade teacher had a couple as "class pets" and they had babies. Then at the end of the year, some students got to take one home. I didn't get a lot of choice on pets when I was a kid, so mom got me a Habitrail cage to keep it in and let me have it. I had Zach for a couple years in one of the original Habitrail cages. What I would like to do is get Lexie and Logan their own hamster or gerbil, then each their own cage and some connector tubing so the little rodents could visit each other. What do you think?

Bad Dreams

I woke up at about 3am this morning and couldn't get back to sleep, so I popped in a movie called "The Sentinel". It was not bad. About 5am I went back to sleep, but before I could drift off, the door opened and Lexie came in to snuggle with me. She tossed and turned for about 15 minutes then asked if she could get up and watch cartoons. What could I say? The same thing happened to me a couple hours earlier, so I understood. I said "Yeah, just don't wake up little brother." I suspect she was excited about no school today and going on her field trip.

I had this really bad dream early this morning after that. I dreamed that mom had just passed away, and that Mike, Patti, Bonnie and I were with Jack and everyone was so sad and upset. I woke up sobbing into my pillow and it was a few minutes before I woke totally up and realized it was just a dream. This has only happened to me like twice before. Its worse than a nightmare because nightmares are so unreal It just makes me realize how much I miss my mom.

"Sorry..."

Sunday morning due to a communication problem between Shellie and I, she got the kids. So I had them saturday only until about 6pm, then Sunday at about 8pm. This coming weekend she will have them too. It's like I didn't even get any time with them. Oh well, I still get them the majority of the time. I guess she can have a little extra visitation if she wants it. I just miss them when they're not around. I catch up on housework, watch TV, and goof around on the computer.

The thing that really killed me was this: she sent me a message last night saying "..may be a few minutes late. Sorry". She says sorry, but doesn't mean it. She said she was trying to be nice "for the kids" which made me even angrier. I let her have Lexie so she could go to Kings Island. I let her MOTHER have Logan on the same day, when I REALLY wanted to do something just he and I. I let her have them for trick or treating later than usual, even though it was a school night. I ask her to trade days...told her months ahead about the weekend I would need. So she gives me the kids last Sunday. I need her to watch them Saturday night, but she says she has something going on with a friend. She has ALWAYS put friends before the kids. She always put friend before me too, which I could care less about. So then when I ask her to take them Saturday night instead of Sunday, she gets up and nails herself to a cross throwing a huge little princess fit because she's not getting her way. THEN she has the NERVE to THREATEN me and the kids. She THINKS she is just threatening ME but it's the kids too! She gets them from school on Tuesday and Wednesday and I know when she say "she will have to re-think some things" that is what she is talking about. Hell, the kids and I don't NEED her for anything else, so that's all it could be.

Well, since the kids still aren't getting any child support from her, then money is tight enough that she might really be able to hurt us this way. They are already going on too few clothes and not getting school pictures this year. I DID take them camping, but they have so much fun doing that and I'm still pretty sure that they watch a lot of TV and sit in the house a lot over there, so I feel the need to get them outside whenever possible. So aside from a few things like camping (rarely done) we are strapped down. I shop at all the discount grocery stores (Aldi's, Valu-Market, and Sav-A-Lot), I get clothes from thrift stores when I can, I have put off going to dentist and doctor for myself--three appointments I cancelled (and also I need to get Lexie in to see the doctor about a wart on her foot), I am pushing back an oil change in my car, we have not been out to eat--not even McDonald's--in months. Anything I need that isn't groceries comes from Dollar Tree (where everything's $1.00) or I do without.

I think the kids deserve better than this and it makes me mad. So when she comes off and says "Sorry..." well, I'm not proud of it, but I told her she could shove "sorry". It's EASY to say "sorry" when you're the one who is winning and you are making the other people kiss your ass. It's EASY to say "sorry" when you don't have to worry about a place to live, food to eat, and a car to drive. It's EASY to say "sorry" when there's no meaning behind it, and you don't care who gets hurt. I am beyond personal hurt from her. She can still make me angry. I just hate it when the kids have to suffer because of her immaturity.

Committment Ceremony

Saturday night, I went to a commitment ceremony at the Intermezzo Café outside Actor’s Theater downtown. It was a very tasteful and elegant event. A couple my girlfriend knows (and really I know them too now because we've been together so long that our friends know us as a couple) were committing their lives to each other. It really was a nice ceremony. There were drinks and appetizers served by waiters and waitresses walking around, plus and open bar, then the ceremony and afterwards dinner. After dinner there was dancing back in the room that the ceremony was held in--it had been converted to include a dance floor. We stayed until after midnight then went and picked up the kids.

Screwed again

So check this out. This is what ALWAYS happens to me. I asked a month ago if Shellie would want to watch the kids because I have something going on this weekend. She said yes, that she would trade me days. Either I didn't tell her which day and she assumed it was Sunday, or I mistakenly told her Sunday and it was saturday-- anyway that's not the point. So last weekend, I got the kids early on Sunday at 7am. She ASKED me if I wanted to get the Saturday night or early Sunday, and so I told her Saturday night. Then my plans changed and I ASKED her if I could get them Sunday morning. She said OK, but it would have to be at 7am. I told her that's ok, because we wanted to go to church anyway.

Now this weekend rolls around and she said "What time do you want me to get the kids sunday morning?" and I asked her then could it be Saturday night. You know, I was thinking I would get at least the amount of flexibility that I give out. No way. She says I have plans Saturday night. She is helping a friend make a video tape for school. So I get a little upset. "I tell her since she can't take the day I need, and it's my regular weekend, don't worry about it." Also I'm thinking I will want to see them Sunday since I will have to be finding a sitter and not get to spend time with them Saturday night. She freaks out and says she has plans now for Sunday night with them. She's calling me, leaving nasty messages on my phone (I don't answer because I'm at work). She sends hateful text messages... She even threatens me. She says "I got some things to think about too, because we've agreed to some things and if you're not going to hold up your end of the bargain, then I don't guess I need to uphold my end of the bargain on a few things." She says it was not a threat, but I know it is. So, like always, I gave in to her. Now she is saying because I made her mad, she will punish me by never changing our schedule again.

