I know....I know!

I said I would write every day. I haven't done that! I'm taking a few minutes now to catch up. :)

Both of my DD's have had birthdays. I know have DD13 and DD15! They both had friends over for the last 2 weekends. DD13 went to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D and DD15 went to see Valentine's Day. They made out with money and gifts. They both got about $80 each. DD13 loves her sewing machine. DD15 loves her video camera--we got her a Vado.

With the weather changing, we're trying to walk every day. At least a mile. We did it today. We were only able to go one day last week, because of rain. It's so nice to get out, and I'm praying the pounds start dropping off with the exercise.

We want to do a 3 mile hike by June, and I'd like to lose 50 pounds before doing that...and walking every day will help condition our muscles to be ready for the long hike. It's supposed to be beautiful and warm all week, and I'm without a car. Only way to get the mail is to walk! It's a mile round trip. The hardest part is the walk home...the last part is all up hill. UGH! I hate hills. I hope it gets easier as we do it more.

Time for a shower, and then dinner needs made. We're having chicken stir fry tonight.

Looking good for the weekend

Our walk didn't turn out well...too much snow. But otherwise, things have been good.

DD12 got her big birthday gift yesterday. We got her: Singer 4205 Inspiration Sewing Machine Today, we went out for project supplies. She decided she wants to make a tote bag. $52 later....yeah, we could have bought one at Wal Mart for $10!!!! LOL AND, that's not even her first project really. I have some scrap fabric here, and some patterns, so right now she's working on an apron! She knows how to fill a bobbin, and how to thread her machine--she's a fast learner. I helped her iron the fabric for the apron, and she's washed the fabric for her tote.

So far, we've given her the sewing machine, 5 books, and I gave her a rolling suitcase/tote to hold her sewing supplies in. I was going to hold off on the rolling bag, but she really needed somewhere to store the stuff she got today, and it's perfect for her crafting supplies. 

It's hard to believe that she'll be 13 when she wakes up in the morning. 

We had a big surprise this afternoon. I saw that the girls had left the trunk lid open, so sent DD12 out to close it. Stripes appeared! Stripes is a cat we've had for a very long time. For the last year, she has wandered. We haven't seen her since July or August, and now she's just back home. She's fixed, so no worries about kittens anywhere. I think someone on the street has taken her in, and sometimes she sneaks out and comes here. She's a beautiful kitty. She doesn't look skinny, or beat up or anything. She looks very healthy. :) And she is VERY happy to see us. Rubbing all over everyone and everything, and purring like crazy.

It has been FOREVER...sorry!

Since I last wrote...I quit my job, have been working on my own business (www.custodyandsupportsolutions.com), and have started marriage counseling with hubby.

Lots of changes!

I won't try to fill in details on what you've missed, but instead I'll start with today!

I now have a workspace. Sort of. It's almost complete. Hubby and I cleared out the corner desk area in our room yesterday. I've ordered Board Dudes 18"x22" Magnetic Combo Board (15094-4) and 2010 Blue Sky Endless Summer Wall Calendar 15 x 12 for the wall to help me keep track of things, and shelves are in the works as well. Hubby has to fix the outlet there, so I can plug in the laptop, then I'm all set! Working on my bed is awful. Every day I have to clear the bed when hubby gets home, and I have no where to put my stuff, so it ends up on the floor. Now I have a place for everything, a nice window to look out of, and a set space to turn my brain onto work mode.

I didn't sleep well last night at all. Maybe got 3-4 hours. Had to take stepson to school this morning. When I got home just before 8, I grabbed some chicken and rice, set DD14 up for school work that she could do on her own, and went back to sleep. When I woke up just after noon, I felt horrible. I retain water pretty often...today it's 8 pounds of extra water. YUCK! I had a headache as well. So I sat around all afternoon...then decided to work out.

