"You light up my life...."

Something happened to my computer, and I had to do a system restore. Why did I keep ignoring the Norton suggestions to back up my files? I've lost nearly every picture of the baby, and a ton of other stuff. Oh well, at least it didn't cost me anything.
Everyone's still getting on my nerves...it's a good thing I don't pack heat.
I'm reading a great book right now...."The Hour I First Believed" by Wally Lamb. It's great...it got me hooked the second I picked it up. I'm glad it's long, because I'd be disappointed if it was over already.
A couple of weeks ago, I bought one of those book light things at Dollar Tree. I got it home and it wouldn't work. It was only a dollar, what did I expect. I just never got around to throwing it out. Last night, after dinner, we were sitting in the kitchen and Braden was playing with it....he dropped it on the floor and I yelled at him..."Leave it alone, it's not yours. Why do you feel free to touch things that aren't yours....etc, etc" (remember, I'm miserable right now). He felt pretty bad, yet continued to play with it. He switched it on, and IT WORKED! He looked at me and said, "You're welcome!"

Blah

I'm feeling very blah. I hate everything/everyone.
I need something to excite me. Get my blood flowing.
I plan on cleaning out closets today. That oughta do it. ~~0~~0~~

The best week ever...

That's what Braden has to say about this upcoming week.
Monday there's no school and 24 is on.
Tuesday is Barrack's inauguration.
Wednesday he gets his braces off and Lost starts back up again.
What else could you ask for in life?

"Sitting on the sofa with a sister or two"

My furniture came and I love it. It completely changed the look of the living room, and it's so comfortable. It's amazing how much more enjoyable sitting is without springs poking you in the butt.

I don't really have much to report here...which is probably a good thing.
I have book group on Friday night. We read "Loving Frank"...it's fiction but based on the relationship between Frank Lloyd Wright and the wife of one of his clients. It was pretty good. I really didn't know much about him, and I got curious while I was reading. I started looking online at some of his designs and reading a bit about him. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who might read the book, but something devastating happens, and I saw it on one of the websites....and it compeltely ruined the end of the book for me. I was so mad at myself.

I had Brighton for the whole weekend. I'm exhausted. Now I remember why people don't have kids at 45. Well, a few weirdos do, but I don't think I'd survive it now. It was enjoyable though. He's at such a cute age...nearly 10 months. Toddling around, making funny faces, playing peek-a-boo. It was a nice weekend.

Now I'm going to go sit on my nice, comfy couch.

"and no one heard at all not even the chair..."

I'm glad the holidays are over. Too much family time. Except for the getting-up-early part, I was glad to go back to work.

We have been scrimping and not spending for a year and a half now. It's driving me insane. We need new living room furniture so badly....the springs hit the ground on one of the chairs, the sofa has a huge rip in it that I keep trying to cover up with a throw, the ottoman is all misshapen. Plus it's big and ugly. A large furniture store here has been running a sale...no interest for three years and no payments for a year. (I figured in a year from now we'll either have had to sell the house and be living somewhere cheaper, or some of the lawsuits will have been settled.) So, I made Keith go with me and we picked out furniture. A sofa, loveseat and chair. I'm so excited! They're delivering it on Friday. The sofa and loveseat are tan...but a bright, golden shade of tan. They're corded microfiber. So comfy. And the chair is a brown suede recliner. But not your typical, bachelor style recliner. It looks like a regular chair. I can't wait to get it...and sit on it....and rearrange it! The pillows that come with the sofa/loveseat are brown with a faint design in them with tan/green/orange.

I have an antique chair that Keith's mom had reupholstered for us. It's a nice chair but the material she picked out is pink and blue flowers. It matches nothing in my house. A friend of mine from book group is going to bring her sewing machine up, we're going to pick out material and make some sort of slipcover for it to match the new stuff. She's going to try to teach me how to sew. I've never learned. I can do some hand things....buttons, hems, rips...but I've always wanted to learn to sew with a machine. There are so many things I can make...curtains, pillow covers, matching outfits for Braden and JJ.

For Christmas, my kids arranged to go have a family portrait taken. I've been wanting an updated one for a long time, but with our schedule...and certain children's escapades, there is never a good time to get everyone together...and not wearing an orange jumpsuit.