The problem is it states clearly in the Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines that I HAVE to give her first choice when I'm going to get a sitter. I told her that if she is going to waive that right, then I want it in writing because I am NOT going to break the law. When I get that, at least I can get a sitter without going to her first. She always acts like she's doing the ultimate favor and making the world's greatest sacrifice when she switches or trades with me. I'm sick of it. It's like making a deal with Satan for your soul every time--and she twists the deal around to her favor and takes things by the letter rather than the spirit, and does whatever she can to punish me, make things difficult for me, and hurt me. She doesn't care that it hurts the kids. And if by some chance things don't work out good enough in her favor? Then she's been nailed to a cross and you're the big *ssh*le! You should hear her voice on the message. You can here the tone--it's like a kid throwing a fit to get what they want. I'm going to try and find a way to post it as a wav file... She's been spoiled all her life and gotten everything she wanted from parents, friends, family, and me. She knows nothing else.

My relatives up North

Despite the circumstances, it was nice to see my loved ones up North. Don is someone that if not for the life circumstance of distances I would have chosen to grow up next door to. He is a really wonderful person, and so was his wife Ferrel. She reminded me a lot of how my mother was and her personality. His son Donnie moved to Texas long ago and I have not had any contact with him since I was very young. Debbie and Diana have stayed in Marion and that area so I have seen them more frequently. There were still only several occasions when I came to visit--once or twice when I was at Ball State in Muncie, and for some family reunions in (I believe) 2002 and 2003. The reunions were at Buster's house. He's Don's brother and also my half brother. His real name was Phil, same as our dad, but I don't think he's a Jr. Mike and Buster remind me a lot of each other about how they act and talk. The pastor was a self-proclaimed "good ol' boy" and though I don't mind that, it's not what I'm used to. They sang Amazing Grace which along with "The Old Wooden Cross" is something that always tears me up because I always think of Mom and her funeral.

The kids were just about perfect. They were quiet, and brought me tissues when I was crying and hugged onto me. They really are wonderful kids. They did really well on the way up except for when we got to the funeral home and had to get right back in the car to go to Fort Wayne. Logan started crying and I had to explain what they were doing and why and he was ok with it then. Not happy, but that's completely understandable. He was just frustrated because he understood that we were "there" and he didn't get to get out and stop riding around in the car. He was tired of being cooped up. He's an angel for 5 years old. Lexie was pretty good. They also did really well in church that morning. They almost always do. I need to do something special with them for all the good behavior yesterday.

My brother Don

This is my brother Don. The kids and I rode up to Marion with my sister Patti for Ferrel's viewing. We got a little lost on the way up and ended up getting there a little after 5pm. They had Ferrel in the Herse at that time. We were confused because the viewing was supposed to last until 6pm, but they told us since Don was still in the hospital in Fort Wayne they were going to take her to the chapel inside the hopsital to give Don the chance to say goodbye and have some closure. He had just had surgery to remove most of his left leg a couple days before, and was on heavy pain medication. He did wake up enough to say hello to everyone, to tell her he loved her and say goodbye. You could see the comprehension in his eyes, despite the pain medication he was on. Ferrel was a wonderful sweet woman, full of life and kindness. Also meanness and vinegar at times, but it was a good thing to be around.

Plasma

Because money is tight, the kids need clothes and holidays are coming, I thought I would try donating plasma. There were a bunch of thugs in the waiting room, it took 4 hrs, and then they basically vein-raped me and told me i have to wait 8 weeks.

An American Haunting

Thesesia and I watched this movie tonight and it was one of the better thriller-horror movies I have seen recently. I would say that I should have seen it in the theater. Definately worth watching this Halloween season. Sutherland is worth watching.

Excel 2003 Level 2 Intermediate Training

I had this two-day training course for Microsoft Excel 2003. It was not the basic level, but the 2nd intermediate level, and I think a lot of that was even pretty basic stuff. Some people were having a really hard time keeping up with even the very easy sections like Creating and Applying Templates, Creating and Modifying Charts and Working with Graphic Objects, but I found it very easy (mostly I was beyond this). They were not offering Level 3 at this time though, and my boss Jennifer decided we'd better take this and not wait for Level 3 which will not be offered until next year.

Ferrel

This is my half-brother Don and his wife Ferrel. My brother Mike just called me last night to tell me that Ferrel passed away yesterday from a heart-attack. The visitation is Sunday from 1-6pm and the funeral is 1pm Monday. My budget is so tight right now I don't know if I can make it to Marion Indiana but I really wish I could be there for Don.

Dire Straits

I listened to Dire Straits on the way to work this morning, among other things.

"Dr. Parkinson declared, "I'm not surprised to see you here. You've got smoker's cough from smoking, brewer's croup from drinking beer. I don't know how you've come to get that Bette Davis wheeze, but worst of all young man, you've got industrial disease!"

New haircut

Today I decided to give myself a new haircut. I was looking for something easy, plus I wanted to do this for a halloween costume. Also, I'm trying to save money on expensive shampoos and conditioners. Ok really it was a grooming accident this morn...

