another day, another dollar

So, I have had a tough case at work this week.... and my house let it show. To add to the tension of the case, the worst child abuse and neglect case we have EVER seen..... we are having to cut our budget so badly that it is rumored that we have to lay off or move to the jail about 14 employees. They are demoting Lt's, and not replacing some that have just quit. It is sad, we barely have enough staff to deal with issues.

Our commissioners have mishandled our money. They also say they cannot justify a force as large as our for a mere 17,000 homes that are in the areas we patrol. What they are not considering, is the MILLIONS that come from Salt Lake and spend time in our canyons, driving through on their way to the sand dunes, etc. MOST of our enforcement comes from that. I, alone, arrested 48 DUI's, over 500 alcohol offenses, 397 drug arrests, etc. last year .... all by myself. Our department gets money from every ticket we write, a percentage. The average drug ticket is a thousand dollars, $500 each for the possession and paraphernalia. You usually cannot have one without the other, because the packaging is considered paraphernalia. The county stands to lose even more money.

Our commissioners suck.... and they need to be held accountable for their mismanagement. They even laughed and said, "Oh, and I guess we missed the deadline to raise property taxes. Oh well.... " and started laughing about it. We pay taxes on the level of Sanpete County, but we are nearly as large as Salt Lake County.... we don't have enough money to continue operating. Sad that they are getting away with it. I hope the newpaper finds out and reams them for it.

please help

Will someone please tell my husband that it is very rude and inconsiderate to people you live with if you just take off and don't tell anyone you are leaving. Not to mention that he rarely answers his cell because he cannot hear it. Two days in a row he has taken off and I am searching the house but cannot find him. About an hour later he comes walking in like everything is normal and I am furious. I needed to ask him something and the younger girls and I were searching all over the house. GRRRR.. maybe I am wrong, but I think it isn't very nice.

Gotta love it!!

I have to say (especially to Native Minnow as he shares my love of Banana Cream Pie) that the Banana Cream Pie milkshake from Carl's Junior is incredible!!! Also, I am proud of myself. I have been collecting scrapbook packets and paper for forever. I have done HALF of the packets and try to do one every night since they have sat there for over a year!! I plan to have the packets and paper used up by the time it takes me to save enough money to buy new stuff!! I might actually have somewhere to put all the photos I have printed out!! Native Minnow, if you come down this weekend we will try to bring you a caramel apple... just let us know.

Amber, I cannot look at your blog!! Can you send me access? PLEASE? Thanks!!!

Halloween

I got all excited putting up my Halloween decorations!! I love Halloween. What is there NOT to love about binging on unlimited amounts of candy, candy corn, CARAMEL APPLES, and getting all dressed up. Scaring people is fun, too.... :) Caramel apples are my favorite. I had Ryan take me to Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for one about a month ago. They were out and I have still been craving one!! I need to go get me one!!

Weekend plans ruined?

So, for conference weekend, especiallly since I have EARLY church, I enjoy hanging around the house in my pajamas and listen to conference on the TV while I scrapbook. I have done it for years, so long as I did not work a night shift the night before and was sleeping during the conference.

This year, I have a bunch of packets to do and was looking forward to it. I also have a demolition derby to attend on Saturday in Tooele. So.... I get to enjoy the weekend. My dad called last week to tell me that he and his wife will be visiting from Friday until past the next weekend, basically 10 days. I am glad to have them, but I cannot scrapbook and spend the time ignoring them.

Of course, my step mother enjoys Rod Works, Tai Pan, and the places like that. I usually delight in taking her, but I have been avoiding those places like the plague so I am not tempted to spend money I do not have. I will take her, but I WILL BE GOOD. I still might scrap a little this weekend, but not much since I cannot do it and interact with others at the same time. Wish me luck at my two favorite stores and not spending any money!! :) I am sure I will need it.

photo of the wreck

She claims it wasn't a wreck because she was "run off the road." You cannot see the drop off, but it is a steep one!!!

Four year old mentality

I heard Miranda giving the dogs a treat, and they obediently waited their turn. She was exiting the kitchen (where the treats are kept) and comes in to where I was scrapbooking, the dogs follow waiting for more.

Miranda: Look, they are learning.
Me: The dogs? What are they learning?
Miranda: That I am their leader.

LOL

Can you believe this?

I have to find a way to get a photo off of my phone and onto here....

So, Kaila wrecks the van. She is driving around the Alpine Loop, up where the road narrows. She had to scoot over to allow room for a passing truck and trailer, and went off the side of the road. The shoulder there is only 3 inches, and it catches your tire and pulls you off the road. I get this photo from one of her coworkers that I know. The van is hanging over a cliff with a huge, steep dropoff. The van is being held up by a small tree.

I am not happy that she wrecked the van, but it could have happened to any of us. I am just glad that the tree stopped it, or else everyone would be coming over for a funeral. It is so scary. I thank Heavenly Father for the tree....

Letter from an 8 year old...

I returned home from work late.. or I should say early because it was 4:30 in the morning. I foun the following note from my 7 year old on 3 sticky notes stuck together on my dresser. She said,

"Dear Mom, I got emberstx (embarassed) at school and I want to move. Or be home schooled. I wold like to be home schooled."

That is the cutest thing ever. Poor baby!! Apparently, she freaked out when she saw a bee at school so all of the kids made fun of her. I am going to go kick their little asses..... they hurt her feelings....

Never buy a timeshare.....

I guess I should not say never buy a timeshare, but NEVER buy one from Miner's Club!! They misrepresented it when we bought it originally, by telling us we could use one week a year, any time we wanted so long as there was a room available. You could reserve them up to 2 years in advance. If you could not use it, you could rent it out... they tell us.

So, we buy it thinking that we would use it. We have a HUGE book full of other resorts we can use. The year after we buy it, they change it and we can only use it during weeks 14-18 and 38-48. So, tell me... who wants to ski the last week of April through the first week of May. Or the end of October through the first week of December? NOBODY!!

If you try to use the resorts in the HUGE book, you spend nearly an hour on the phone getting transferred around, you pay $39 to use your points from last year, and if you are letting someone use it, another $49 for a guest fee. When you actually check in, you pay a $55 housekeeping fee... for them to clean when you leave... and if you want CLEAN TOWELS every day, a mere $14 a day will get you some. Be sure to wash all of your dishes before you leave, or you will be charged extra.

What is my $610 annual fee use for? It is supposed to be a maintenance fee... like maybe housekeeping? What a crock and a scam. We cannot afford to use it, nor can we rent it because the times are so stupid. I hate this place, they are crooks. Miner's Club is a scam!! This is one of the biggest regrets of my entire life. Oh, and I did some research and had a company recommended by several realtors to sell it for us. They charged $600 to sell it, and it is "guaranteed" to sell. ANOTHER SCAM. It is guaranteed to sell, but it make take 10 years to sell it. I want my money back from them, too!!! GRRRRRR!!!!!!

Oh my gosh!!

Teenagers are killing me!!

days off!!

Wow, I think I just set some type of record. Other than when I was on vacation that I had to use or I would lose it... I just had 3 days off in a row!! I haven't done that in a long time. :) I read 2 books, cleaned the carpets, conditioned the leather couches, cooked some stuff to put together quickly later, did some scrapbooking, made it to all 3 hours of church, and helped kids with homework. Wow, is that what being a real mom feels like?

Gotta love it

So, I saw my youngest outside riding her tricycle. She came back in and I told her, "I saw you riding your trike outside. You are getting very good at riding it." She looks as me and asks, "was I speeding?" LOL......

Happy Anniversary!!

Today is our 9 year anniversary!! I am grateful that my husband has been able to put up with me, my hectic work schedule, and my children for the past nine years!! He has certainly secured his place in heaven with his sacrifice!! We are officially poor... but I got him a CD and some chocolates, and he got me some shoes I wanted. We did lunch on Saturday at Red Robin. Better than nothing!! We might do something tonight. I do still have some free movie tickets!!

the dilemma....