Here's a look at my favorite:

Christmas pictures

Renee and my dad

Joe, Renee, JJ, Braden and Brighton

Braden and Brighton

We wish you a merry christmas

Well, I'm nearly done with everything.
A little wrapping to do yet, and that's it.

Tomorrow we go to Afro's for Christmas dinner. I'm making sausage soup, a bread pudding and I don't know what else.

I hope everyone has a great holiday and enjoys a little time off work.

Merry Christmas!

Left hand, give it up

The kids at my school have started playing this new game. They can walk to you, or anyone, at anytime, and say, "left hand give it up" and whatever is in your left hand becomes theirs. If you're quick enough, you can say, "half and half" and then you only have to split it with them. I think it's hysterical that it works. You should see them at lunch time. The other day one kid wound up with five milks! Somene lost a watch. One kid taped the fingers of his left hand together, so he would remember not to use it. I'm addicted to it. I love to catch them...and make them give me their stuff. I give it right back, of course.
Could you imagine innocently eating your school lunch and because someone says, "left hand give it up" and you lose your hoagie??

updates

We're off today....the first snow day of the year. I think I'll get a jump on my baking. Maybe I'll do cutouts today.

My dad is getting out of the rehab center on Saturday. He has agreed to stay at my sister's for a week or two, just so we can make sure he can get around okay. My mother is in such poor health, that she's useless when it comes to taking care of him....so this way there will be other adults around in case he falls or needs something. He still has to go for dialysis three times a week, and he'll probably have to continue with some sort of physical therapy. Pooh, if you're reading this....good luck with the tea lady. I hope you bought a case of lipton!

Renee, goofball and the baby moved out a little while ago. It's been nice to have my household back to normal. Well, as normal as my household can be. Right now, she and the baby are staying with her grandfather, and goofball is in Allentown and he's still working. She got herself into more trouble on Thanksgiving, and even though my ex-father-in-law swears that he's done helping her out....he bailed her out and is now letting her and the baby live with him. She is involved with Children and Youth so there will be random checks on her and the baby. Presently she seems to be doing well....but she always does for about a month. She needs serious help and sadly, I'm the only one in her immediate family that seems to realize this. I just hope she gets it before it's too late. She's coming here on Christmas Eve, and she might leave the baby with me for a visit for a few days. I sure miss him! When we talk on the phone, she puts him on and he coos and aaahhhs. It makes me want to squeeze him.

I still have a bit of Christmas shopping to do. Just a few items. Nothing that I have to search for. And I have a lot of wrapping to do. And baking.

"There's a tree in the grand hotel...."

I am so far behind....I might be a little in front.

I haven't even started Christmas shopping yet. Not one thing. No gift wrap, no cards, no presents.

I have a dentist appointment this morning, then I'm taking the rest of the day off, and I'm going to try to get a start on it all. We'll see how it goes. I usually do well under pressure, so I'm hoping I can get most of it done today...all except the kids. I save them for last. Especially Braden. He changes his mind a kazillion times. And even more than hate Christmas shopping, I hate returning Christmas gifts.

I'll let you know how I make out.

Misc....

My father is improving. He's starting to eat a little, now that my mom has talked them into removing all the restrictions they had on his diet. He's 80 years old for crying out loud....if he wants to have pudding instead of diet jello, let him have it! Much to his chagrin, they moved him to a rehab center yesterday so they can concentrate on his hip. He's being very stubborn about walking on it. He has to go for dialysis three times a week. So, on that front things are looking up.

My Thanksgiving dinner went well. Everyone enjoyed the food, and I didn't have too many leftovers...just enough. Here's a picture of Braden and JJ taken on Sunday. Doesn't Braden look cute in that hat?

I'm going to start decorating for Christmas today. JJ has a basketball game this morning and when he and Keith get back, they're going to bring all the decorations down and then I'm going to "cheer this place up." I love decorating for Christmas, but then I can't wait to take it down. I have to force myself to leave it up until New Year's.

Brighton is starting to walk by holding on to furniture, or people, or toys...or anything he sees that he thinks will work. This plan works more often than not...but when it doesn't...let's just say

he takes quite a few nosedives. He's a good sport about it all though. Since I haven't blessed you in a while, here's a picture of him.