Halloween Party

Theresia and her sister Elizabeth invited me and the kids over to Elizabeth's house for a halloween party last night. They served supper, which was lasagne and steak. They played games, bobbed for apples and we had a great time. I helped decorate with the fake cobwebs (I am good at that). We broke up into teams and they gave out prizes. The one that I thought was really fun was where they handed out rolls of paper towels to each team and we had to "mummify" someone. Our team decided to mummify Theresia's brother Peter. I like Peter, he seems like a really good guy and I like how he is with his kids. Theresia's brother Michael was down from Indy. His little boy was Robin (from Batman and Robin) and I swear he looked like he just stepped out of a comic book! His little girl was Pipi Longstockings and her mom had put this wire around her head and braided her hair through it. She had temporary red in her hair and little makeup freckles. I was surprised that a kid her age (like 4 or 5) watched Pipi Longstockings enough to want to be that for Halloween! Michael is a real great guy too. He told us a couple jokes (just us guys) and they were really funny. Generally speaking, I like Theresia's family. They are a good bunch of people.

POS dryer

Well, I decided to try and save some time again by going to the apartment's laundry room. I am never coming back here again! The washers are always setting with wet clothes in them. Half the damn dryers set with dry clothes. The other half either don't spin or don't heat! Of course, you still have to put your money into the bloody thing to find out! Now I'm tired, feet hurt, and its 6pm. Just time to put the clothes up, fix supper, and go to bed. I wanted to go visit either my sister Patti, or Joe and Dana, but I guess we're not doing THAT! *grumble*

Bardstown Boofest

Here's Rachael the cowgirl, Logan the ghoul, and Lexie the Charmed girl. We went to Bardstown Bound Boofest last night. They had lots of fun, and today we're going to a Halloween party from 4-8.

Happy early Halloween

I'll post pictures of the kids asap. Got this at wal-mart a couple years ago.

Costume

I decided to try to make the shirt portion of my costume. I have never really sewed anything before... It was a challenge just getting the crap cut out. I found material at Wal-Mart for $0.99 a yard and I needed like 5 yards so if I totally screw it up, I don't have to feel too bad about it. I mean part of me says "how hard can it be?" and the other part looks at the stuff I've cut out and thinks "man, what the hell have you gotten yourself into!" Unless I did something completely wrong, I did manage to use the amount of cloth and get all the required pieces cut out, and have a little left over. I cut a bit of leeway around the pattern because I was afraid of cutting into it. This may screw up the sizing, but hopefully will only make it a little bigger and not do something like totally screw it up when it comes to putting it all together. My sister Bonnie said that she would help me by getting the same pattern and following along, but I haven't heard back from her on email and I've sent about three.

Brushoff

My girlfriend just gave me the brush-off on the phone. She does it all the time. Hmmph. Some people just kick you to the curb when they have something else like work to do.... Ok, I'm just being silly, but we had a talk last night and she informs me that when she always seemed like she was jealous, she never was and that she was just playing around. I should have never been so flattered. Oh well, I knew it was too good to be true. After all, what woman in her right mind could get jealous over me? That woman does not exist.

The geek in me

I know this is going to totally out me to everyone (both of you) who read this, but I am running a fantasy role-playing game on the internet. Its an old game system that a friend in jr high introduced me to. There is a pretty good cult following on the net for this game. It is simple to learn and fun to play. The game is called In The Labyrinth (The Fantasy Trip) and the rules consist of only three books. Today's games (like the whole Dungeons and Dragons conglomerate) have 50 lbs of books, dice, figures, and every supplimental add-on piece of revenue-building product you can think of. This game was designed by Steve Jackson and (most agree) was his experiment that formed into the later G.U.R.P.S. system (which was very successful). Anyway, this is the game that got me started into the role-playing thing. I was in theater in school also...some of us just never grow out of some form of make-believe I guess.

Well, I just got three new players for my game. That makes a total of eleven. This is played by e-mail and requires everyone to "post" one message every day. Well, I have a couple of folks who are not posting at all, nor responding to any of my e-mails, so I'm going to have to cut them at the end of this "chapter" so I can get rid of the dead wood. Hopefully the three new people will take up that slack.

Costume for Work/Money/This Weekend

I am going to have to forgoe the costume for work. I don't think anybody will complain too much unless i'm the only person in the department who doesn't dress up. The budget is so tight right now that I don't have much leeway. It's like I went and got books for us at the Louisville Free Public Library book sale this past weekend, and now I feel bad about feeling bad about it. I hate this. I wanted to do stuff with the kids this weekend but I never seem to have enough in the budget to do things. I should be content. I got to take them camping last weekend, but I just want to do the whole autumn thing--trick or treating up and down Bardstown road on Friday night, Bernheim Forest Colorfest on Saturday... Maybe it will rain so they won't be disappointed. The other thing I want to do is keep them up late Friday and Saturday night watching "monster movies"--Abbott and Costello meet the Mummy and Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein's Monster. I think it will be fun... It does make me wonder about the child support that S is supposed to be paying. I have not seen anything yet, but I'm not going to ask her about it and I'm certainly not going to ask the court. I don't want anybody to get into trouble over it. It's not a lot, but some weeks like this I know it would really help. *sigh*

Kimmy and William

This is a picture of the kids cousin Kimmy. She sent me an e-mail wishing me a happy birthday and to tell me she got married on July 14th and moved to New York with her new husband William who is in the Army.

I hope they treat each other always with love and respect, and always try to put the other's needs and wants first.

I am going to ask her for her address so that the kids can write letters to her. They need to write more and I want to give them reasons to write.

Chrysler Sebring Convertibles

I have come to the conclusion that 99% of the Sebrings are convertibles. Does anybody know why the hell this is?

Lexie's Printing

Here’s some of Lexie’s school work. Look at the vocab page and tell me if you can read it. I had her re-do answers #9 through #11 on her math this day because you could not read them after she got done erasing and re-writing them! It was bad. I will post again in about a month and we’ll see if it looks better.

I'm blogging from Heine Bros.

