Meetings, Breakfast and Slumdog

For being unemployed, I sure did have a busy week this week. Monday night I attended the Founder's Day dinner for PTA. It was @ the Fifth Season banquet center, and the food was delicious. The best part was the PTA mom who came dressed in a corset and short, and I mean short, netty kind of skirt. I really felt under dressed. And, she sat right next to the principal. I wondered why he didn't stand up all night.

Then on Tuesday, Emily and I had a meeting for Freshman scheduling. I cannot believe she is going to be a freshman already. She is taking a packed schedule, including honors social studies. She is really excited, and I am really NOT.

Wednesday afternoon brought another PTA meeting, this time for the Arts and Science Fair to be held in April.

Thursday, I picked up my Aunt Diana and went to breakfast and to the bookstore to find another good book to read. She recently lost my uncle, but she has been keeping herself busy. I was lucky to get a few hours of her time! It was nice to spend time with her.

Thursday night, I had a meeting at the kids school for the Ohio Achievement Testing to be held in April. I thought I could get a few tips for Jared to have a little bit of an easier time testing so maybe he will be able to pass this year. I did get some really good websites that he can do some practice tests on. If anyone needs them, just let me know.

Today was the last of the busy week. I babysat little Emma for awhile, then Larry, Emily and I went for fish. I don't know why I love fish so much more during Lent. It was really good too.
After dinner, my neighbor Barb and I went to the movies to see Slumdog Millionaire. It was so good. Now I know why it has received so many awards. I highly recommend anyone who hasn't seen it to go.

Tomorrow I am meeting up with NotYourAverageJenn in town at the bookstore to hang out for a little bit. It is one of our favorite places to go. We both love to read and exchange books with each other. She is also lending me her camera so I can take pictures at Frank Ohl Intermediate School next week for their talent show. And my kids don't even go to that school anymore. Some day I will learn at say NO.

Well, until next time...

Too Much Chocolate

So Valentine's Day came and went. I had a nice day with Larry, Jared, Emily and Emily's friend, Kelly. We all had lunch at Applebee's, then off to Barnes and Nobel we were. The kids all got books they were wanting. Then we were off to the mall. Emily wanted to go to Hot Topic to get a hoodie...whatever. It actually is nice. When we got home, I gave the kids their Valentine's Day presents from Larry and I. We don't get them much, just something little and a box of candy.

So, that leads me to my next story. We were upstairs watching Nights in Rodanthe when the dog disappeared. This is really unusual for him, as he is usually attached to my side wherever I am. So, we called for him and he came running from the basement. He laid with us for awhile and watched the movie, then he disappeared again. He came again when we called him.

Around 10pm, Jared went down to his friend, Brian's house. When we returned at midnight, I was up in bed reading. He came running from the basement to my room to tell me that he knew where Jack was when he disappeared twice that night. Jack had smelled Jared's candy in the basement, covered with a blanket, and he ate the ENTIRE box. Yes, the entire box. The funny thing is, he actually unwrapped some of the Hershey Kiss' and miniature Reese's cups. There was foil all over the basement.

Well, I was so afraid he was going to have to go to the bathroom all night, but he didn't. But when I let him out of his crate this morning, he was so full of energy. I have never seen him like that before. He went out with Larry for the newspaper and ran and ran and ran. At first I didn't feel sorry for him when he first did it, I felt sorry for Jared because Jack ate all of his candy. Then around 1:30pm, he threw it all up. Yep, foil and all. My poor puppy. Okay, so now I feel sorry for him a little. Then around 7pm, he threw up again...more foil. I can't believe it had stayed in his system for so long. He seems fine now. I sure hope he has learned his lesson.

So, now I have to buy Jared another box of candy. This time he won't keep it under a blanket in the basement.

Until next time...

The Dog

Why is it that nobody, and I mean nobody can touch my feet, but the dog can lick them all he wants!

Sometimes I think I can let Larry rub my feet because they hurt so bad, but as soon as he touches them, I am freaking out. But Jack can just lick and lick and lick, and it doesn't even bother me.

I would rather he lay on my feet to keep them warm, but his warm tongue will do in a pinch.

I was told I have to do this...

So, my bestie, NYAJ, told me in not so many words to "update your blog". Okay, I will do whatever you want me to do when you use that tone with me!!

I would update more often, but my life is boring. Yes, being unemployed sucks. I don't have much to do but cook dinner, do laundry, pack lunches and get the kids on the bus. I have applied for a job with the school system, but I have to wait to be approved by the Board of Education. Then, it will only be on a sub basis as a para-pro or maybe work in the cafetaria. I am babysitting baby Emma one day a week for about 4 hours. That does break up my week a bit.