My Thanksgiving menu for today:

Roasted red pepper/gorgonzola dip
shrimp
buffalo chicken dip
candied nuts

Turkey
ham (my sister is bringing this)
sweet potato casserole
mashed red skin potatoes
stuffing
bacon topped sauteed brussel sprouts
cranberry salad

Banana cream fruit tart
pumpkin spice bundt cake
pie (my brother is bringing this)

egg nog
soda
beer (afro is bringing this)

The good, the bad and the....well, more bad.

The good: As you all know by now, we do our Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday. But recently we've found ourselves with nothing to do on actual Thanksgiving....and I'm not cooking twice. Friends of ours have a daughter that dances. She's very good. She is part of the featured dance group that is dancing in the Philadelphia Boscov's Thanksgiving Day parade this year. So we decided to go. We went down to Philly on Wednesday afternoon, spent the day hanging out, went out to a nice dinner with the parents and another family that were there for the same reasons as us. We got up bright and early Thanksgiving morning, walked the mile and a half to the steps of the art museum and watched the parade. It was a very nice time.

The bad: My father, who will be 80 in May and isn't in the greatest health anymore, fell and broke his hip. He needed surgery but they weren't sure if they were going to be able to do it because his kidneys aren't in the best of shape. The doctor said it would be okay and they did the surgery on Sunday. The day after the surgery his kidneys started shutting down and they had to start dialysis (?) treatments. He's been confused as anything. Talking about the savior came for him but the ladies wouldn't let him in. He thought the walls of the hospital were caving in and told my mom to leave because it wasn't safe. He kept insisting that the nurses leave so they could escape with their lives. We went back down to see him yesterday and he didn't seem quite so confused. He didn't talk any nonsense, but sometimes you can see in his eyes that he's not sure what's going on. And, he hates people making a fuss over him. Hates that nurses are checking him all the time, hates that we're all taking time out of our day to go and visit him. Hates it, hates it, hates it. After years of putting up with the tea lady, I hope the rest of his life isn't spent like this.

You guys are probably beginning to think I'm making all this crap up.

"When you're hot you're hot, you really shoot your shot"

The other morning I get to work around 7:00 and as I'm climbing the stairs to my classroom, my cell phone starts ringing. Who in the world is calling me at 7:am? One of the kids must have forgotten something. I answer the phone and it's my neighbor. "Black smoke is coming out of your basement. I just called the fire department. You'd better come home." So, I put my stuff in the classroom and hightail it out of there. As I'm driving home, luckily only a five minute ride, I remember that Braden didn't go to school and was sleeping up in his bed. I frantically try to call his cell phone, no answer. I call the house phone, no answer. I call my neighbor back, no answer.
I'm driving like a mad woman. Crazy thoughts racing through my head. If the fire is in the basement, Braden will wake up before the upstairs is engulfed in flames, wouldnt he? What about the dog and cat? Thank God Renee and the baby aren't still in the basement. If my house really is on fire, and everyone gets out safely, it better burn all the way to the ground. I don't want to have to deal with smoke and water damage for months only to have to turn around and sell it. God, Braden wake up. I try to make all the calls again. No answer.
I finally, after what felt like an hour, make it to my driveway in under five minutes. I can't get in. There's three fire trucks, two police cars and an ambulance. A ton of people in my driveway. Including my neighbor, still in her robe. I see a familiar cop standing there. "Officer Dempsey, Braden's asleep up in bed!" "Not any more he's not. It's all clear in there, but he's awake in the living room."
Apparently something backfired in my furnace/water heater, causing black smoke to billow out the vent. In the half-light, it looked to my neighbor that it was coming out the window. It was all cleared up already and they recommended that we get our furnace checked. My neighbor apologized a thousand times, but I told her it was the right thing to do. If it had been a real fire, she could have been responsible for Braden being alive.
Good news: No one was hurt and my house is still in one piece. No smoke/water damage.
Bad news: My water heater is shot and two months past it's warranty protection. Over a thousand dollars to replace it.
Braden said, "mom, it's scary being woken up by a policeman and a fireman."
I am probably SO the talk of the street. In the past month I've had at my house an ambulance, the police twice and now every community vehicle the township owns. If we move, I'd be willing to bet no one can offer them the kind of excitement we have!