After 20 minutes on the Wii Fit, aerobic activities mainly, my headache was nearly gone, and my attitude was much brighter. Still retaining water...but that will go away probably tomorrow morning--I'll pee like crazy. I'm drinking lots of water for the rest of the day to flush it out.

With a clearer head, and better attitude, I decided that we're getting out of here tomorrow! The girls and I are going to head to a local state park in the afternoon and go for a nice walk. We have been snowed in for so long...and I'm definitely tired of looking at the inside of my house. If it goes well, we'll try to do it once a week.

Dinner tonight is going to be fried Whiting and mac & cheese...and mixed vegetables. The kids wanted the mac & cheese, but we have to have some healthy veggies, too! We've had nothing but chicken and burger for weeks, so the fish will be a nice change. And yes, baked would be healthier...but everyone else likes fried better. I don't care about how it's fixed...so long as it's not chicken! LOL

The girls' birthdays are coming quickly! D12 will turn 13 on Friday. She has big plans for her birthday. She and two friends are going to see Alice in Wonderland in 3-D. Afterward, we'll have pizza and ice cream cake from DQ, and the friends will be staying over for the night. Sounds like fun to me!

The following weekend will be D14's birthday, turning 15. She's having a sleepover as well...but no movie. She has plans with her friends to go see The Last Song in April when it debuts. Too bad it's not a month sooner. She'll have a great time anyway.

I promise I will update more often. Will try to go back to every day :) 

It's Tuesday...yay...

I'm glad that my work week is done!

Hubby has been pitching in around the house for the last couple of weeks on the days that I work. Tonight, he did dishes, cleaned our bathroom, and did laundry! He's also been working for the last 2 nights with DD14 on her science project. He did all the math...she and I will assemble it according to his calculations tomorrow, and take pictures to send to her teacher.

She is doing a flat model of the solar system to scale. 10 cm to 1 AU. An AU is an Astronomial Unit, and represents the distance from Earth to the Moon--if I remember correctly. All distances from the sun to each planet had to be converted from AU to centimeters, and scaled down. They chose to do 10 cm to 1 AU. The farthest distance is almost 4 meters...so we can't do this on the kitchen table. We'll be taking the string, gourds to represent planets, and something for the sun, down to the park tomorrow. We need to do it on the asphalt parking lot so that it will show up in the pictures. Our yard isn't going to work.

Stepson has a pulmonary funtion test in the morning. We will finally put to rest a 14 year debate over whether he does, or does not, have asthma. The ex has always said he did, however no doctor on record has ever heard him wheeze, seen him having an attack, or any sort of breathing problems at all--except when he had pneumonia once as a complication of having tubes put in his ears. She always took him to the ER the next day...or to the doctor days later, and claimed he had an asthma attack. 100% of the time it was tied to visitation by hubby or his parents...she didn't want them to see stepson. One ER visit note says "Mother's chief complaint is that she doesn't want the child to visit with his father today. "

She had the pediatrician prescribe an inhaler twice in the last year, and told us that he was to use it every 6 hours...when the doctor had actually prescribed it for "as needed" use only. It's been psycho. Now that hubby scheduled the test--after the most recent prescription for an inhaler--she says "Oh, well...he had it when he was younger. I know that for sure. He might have outgrown it now." We shall see. It's not likely we'll know anything tomorrow. But then again, maybe so.

Pet update...Lily is wagging her tail a little, but only to one side. She is lifting it some, but not straight out as she used to. There is improvement...so we're hopeful.

Snowflake has a couple of red places on him again. He may have to go get another shot when we have the money. :( The vet said if it was a food allergy, it could take 6-8 weeks to completely clear up, and it hasn't been that long yet...so we're still waiting. Making sure he eats nothing but the special allergy free food. Now

Rugs has been biting at his back, and we have no idea why. He isn't pulling out hair-yet! He has never had any sort of allergy, this is new for him. Will give him a bath tomorrow and see if that helps. It's been too cold for the last couple of weeks to give him a bath, but tomorrow it will be near 40. Even though he's inside, he is so tiny that he gets cold very easily...and he hates the blow dryer.