Right now I'm listening to "Whole Lotta Love" by Led Zepplin and drinking this coffee and blogging from Heine Brothers. I think free wi-fi is cool. It's now 5pm, and I didn't get all my housecleaning done, but I'm over here early to get another cup of this coffee. I have to meet Shellie with the kids at 630 or thereabouts so this works out good because its close. I talked to them last night on the phone and they said they had a good time trick-or-treating at the zoo. I knew they would because they always love that, and S and I feel that it's safer than door-to-door trick or treating.

Weekend with T/Booksale/Coffee

Friday night we debated on going out and doing something, but opted for the more economical "stay home and watch movies". We watched "Witchboard" an old 80's horror movie with Tawny Kitaen. Then we watched "X-men: The Last Stand". Shizue brought over pasta and we had that for supper. She didn't care for my awesome baked beans. She also brought this bread--an odd desert bread of some sort. It was like a bread version of fruitcake, but was not heavy or overly rich. Lighter dessert--it was good. We went to bed fairly early, then got up early on Saturday like about 4am and watched two more movies. "Devour" was what I thought was a vampire movie, but it was a satanic-horror flick. We both agreed that it was good, just not fantastic. Then there was this movie that we had both seen thee preview for and wanted to watch. It was called "Transamerica". I won't say I really liked it-liked it, but it was a good movie. Just not really my type. It was a drama about this guy who is weeks from his gender- switch surgery when he finds out he has a son. After soaking up the couch for a while, we went to the Louisville Free Public Library booksale. I got a couple books, then about 25 lbs of books for the kids. They always need more to read and at 2/$1 you can not pass that up. My books were $3 hardback and $1 paperback. I got this book called "Cosm" by Gregory Benford. It's heavy-sci sci-fi. Just exactly what I was in the mood for. Now, it's odd that I found this book as I had thought about reading if for years. The really odd thing is...I remember about 7-10 years ago going to a movie and seeing a PREVIEW for a movie called Microcosm. It is based on this book, but never got made. Net research tells me that FOX has optioned the rights to make the movie but I can find nothing else. After the book sale, and with both of us book-in-hand, we went for coffee at Carmichael's/ Heine Bros coffee shop on Bardstown Rd. It was really nice day and we had really good coffee outside. It is much better priced vs. Starbucks. I always though that Starbucks raped your wallet, but now I am almost certain. After that we walked down to T's favorite shop, Edenside Gallery and looked around at different places. Then headed back to the car. On the way back we went thrift shopping at a couple Goodwills, but didn't buy anything. The thing I need most is clothes for the kids and I have learned to NEVER buy them unless they are trying them on first. Today is housework day. T cut out this morning to do some of her housework, and now, being almost 3:30 in the afternoon, I'm gonna finish putting clothes away and head over for another cup of that coffee and wait with my book to get the kids.

My Chucks

I got these quite a while back on clearance sale at Shoe Carnival. I love my Chucks. They just scream Rock & Roll to me. I got 4 pairs of shoes since i lost weight. Also Adidas, Crocs, and boots. Plus one pair of brown dress shoes for work. I am set!

My Jealous Girlfriend

When I got to work today, this girl I work with (her name is Carrie) asked me to take her to Wal-Mart and KFC at lunch. We have two girls who are quitting, and today is their last day. Carrie volunteered to get a cake and the food for our pitch-in, but then her car broke down. I said I would help out. So we just got done picking up the stuff and we were headed back when my girlfriend called. She said "What are you doing, and where are you at???" I told her that I had to go out and get the stuff for the party and I was just coming out of KFC. She said "Alone?" I told her no that Carrie was with me and she totally went off. I mean she went off so much and yelled that I was not sure if she was joking or not!! It was kinda scary, but also I think she does it sort of complimentary--like there would be someone in the world besides her that would find me attractive. Regardless, she is familiar with Carrie, so she said "Give the phone to Carrie!" and then yelled at her "You keep your hands off my boyfriend!" but then she kept Carrie on the phone the whole rest of the way back to work. Like she was playing it off as a joke, but making sure by keeping her on the phone that nothing was going to happen. I have never cheated on any woman that I have been in a relationship with. I'm not about to relax my morals now at the age of 38 and 51 weeks old.

Ok, this is in the same vein...I just got a card from her--here at work. Why didn't she send it home? That's so everyone (all the girls I work with) will see it and ask about it. She's staking her claim again. Flattering me, but still sometimes I think she's nuts. Not necessarily in a bad way. The only thing that bothers me is the underlying lack of trust. I will show it to all the girls though. Even though it's a little personal, they will think it is so sweet. I do too, of course.

Butterick - B4574 - MEN'S COSTUME - 4574

This is the pattern I bought today online. It comes in my size, and they are going to have a halloween costume party at work and I (still damnit) can't find a costume to fit me. Tried one on today and it fit, but was tight where it shouldn't be on someone with my ample physique. check it out if you want....Butterick - B4574 - MEN'S COSTUME - 4574

Baked Beans

I'm cooking baked beans over night in the crock pot. We have a pot luck tomorrow to celebrate two gals who are leaving Louisville Ladder. They are both glad to get out of there, discontent and b*tching all the time since our boss promoted this older woman who used to be their co-worker (and happens to have very little company seniority)to be their supervisor. I think it was a mistake to make her a supervisor, but I really like my boss and I will support her decisions. Anyway, I put in the baked beans, added onion, black strap molasses, and a little Crown Royal. That ought to be good. I wonder if I should cook them with the lid off because right now they are too soupy.

Parent/Teacher Conference with Ms. Caswell/Pants

We had our parent/teacher conference with Ms. Caswell, Lexie's 3rd grade teacher. She says that she's moved Lex to the front row of the class. She says that Lex is very well behaved, participates well, gets along perfectly with the other kids, and shows that she is putting forth a lot of effort in class. The only thing now that remains as a slight negative is her printing and writing. It has gotten so much better that Ms. Caswell is sure there will be no real problem in the future. She still writes too big, but is much more legible now. She said Lexie will naturally evolve to better handwriting if we keep making her do it over when its too messy. My worries are all put to rest.