So, we have a 4 month old that dies from being shaken, thrown, and punched by the father. It is lying there on life support to preserve the organs while we make a decision. There is a baby lying right next to it that needs a heart to live, and the babys are a match. If we take the heart from the shaken baby, it messes up our case against the father due to the fact that we cannot perform a complete autopsy on the baby. If we don't give the other baby this heart, it will die.

Seemed like a no-brainer to me... but we had to argue about it all morning yesterday. The "give the baby the heart it needs and we will do what we can to prosecute the father" club finally won out. I think that there is enough physical evidence without a complete autopsy to put this guy away for a long time. But, this is a very lenient county so who knows....

media makes me mad

So, I arrested a guy on Friday. The media sees his booking sheet and the charges. This was a delayed rape case. They assume it just happened and it is all over the news with inaccurate facts reported in conjunction with it. That is so annoying. And, I requested he have a high bail as he is faces the same charges and worse in 2 other jurisdictions, and his bail is only $10,000. He can get $1,000 and get out. That is not high!! Work can be so frustrating.

maybe things are looking up?

So, the guy came to cut a carpet sample so they could replace it with the original carpeting. They cut a one foot square out of the room next to Chase's room. :) Soooo, they are now replacing the carpet in the hallway and that weird I-have-no-idea-what-kind-of-room-this-is room next to his for free!! That is where the damage was from the last flood and I was just going to have them replace the padding and clean the carpet. Sweet.

Also, the Yardley's received a fresh bout of beef from their family and didn't have enough room in their freezer for it all. We were the lucky recipients of a lot of beef!! (I had looked into buying half of one to save money, but it was nearly $700 for half!!!) So, maybe things are looking up.

Lastly.... and this kinda irritates me... we have these incentive programs at work for our health insurance. It requires that we do quarterly activities. If you participate in the competition ones... which are more work than the seminars, then you get put in a drawing at the end. I always sign up hubby and do all of his tracking for him so I get the bonus in my check. (They give us $20 for employees and $10 for spouses to participate as a way of reimbursement for the ultra-high deductible we have every year.) Anyway, there is always a drawing for prizes at the end of the competitions for various prizes ranging from water bottles to VISA giftcards. Well, hubby won a $100 gift card in May, and he won another one this time!! He graciously told me I could have it to buy myself an anniversary gift. :)

Fall is in the air....

The crispness in the morning is now evident. Though apple crisp is a good reason to love fall... since it signifies the end of summer... I hate it. I am not ready for summer to be over. I feel like I didn't get to enjoy it very much. :( And I am most certainly not ready for snow.

Enough is enough

So, since July 3 I have had 3 house floods. (A kitchen sink pipe broke and molded out Chase's room, an irrigation pipe burst, and hot water heater flooded right outside of Chase's room.) Of course, the first flood reported to my home insurance has a $1000 deductible.. and they threw away a lot of Chase's things... including his mattresses... then told me my insurance will not cover contents for mold. On top of that was the repair bill also not covered by insurance. The second was only the cost of the repair and no damage occurred except that it happened on the first day of my 2 1/2 week vacation.

Also on that first day, my cell phone broke. It would make no audible noises so I could not hear the guy calling to tell me that it had broken and was filling up the window wells. We got that taken care of. The lawnmower broke. We even tried to borrow one to mow yard, but neighbors were using theirs. Ryan's starter went out on his car. Then the hot water heater busted. I sucked up over 7 buckets of water and tried to dry it out with fans. I am not sure if what I did was sufficient, but I am trying to not have another claim. I will have to pay for the padding to be replaced myself.

I also painted Chase's room myself. They did not bother to tell me that I had to order new carpet for his room. So, we still have not put his room back together. Some of his room contents got wet during the other flood. It is annoying. Then, K*** took the van offroad where I told her to NEVER take the van.... and she put a 4 inch gash in one of the tires. First she could not find the spare, then found it but it was flat, so hubby had to go get the tire, take it down and replace it, and return up there. That little stunt will cause me 2 tires and an alignment. What else? I cannot handle any more. Hence, I worked alcohol shifts all weekend long to try to pay for the "misfortunes." UGH!!!!

WV times

So, I am here in WV for my 20 year class reunion. There isn't much to do here, except for visit relatives. :) I am OK with that, but the kids have been bored and I hear about it often. I have learned that:

1. M** and Ab*** do NOT like the bugs at the playground.
2. However, M** and Ab** DO LOVE the fireflys. ( I call them lightning bugs. :) They like to catch and release them.
3. When in humid climates, it feels like you have to breath through peanut butter.
4. Time has NOT been good to all of us. There are people I used to hang out with that I did not even recognize. Some did not change at all!! (Skinny bitches!!)
5. It is nice to see what people have been doing, what they turned out like, and such. But, with a class of almost 600 people, there are a lot that I don't even know. The big dinner is tonight, in about an hour... so I had better get dressed.

We are leaving tomorrow afternoon for Charleston, SC, and after a few days we are off to Florida.

retarded....

So, I have tried to add links to various other person's blogs that I like to look at, because it is hard to have to keep typing in their entire addresses. I added them to the template on dashboard, and they are not showing up. I thought that I might have had a typo, so I copied and pasted, then just changed the name part... it is STILL not working. So, to those of you whose links do not show up.... that is why I haven't looked that much at your blogs.... and SORRY!! I am still working on it,.... but it is rather frustrating....

News....

To update the previous post, I learned that the Mexican consulate buried her children for free. No wonder she had PLENTY of money left over..... Makes me even more angry....

I was out patrolling Utah Lake on wave runners. I had returned to our boat of back-up persons (the State Parks guys) and was waiting for my sgt and other coworker to return. Well, here comes my sgt. He didn't realize how fast he was going and before I knew it, his wave runner was on top of my, I was jolted off of mine and landed with my back against the State Parks boat. I had to go to the ER and get a cat scan (guess what? I DO have a brain in there.) I am bruised up, and cannot sleep well. I also can hardly put pants on. Might look funny when I am in court tomorrow, so I will suffer through it. I prefer to not get a lewdness charge. :)

And, lastly, I am moving to a detectives position in the Sex Crimes unit, effective Saturday the 26th. This will be a very challenging, yet rewarding, position for me. And, there goes my overtime, so finances will be worse off.... so the kids had better start learning to do without. Luckily, I have been acquiring suits from thrift stores, so I have a few to get started with. I will now wear suits to work, and will switch to an unmarked vehicle. Kinda excited to not have to wear a vest to work, everyday!!

Disgraceful....

There was recently an accident in a local canyon that was one of the worst I have seen. Two children were ejected from the vehicle and killed. Their mother was the at-fault driver, and had pulled out in front of another vehicle. The mother had no driver's license, no insurance on her vehicle, and is in our country illegally. She drove a beat up 4 door sedan. During the accident, the officers endured a constant slew of foul language and insults from her while they struggled to attend, medically, to her injured children and her nephew that was later transported by life flight. The poor man she pulled out in front of was due more sympathy. He felt so wretched, even though it wasn't his fault, because he had just hit a car. (I also should mention, the kids were ejected from the car because she neglected to have them in seat belts, let alone the one required a car seat, and there wasn't one.)

Last night, the mother was driving down the road.... again with no license and no insurance. She had 4 warrants for her arrest, all for driving with no license and no insurance. This time, she was driving a Lincoln Escalade with souped up rims, leather interior, and the works. How did she afford this $80,000 vehicle? With the fund set up by the public for her at the bank, so she could bury her children. I guess there was some left over..... I just wanted to make the gullible public aware..... it makes me angry. There are others who try to help themselves that deserve this more than this lady.... Oh, and she had just left the jail where she had bailed her sister's husband out of jail. I am sure she had enough to post bail for herself.... so don't worry.

Why me?

I had resolved to do better at posting stuff, and then.....

Our air conditioner broke and make the floor in front of the heater SOAKING wet. I did what I could, but the padding under the carpet had to removed and carpet is STILL wet.....

To make it worse, I went downstairs to retrieve some Fourth of July decorations. I noticed a weird smell, and determined Chase's bedroom as the cause. I told him to deep clean it. He comes upstairs with some blankets, soaking wet and full of mold. He tells me that his wall is bubbled, black, and molded.... as is the carpet under his bed.