The stray cat is still around. I haven't seen it, but the kids and hubby saw it over the weekend. I wish it would just go away!

I guess that's about it for today. Hope everyone is having a terrific week!

Mondays are always bad

But today hasn't been too horrible! DD14 and I had a little trouble with pre-algebra, but she did eventually get back on track and complete her work. Hubby helped her get started on her science project after he got home, and she didn't complain about it at all.

DD12 spends most of her time these days in her room. She only comes out for food, it seems...three times a day. I pulled her out and took her to the post office and pharmacy this afternoon, and then again an hour or so later to make apple fritters. I bought apples a couple of weeks ago, and told her that she could make fritters, and then we forgot. She really enjoyed doing it. She mixed them, and I fried them.

DD14 on the other hand, says that she doesn't want to be in her room--she's usually sitting at the kitchen table--because she doesn't want to be all alone. LOL They truly couldn't be more different! Quick update on her meds...the Vyvanse is working great! It's a very low dose, and she is still somewhat scattered and frustrated during school work, but her mood has remained stable. I'm thankful, and hope it continues.

Stepson had his first counseling session this morning. His mother actually showed up! She doesn't usually go to counseling, and he hasn't been there since September. Hubby said it went well. Issues were brought out, and the therapist is now up to speed. Hubby would like to continue taking him once a week, but it will be a couple of weeks until the next appointment because she's booked up.

I worked again tonight. I absolutely dread working. I don't know which is worse...when someone does speak, or when they hang up. I think I do like the answering machines, though. LOL I'm going to put myself on a schedule daily, so that I can better utilize my time and accomplish something that will help me get out of that job.

Hubby is considering going back to school. If he does, I will quit. He will be gone from 6 am until 11 pm during the week, and he'll get quite a bit of extra money for going. I won't need the $8 an hour to help with anything.

Not a lot to write about today. It's going on 2 am, and I should go to bed. Can't sleep in...school work continues whether I'm tired or not. Hope tomorrow goes as smoothly as today has!

What else is new?

 Kids are crazy, and I'm broke...but I guess it could be worse!

Hubby got stepson in to his therapist, but she wouldn't see him until part of the bill for our family was paid. We've been billed for $200. I assumed she wanted at least $100, and hubby said something about $225--and again, I assumed that was the entire bill. WRONG! The entire bill is $550!!!! We've never seen a bill for $350 of that. She wants half, which is the $225.

After getting slammed with propane, and we had a huge cell bill because it's the one the girls's phones are on, with prorated charges, etc.---and they've not been giving us our 15% off discount, and we have $112 in other medical expenses to pay...we had just enough money in the bank to give the therapist $225. That means, we're broke. I think there will be about $50 in the bank when all is said and done.

It's absolutely necessary that stepson get back into therapy, so we had no choice. He's out of control, and even shoved hubby yesterday :( 

We also have nothing left in savings. Hubby used his AAFES card and bought a couple Visa gift cards to cover us with gas, and DD14 HAS to have new jeans--this weekend is 50% off at Goodwill, and I'm taking her in just a few minutes. 

On the up side, our state tax return has been processed, and we should have the money next week! Just checked on it this morning. That money is ours to spend, and although it's only $268, it's something. It makes up for what we had to pay the therapist anyway.

We have a roof over our head, meat in the freezer, and we'll get by.

Hubby and I played Wii bowling last night. We both won some and lost some, but I beat the previous high score record (also set by me), and bowled a 215 game. We also did 100 pin...and we both suck at that! LOL Hubby holds the record there of just under 1900, and the highest either of us got last night was 16something.

He just came back from getting the mail, so I need to run to Goodwill! Don't know if I'll get to update tonight or not. :) If not, for sure on Monday!

What a freakin' day!