"then peace will guide the planets..." Or proposition for Tree

I am reading "Eat, Pray, Love" right now. It was a book group pick. I probably wouldn't have chosen it myself, but I'm enjoying it. I would love to take a year off and travel. I don't know if I'd pick the three places the author chose...although Italy would be one.
Right now she's in India and talks about meditating and her guru. It got me to thinking. I want a guru. And, I've chosen Tree.
Doesn't she seem like the guru type? She's so calm and rational. When she's angry...does she really get angry or just annoyed? Anyway, when she's peeved, she can get her point across without sounding argumentative or self-righteous. When she's happy, she sounds wonderfully happy. She's so eloquent. And, to me at least, she seems at peace with herself and those around her. I would like to be more like her. Maybe then I'd be handling all this stress better than I am now.
How 'bout it Tree? Would you be my guru?

"listen to the jail house rock"

Our justice system is incredible!
Renee spent two days in jail, and after talking with the arresting officer, he decided that she's just a "good kid" who has a problem and made some bad decisions. He's arranged it so she doesn't have to do anymore jail time until her hearing, and then he'll recommend the same thing. He told her to, and I quote, "get a job" and do well. Don't get me wrong, she is/was a good kid, but she has a serious problem that needs to be addressed and a job won't cut it. She's tried that route before.
Now her and knucklehead have rented an apartment and are going to be moving in next week. In the meantime, they are going to be staying with a friend of his, as soon as Children and Youth check it out and give the okay.
You know, as mean as it may make me sound, I wanted her to sit in jail a while. Get good and clean. Maybe get some court ordered rehab. I don't know. This way I just get to worry constantly, get my hopes up when she does well for a month and then wait for the other shoe to fall. Again.

"I shot the sheriff...."

The police came and picked up Renee yesterday. They were very cooperative. I know this has to be done, but there's no way I could be present when they came. The detective said she admitted to everything, and was scared, but very cooperative. Right now she's at the county prison. I thought maybe she'd call last night, but I would imagine she's very angry with me. Hopefully down the road she'll realize why we had to do what we did.
As long as we're pressing charges, the bank isn't going to hold us responsible for all that money. It will take a long time to get it back, but eventually we'll be able to recoup.
I'm taking a sick day today. I have to call Children and Youth, try to convince dipshit to let me have temporary custody, help said dipshit find a place to live, etc.
If we end up keeping the baby, I'm going to have to find out what kind of subsidies (?) there are are for childcare expenses, because there's no way I can afford it right now.
It's sad to say, but I slept better last night than I have in a while. I know that, at least for right now, everyone is safe. And that I won't wake up to find anything missing. That's awful, isn't it?

"Blown round by the wind, thrown down in a spin..."

Just checking in, really.
I've got nothing new to report.
At the risk of sounding melodramatic, my life continues on its downward spiral.
We're going to two open houses today.
Next week is the last week of football.
Oh, and my daughter stole my MAC card and sucked our checking and savings account dry. We filed a report with the police and are waiting for them to conclude their "investigation".

"Our house is a very, very, very fine house"

Well, it's come to that point. The company Keith works for is laying off 150 people this week. Thankfully Keith isn't one of them, but it does mean that all his overtime is being cut out. Which, in turn, means that he'll be bringing in a couple hundred dollars less each week....which in turn means that we can't afford this mortgage payment. I took a part-time job that I go to Monday-Friday after work, and we still can't swing it without the overtime. We had a real estate agent come out and do an appraisal on Monday. We're waiting to see what he comes up with. He suggested that we don't list our house until after the first of the year, since the holidays are the slowest time in the real estate market. It kind of makes me sad, but I can deal with it. The kids, I'm not so sure about.

On a different note, Braden got a part-time job at the new Sonic that opened. He loves it. And has so many plans for his money, you'd think he' was bringing in $50k a year! Everyday there's something different he plans to buy.

And, on yet another note, I saw a sign for gas yesterday for $2.99 a gallon. Hard to believe that $2.99 for gas can get me excited, but it does.

And, to go with this dreary post, I'll leave you with a picture of the most beautiful baby in the world. Even if I do say so myself.