HELLLLOOOO? Do you not know when there is a TON of mold in your room? His clothes that were on the floor are ruined, as are the matresses in his room. I had a hard time finding someone that would insure our house, due to the pool. I am sure that it will be gone after this one. The plumber (who I called first) said he could not open the wall as all of the mold spores would dissipate all over the house.

So, I thought that they (the restoration company my insurance made me call) had already called the "mold specialist"who is required by law to take mold samples and make a plan to remove it...due to the fact that it is over 10 square feet. I thought that they had already cut the wall away, as there is a big sign stating you could not enter Chase's room. Well, it is still there.

The plumber cut a small hole, initially, and told me that he thought that it was the kitchen sink that was leaking, and to not use it for a while. So, we have been without a kitchen sink since Thursday. It is starting to get old. There are 8 people that eat here!! The mold guy came today, and it will take 2-3 days for him to finish the assessment and write the removal plan. It will be another 2-5 days actually getting it taken out.

They said they had not called the mold guy prior to today because they weren't sure if my insurance would cover it, or not. Well, DUH!! Even if they don't cover it, it has to be removed. I can't just lock up my basement and never go down there again. I am irritated, can you tell? The best news? My house insurance deductible is $1,000, the AC repair was almost $700, and he has to return next week to fix the AC because my duct work is too small, causing it to freeze up because the blower is working harder than it has to!! $$$$$ Grrrr, I cannot ever seem to have smooth sailing....

Gotta love summer!!!

So, I love summer, but I don't necessarily like it in my uniform. That vest gets HOT!! I had to work at UVUtopia the other night, and they had these country singers there. YUCK!! So, I have no idea who they are, but it was Josh Gracon, Collin Raye, and Joe Nichols. Josh and Joe were easy on the eyes, Joe was tall, Josh was buff.... so I am backstage with them, helping someone who turned out to be Collin Raye's manager.

Josh Gracon started talking to me, and the girls at the perimeter were freaking out. Two girls were just standing there, and I asked him if he cold go over and take a photo with them since they were not being obnoxious. He told me to bring them back, if I wanted to. I went and got them, and took them backstage. He put his arms around them and I took pictures. They went back out. They were so grateful, it was my good deed for the day.

Afterwards, I got an invitation to his hotel room. I informed him that I was old and married. He tells me, "well, it's my drummer's room. He's older than me and I thought that you might want to come and hang out." I was a little offended, but then he explained that they all hang out in his room because it is a larger room. I know I am OLD, but geesh....... He also explained that they are all married, but people always come and hang out in their rooms.

He said they like to learn about the area, and was asking me questions about a recent fatal accident in Provo Canyon involving a female, BYU athelete. He told me he had researched the area a little, and always does before going to a new area. He was very nice, and went over and talked to a lot of the fans. Too bad it was country music. :)

run in with Ventura police.....

So, while in Santa Barbara, I could not resist going to the thrift stores in Ventura while the kids were at the beach on a COLD day. I dropped them off and headed over. I had to park my vehicle next to a local park because I drove around a while and all the spaces were full by the thrift stores. When I was returning with my treasures, this homeless guy tells me that I owe him $10.

He tells me it is because someone was going to urinate on my door handle, and he stopped him. Apparently, he charges a $10 fee for protecting my vehicle. I didn't have it, so I told him too bad but I didn't have $10. He then pulled out his THING and started peeing on my vehicle, getting closer and closer to my door handle.

He was getting close to it, so I had to do SOMETHING. I thought I would rather have pee on my foot than my hand when I had to get in the Xterra, so I kicked him in the groin from in front. (kicking him from under would have landed pee in my face.) He hit the ground, and I ran to the park bathroom and washed my foot and found an empty cup that I filled with water and rinsed off my Xterra.

The man was still in a fetal position when I rinsed off the vehicle and slowly backed out to avoid hitting him. I was pulled over by Ventura police:

Police: Ma'am, did you just kick a guy in the groin?
Me: Sure did.
Police: Would you like to explain yourself?

So I told him what happened. He laughed, and asked me to fill out a statement so he could take the guy to where they drop off the mentally ill. I had to tell him I was an officer because he asked to see my ID and I had a gun with me, in my purse. That was at the end of the conversation. He decided he didn't want to see it, and said he had an urge to call my boss and tell him I was a hard ass, but he said he was sure he already knew that. I am NOT a hard ass, I just will not allow someone to do those things to me, or anyone else for that matter, if I can help it. I kinda felt bad, the guy was homeless and obviously was mentally challenged. But I HATE germs, and I DON'T do bodily fluids!!

Home again....

Well, I survived the week with the girls. I am worn out, though!! I am glad we came home when we did, they didn't really start making crazy until the last day. They were pretty good, for the most part. I was just the taxi cab.

While I was gone, I was pondering some embarassing and humiliating things my kids have said, out loud, in public....

Mi*** (pointing at a man in Wal-Mart and yelling really LOUD) "look at that man, mom. He is UGLY. Do you see the UGLY man, mom?

A** (when she was 2 years old, and at the beach, a little african-american girl says "hi" to her) "Mom!! That monkey said hi to me." (just let me die now, I thought... as her dad headed my way with an angry look on his face)

B** and A** used to always offer this proposal when going through a fast food drive through "Do you want to come home with us and be our dad?"

K**, age 2, "look at that lady mom, she has a biggy, biggy butt." It WAS HUGE!!

There are numerous more, but those were the worst that came to mind. :) Gotta love what comes out of their mouths, sometimes.

Gotta love summer

So, the twins are in summer school, K** is working full-time, C** and Al** are working part time, and the little ones are bored every day. I finally got the pool cleaned up and in shape, and the hot tub is fixed. If only I had time to use them. I have been working a lot, and next Sunday I leave to take 5 teenage girls to Santa Barbara for their senior trip. I hope I live through that one......

my privacies.......

So, my 7 year old daughter asked me, "Mom, were you bleeding a lot when dad cut your privacies so that M** could come out?"

Me: Yes, I was.

Her: Well, I will make sure that I have a baby with a small head, then.

Out of the mouths of babes......

Already replacing me?

I was packing for a business trip in Miami and my 3 year old came in to help me. Besides moving things I needed to take into a "I am not taking you pile" she turned to me and asked, "So, now who is going to be my mom?" It was sad, but I assured her I would be home in a few days... unless I get shot here. Makes me grateful to live in Utah.....

remodel again.....

So, I had to use my days off for the good of the house. I have to redo the white part of the fireplace. I am going to put slate and/or tile around it. But, I think it looks much better. I am making the curtains and some pillows to match because we got new couches but the pillows are the old ones that went with the other couch. Things are coming right along!!! The darker color is the new paint. I tore down the double chair rail and painted it with Ralph Lauren suede paint. I LOVE that paint!!

curtain... please....

I had a dilemma. I cannot afford blinds in the windows on the East side of my house, but in the spring and summer the sun heats up the house in the early morning, and the air conditioner struggles to catch up all day long. Sooooo..... my blessed friend, J***, offered to help me make some curtains. My hubby says that he never gets to decide anything about the inside of the house, so he chose the material. I sewed some of the sides (don't look closely at them, the sewing maching kinda got away from me sometimes.) :) But, I think that they look cute, and we can close them when it is warm to keep the morning sun out, but they are not so thick that no light can get in.

Now, if the weather would just get warm so I can test them out, I would appreciate it. I am sick of snow and cold!!! So, the first photo is after, and the second one is what it looked like before!! Please excuse the stuff on the table, I was sealing the counter tops and had to move everything. :)

When government workers daydream......

I work with a guy that works with the Forest Service. He was being transferred to San Francisco, and was talking about things he would miss. He mentioned the Woodsy the Owl and Smokey Bear costumes, and he would NOT miss wearing those. I asked him if he would like to wear them if he could do whatever he wanted, and I set up the following scenario:

(first you have to know that there are fire restrictions in July and August where you cannot have fires in the canyons during this time due to extreme fire dangers.)

