'Tis the Season.....

First of all, I just want to say that this weather sucks. It is very hard for me to get into the Christmas Spirit when the temperature is in the 50's and it is pouring rain out.

Now where was I......

'Tis the season for giving. This week has been filled with long nights for me. I gave these pieces to the people at work. I also gave one to each of the sprouts teachers and the daycare provider and her sister who picks up my sprout from school everyday.

I made these 20 pieces last night. I made 4 of the same things on Wed. night. Both nights were all nighters for me. I even started this project on Tuesday night. I am glad I did get them done though. They turned out great. To give you an idea of the size of each of those, that bench is only 23 inches in depth and those fit nicely into a half fold greeting card envelope. Which is how I delivered them today with the card that I designed as well.

Everyone loved them. I even gave one to the two ladies that seem to think that they are my boss as well. They, however, will not get to see them until the first of the year because they are on vacation now. It is the thought that counts. An olive branch? I doubt it.

Speaking of the thought that counts. I dropped off the sprout at preschool on Wed. and they were going to have a little concert when we picked them up so the parents might want to come early to hear the 3-4 songs that they have been singing this month. Since the sprouts dad NEVER picks her up from school but was on duty right across the street that day, I decided to call him and let him know just in case he might be able to walk across. He was walking out as I was walking in, apparently he had to go because of his job. I tried.

The sprouts and I finished up some Christmas shopping this week and they got to pick out something for their dad as well. As much as I cannot stand him right now, it is still my job as their mom to make sure that they have a gift for their dad.

He sent me an email sometime Wed night and wanted to know if he could have the sprouts the next night for a birthday party that they were invited to. Mind you the party was for his wife's grandson, so I am pretty sure that this was not a last minute planned party because they had to travel 40 miles to get to the place for the party and the kids. After emailing and text messaging back and forth to get the details...when do you need them, when are they going to be home, etc. I finally decided to let them go. I did have plans but I put them off for a bit. The sprouts had a good time and we finished the stuff I had planned when they got back.

His wife sent me a message on the computer this morning thanking me for letting the sprouts go last night. I figured she was going to complain to me for not letting the sprouts spend the night with them. That is usually the way that conversation goes, but 'tis the season.

I hope everyone has a blessed Christmas Holiday, and a Happy New Year!

The Christmas Program

The childrens Christmas program at our church was yesterday afternoon. The kids have been working on this program since before Thanksgiving. I had to ask the sprouts dad if they can be in the program because it was going to fall on his weekend. He did not have a problem with them being in the program. I had recently asked him if I could have them all day yesterday so that they could attend church in the morning which would be their final practice as well before the program in the afternoon, since they would not be able to attend the dress rehearsal the day before because he had things planned for the sprouts. He agreed to let me have them and I offered to trade a day with him as well for that time, and he took me up on that. This whole time I was assuming that he was not going to attend because he made no effort to take the sprouts to the program and he traded the day for me. He also had never attended a church program the sprouts have been in either. I did ask him in email to reconsider he attendance to the program this year. The oldest is excited about her part in the program as she had three speaking parts this year. I got no response and left it at that.

I picked up the sprouts from his house yesterday morning and he had no mention of showing up. The sprouts had their hair all done up and ready to go. I asked them if they knew if their dad was going to come to the program and they said that they wanted to but didn't think so because they thought I would get made at them coming to the program. I told the sprouts that I would not get mad, that I kind of have been trying to get them to come as well. The oldest wanted to call them to ask them to come. We tried three different phone numbers and left messages on all three numbers. He called me a short time later as we are getting ready to head to the church. He wanted to know what time it started, because he was at the church already. I was surprised at that, but glad he was there. I guess putting the time on the calendar that we use together for the sprouts events was worth putting it in a half hour early.

So, all went well. He even brought his parents to the program as well, which really surprised me. I could tell when the sprouts spotted their dad in the crowd because they got a big smile on their face, and even did the sneaky wave to him as well.

He and had chatted briefly and it was a pleasant conversation at that. There was a few awkward moments with his wife and I passing at times, but everything went well. I am just really glad that he decided to come to the program.

The busy season....

...well only if you procrastinate a bit. Once again I stayed up to complete a stainglass piece last night, because I have to deliver it tonight. I have known about this piece since about Spring time. Why rush into things. I did get it done, and even got a nap in as well. Here are some pictures of it. Yes, it is similar to one I have done before.