My Emily is going to be 14 this Thursday, February 5th. Can you believe it? The time goes by so quickly. She is having some friends over Friday night for a sleepover and then they are going to the mall on Saturday to do some shopping. We are going to dinner at Caraba's Thursday to celebrate Emily and Lynn's birthday. This is a yearly tradition. I'm not going to tell you how old Lynn is, but she is one of my dearest friends from middle school!

Well, NYAJ, here is your update...I will post again when I have nothing else to tell you!

Until then...

All of the Rumors

So, as many of you know, General Motors is laying of even more employees in April. Our plant in Lordstown is going down to one shift. Larry still isn't sure if he is safe. They haven't announced the "cut off" date. Meaning, if you were hired by a certain date, you will probably be safe. Larry's hire date is 3.30.95. All we are doing now is praying that he will continue to work. I can't imagine things getting any worse than they are right now. He did go back to work this week (a week before all of the other people on the line). He is a coordinator and they are supposed to be reconfiguring the line and combining jobs, but yesterday, he said they did absolutely nothing. Way to go GM...pay them to just stand around and do nothing when you are trying to save money. Sounds like a swell idea to me!

On another note, I started babysitting for my friend Kelli yesterday. I will continue to do so 1 or 2 days a week. Her baby, Emma is 5 months old. She is so stinkin' cute. And such a good baby.

I also go this Thursday for my federal and state background check so I can be a para-professional sub in the Austintown School system. Once I am approved by the board, I can sub as an aid or even in the cafeteria at any of our schools. I am hoping I can work a few days a week.

I also wanted to congratulate AbsolutelyFelicious for getting her new job at Lake County Children and Family Services (I hope that is right). Her first day was yesterday. I hope it went well being the "new girl", and I hope you didn't have to eat lunch in your car or by yourself!

Well, keep us in your prayers.

Until next time...(and I hope it's with good news)

A Time to Laugh, A Time to Cry

This weekend was a very busy, emotional weekend. My Uncle Tony passed away on Thursday after a long time of being sick. He was 71 years old. He was my godfather as well. We spent a lot of time with my Aunt Diana and my cousins over the past several days. Two of those days of which we made five, yes count them, five, photo boards of pictures of Uncle Tony from when he was a small boy until just recently. There we tears shed while we were looking at gobs and gobs and gobs of photos. They were tears of sadness and tears from laughter. Gina, Celeste, Aunt Diana and I laughed until we cried more than once. Looking at the old pictures where the funniest. The ones of the boys...Celeste thought they were having an identity crisis...some of them looked a bit feminine. Then there was her husband Jack with him "man perm", and the one of Anthony with "man boobs". The best one was of Anthony's birthday when he turned either 5 or 6 and we couldn't figure out who the other kid was in the picture. Well, it turned out to be me! My parents always had my hair really short, and I couldn't even tell myself in the picture. This long process helped me to make the decision that I do not want photo boards at my funeral. Looking at the old pictures and reminiscing was great, but I don't want anyone to have to do a collage of my life.

So, things will get back to normal for my family soon, Uncle Tony will be missed a lot, but he is in such a better place. And some day all of us will meet again. So in the mean time, wake up in the morning with no regrets, love the people who treat you right, forget about the ones who don't, and believe that everything happens for a reason. If you get a chance, take it. If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it.

Until next time...

Well, that sucks

Yes, it really does suck! Today, NYAJ, absolutelyfelicious, my cousin Emily and I were supposed to go to Archivers in Fairlawn to scrapbook for the day. Well, it was canceled due to the snow that has piled up since yesterday. Actually, they closed the store @ 1pm due to the weather. On Friday, we were all still planning on going, because we never get the amount of snow that they say we are going to get, well, this time, I think we got more. And according to The Weather Channel on my iPod touch, we are having a winter weather warning!

So, now my goal for today is to upload all of my recent pictures to Shutterfly and scrapbook the rest of the day. It is now 2:39pm and I haven't even started. That is typical for my day. I did start making homemade chicken noodle soup though.

Emily and her friends, Sami and Megan were outside for awhile and played in the snow and even took a walk in the woods up to the park and back. It is actually a beautiful day out...if you don't have to drive in it. Larry did have to go to his parents and bring in wood from the garage for them and he said even the main roads are bad...and he loves to drive in the snow.

Well, off to get something done....