Me: What if you could put it on and we could work up a sting?
Him: What kind of sting?
Me: Well, I could come up on a fire and tell them that Smokey the Bear would be upset to see it.. and then you come out of the woods with a shovel and start freaking out and start pounding the fire with the shovel and going beserk.
Him: I will do it if you put on the Woodsy the Owl costume and join in the fun. You could starting kicking their litter that is lying about and pick it up and throw it at them.
Me: OK, but you know we will end up on youtube.
Him: Yeah, and then we will get fired. But hey, it will be a good time.

It was a good thought while it lasted. Being the party pooper for a living can be a drag, at times.

home renovations

So, I decided that if we were to dig out our crawl space, it would make a GREAT place to store our food storage that I have recently gotten serious about doing. So..... I asked Ryan to help me (and I am lucky enough that he obliged me.) Here are the beginning photos.... so we can log the progress. Of

course, I bought cheap, plastic buckets that already broke, so I had to go and get new ones. I was afraid to buy them too big as they would be too heavy to carry out. The "door" is up off the ground about 4 feet, making shuttling in and our very difficult. We want to cut it to make it a big door, but we think it is a weight bearing wall, so we will have to reinforce the heck out of it. Plus, then we will have to cut a concrete wall. So, we have started, anyway. We took a day off, husband already gave himself a blister. I have to admit, though, pounding the rocks and dirt is kinda fun. :)

I am getting old

Besides the fact that I am old enough to have a child graduating from high school this year, I just had to go buy some new eye lotion. I had to get stuff for what I used to call old ladies, because I am now becoming one. How depressing. My 20 year class reunion is this summer, so I am feeling old.

I am woman!!!

So, I called my husband to tell him I had fixed our new computer so that now the internet works. And, I also informed him that I had fixed our dryer. The vent hose had come off, and it was making a mess all over and fogging up our windows when we used it. My husband said, "wow, you make a great husband." LOL, he was just too busy, so I did it.

weight watcher reject

Just after Christmas I went to Weight Watchers. I am not saying I am obese, I just need a lose a few pounds to be in my "healthy" range. Also, I do not eat well at all. I was mostly going to learn to eat better. So, I go in and pay my fees, and I am waiting to talk to another person. The first lady comes over and hands me my check, and it is torn to shreds. She just hands it to me, and the following conversation ensues:

her: here you go (hands me the check) you can go now
me: i haven't gotten my stuff yet
her: i gave you your check back, you need to leave now
me: why?
her: you just need to leave
me: i haven't gotten my stuff yet, what is the problem
her: just leave
me: (as I was leaving) you are about rude!! did you ever stop to consider that some people don't know how to eat right and just need to learn to eat more healthy?

I was about to say much worse, but there were other patrons in there and I didn't want to make them feel bad. I was so hurt.... and pissed off!!!! She could have at least nicely said why I had to leave and then I would have. What was the problem? I wasn't overweight enough? That should not matter, I need to learn to eat better. And besides, money is money, right?

Kid funny....

I have been saving the "pop" tabs from soda cans for my Sgt. His nephew had cancer in his leg, so they had to remove the bone. He has a replacement, but it has to be replaced often as he is growing. He is 7 years old. Primary Children's Hospital gives them a credit to their account to offset the cost of his surgeries for each tab they bring in. My youngest pulled one off and brought it to me, exclaiming, "for broken leg." It is only funny because it is so innocent.

If there are too many surgeries, they will remove the entire top of his leg, put his knee into his hip backwards so his foot faces backwards, making his ankle his new knee. Then, they can put a prosthetic on his foot..... so sad......

Why I will not get a Mother of the Year award

I always use sarcasm, I really don't know how to NOT use it. However, there are some times my filter should have kicked on but did not.

Blunder #1.... My son has to have surgery at Primary Children's Hospital to have some cysts removed. They have no idea what they are or what is causing them. My son asks, "mom, is this serious? Am I going to die?" I replied, "Noooo, not without a lot of expensive and painful tests and treatments first."

Blunder #2..... One of my twins was bragging that she would soon be 17 years old. I replied, "yeah, and then I lose you as a tax deduction, so you are pretty much useless to me after that."

And this is all in one week.... to finish it off:

One of my children lost her first tooth. I stopped and got "Tooth Fairy" money on my way home from work...... yep, you guessed it, I then forgot to put it under her pillow. She had slept on my floor in my room, so I told her that the Fairy must have been confused and left it in her room. She told me she had already checked. DANG!! I went in and put it in her pillowcase, then pointed out that she should check there as it is dark and the Fairy is just feeling around in the dark. Her face lit up when she found it, but she was disappointed for hours while she thought she had been forgotten. Whew!! I barely rescued that one.......

Computer problems...

My work computer (laptop) and my house computer both broke at the same time. I just got my work one up and running. I bought a new one for the house, but I had to pay for it today to get the sale price, and it will be here next week. I am making the kids each donate some to the new one, since they are ones that broke it. Maybe that is too mean, but I don't care..... :) I am hoping they will think next time before they ruin this one too.

Doggie deeds, done dirt cheap...

So, our Yorkie is so cute, I decided he should spread the good genes around. I put an ad in a local newspaper, and studed him out. (Pimp doggy dog.) :) So, a few people have answered, and I have not received any money because I didn't want any until I was certain he wasn't sterile. In the process, I think that I have been taken on one deal, and am hopeful on the second. The ad ran out, and the interest stopped. I just reposted the ad, and my phone is ringing off the hook again. I am going to figure out how to do it differently, otherwise, he is not a stud, but a free one night stand!!!

if we die....

My husband and I have been in a discussion, lately, about what would happen if we were to die, or if one of his siblings were to get killed in an accident. This brought about, of course, through a course of action my mother in law is facing. Here is what we decided:

If his oldest sister and her husband were to pass away, and she wanted us to take her kids, we would happily do it. We would bring them here to live with us, and we would sell her house and put the profit in accounts for them to use when they were in college (or older.)

If his younger brother were to pass away, and his ex-wife also, we would also happily raise those children.

If we pass away, his oldest sister offered to take them, but asked if she could live here. My work offers additional life insurance, and I am insured for $300,000 and Ryan for half of what I am. This should give whomever enough money to pay off our house, and they are welcome to stay here. :) But, they might have to buy a bus!!!

why .....

I love my kids, but this is why they are a pain in my behind....

• They have broken my computer, thus I now have NO access to the internet. Hence, I have not yet put up some new photos of my trophy and Valentine stuff... I cannot use my computer at home. This is my work computer, and it has no drive for my SD card.
• I keep asking them to NOT eat in my living room because they dropped food on my carpet and caused my Mastiff to eat a hole in the carpet. But, they keep doing it, anyway.
• My house is always a disaster. What is so hard about cleaning up after yourself?
• They are so expensive, if they would stop eating, I would be rich......

I love them, but man they make life harder...... :)

Bitch meets her match.....

So, the holiday season is over and it is the day after Christmas. I need to get to the local Hallmark store to get my half off dated Christmas ornaments. I have an hour before they open, so I run into the craft store to quickly grab one item and return. There aren't many cars out front, so I am sure I am a shoe-in to get out quickly. I grab my item and wait in line to pay....

There is a well-dressed older woman in front of me. She is rummaging through her goodies in her basket. There are only 2 cashiers, so I have a long wait. I walk in front of my cart to look at some Cricut cartridges when the lady in front of me shoves me back so hard that I hit my cart, the one behind it, the lady behind that, the cart behind her, and the lady behind that one. I give her a crusty stare, but chalk it up to entitlement (she looked rather well off, I am sure I was beneath her.) I discovered that the purpose to the shove was to get her second cart, which was 5 feet away from me.

She proceeds to not move with the line, and when she does she does not take the second cart. I didn't want to be rude and ram my cart into hers to push it, so I walked it up to her. Upon returning to my cart, I felt her cart bounce off my legs. I turned to her glaring at me and telling me "I will thank you kindly to keep your hands off my things." Psycho. When I left, she was talking down to the cashier like he was crap for charging her $17 for a wreath she insisted was $12.