Woke up at 7 am, so that DD14 could get bloodwork. There was about an inch to an inch and a half of snow on the ground. Hubby took her to get it done. :)

He got back, and ordered propane...the price went up tremendously! We have a lock-in price plan with Ferrell Gas. It's supposed to be $1.799 a gallon--and we thought it was for an entire year. We were wrong. It's for the minimum amount that we are required to buy per year. 600 gallons. Well, we use close to 1000 gallons a year! So we had to pay $530 instead of $380. That was a big difference--and almost my entire grocery budget. But we have to have heat. Now...waiting to see when they'll bring it. Hopefully tomorrow.

My W-2 came in the mail today, so I was able to file our taxes. All but $100 of that money is spent already--local taxes, property taxes, and DD12's braces. At least we have the money to cover what we need it for!

After all of that, hubby and I went to the commissary. I didn't buy any extras, and came out with enough food for two weeks, spending only $124.90. I bought a 4.5 pound rump roast, a 5 pound pork roast, 2 large packs of pork chops, 10 pounds of ground pork, 6 pounds of ground beef, 2 extremely large stuffing pork chops, 1 small pack of boneless pork ribs, 3 packs of chicken thighs, a large pack of boneless-skinless chicken breasts, lots of frozen veggies, some pork and beans--so I can make my yummy baked beans--10 boxes of cereal (At $1.50 a box for Hunny Bunches of Oats and Fiber One frosted shredded wheat!), some pasta, spaghetti sauce, toiler paper, 2 sugar-free syrup, brown rice, ketchup, sesame oil, shampoo, conditioner, and small jar of Brandy Butter--it's butter with brandy in it! It was 50 cents, and I've been wondering what it is since I saw it before Christmas. LOL I think we did pretty good for what we spent.

While we were out, hubby asked me if I'd like to go on a couple's bonding retreat! Talk about shocked...this is very unlike him. I agreed, and we're going to do it. It's free, sponsored by the military. Hotel is free, meals are free, counseling is free, all of the class and small group sessions are free, and they incorporate free time for us to spend together sight seeing, or just doing whatever. I think it'll be a good thing! No idea when we're going to go...and no idea what we'll do with the kids. It's a 3 day event...Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Stepson will be with his mother, but the girls...we have to figure out who they can stay with. 

We had delicious pork chops for dinner--the only way I like them. Boil in water with lots of onion, some salt, and pepper. Then remove from the water, and place on a baking sheet. Strain out the onion, and put on top of the chops. Squirt some Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ on there, and bake until the BBQ sauce is set.

As always, stepson drama took place today. Hubby was just leaving to go get him...and saw that he'd called. The message said "Don't come get me until tomorrow." WTF? Hubby called him back, and said he'd be there in 25 minutes. Stepson yelled "I told you not to come and get me!" and hung up. Uh-oh...guess who just lost their phone privileges?

Hubby  called the ex, and told her either he continues to come every Thurs-Monday or it goes back to Fri-Fri. She actually backed him up, and gave the option to stepson. Stepson decided he would choose Thurs-Mon. The reason is...he's suspended from school, and home alone during the week if he's there. Here, DH and I are home. He played video games all day at his mother's today while she was at work. Some punishment there!

So, hubby tells him to hand over the phone, and he refuses. Then lies and says it's at his mother's house. So hubby calls her, and tells her that if she finds it, she needs to hold on to it until hubby can get it from her--because stepson wouldn't tell anyone where it was for her to just go get it. Hubby was extremely frustrated with his attitude.

I took charge...and butted in. I took hubby by the arm, walked up to stepson, and told him he had 1 hour to tell his dad where the phone is, or it's gone forever. I also informed him that due to his lying attitude, it's already gone for a month anyway--it's a month to month, and runs out on the 3rd anyway. 15 minutes later, the phone was in hubby's hand, and his attitude was gone.

Hubby is calling to make him a counseling appointment tomorrow.

I think we're going to play some Mario Bros. tonight, and I'm really wanting some choc. chip cookies...