Now if I could just find her and Logan more pants for winter. She went to school today in shorts and a polo shirt and the two of them were shivering when the bus came (it got to them late today--they said they have a new driver). I am working on compiling a list of consignment, thrift, and discount stores, but these two are so hard to fit. Cooler weather is here RIGHT NOW and Lex only has two pair of pants she can wear to school. Logan only has 3. I know I can just have them wearing the same pants every day of the week, but that really goes against my grain. Not to mention that I need to get them some non-school cooler weather clothes... If anybody has any information on where to find clothes discounted or otherwise cheap, please let me know. I have not seen anything from the child support office yet and I was kind of wanting that to use for clothing because we run a pretty close budget. I guess I could have told them "no" about camping, but when that's the only vacation they're getting this year, I hated to do that.

Foul Mood

I don't know what the hell was wrong with me tonight. I got home and was ready to get my laundry done when all of a sudden I started feeling weak and shaky. I know it probably has something to do with my blood sugar, the gastric bypass or whatever. It is when I eat something, or when I don't eat for a while. No real pattern. But then I started feeling bad because I had all this laundry to do and I was feeling like I might not be able to do it because I just felt weak. This made me really mad. My girlfriend was over dropping off my laundry detergent and I was being very cross. I could hardly stand myself, so I told her she just needed to scoot and that I wasn't fit company. Usually she stands by me and is supportive and understanding. Not this time. She bolted. This bothered me even more. Plus I had just bought a new laundry basket and destroyed it when I picked it up. Ok, I really didn't destroy it, the handle broke, but at the time I was feeling like everything was going to sh*t and nothing was working out right. I feel a little better now, but I still miss Theresia.

My Hands

Ms. Pass gave me this that Logan made. She waited to hand it to me during conference because she didn't want it messed up. It is definately keepsake material.

Reading & Writing Tips

Logan's teacher had tips handouts for parents. I think they would apply to Lexie also because she is having a challenge with her writing. Some of the things we can do:

1. Read to them so they get the idea that reading is a neat thing to do.
2. Reread books if they want it so they can feel like they are "reading".
3. Let them see me read so they understand that we do what we think is important.
4. Talk about ideas that I write so that communication skills are linked.
5. Encourage them to write. Put a chalkboard in their room and encourage them to write messages.
6. Encourage storytelling (they do quite a bit of this).
7. Keep reading and writing materials around (I always do this)
8. Get them library cards (I have one for Lexie and he was sharing that but I'm getting Logan his own.)
9. Monitor how much time the -family- spends in front of the TV.
10. Praise their efforts in writing and emphasize successes instead of criticizing mistakes.
11. Provide a suitable place for them to write.
12. Give him gifts associated with writing--pens pencils, paper, stationary, stamps, etc.
13. Encourage them to write away for information, free samples, travel brochures, etc.
14. Be alert for times when they can be involved in writing because writing for real purposes is rewarding.

Logan's Parent/Teacher Conference

The teacher, Ms. Pass, says Logan is doing very well. At first he had trouble getting very upset when there was something he couldn't do. She said that might be because there are a lot of things that he does very well. When she asked him to read a book, his face turned red and he started to cry. Also he was getting the same way because he didn't make it into the ABC Club. That was only the first several weeks. She said now he does a lot better and she knows not to push him hard-or at least knows when to stop pushing him. It is her job to push as much as possible, but without making it a bad experience. She just praises him for trying and moves on quickly to something else. He accepts challenges a lot better now. She said his oral vocabulary is exceptional... but we already knew this, didn't we?

He needs to be reading and writing every day. She says he should be able to read these types of books: Margaret Hilliard, Biscuit books, and the books labeled: I Can Read, Early Reader, and Level One. She said to work on counting to 100, we can use dimes to help him count to 100 by tens. That way he can count past 29, because he knows 30 comes after 20, and then is 40, 50, 60, etc.

Shizue

This is a picture of my girlfriend. She woke me up in the middle of the night because she was scared the kids were going to get eaten by wolves. Sure enough, you could hear howling, but it was just coyotes, and they were far off in the distance...

At the lake

Here's the kids at the lake. We walked down to the lake, ate our picnic lunch, then around the lake and back up.

The Death March

So, we went on this 'moderate' hike. It was like .75 miles down to a small lake, then .5 miles around the lake, then back the way you came. Not too bad until you find out the trip down was 80 percent stairs! And the Nuts of Doom the whole way!!!

Logan Leaf Ear

This is Logan sticking leaves in his head...

Walnuts of Doom

Walnuts falling from the trees was the scariest party of the camping trip!

Camping at Brown County State Park

My legs are killing me from hiking. Other that that, it was all a hellofalotta fun! We heard coyotes howling Sunday night. T got freaked out and woke me up at like 3am. She was afraid they were going to eat the kids. She wouldn't let us dump any food leavings anywhere near the camp site because she was afraid of animals! The only thing we REALLY had to fear was the huge walnuts falling all over the place. You'd hear them plummeting from the tops of the trees, ripping through leaves and branches on the way down and then --WHAM-- right beside you it hits the ground and scares the crap out of you. The damn things were as big as tennis balls and heavy as hell! I just knew I was going to end up with a smashed windshield, or one of us would get a concussion!!! We went to Nashville, Indiana and poked around. Went to the Brown County Winery and bought some wine to take home. All in all it was really good, but I am so tired right now I could go back home and sleep for the rest of the day. The kids are with their mom because school is out today and she has visitation on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. I gotta drag my ass to do laundry after work so we will have clothes to wear this week.

Logan's Report Card

I'm happy that Logan's first report card (ever!) is a good one.