I make it to the Hallmark store with 10 minutes to spare. I am waiting outside and 2 minutes before the doors open, I see HER in the back of the line. I am just getting my last ornament, when I am suddenly pinned down against the wall. I finally pry myself off of it to find HER, the entitled BITCH, clawing at me. I stand up and the following conversation takes place:

Me: Could you please act like you have half an ounce of class and stop pushing? Nobody else is pushing.
Her: Well, I want that ornament and you are in my way. It's the last one, hand it to me.
Me: You can wait your turn like everyone else, stop pushing.
Her: Just give me the ornament.
Me: You will have to wait.

At this point, she turns to the lady next to me and demands the ornament. The lady gives us both a second glance and slowly goes to get it for her. I quickly snatch the ornament and put it in my basket.

Her: Give that to me. I am going to call the police. It is mine, let me have it.
Me: You will have this ornament over my dead body. If you weren't so busy messing around at the craft store, you would have been here on time to get it yourself.
Her: I am calling the police.
Me: Go ahead, I would love to tell them about you assaulting me three times.

It goes back and forth a while. Someone in the back starts clapping because I won't let her have it. She even tells on me to the sales clerk. A small voice in the back of my head told me to break it and give it to her, but at this point, it now means something to me. You see, it's my trophy. Good prevails over evil trophy, and it will forever hang on my tree with the memory of how it came to me.

My husband is a slob, but I still love him.....

My husband is an unsufferable slob. It is all I can do to keep up with kids, but he has to add to the problem in my room. In his defense, he does help around the rest of the house quite a bit, but this is a total peeve of mine. I walk into my room and I feel totally defeated. This is what my room looks like when he is in charge of it. Every wonder what he has worn the last few days? Just look around his side of the bed and you will have to wonder no more.....

And then there are the kid's rooms. I took an entire day cleaning out the toy boxes and organizing toys. Wonder what their rooms look like the next day when I had to work? Well, wonder no more....

And let's not forget when they took out every blanket and sheet and piled them in the middle of my room.... I came home at 3AM to find this little surprise....

Heaven help me, I certainly need it,.... AND a maid..

Christmas decor....

Christmas is almost over, so I figured I had better get this on there... I am so lame!!

Use it or Lose it.....

Well, for the past two weeks, I have been burning 86 hours of vacation time. It was either burn it, or lose it. I painted Abby's room, decorated for Christmas, spent time with family, and took a whole day cleaning out the toy boxes and getting rid of stuff. I am worn out. I also did some scrapbooking, but it was for someone else so my HUGE pile is still there. :) I still have more to do for others, then I will do some for myself.

Black Friday a bust

Well, my husband I got up just after 4:00 AM to partake in the Black Friday shopping. It was a total waste of time. The line outside of Best Buy was wrapped around the corner, and some stupid people slept in tents there all night. NOTHING is worth that, it was freezing. I went to Kohls, wanting to find some toys for kids and boots for me.

Well, when we got there, the line for the cash register went from the front of the store to the back of the store. It was so ridiculous, that Wentworth Miller could have been on sale for a dollar, and I would not have waited in that line. Well, maybe for him, but that is unlikely to happen. :) Not to mention that they had opened at 4 and I arrived closer to 5. The toy department was torn to shreds, and the things I wanted to get for the kids were mostly gone. But, as I was leaving the store, I noticed one of them lying on some clothing in the men's section, next to the register in jewelry that had a small line. I snuck into that, and sent my husband on a scavenger hunt while I waited less than 5 minutes in the small line. HA, outsmarted them!! Otherwise, I would have left there empty-handed.

We did not attempt much else. There was NO line at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, so I went in and got the curtain rod and tie backs I wanted for Abby's room..... and we braved Home Depot just to learn that the $30 worth of stuff we wanted was almost $80 and we have to send in a bunch of rebates. That is so stupid, I hate mail in rebates. Oh well, there wasn't anything that I REALLY wanted, anyway. I would like to find a wii for the kids, well, mostly for my husband, but I won't sweat it if I don't find one.

out of the mouths of babes

While I was painting Abby's room, I was doing the glaze which requires just smearing it all over the walls. My youngest child came over and asked, "Mom, are you working on a masterpiece?" I told her that I was, to which she replied, "well, it's horrible." Gotta love the honesty of a child.

Abby's bedroom makeover

Abby talked me into painting her room pink, of all colors, when we moved in. I decided to redo it, because I hated the pink... so I retextured the walls, then painted and glazed it. The pink is before, the one on the right is after the paint but before the glaze. The middle one is after, and I don't know why, but the circles in the corner are on the camera and not the wall..... :) My arms hurt, now.... I did buy her some curtains, but I don't like the curtain rod so I have to get her another one. I will work on that this weekend, on Black Friday!!

Halloween decor

And, better late than never, right? This was my Halloween one. The black table was my Valentine's gift and it in the entry way of the house. It has a mirror over it, which I try not to get into the photo due to the glare. The other is in the living room.

Thanksgiving decor

Well, since I rarely get any days off, all I do when I do get one is clean. However, besides scrapbooking (which I have not done in almost a year) I like to decorate my new table (that Ryan bought me for Valentine's Day last year.) Thanks Ryan!! :)

Update

Well, I rarely look at this anymore, which is sad because I enjoy reading about everyone and what they are doing. I just had some family visiting from South Carolina. It caused me to slow down and I actually saw two movies (Transformers and Harry Potter,) went to Park City and rode the Alpine Coaster, and actually had some time off.

Otherwise, summer has been crazy and I have been working a lot. Hope everyone is well.

a day off!!!

Well, tomorrow is my first day off since May 12. I am so excited!! Of course, I have a million things to do and not enough time to do it, but I will try my best and get done what I can do. The hot tub broke, so I have to call someone before the water gets ruined since we just refilled it. Busy day.

Ryan got a new job and seems to love it. I am glad, things have been more than crazy at our house. I have two days off, so Ryan and I are going to do something when he gets back from Hurricane. Hope everyone is well!!

No, I am not dead... yet

Well, I have not posted anything in so long, nor have I had time to read other's blogs. I have been working a ton. Hubby's job was not going well, but he just got a new job so things are looking hopeful. I am hoping the summer does not pass me by, again, like the last one did. It is my favorite season, and I hate it when I don't get to enjoy it.

We did get a new puppy. She is sweet, not that I have seen her much, or anyone else for that matter. Hubby is going to his parent's house tomorrow for his sister's graduation. I feel bad that I cannot go with him. It seems that work is always in the way of me attending family functions, which should be my top priority but always seem to get pushed to the back. This time it is out of financial desperation since hubby has not had any work for a few weeks.

I hope that everyone is well. Things should slow down around here soon, and I may actually get a few days off!!

I want a new dog.....

I found a cute little dog to replace Cora, but Ryan says no!! :(

Easter love

My youngest daughter came in to me today while I was getting ready for work. She informed me that she gave one of my teenagers her Easter candy. I asked her why she did that, and she replied "because I am sweet." She needs a little work in the humility department, but what can I say?

Also, I will point out my world's greatest mom moment. I didn't get to dye eggs with my kids because someone (who will remain nameless, right Ryan?) forgot to boil the eggs while I was at work, even after being reminded. But it was ME that insisted on returning egg coloring that Ryan bought because I was SURE we already had some. In my absence, he went to color eggs with the kids and there wasn't any. It was late, so we waited until today.

Yes, that is right, we colored eggs late on Easter day, and then hid them and let them find them. It wasn't my most prepared Easter Day. Oh well, I did remember to buy candy. :) That's all the kids will remember, right?

In loving memory.....

It seems weird to not have Cora roaming around the house, licking up things the little ones spilt on the ground. I really miss her. I am sad, but I know that she died knowing that she was loved......

RIP beloved dog.....

I am very sad to say that our largest dog, Cora, passed away today. She had a stroke and died at the age of 9 months. It was the saddest thing to watch her and know there was nothing I could do to stop it. I felt so awful. She was a beautiful dog, and she was a great pet. She will be greatly missed, and may she rest in peace......

