Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Geez, has it been that long?!?!?

Goodness, I haven't posted for 20 whole days. That must mean I have been busy, right? That's right, very busy.

However, I am one happy little blogger right now albeit I am quite sleepy. My kids are both at school, I don't have to work today, and I decided to drop my Creative Writing class. Oh yeah, and I am listening to my dorky Country music and that always makes me happy,happy,happy.

Okay, so I am going to post for 15 minutes and then lay down for a cat nap before Connor gets home. So, I will make this SNAPPY.

Update on K and T anyone? K made a huge ass of herself her entire visit and then went "home" to her Mother. It is a long and ugly story and I don't feel like telling it right now. Suffice it to say the "system" is a mess and a bunch of idiots run the world. I am VERY glad that K is no longer here, although that ,of course, makes me feel very guilty. I keep telling my Mom that everybody has a choice about the the kind of life they want to lead, and K has obviously made her choice, no matter how nauseating said choice may be.

Vegan Sister (VS) never stood up and took K on for even one evening after all. It made me mad and want to giggle at the same time. There is something entirely too weird going on between VS and her hubby, who also happens to be Chad's brother. I think they are breaking up, VS and J, not Chad and his brother. :) There are some really odd rumors that followed VS home from her trip to MT. And they are ringing a little too true to be completely false. Stay tuned for this one, it's gonna be MESSY.

My job is going good. I think I am gonna like it. I just plug into the phone in the AM and do my own thing all day. I really really like that. I chose to work the 6AM shift so I could be home with the kids in the afternoon and it's a killer getting up so early, but it's good for me, I think. My morning routine is getting shorter and shorter. I have started forgoing makeup and actually doing my hair. Oh well, maybe I will be less appealing to creepy guy. I am sure my fabulousness still shines through though, *SIGH*. Don't hate me 'cuz I'm BIG, beautiful, and totally ungroomed at 6AM. :)

And the BEST part, you ask of getting up and out at the butt crack of dawn? Chad has to get the kids up in the AM and on the bus, by himself. Can you hear my evil cackling via the internet? this is the first time in their LIVES that Chad has been home in the AM to get them ready for the day and I say it's high time he took a turn, don't you? Not to mention the fact the biggest fights we have is about the kids bedtimes. He thinks i want them to go to bed too early. LONG STORY. Suffice it to say that he is starting to see my point now. BAWHAHAHAHA.

Oh,yeah my creative writing class. I decided I didn't like the teacher and the class was stressing me out. And I had to write poetry and I hate poetry. And I was behind and it's only the second week of school. So, I did what any hotblooded college student does, I dropped the class. it is the FIRST time in my college career I have ever did that. It feels quite freeing, I must admit. i am now just taking 6 units, I have a Wed night class in criminal law and some child development classes. My life is feeling much more manageable at this point. PLUS, isn't blogging creative writing? Who needs a stinking class in creative writing? AND, I don't have to write poetry. Thank God.


And with that I am off to take a rest.

Thursday, August 10, 2006

The great camping debate of 2006

You know how something is bothering you, but you don't WANT it to bother you, so then it just keeps pecking away at your consciousness like a leaky faucet drip, drip, dripping? Oh, please humor me and say that know what I mean?! Okay. So, I have this problem and the only way I can purge it is to blog about it. I apologize. This will probably be one BORING post. Sorry, sorry, sorry. I never said Jodi's world was pretty folks. Oh no, I did NOT. HMPPFHHHH.

Okay, so you all know about our money problems, as I have been bitching, moaning, and generally being a whiny butt about it all summer, right? Let's just say that our situation was NOT getting any better. It just kept getting more and more dire. I am not even sure how that IS possible, but that's not the point. Chad decided to sell his truck. I was heartbroken and sad. It's been a really good truck and we need a 2nd car soooo bad, especially now that I am working. He was going to sell it and then buy something cheap and fix it up--he's a mechanic. My parents got wind that he was going to sell the truck and offered to float us a loan.

This is extraordinary because a) I didn't know my parents had any money to loan and b) they pride themselves on letting their kids struggle a little bit and not interfering in their business. Which I totally admire in a neutral 3rd party kind of way. After much deliberation we decided to accept the loan. Chad worked out repayment details with my Dad. Chad & i sat down and figured out the best way to spread the loan around and pay as many bills as we could. Then we made up a NEW budget that included the weekly payments to my parents and all our monthly bills. Our money situation is so looking up. Added to the fact that I will get my financial aide money from school on the 21st we are feeling the weight lifting off of us, which is a VERY good thing. A good thing indeed.

Therefore, in spirit of the feelings of goodness we decided to plan a CAMPING trip to a KOA cabin about 3 hours from here. I got a pit in my stomach wondering what my parents would say. When we were growing up we NEVER had money and my parents had their noses to the grindstone almost always. I truly can remember very few times we ever did anything that was purely recreational or even buy what my Mom considers "non-basic" groceries. I am serious. I think that's one of the reasons I LOVE grocery shopping and going out to eat, because it's something we never did when I was a kid and when we did it was very stressful because of how much it was going to cost. Granted, now that I am a parent I TOTALLY understand their stress, they had 4 kids to feed and clothe and never, ever enough money.