I took the sprouts to visit santa last weekend. The youngest wants talking furniture type stuff. Not sure where that is going to go. I asked why, they already have a kitchen to play with. The answer I got was "But, it does not talk to me" Great I talk to them and they do not it when I do talk to them.

A quick note on my legal issues with the ex. I finally received a copy of the proposal from him, and he has switched everything around for the visitation schedule, and has not addressed any of the issues I had, which are the reason for the legal battle in the first place. Him changing the visitation schedule is only done because I filed court papers on him. All I want is the money I suppose to have according to our divorce decree. My lawyer modified the proposal again for me, and I am in a holding pattern again. Been holding since July when I filed the papers. I am not in a hurry now to sign anything until the main issues are resolved.

Another busy weekend is ahead for me. I have about 5 more stainglass pieces to do, hopefully I can get some of them done this weekend. The tree still has not had a home found for it yet, so that is at the top of the list. Hopefully sleep is in there as well. The sprouts have their church Christmas program on Sunday. That should be interesting. The oldest has speaking parts, and during rehearsal said them as fast as she could and as quiet as she could as well. The youngest gets to sing three songs, of which will probably only do the motions to the songs and not sing along.

A busy Holiday Weekend!

I started on Wednesday night heading to the big city, an hour away, with my mom for company. I needed to pick up some glass for a project to be completed by Saturday Morning. Last minute thing. We got the glass, then did some other shopping as well had dinner and home we went.

On Thursday, I spent the entire day cleaning my house. I even worked through the night, I was on a roll and really did not want to stop. On Friday, I helped my grandmother bake 6 pies. I made the pies actually she just supervised and got the crust ready. I got up there early in the morning so I could head out and get ready for other plans for the evening. My sister showed up at grandmas anyways so she could take the last two pies out of the oven for me.

My other plans, got cancelled. Which turned out to be a good thing because I was up the entire night created two stainglass pieces for our family Christmas on Saturday.

Here are some pictures of the two pieces that I created. They were for my cousin and her friend that she invited to our Christmas this year. She was not able to make it home for Thanksgiving this year, so my cousin took her in for the holiday. The pieces are lamps in their college colors. They loved them.

I finished the two pieces around 6:30am in the morning and was able to get about an hour and a half of sleep before having to go pick up the sprouts and take them to their swim lessons. Of which I swam with one while the other was taking their lesson. On hour and a half in the pool. We headed up to the family gathering and had a great time this year. Everyone was in a good mood, and talkative to everyone else. It was a nice change of pace for once.

We spent the evening at my parents house, which is an adventure in itself trying to get 2 four year olds to go to bed at the same time. Eventually they settled down, and it did not take me long to pass out for the evening as well.

Now I just have to get ready for Christmas.

It was and accident.....

This weekend, the entire family was around at my parents because we had family pictures taken on Saturday. With a new addition to the family this year, it was a must for new pictures. My niece is just 6 months younger than my youngest sprout. So they are best buds when they get together. On Friday, I was suppose to accompany them both on the pre-school field trip, but that got cancelled due to weather. They both attended class for a few hours together then lunch and off the grandmas to play for the day.

On Saturday we all had things to do in the morning before heading off to get the pictures taken. So, we ended up with three cars at the place for pictures. After the hour and a half session of which we did not get what we were promised because someone took their management position for granted, (of which has been corrected since) I really hate being lied to, that is all I am going to say on that. We went shopping for a bit, because a bribe was in place if you stand and smile and behave for pictures. They found the treasure that they wanted and then took in a treat and drink and off for grandmas so the adults could watch the big football game. My dad and younger sister and her daughter took off in one car. I volunteered to take my other niece with my two sprouts and my mom, after all they wanted to ride together and my car was big enough for that. My twin sister went back with her spouse and 3 month old. I am pretty sure I was on the wrong end of this deal for the next hour. All three kids talked the whole way home, there was a movie going but I am sure they were not watching it. We arrived at grandmas house and they played with their new toys all evening long.

On Sunday, I met my twin sister and family at the golden arches after church, then her spouse and I took the three kids to the movies, while she went back to grandmas with the baby. Again I am not sure that was a good idea, but they all had fun. On the way home, the two four year olds were exchanging time out stories from their respective daycares. The things that go through their minds. After my niece was done telling her story mine turns to her and says "Did you tell them that it was an accident!" Like that is how she gets out of time out. Yeah it was an accident that she walked across the room and slugged another kid for picking on one of her friends. My brother in law and I had all we could do not to laugh at their conversation. They do not miss much.