Can you feel the love?

I was reading a family newletter, recently, that informed family that the grandparents just celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary. (Or sixty-something, I forget.) My loving husband and I had the following conversation:

ME: "Honey, isn't that cute? Just think, if we live long enough, we will be in our nineties on our 60th wedding anniversary."
him: "Hunh, we will be lucky if we make it to our eighth anniversary."

That is this September, by the way. Men are such jerks.

hubby's office

While my hubby spent a well-deserved fishing trip with his brother, I spent the few days painting his future office. It had plain white walls, as seen in the before photo. I retextured it, primed and painted, and then applied a glaze over it. My hubby and his brother thought that it turned out pretty cool. Now I just have to figure out what to do about some furniture. :) The after picture isn't framed as well, but I WAS in a hurry!!!

we are white trash.....

Our next to the youngest daughter had a project to do for school where she had to make a "contraption" to catch a leprechaun. It gave a diagram example of a mousetrap sort of thing. (A treat to lure the leprechaun, and over it a cage to catch it when it was lured to the treat.)

My husband decided to help her do this, so he got some pennies and glued them onto a piece of cardboard. Then, he took duct tape and placed it around the pennies. It's a different kind of mouse trap, like sticky traps. She may get a prize for creativity, but it looks sad. I could hear the banjo playing in the background while he was making it. :)

He reminded me of the catapult one of our other kids had to make. We waited until the last minute, and my husband was busy with school. My hubby wadded up newpaper and taped it together to make the catapult. These were lovingly displayed at the next parent-teacher conference. My husband said there were ones made out of metal and wood with all sorts of fancy levers and things, and then our sons was there with his taped up newpaper. He sad it was the sadest thing and he was so embarassed. But, did he learn a lesson from this? I guess not, he is doing it again to our daughter. I will make her another one, to save her the embarassment.

I made another one with her. It wasn't the best either, so I can see that my West Virginia days weren't in vain!! At least we took the time to make something with her....that really is the point, isn't it?

thanks for noticing.....

Today my husband and I went out to eat at Bajio. While waiting in line, he whispers to me, "Don't you think it is "odd" how a place like this attracts young, attractive girls? I mean, everytime I come in here, it's full of nice looking young women." UH, thanks for noticing, HONEY!!! Some men will NEVER learn......

that's so gay.....

I was just reading an article about a Mormon girl living in CA that was being harassed by schoomates. They asked her if she had, like ten moms. She retorted, "that's so gay." She end up in the principal's office and got punished and a letter in her file. Her parents are suing, stating that the school is violating her First Amendment rights, and also had failed to punish any students for teasing her about the Mormon stereotype. This whole thing is so gay.......

new job assignment

Well, I can hardly stand sitting around my house, it is driving me insane. :) I tried to do some stuff on Saturday, but totally overdid it. Oh well...... I have two more weeks off to recover.

That said, when I return to work I will be doing light duty stuff for a while. Then, I have two weeks of a Drug Recognition Expert class. When I finish that, my work call number changes as does my job assignment. I have been assigned to a contract city for a while, but I will be moving to a canyon team. The difference is that I am not dispatched to calls, I am out there for proactive work, only.

I am honored to be given this position. It is a highly sought-after position, and I was given it due to a good work ethic and good work in general. It also comes with some stress as they expect you to produce a lot of drug and alcohol arrests. Usually, this isn't too hard in the canyons. I am excited to have a new assignment, and I will be working with a great team. If and when I can ever get my butt off of this couch........

recovery update

Well, I have to say that this surgery was pretty much what I anticipated. It feels like I have horrible cramps. Besides the catheter being the most uncomfortable thing in the world right now (about like having a huge eyelash stuck in your eye) I am not much more that exhausted. At least I am catching up on my sleep, and reading a few books. :) I can't wait to get home and catch up on scrapbooking. Hope that everyone is doing well, and hope that you had a great Valentine's Day!! We went to eat at Noodles and Company, then went to the bookstore to grab a few books. Romantic, huh? Next year, we will prepare better!! Love you all!!!

Valentine's Display

Well, I thought I would preserve my Valentine's table since it will be taken down soon. It was fun, and I got some cute cheap stuff. I moved the table out of my living room to the foyer to decorate it.

I also got some stuff to do an Easter table. I like decorating. The only thing is... people like to put their crap on my table. Makes me mad..... It's the first thing that you see when you walk in my door, but I want it to look nice!!

So, here it is...... and I will post the Easter one. I love holidays laden with candy!!

more about life

Well, life has been crazy, as usual. I am about to be off of work for over 2 weeks. Unfortunately, it won't be for fun. I have a daughter that has lost her ability to think straight, and I am so sick of working every day that I am almost glad I am having surgery!! So, here is to hoping that she pulls her head out of her behind, and that I can recover quickly so I can get my household and children in order before returning to work.

My mother's sister

My mother called to inform me that her sister is dying. She called to tell me the same thing in 1998, and it was the same sister. She has a brain tumor. This sister of hers is mildly retarded, and has brought forth into this world two children that also had mental handicaps. My grandmother raised the daughter, and her son was raised by her. I am not sure how long his criminal history currently is, but he is somewhere in his twenties.

Growing up, I never saw her. I walked right past her once, she was ringing the Salvation Army bell outside the mall. I didn't even recognize her. She would call my mother every year at Christmas to see if my mother could drop off gifts to her house, and give her some cash. Otherwise, we never saw or heard from her. It's sad really. The only job I ever knew of her having was an illegal one.

Society really has no help in place for people like her. I always thought that she had such a sad life. Living off welfare and not really aware of what was going on around her. Since 1998, she has lived in a nursing home as she has been unable to care for herself. I feel sad for her that her whole life has seemed lacking of something. Maybe it isn't obvious to her, so maybe she doesn't even care. I feel bad for her, there is so much to enjoy from life, and she never really did any of it due to her mental state.

I also feel bad that I know she is going to pass away, and she is my aunt. Yet, I don't really feel a sadness for her. I am almost happy for her that she can have a much better existence after she passes away. She won't be miserable and cooped up inside of a nursing home with the hum drum of routine every day. I hope she passes away peacefully, when she does, and that she enjoys a hereafter much better than the present has given her. More importantly, I hope that my grandmother can deal with it OK. I can't imagine having a child of mine pass away before I do. My grandmother has watched two husbands, and several of her children pass away in infancy. May God give her strength and watch over her.

Grandpa

I was recalling today an incident wherein my grandfather ran over a lady with his car. My brother and I were in the back seat, and he was making a right turn at a red light. There was a lady crossing the crosswalk, and he didn't see her. He hit her, and she had been carrying some packages that she threw upon being hit. She landed on the hood and was yelling for him to stop.

So, he stops.... and she goes flying onto the ground. She stands up, and goes to walk over to the driver's door. My grandfather just DRIVES OFF!!! My brother and I were young, and were sure we were going to jail. My grandmother is yelling at him to stop, and he looks at her in the rear-view mirror and comments, "Oh, she's OK." I thought that I was going to die. My grandmother yelled at him all the way home.

What on earth was he thinking? It's so funny that I can't tell someone about it now and not laugh so hard I could hardly spit the words out. But, at the time, I was scared that I was going to jail. He should never have been driving......

just one more....

I could not resist it..... Isn't he cute? I named him Dante, but my husband doesn't like the name. We are going to breed him with a female that a neighbor of ours is going to buy. The puppies are so expensive, but I think that we got a good deal.

The smaller the better, for breeding. He is smaller than 2 lbs, and is about 12 weeks old. He got some shots today, as did the other dog almost in the photo but he moved. He got groomed today, too. He is cuter with more hair. They both got microchips. So, as if our house wasn't loud enough!! I also just learned that we are breaking a city ordinance. There is a limit of two animals in the city. Oh well, if nobody complains, we are OK. Or, how about these two are so small, they only count as one? LOL, don't worry..... we are done!!! No more pets!!!

freezing

I HATE the cold, and right now it is 1 degree outside. On top of that, my work requires me to be outside for certain things, and that makes it miserable. My only consolation is that I hope I am burning some extra calories trying to keep my body warm!! I am ready to move to Florida, now.