I just wonder why they give S+'s instead of O's...

Report Card for Lexie

Lexie has a little progress to make on work habits.

Weekend

Theresia and I went to the Celtic Festival in Eminence Kentucky this weekend. That was pretty cool. She got me a handcrafted Irish cap. I love it and I'll be wearing it a lot. It was an early birthday present. We ate lunch there and she got Shepherd's pie and I got Haggis and mash. They were both served in bread bowls. I thought they were both good, but she refused to eat more than a bite of the haggis. She was worried about the type of meat it had in it. I think traditionally it's like sheep's stomach stuffed with other guts and organs, but in this case, I'm pretty sure it was just ground beef. Regardless, I liked the flavor. I got a necklace for her... nothing really expensive, but she really liked it. It was an oak leaf made of fired ceramic on a leather thong. We did that, then later we went back to her house, I did some laundry, and we went to dinner at Joe's OK Bayou Cajun restaurant. We took her granddaughter Kendall, and she behaved really well. After that we went back to my apartment and watched a horror movie that really sucked. I saw the preview when we watched another movie and it looked good, but I'm telling you, don't waste your time with "Room 6". There's another that looked goofy but I thought it would be cool because it looked like a mix between horror and sci-fi, but it was stupid also. It was called "Candy Stripers". I know what you are thinking. You are right. Ex-Playboy Playmates cannot act. It's true. I've been looking for some good horror for this season. I usually watch a lot of horror, but I really want something good to watch with Theresia during the month of October.

Please, if anybody has any ideas, LET ME KNOW! It doesn't have to be anything in the newest releases. It just has to be scary! Preferably something I haven't seen yet... We've watched Silent Hill. I thought that was good, but not so scary. That's the last halfway decent scary flick I've seen. We also saw the remake of The Hills Have Eyes. Hostel was more shocking than scary. I need some really good sleepers. I don't mind watching movies that were in the theater's a week or less, but just as long as they are frightening.

Wool Cap from Donegal Town

Here's the label from my cap.

Early birthday present

Theresia got me this wool cap at the Celtic Fest on Saturday. It comes from Donegal Town, Ireland. I really like it!

Little house

This is the little fixer upper that T and I going to buy... Not! She really just likes the looks of it because it has so much character.

Theresia at Celtic Fest

This tree looked so neat. It was bent to the side and looked like it was just growing that way! Also Theresia looked really cute so I wanted to get her picture.

The Rolling Stones at Churchill Downs

I was apathetic about the concert tonight until I found out Kim here at work was going.  She said "I don't know any songs they do!"  I was about ready to slap her when she said "Wait!  Don't they sing that song (she sings) I can't get no....satisfaction..." 

I said "Yeah, see, you know their songs."

And she said "That's because I heard the Brittney Spears remake of it!!!"  Then I DID slap her. 

I was thinking: WTF ARE YOU, TWELVE?????

That is just sick, Sick, SICK! She has no right to go to see the Stones. I know they will live for at least two more tours. In my mind, with them it's always two more tours. I heard Alice Cooper is coming. And I looked on the www.bigrockshow.com web site to see where they are playing tonight and tomorrow night, but they are taking the nights off for the Stones, and then Roger Waters from Floyd is in Indianapolis tomorrow night. I really WOULD like to see that, but I had no clue. Still, it's definitely not Floyd, but it's about as close as you could get.

Reply to all

Our HR lady sent a message to our whole company asking about tax information. I replied to her and asked if she needed anything from me because of my divorce being recent. Then I did the worst thing imaginable--I hit “reply to all” instead of reply. Now the whole company knows via Outlook that I am divorced. I feel like such a total jack*ss. I’m not coming out of my cubicle for a month. I’ve already had like three e-mails from different people ragging me out.

This one woman was like “Hey Kelly – now that everyone knows you are a single man……Just want to congratulate you!!!!”

Another woman said "...we gotta let all the single girls in on your secret…..there are just NOT enough single men in this world as it is!!!!!"

This guy sent "I am available for $50 a weekly session if you want to share anything else…"

Of course they ALL hit "reply to all". It went on for like an hour. I'm shooting myself in the head now.

Hand weights 12 x 3

I'm starting out with the lowest weight on these. 12 of 3 different exercises each done 3 times. When i'm done, my arms, neck and upper back sure as hell know it. The kids and I seem to be getting colds. That is going to seriously suck4 next weekend.

Mimi Defused

That psycho woman tried to get me swept up into her sh*tstorm again today. Kim was back (my usual brick wall between us) and Ricardo was there to answer any really technical questions, so I did my S.O.P. with Mimi and I ignored her.

Funny thing was our programmer, Grady came over about this same customer asking me a question that I had no way of knowing. Now that's not to say anything bad about Grady because he is one cool old dude. He even quotes Hitchhiker's Guide. And I'm not talking the movie either. So I just said "I know who we can ask to get our answer. Let's go straight to the source!" and I started dialing a number on speaker phone.

Grady says "Just whatever you do, you'd better not be calling Mimi!" I died laughing and hung up the phone. My boss and I have had extensive conversations about Mimi. We've come to the conclusion that nobody likes to work with her and they'll do anything to get out of it.

When did my little guy grow up???

Logan counted to 20 as part of his homework. He doesn't skip 15 anymore like he did when he was little. Ok, some may argue that he is still little. Some may say that he's never been little. I don't care. I love him so much I could cry. Ok, what kind of wussy example would I be setting then???

Kidding, but he is so cool...

Beat down tired

So, here's the thing...