Way to busy!!

There is nothing like the holiday season to keep a person busy. Maybe it is the flu season that is keeping me busy? Over the weekend last weekend, I put up the outside Christmas lights for my grandmother. She never lights them before Thanksgiving, but I get them up for her before then. Of course it was raining and snowing. It never is nice weather when I do my part in that tradition.

I created a stainglass piece last weekend as well. Pictures will be later as it was one of three pieces to complete the project. I have several to get done now. Hopefully I can find the time to do those.

My youngest got a small bout of the stomach crud that was going around here this week, so I was home from work for half a day. Luckily I am set up to do work at home so I was not to far behind. The only problem with that was, I was taking a vacation day yesterday from work so that put a little kink in getting everything caught back up.

After running the kids around to all of their appointments this week, I was looking forward to all of my scheduled events on Thursday. Of which my Thursday was packed in time wise. I dressed up in a "pants suit" outfit. That makes work wonder if I am looking for a new job, and frankly I like to let them wonder that. After work I had to take the sprouts to get their hair cut, then drop them off at their dads. He did not want to take them to get their hair cut, even though I already told the hair dresser what I wanted "the usual". He calls me when they are about done with their hair cuts and wanted to know if we were still in town. He said he was in town and would swing by to pick them up at the hair place. He forgot, and had gone to daycare to pick up the sprouts, but I already had gotten them for their appointment. I was glad he did pick them up because I needed to leave to make it on time for my dinner date. Yep, I had a date this week and it was awesome. We had about an hour together before I had to go to another appointment, which I had scheduled along time ago and the main reason I was 40 miles from home that night. I also scheduled it that way, just in case things were not going well on the date. First time either of us had seen each other. Yep, it was an online thing. After my other appointment I went back into work to finish catching up on everything and finally called it a night.

Friday, for my vacation day I was suppose to go with 14 preschools to a buffalo farm. But, some of the parents dropped their kids off not dressed for the weather, which was not rainy, but a little cold not to bad though. And they asked the teacher, you aren't still planning on going are you. So, she was kind of stuck, so the kids did not go. But, I got to spend the day with my twin sister and my almost three month old nephew and his sister. My niece and my youngest are only 6 months apart with mine being the oldest. These two can't live with each other and cannot live with out each other. We all had a great day. It was grandparents day at school so my oldest got grandma and grandpas attention this afternoon. And got to leave school early with grandma after it was over.

My former in-laws came to grandparents day as well. The teacher did not know they were coming, because my former mother-in-law did not want my sprout to be disappointed if they did not show up. To me that equals I cannot commit my self to coming until the day arrives. That is just has she is and has been her whole life. The other problem was that the kids had art projects to do with the grandparents except mine only had one to do because I sent in the reservation for my parents. My mom let his mom take the art work home and the teacher gave my sprout the stuff to do another one for my mom at a later time. Which my sprout completed it at grandmas house later that evening. There was another issue with her not telling them they were coming in that he is in a wheel chair. Luckily I had given the teacher a heads up on him being in a wheel chair, early in the week. I wanted to let the teacher know that my mom has a physical disability, and would be able to sit in the little kids chairs. She cannot bend her knee on one leg because most of her knee cap is gone.

Well, I am off for swim lessons with the sprouts today, and family pictures as well. I hope everyone has a blessed Thanksgiving. I have to help my grandmother on Friday back about 8 pies for our family gathering on Saturday.

As far as the proposal with my ex. I am still in a holding pattern it has been 17 days since we had a meet and greet with our lawyers, and no word on if he is going to accept my deal or not. Which is fine with me right now, because I get more support from him until he agrees on it. It will definitely be over with on 12/5 because that is the court date.

Finally back online!!!!

These are some more pumpkins I carved on the weekend before Halloween. I tried to post them last week, but there was a serious meltdown with the internet in my area. My home line was down, my work line was down as well. I was almost starting to have withdrawals.

This was the first year I tried my hand at carving a pumpkin. Let me tell you that is a lot of work put they truly are very cool when you light them up. The university of Texas one took me about 6 hours to do. I did the Ohio State Buckeye first, that is why he does not look that good. I am not an OSU fan, but some in my family are, by marriage I might add. The Notre Dame one is my favorite. I gave the Texas one to my pastor at church. He is an alum and now works in Michigan, so I thought that would be fun to give him that. I actually carved 7 pumpkins that weekend on top of the three I carved the weekend before with my sprouts. We put a float in the Halloween parade in town so the pumpkins were actually for the float. My hand was so sore and I had a blister on the side of one of my fingers. It was a good thing I did not have to bowl on Halloween. I would have never gotten my finger into the bowl let alone pull it out to release the ball. I could not even write correctly the rest of the week. That was entertaining enough

On Wednesday afternoon, I had a meet and greet with my lawyer and my former spouse and his lawyer to hash out some things that I have been trying to get hashed out since August. Let's just say a root canal would have more exciting. I finally made a proposal and am waiting to hear if he accepts it.