Belated Christmas present.....

Well, this is a new belated Christmas present. My husband is working down South today, and on his way home is going to pick him up. I don't have a name yet, any ideas? I was thinking of Toby, I also like Dante and Atticus, but I feel like they are more big male dog names. :) I can't wait to see him, but hubby won't return until tomorrow as he is going to stay at his mother's house tonight. The kids will love it, and I hope our other dog doesn't get jealous. I will make sure I give her lots of love, too. I took the other dog, Cora, with me to PetSmart today to get some things for this one. I will post Homecoming pictures later!!

Life's early lesson?

I ordered some curtain from Bed, Bath, and Beyond, and they came in a box with a long piece of brown paper. Our 2 year old, M***, tore up the paper into a LOT of little pieces and threw them all over our bedroom. Today I asked her to come up and pick it up, she came up and our conversation went like this....

Me: M***, you made this mess so you need to pick it up.
M***: (holding her arm) I can't my arm hurts.
Me: Well, if you don't do it, your butt is going to hurt because I am going to spank a bum.
M***: (holding arm, still) I can't do it, my arm hurts. You do it.
Me: I didn't make this mess, so you can clean it up.
M***: Make C*** do it, my arm hurts.

Who taught her to do this? One of the older kids, I am sure. Great.....

New Year Wish List....

Well, now that the mass confusion of Christmas is over with... I would like to put out my wish list for next year in hopes that everyone can get a good deal sometime during the year, thus relieving the people that line their pockets every year with our hard earned money from any excess they might get from our family.

I want, sometime in the next year:

some Pampered Chef stoneware
a Kitchenaide with the plastic hood and chute so you can add ingredients without making a mess
another ring from QVC diamonique collection (I got a really nice one this year, love it)
stuff from Bed, Bath, and Beyond.
a white maltese male dog.... we all loved the one we had for a day.... especially me :)

So, there you go.... my family can keep their eyes open for some discount stoneware. Ryan can keep his eyes open for the other stuff. :)

I hope everyone got what they wanted for Christmas.... we had a great Christmas this year, and the MP3 players were a hit. Now I have a few birthdays coming up.... it never ends.....

maybe i ruined christmas?

I had to take an animal detail at work because the animal control officers get the holidays off. Just that night, during dinner, my children were asking me for a small dog like one we used to have. As fate would have it, the animal I had to pick up was just like it. It was adorable.

I had limited options as to what to do with the dog. I could not put it in the outside kennel we have for use when animal control is off. It was 9 degrees outside, and there are holes in it that a small dog can fit through. This dog weighs about 5 pounds.

I could not take it to the shelter, they are closed until Tuesday. And, I fell in love it, so I took it home. The kids are in love with it. I thought that our other dog would use it as a chew toy, but it has not.

The dog was well groomed and maintained, so I am sure that it belongs to someone who might have been out of town and may very well be looking for it. I have searched the lost and found ads, put up some pictures of it locally, and will contact the shelters tomorrow. If nobody claims it, we will keep it. If someone does claim it, my kids are going to be so sad, and so will I.

alzheimers.....

I might have alzheimers, but I have to say this again because it kills me that people are so stupid. I have tricked people into admitting they have drugs on them by turning my pager off and then telling them that the pager is a drug detection device. I run it over their body, and then turn it on and it makes a beep. I then inform them that my detection device has indicated that there are drugs on the person.

The two times I have tried it, the person started crying and just told me where the drugs were. Of course, I only do it if I have enough probable cause to search them and their surroundings, anyway, but it makes me laugh that they fall for it. And, yes, it is legal for me to lie to them. And why not, they lie to me all the time, and unless it is about their identity, I can't do a thing about it. Turnabout is fair play?

feel like a woman.....

Well, I have to have a hysterectomy. First of all, I am not happy about the cost of the surgery, or the amount of work I will miss in the healing process. Second, it really makes me feel good when I inform a coworker why I am going to need 2-6 weeks off of work, and he replies, "I have always thought that you were a man. Now, what I say will be closer to the truth." I work with such sensitive guys. At least after he said that, he apologized and then he offered any assistance I may need during my healing. I think that I will call him any time I get a craving for something, just to teach him a lesson.

Oh well, there are some positive aspects of the surgery, but what a bummer.

let it snow....

What I want to know is why is it that when I work, it pours the snows. As soon as I pull into my driveway, it stops snowing. It's ridiculous. Then, in the middle of a blizzard, I arrest a VERY intoxicated person for DUI, while in the hospital with him a woman asks me to look at her baby because "something isn't right." The baby was 9 months old and tested positive for methamphetamine, along with her and her husband also testing positive.

Then, they bring in an 8 month old my coworkers were dealing with. I informed the doctor that there was something suspicious about the story that father had told us. When the mother was wheeled by with her baby, she glared at me. I looked back at her once she was in the room, and she asked the nurses to close her curtain so I could not look at her. An hour later, the baby was taken by emergency transport to Primary Children's hospital. Apparentlyl, there were older injuries contributing to his problems.

Today, her husband confessed that while he had the baby in the bathtub, he shook it numerous times. Then, he took it out of the tub and slammed it face-first on the bed a few times. I feel bad for the other kids living in that home, and the baby. Both of these babies will spend their first Christmas in a foster home, as will the siblings of the latter baby. I tried to get them to let me bring the one baby home with me. :) But, instead, I had to take the drunk guy to jail. Makes me sad..... May God be with them now, and always.

out of the mouths of babes.....

M*** is jumping on my bed saying, "look at me, Mom. I'm an octopus."
Me: "That's great honey."
M*** walks over to me and says, "come on whale, let's go."

Whale? Why do I have to be the whale? Why not a shark, or a dolphin? What a self-esteem booster.

i need a hero.....

I finally got to be a hero at work, rather than the bad guy. I usually get blamed for all the bad stuff people do, but the other day I actually had a good ending to a story.

I got a call of a missing 5 year old boy. The parents said they had just moved here two weeks ago, and their 5 year old has been missing for 45 minutes. They feared that he had walked out the front door. The mother was running around the neighborhood, looking for him. I had other officers come with me to look around. I met with her, and she is frantically yelling his name and crying. (as I would have been, too) I asked her if anyone was at home and if they had checked the house well. She said that her husband was home, and they checked the house 6 times. I assured her that he was in the house, and I went to the house while everyone else looked around.

The dad was at the house, and assured me that they had stripped linens off of beds and thoroughly checked the house. I informed him that we were going to check again, and asked where he had last seen the boy. He said he was upstairs, so we began looking upstairs. He was not in the bedroom. There was a playroom full of rubbermaid containers. I asked him if he had checked each one, and the father said he had. I asked about the one in the corner that was hard to get to, and he was sure he had checked it. I told him to check again, and I began to move lids and check the ones closer to me. He moved the one in the corner around, then moved on.

I pointed back in the corner and told him to check again. The container in the corner was not only harder to get to, it had a cardboard box on it and three lids on top of that. I kept feeling something drawing me to that corner. I heard the father yelling "Ja**, OMG Ja**" but the boy was not moving. The dad was holding his daughter, so he grabbed the boy by the shirt and lifted him out. He was limp and unresponsive. His eyelids started to flutter, and he was pasty and wet. We ran him outside for some fresh air as I called for medical to respond.

Medical put a pediatric lifeflight on standby. The boy was hard to wake up and keep awake. As more time passed, he became more alert. The paramedics checked him over, and said that his oxygen stats were a little low, but improving, so they cancelled the lifeflight. They said it was good thing that we found him when we did. A little longer without oxygen and he would have had some life-altering consequences, including death.

I honestly believe that it was divine intervention that night. I am thankful that, for once, I can reminisce about a happy ending.

What I like about you...... you make me warm inside....