Charlie came over, said (basically) here's how you use this exercise equipment but it is so old and sucky that you'd be best just keeping with the cardio from the elliptical. I got through my 30 minutes--this time at level 12-14 resistance instead of level 1 (which was jarring my knees because of too little resistance). Well, I was pouring sweat after about 6 minutes, but on the crack cocaine of the elliptical machine exercise and music from the soundtrack of "The Beginning of My Longer Life" I busted ass and got it done. Then, the kids weren't there yet so I went to the crappy weight machines and did a few sets. I realized that I have to do one of the machines before the others because even on the lightest weight, it's hard for me. Charlie said I'd be best with the hand weights I already have, so I might give them a try. He said he started out really small with hand weights and felt like a wuss, but it's better to start small and work up.

Ok, so I'm working out at least 3 times a week. I'm going to check my weight at Christmas time. We shall see. Now heres the big thing...how do I fit all this in my life? I work homework with the kids, cook supper, and do a bit of housework, but I never seem to get it all caught up. Nor do I have time to do everything I need to do. Please let me know if you know the secret to having enough bloody time. At this point I'm doing everything I have to do, and very little of what I want to do. Is it that I'm just not organized or effective or working smart enough? Do real adults just get 4 hours of sleep a night? What the hell? How does this work, man?

Collected works on Soy Product Toxicity

An old high school friend of mine, Valerie Horowitz sent me the link to this: Collected works on Soy Product Toxicity.

Her email started out : "I never forward panicky e-mail, much less create one, or claim a health risk where one may not exist, but a recent medical issue caused me to research a topic which led to the discovery that one of the staples of my diet - soy - could be the source of the problem. And as bad as soy may be for me, a grown woman, that is about one twentieth as bad as it is for growing children, and nothing compared to what some studies show soy formula can do to infants - particularly girls."

Needless to say, I'm not a soy-eating Californian like Val, but I have two small children and I always look at things like this closely. I think you should as well.

Parents Against Junk Food

If you're a parent and you love your kids, please check out Parents Against Junk Food. It frightens the hell out of me to think what society in general is trying to do to our kids in this country.

Dragonflies

Dragonflies is the blog of a friend of mine. She has some really good insights. I can't remember which of us got the other into blogging, but I'll bet she remembers. (All I know is I've been on blogger longer than she has...)

Coexist

I saw this bumper sticker on a car the other day and I thought the sentiment was cool.

Scout

This is a picture of my sister's cat. It acts like its on crack half of the time. Its a muted calico.

Charlie

This is Charlie the guy I work with. He's pretty cool for a gay guy. Ok, i'm joking. He's not gay. He works out a lot and he's going to come over on Tuesday and show me how to use the weight equipment at the club house. Its old equipment but its ok.

Mimi sucks

There is this woman at work named Mimi. I say she's "at work" but she works from her home in Texas. Well, her and this other guy Dan have a bad habit of throwing other people (or attempting to) under the bus to save their ass from something they did wrong. This time it was they overlooked orders coming in for three or four days then decided to try and pin it on me saying I should have known there was a problem. Well, that's not my job because I was never told the schedule of how this particular customer sends in their orders or how many orders or what. I was correctly under the impression that somebody else (Mimi and Dan) worried about that. I have like 20+ customers to handle EDI for, which amounts to hundreds of orders a week, and hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The way my job is set up is I fix problems with the orders when they come in. If there are not any orders--there are no problems!!! My boss was on the phone with them backing me up 100%. I am not worried because I know I was doing what I was supposed to do. It just pisses me off that there are unscrupulous people in the work place that will try and pin shit on anybody they can just to save their own asses. Breathe in, breathe out.... Spend some time with the kids, and on the elliptical, and have a drink at the end of the night. This is my current cure for assholes. I've been at my job almost a year and these are the first assholes I have encountered that actually had the ability to piss me off like I cared.

Elliptical

I thought the elliptical machine at the varsity club was really cool! It didn't seem like much more strenuous than a regular treadmill, but when I got done I was pouring sweat, and I could barely walk!!!! I had to hold on to the hand rails going down the steps from the work out room. I thought I was gonna have to ask the kids to help me get my left leg into the car. Sadly, I did two sets of 15 minutes with about a 3 or 4 minute break in between. I drank a full bottle of water while I was doing it and listed to my MP3s. It makes you take a faster pace to keep going at a consistant run. Everyone says its a lot better on joints and knees. It is directly above the pool so you can look out and keep an eye on the kids. I was happy about that. Today though I only stayed for about 30-45 minutes because the pool was closed and Lexie and Logan were down watching Spongebob. I didn't want them to be bored. I don't know why I was so worried because lately TV has become such a treat during the week. They hardly ever get to watch it.

Glass Half Full/Empty, Weight at 314 and holding

I got on the scale here at work, the news is completely subjective. I can look at 314 pounds as: I should have lost a lot more by now.  No matter what crap I poke in my piehole I won't get much bigger.  No matter what crap I poke in my piehole I won't get much smaller.  If I work hard and get my last pounds off, then they will stay off with probably very little effort. 

It's a hellova lot better that struggling up that weight loss cliff I've struggled up all my life. It's a great weight off my shoulders knowing that if I try, I will have a shot at succeeding!!! I even have a pal here at work, Charlie that might come over and show me how to use all the weight machines at the varsity club. 

Weight loss surgery has been atypically easy for me. I lost over 150 lbs just eating how my body has told me to eat. I have been eating whatever I want with tolerance to guide me. If I get sick I don't eat that any more. Or if I eat too much too quickly, I pay the price. I've can count the number of times I've hurled on one hand. It should not be this easy. On the other side of the coin, I should be at like 190 or 200 lbs by now. I'm shooting for a personal goal of 225. I've coasted to see how far the surgery alone was going to get me. Now I am going to start eating better and walking or exercising. We'll see where that goes.