I was sick of this feeling of dread in my stomach so I told my Mom about our CAMPING plans. She said, "WELL, your Dad and I would NEVER want to interfere in your daily life, but I think your Dad would feel galled if you went camping. I KNOW what he had that money put aside for and he'd be insulted if you went camping". OOOOOOKKKKKKAAAAAYYYYY. I mean, I understand from a intellectual point of view why she said that. They really and truly don't have very much money. I have NO clue where my Dad got that money to loan us. Truly. And they live the simplest life. So simple it's sad, really. And I am sure she is wondering what got us in this mess in the first place. i am wondering that as well. It is a laundry list of circumstances, none of which would seem alarming alone, but together spell disaster.

However, from a emotional point of view I am miffed. And mad at myself for having to borrow money from them. We are going to have to play mother-may-I until the loan is paid off. *sigh* And i HATE being told what to do so it's really going to grate on my last nerve. And I hate living like a monk and feeling guilty for buying take out pizza! GRRRRRRRR.

And I don't want to alienate her because I am selfish. I need her help for daycare. I will be SOOOOOO screwed if I make her mad and she doesn't help me with the kids once school starts. So I am stuck. I am forced to pretend it doesn't bother me. I have to be brave and tell my kids that no, we are not going camping, no we can't go see "Barnyard", no we can't go McDonald's. All the while I am looking into their faces remembering what it felt like to be a kid who NEVER ever got to do anything just for fun. And it makes me sad, and angry and conflicted as hell.

Somehow I think our anniversary trip out of town for October just got cancelled too. *sigh*

Edit by author:::::::::::::
Thank you for all your kind words and suggestions. It means a lot to me, it really really does. Thank you!! Okay, here is what we have decided to do. We are going to POSTPONE, not cancel the camping trip for when we have the loan paid off. Chad went and put some camping supplies, a camp stove, some sleeping bags, on layaway today. That was very exciting for the boys! We have also decided to speed up our payment schedule with my parents. We were to pay $50 a week starting in November and we instead are going to start paying in September and pay $75/week. We are hoping we have them totally paid off by February this way. Then we will be free to go camping AND out to McDonalds in the same weekend if we want! To celebrate getting our debt to the mob, er I mean my parents, paid off we will then go camping on the coast for the weekend. Chad and I are both happy with this plan and feel like we have found a workable suggestion to our quandary. Thank you all again! It was mostly due to your suggestions that we came up with this idea....my blogging peeps are great..what can I say???

Saturday, August 05, 2006

The never ending saga

To the loyal viewers, er I mean, readers of "The stomach turns", you are in for a treat my sweet blogging peeps! We have a sparkling NEW installment for you hot of the presses, of the rivety, sexy, yet family friendly drama.

When we last left our Heroine she was fretting about her subpoena and the need to testify, she was also all upset about not having a place to rest her weary Soul at work. I am happy to report that both of these issues have resolved themselves, as issues such as these sometimes do.

We will give you all a update on the employment situation first. Our Heroine has not only gotten her desk but she is doing quite swimmingly at her job, thankyouverymuch. She only dropped 4 out of 5 of her transfer calls the first day, and her stats are going up every day from there! Her job seems to be falling into place, thank the Good Lord for that one. She also has news on Creepy Guy! Are you not excited? Don't lie, I know that you are, you've been up nights waiting for news on Creepy Guy, haven't you? Well, get your pillow, 'cuz you'll be sleeping good tonight girlfriend. Appartently when our Heroine was having desk issues her trainer mentioned to the supervisor that under no circumstances was our beautiful, sexy, voluptuous heroine to sit with or share space with Creepy Guy because all hell would break loose if such an unfortunate situation were to present itself. The supervisor looked at our Heroine's trainer and reported that Creepy Guy had made HER uncomfortable as well, but she thought it was just her. Supervisor Supreme said now that she knew he was also making others uncomfortable she would have someone from Management talk to him. Well, either he had a personality transformation or somebody from Management indeed did talk to him. Our Heroine was in the same little set of cubicles for over 3 days with Creepy Guy, and he never looked at her or spoke to her either one. Thank the Good Lord, again! Creepy Guy is now back in training with the same trainer our Heroine had and she inquired if he was being Creepy Guy and Trainer said, not at all, it was obvious somebody had put the fear of the Good Lord into him. WHEW. Our Heroine feels bad and quite bitchy for ratting him out but he was seriously creeping her out. She really feels as though she has done the whole female population a favor. You can send her a thank you card in care of "As the Stomach turns" and address it to: "The Sexiest Heroine to ever grace a soap opera blog, EVER". Thank you in advance for all your cards and letters.