Well, I was reading Native Minnow's post regarding things about him, so I thought that everyone could laugh at some stupid things about me:

-I nearly cry when I hear the national anthem.
-I don't like chocolate, though I will eat it if I am desperate for something sweet.
-My favorite place on the earth is the beach. I hate cold weather and snow, yet I live where it does both of those often!!
-I used to be a ballet dancer.
-I hate liars more than anything.
-I see a lot of things at work that would make normal people cry or puke, and I usually do neither, and that bothers me......
-Sometimes, I am an awful listener.
-I am so forgetful, I am afraid that I am getting alzheimers already.

Well, I have bored you enough...... my life really isn't very interesting...

never a day off....

Well, I have some days off coming.... but it seems like they are never days off. Today I get off at 0630, but I have to be ready to take my girls shopping at noon for Christmas stuff, be at a Ward Christmas Party that lasts from 2-7PM, then make time to get some haircuts and have someone pick up my old headboard out of my house. I also promised someone that I would call them so that we "adults" could finish Christmas shopping. I guess that is out of the question.

I have to get something for my niece's birthday so I can get that mailed. Otherwise, I will miss her birthday. Sunday is church and an appointment for tithing settlement.... so maybe I will get the adult shopping on Monday? I wanted to go to the temple on Tuesday, but we will see how that works out...... I will probably get called into work. :(

life is mundane....

You know that your life is boring and mundane when it has been nearly a week since your last post, and you have NOTHING even remotely interesting to say.......

How pathetic is that? All I have done, lately, is work. I am hoping that in January, I can take some days off.....

i like big butts, and i cannot lie......

OK, I don't really like them, but the song comes to mind after the health assessment that my work made my husband and I do the other day. The incentive was that they would take $250 per person off of our deductible.

We found out that our body fat composition put us up in the national obesity level. I am fatter than I have ever been, without being pregnant. My waist is 5 inches larger than normal. My cholesterol is high, and my husband has similar issues. That just made my day......

Well, now I am depressed. I am going to have to stop drinking soda and start working out again. I DO get paid to work out..... so I should probably do it. I will try to lay off the donuts.

life is too short....

Yesterday, a cousin of mine was taken off life support and passed away. He was only 22 years old. He had been driving on wet roads and skid out of control, then hit a telephone pole and a tree. When the ambulance arrived, his heart was still beating but he was not breathing. He had broken his back and neck in 6 different places. He was put on life support, but the injury to his brain was too severe.

Please......WEAR YOUR SEATBELTS!!! He wasn't wearing his, or he might just still be alive!! My heart goes out to my family in this time of loss. What a tragedy.

maniacs at the mall.....

I have to say that the day after Thanksgiving sales are about a madhouse. Is it really worth the pulling of hair, the scratching out of eyes, the gnashing of teeth to save $10 on a Christmas toy?

A Mervyn's employee of mine said that there were 1,000 people there at opening to get some MP3 players that were really crappy, but CHEAP, and they were running UP the DOWN escalator. Some lady almost fell, so he hit the emergency stop button to prevent injuries, but it gave everyone running up it a nice jolt.

Target had some cheap Lego sets, and people were nearly killing each other to get them. How ridiculous!!

I did get a "free" tree at Home Depot that I am very happy about. It was $29.99 and I get a $30 gift certificate from them in the mail. That is cool.

The kids and I finished decorating, and I am done shopping except for a few minor things. I have six days off coming next week, I have to wrap presents before the kids see them. I have to finish some scrapbooking gifts, then I can sit back and enjoy the holiday season. I do enjoy the giving atmosphere of the season, but I don't like how commercialism has kinda taken over.

productive day....

I have to say that today was productive, I got most of the Christmas decorations up. Hubby was gone with his brother the entire time, so he got out of it. The kids were excited as we didn't have a tree last year and spent the day at a hotel. (It wasn't fun at all.) Everyone in CA living around us came to the conclusion that Mormons don't believe in Christmas.

My mother started a few Christmas traditions.... every year she bought us dated Hallmark ornaments. I have some from the 70's, and continued the tradition with our kids. I am missing one from the oldest from 1992, I hope it turns up. It's fun, but the kids are always fighting about who has what, so I took the time to label them this year.

Everything is mostly done except for the ceremonial hanging of the beloved Hallmark ornaments on the main tree, which we will do on Friday. I need another tree for the living room with the fireplace. I may wait until the day after..... We all also just noticed that the tree we have used for the last 17 years is smaller than we remember..... but it still looks OK. Maybe the day after Christmas I will get two more trees....HUMMMM?? Even though there won't be much under the trees, the house looks cute after years of accumulating Christmas decor. Fun.

pre-mad?

So.... we are going to Ryan's mother's house tomorrow. She has allowed a cat into her home, an animal that I am deathly allergic to. I will be sick less than 5 minutes after walking in the house. She says that it doesn't roam the house, but what people don't understand is that the dander DOES roam the house.

What is funny is that my husband knows that I will suffer through it at her house much like I do at my cousin's house. I am in my cousin's house only long enough to sleep in the room that the cats are forbidden in, and I still get sick. I get up and leave the house immediately, and return only to sleep. I drug myself up with allergy medication, but my allergy to these worthless animals is so severe that it doesn't help much.

With that said, my husband was mad at me today.....I asked him why and he said, "I know that we are only going to be at my mom's house for a couple of hours and then we are going to have to leave." Then, he starts mocking me by immitating my voice when I am sick and not able to breathe due to severe asthma, "uh, thanks for dinner...we have to go now....I can't breathe."

I said to him, "wait a second, you are mad at me for something that I haven't even done yet?" Why aren't you mad at your sister for bringing it into the house, which would also be about as ridiculous. Yep, that is what I have to live with.......

fat lady vs airline seat

OK, I know this is rude, but it is a serious problem.

There was a lady that was easily 400 lbs on the airplane with us. I watched her board before everyone else.....which spared anyone who might have been sitting on an aisle seat as her passing would have deprived them of whatever was near the edge.

I watch her get in her seat. She doesn't fit, so she moves the arm rest up to fit and cannot put it back down. I watch as people board the plane. She has to use the restroom, and she has to back into the bathroom as there will be no room for turning once inside. She doesn't lock the door, and some unexpected gentleman walks in on her. He is, most likely, at least partially blind, now.

She returns to her seat to find that two other young girls have now occupied their seats next to her. She attempts to squeeze back into her seat, but cannot get in without much effort, then there is not room for her as she occupies almost the entire seat next to her.

Luckily for the two girls next to her, the plane was not full and they were moved. Why didn't this huge person have to buy two tickets? What would the airline have done if the plane were full and she wouldn't fit in her seat?

Another thing, the airlines are now nazis about how much your luggage weighs. If it is even one pound over, you must remove it or pay extra. Me and all my luggage, plus my flight companion AND his luggage, didn't weigh at much as her alone. If you have to pay extra for luggage, she should have to pay extra for weighing down the plane, using two seats, and causing the plane to use extra fuel. Oh the injustices.....

life is about to improve?

Well, congrats to Ryan on finishing his dissertation!! I believe that life is about to improve for all of us. :) I get to work less overtime, once we catch up, and Ryan gets to have a real, normal life. I am sooo excited, but surely not as excited as Ryan.

On another note.....today on the airplane, there was a lady that was sooo huge.....she could barely fit in the aisle. She went to the restroom, but didn't lock the door. Some poor, unsuspecting man opened the door on her. (Though I am not sure how he got the door open.) I heard him gasp, and apologize. I am sure he is going to need some therapy. I was going to give him Ryan's number..... :)

dissertation jitters

Well, Ryan is defending his dissertation this morning. I hate that there is so much riding on this one meeting!! He was a little anxious last night, and I am feeling it this morning. I keep looking at my watch, and time is going by so slowly. Good Luck, Ryan!! We LOVE you!!!

she's a maniac, maniac

Well, I just did my timesheet and the last two weeks I only worked 125 hours, as compared to the 147 the previous two weeks. Whew!! The only bummer is that I didn't get to spend any of the last check on fun stuff, so maybe this next one...... well, who am I kidding? Oh well, I am very grateful that I have the overtime should the need arise.......