Walking & the crappy treadmill

The apartment complex has this club house (the Varsity Club). It has a workout and weight room, a party room with pool table, bar, and big screen TV, an indoor pool, and a indoor basketball court. Well I have decided to start eating a little better cutting out any crap that is bad for me. Also since my back is about 95% better I planned to go there and use the treadmill. Well I came home from work, changed into sweatpants and a t-shirt, and went to the club house. I signed in and got the key (they keep it locked so kids don't play on it). I'm up there for about five minutes and I have my earbuds in and music from my iPAQ going. I've worked quickly up to almost 3 miles an hour (give me a break I am just starting) and I'm in a good mood. Then the power goes out. Now this little room is like a big closet and there are no windows. So I get out my phone to use it as a flashlight because I didn't bring my full set of keys (that has a penlight attached) and I am stumbling around. I get to the door and get out of the treadmill closet. I went down stairs and asked the girl what happened and she said that the treadmill is crappy (seemed fine to me) and the wiring is old. Now I'm angry because I have to either walk outside among other humans (which always makes me feel like I'm a total carnival sideshow) or just quit for today. It's only about 6pm and I get the kids back at 7:30 so I'm gonna do it. There are NO sidewalks back in the apartment complex, so I decided to walk over to the little strip mall that is close. I walked all along the front, and then behind the mall passing all the dumpsters. Its not a big deal--if I'd cared about scenery I would not have wanted to walk on a treadmill in the first place!!! So I made about 4 laps on that and then I decided to try seeing how far I could make it walking down Bardstown toward my church. Well, I only got to the bowling alley before I decided I should head back so I could get to the kids on time. Not a disaster, but it still kinda sucked. I'm gonna get some exercise again Thursday, but since I have the kids, I'm going to try the club's eliptical machine. I don't know what the hell that is but I have to be close to the kids while they play, and I know they could not keep up the pace with me.

Photos and albums on webshots

Just in case anybody is interested, I have some older pictures and photos on webshots--CLICK TO VIEW.

Lexie's desk

This is where Lexie sits. Its in the back right next to the guinea pig.

Logan's desk

This is Logan at his desk at school.

Logan's work

This is some more of Logan's work that was posted on the board in the classroom.

Read along books

This is Ms. Pass showing us the fold out books they use for weekly read alongs in class.

Shizue loves Target

Thesesia loves shopping at Target. She looked at Halloween stuff and clothes for Rachael. I looked at kitchen stuff, housewares and gadgets. I need a better way to hook Lexie's MP3 player to the stereo in the car. Right now I'm using a Belkin FM tran

Open House - Lexie

Here’s some follow-up on Lexie’s part of open house.  Her teacher seemed nice.  Not as 110% as Logan’s, but that’s ok.  I’m sure she does a good job.  Lexie showed us around the room.  She showed us the guinea pig.  Her teacher said that she has four of them—3 females at home. They are going to be getting crayfish soon.  She said they got one batch, but they all died.  Lexie’s teacher had no handouts and didn’t really speak to us as a group.  There were only two parents in the room.  It was the kids’ mother and I, and then one other woman.  This other woman had a boy who is in Logan’s classroom, and a girl who is in with Lexie.  That was kind of neat.  Their mother and I were looking through Lexie’s work and especially her journal—and couldn’t read much of it at all.  So we called her teacher over and asked her “is this normal writing for a 3^rd grader?” and she made a face which immediately said that it was not.  So I asked her “what should we do?” and she said “I don’t know, I’ve never seen writing this bad.  I will ask around and get back with you.”  That was alarming. 

 

So their mother and I decided that she will re-write her home-work if it is not neat enough for us to read.  Also, I’m going to have her write one sentence a night purely for neatness.  She just needs more practice and needs to slow down and concentrate on doing a better job.  I never noticed it being this bad last year, but I’m guessing they are just giving her more volume and she is getting sloppy to get done quickly.  She gets good grades—we saw a 92% which is acceptable to us.  She just needs to put a little more effort into neatness.  She did well on her bit she wrote last night.  She wrote “My name is Lexie.  I’m eight years old.”  When she gets done, I’m going to have Logan make illustrations for the sentences and make it into a book!  Hopefully that will make it cool enough that she will keep doing it without a fuss.  I think I’ll do the same with Logan.  Anything to make learning fun and interesting…

Open House - Logan

Hope everyone liked the pictures of open house.  Here’s a bit more info:

 

Logan’s teacher had a great attitude and seemed VERY enthusiastic.  She showed us Logan’s name on the board for ABC club.  She showed the behavior chart where it was perfect.  She said she was especially very glad to have him and this one other little girl in her class because of the science portion.  They are studying animals, and right now it is red worms and earth worms.  She was happy that Logan and this little girl did all the handling of the worms for her so she didn’t have to touch them!  Also she talked about predictions.  She gave the example of reading a story, then she would stop in the middle and as the class “what do you think happens next”.  She asked several of the students “What is a prediction?”  and none of them could answer.  Then she asked Logan and in front of everybody he said “A guess!”  I was so proud of him! 

 

When they first come in, they have a Morning Message and get to go up and circle words they know.  The do some independent work that is something she’s taught the day before and she goes and checks to see if they are getting it.  They work on phonics and words.  They do shared reading in a fold-out book.  They work in learning stations and work on writing.  They work on rhyming and there is a poem of the week that they go over every day.  They also do what she calls prior knowledge and experience connections between themselves, other books, and the world—then relate it to what they are reading.  After lunch they do read-alouds and complete work.  Then the do computer, humanities, library, or PE depending on what day of the week it is.  After that, they work on Math and calendar.  Numbers zero to ten, and days, weeks, months, stuff like that.  This is one of the few areas (calendar) that I see Logan could use more work on.  I ask him what day is it and most the time he doesn’t know.  Next is Science (where they work with the worms or other critters) and social studies (her area of specialty).  The have recess and physical wellness (dancing and singing) near the end of the day and go over what needs to be done at home.  You can tell this woman busts her butt for these kids.

 

Journal

This is Lexie's journal.