Now, on to our newest saga. Our Heroine was not required to testify after all in the trial against her niece, K's, attackers. The court resolved the case without her. I know, I'm surprised too. Both of the offenders got a year in County jail, 5 years probation, and have to pay fines. I know, I know, it's a sick sick miscarriage of justice, I agree with you. However, our Heroine would be lieing to say she isn't happy to the bottom of her chubby feet that she did NOT have to testify. Apparatently the earth doesn't completely need her help to rotate round and round, WHO KNEW?

So, after our Heroine received the happy news that she didn't have to tesify she was met with the revelation that the authorities are worried about her niece, K. Well, yeah, she's worried about her too. WELL, guess who was sitting in our Heroine's living room this afternoon?! THAT'S RIGHT. The niece, K. In all her teenage rebellion, complete with nose ring and a skanky skirt. *sigh* Her probation officer flew K out for three weeks and if her Mother, T, doesn't straighten up her act in the prespecified three week period of time, K doesn't get to go home to T. And our Heroine uses the word "home" loosely because, well, T is homeless. She has been for a few months now. And she's still doing drugs from what our Heroine can surmise. It's a gigantic, steaming, and stinky mess.

Lest you fret, our Heroine is NOT taking K in. In fact our Heroine, in spite of her ever crushing guilt and thinking she can-cure-the-world's-problems-complex, sent K packing to K's Grandma's this very evening. Our Heroine realizes that is she is still VERY angry about how K left her home and all the ways that K took advantage of our Heroine's generosity and support. And frankly the way K made our Heroine grieve and cry and feel like a complete failure, our Heroine hates messy emotions, is a little hard for our Heroine to come to grips with. All day K was mopping around, in another completely inappropriate outfit for a 14-year-old to be wearing, and missing her boyfriend and her Mother. She kept repeating over and over how much she missed them and how she couldn't wait to go back. For some reason this tripped every emotion in our Heroine and she said, "K, get your stuff, you're going to Grandma's". And then she unceremoniously took K and her crap and drove her over and dropped her off at her Mother's door. Our Heroine is feeling bone crushing guilt about her strong reactions and dumping the problem on her Mom, but she just couldn't stand to look at K, her weepy eyes, or her damn nose ring for one more bloody second. Truth be told, what REALLY sent her over the edge was the 92 calls from K's 17-year-old boyfriend and the cooing in the phone that followed. Right after the cooing K was blue again and missing her crazy druggie Mother and boyfriend and our Heroine just snapped. It's embarrassing to admit. And the guilt, the guilt is something to behold, baby.

Our Heroine's VERY annoying Vegan sister, S, will be home Monday, she is visiting our homeland, Montana, right now, and is going to fix everything as soon as she gets home. Thank goodness, our Heroine has screwed the situation up worse than old Hogan's goat. {Note: The author does not attempt to claim that all Vegan's are annoying, but S is particularly annoying and her Vegan-ness is just barely the tip of the iceberg. Read this and you'll understand, I hope} Vegan sister offered nothing but criticism for all that our Heroine did when the niece lived with our dear, sweet, ever loving Heroine last year and to say VS (vegan sister) was judgmental and a source of contention would be putting it mildly. It will be with bated breath and pure unsurpassing joy that our Heroine will pass the torch that is pain-in-the-ass-14-year-old niece to VS and smile while doing it.

I would be amiss not to mention the fact that our Heroine's children were so happy to see K that they almost wet themselves. That was quickly replaced with sorrow when they realized that not only did K not want to be here, but that she didn't plan on staying. It broke our Heroine's offspring's delicate little hearts. That pisses our Heroine off in ways that can not even be expressed in a family friendly manner.

In fact, the whole situation and her children's tears make our normally calm and logical Heroine want to hunt her crazy druggie sister, T, down and take her by her stringy dyed blond hair and then repeatedly smack her up the side of the head with a parenting book while smashing her meth pipe and hauling her skinny white ass to drug treatment. Never fear, she couldn't find crazy druggie sister if her life depended on it, so there will be violence today. And while our Heroine is very passionate, she is not very coordinated and I don't really think she could kick her sister's ass, WHILE beating her up the side of the head with a parenting book, and smashing her meth pipe, without hurting herself. if you ever had the misfortune to see the girl try and participate in any kind of physical activity you'd know what I was talking about. It's really NOT pretty. However, the whole situation has made our Heroine 3/4 crazy and thinking such violent thoughts that she forgets her own physical limitations for a brief, yet crazed, moment.

And because our Heroine is very complex, in a sultry soap opera-y way,the feelings of violence are right on the heels of enourmous feeling of grief for T and wanting to take really good care of her. *sigh* To say our Heroine feels conflicted is a major understatement. It seems like no matter what, T will always be Jodi's little sister and she will feel the need to fix her. It's a sad, sad fact and one that makes our Heroine angry, sad, disappointed, and worried.

With that we will close out this episode. Tune in next time as our Heroine turns herself in to guilt rehab and laughs herself silly as VS realizes that trying to parent a rebellious 14-year-old with her crazy druggie sister approved nose ring is NOT as easy as it looks on TV.