I finally got to my leaves that were in my yard this weekend. I started on them Friday night. The sprouts helped me with them on Saturday. Actually they played in them on Saturday. The pile was taller than they were. There was a Grand Am parked on the street next to the pile of leaves and you could not see the car at one point.

Ready for Halloween

Well the great pumpkin carving took place this past weekend. On Saturday the sprouts picked out their perfect pumpkin and mom got one as well. Here is a view of all three of them. This one is my oldest's who will be a princess kind of person with wings. A crown and wand were necissary to complete the outfit, and an added touch of lights have been placed around the wings. This one is mine, It says "Trick or Treat" on it. Maybe hard to read for some. (The green in the center is the battery operated light that changes colors.) I will not be wearing a costume, however I have been drafted to ride on the float to watch the sprouts so that they do not fall off. This will be the one time that I will not like snow in the forcast. This one belongs to the youngest, that announced a witch costume will work for this year. Bonus, we had one in storage that is home made and fits. An added touch of lights will be added to the hat this year. The sprouts enjoyed cleaning out the pumpkins and they picked out their design as well. Mom helped carve them for them. A good time was had by all. They really like them when the lights are on inside.

Co-Workers who want to be bosses!!!

I need to vent here for a moment. My boss, who happens to be married to the owners step-daughter, and he and I graduated from college together, also supervises two other women in his department. I am in my own department. I am the only one that works in my department. We all work upstairs in the office of a manufacturing facility.

I was gone all day last Monday on a vacation day. I left early on Thursday because I did not feel well. I am on some new meds that my system is not liking very much. Now, I am not the type of person to leave work every time I do not feel well. I work through headaches, colds, whatever. I am not one to just not come in to work because I do not feel like it. I had all my work done that I had to do before I left and I notified the Vice President of the company I was leaving because my boss was not going to be in until the afternoon, because he daughter who is in fifth grade had mono so his wife who works here at well were taking turns coming in. She came in the mornings because of the stuff she does and he comes in after lunch. He did a lot of work from his home because he could get his work email at home. I had emailed him as well to let him know of the situation, and I left about an hour before he was coming in anyways.

Now, I normally come back into work on the evenings that the sprouts are at their dads. This is usually right after I get done bowling, but not always. I usually am here for two to three hours, sometimes more. I get a lot of little stuff done that I normally cannot get done during the day, because the phone is ringing or one of the 5 other plants needs something or just everyday stuff that is a priority to me gets done first. It is nice to just be able to get a solid couple of hours to concentrate on things. I am salary so it really does not matter to some if they work their necessary hours or not or go an extra mile or not for a company. I does matter to me.

So, on Friday I came into work and got caught up from being gone the day before. Which only took me about an hour to do, there was not much work that needed to be done. I went and put some prints on my bosses desk for him to go over when he comes in later. While I was doing that the lady that works for him and is right next to his office was just ranted up a storm to the lab tech who will get out of any work possible if he can, and has every excuse as to why things are not done yet. This guy never tips a waitress because he has every excuse as to why they do not deserve one. Anyways, they are talking about me being gone and who supervises me when I am here at night and how can I be gone when I do not feel well and on and on and on. I could sit in my office and hear everything she was talking that loud. She has a high regard for her boss as well, because according to her his spine and other parts are missing from his body as well, and she has to do all this other stuff because he won't do it.

I just love these people that have to know exactly what the whole office is doing and that they are following all the rules. I was not aware this office had a rules enforcing police, but apparently she got that position when I was out sick for the half a day. Tomorrow should be fun, I am not going to be in the office at all in the morning because I have to go to another plant to give a training session to them. This is at the request of the Vice President, and my boss does know. Wonder if I should clear it with her to make sure that it is ok that I be gone in the morning? Naaaa, that would take the fun out of what could be an interesting week around here.

Hope You Enjoy The Color!

Here are a few pictures of the fall color from northern Michigan this past weekend.

This is the view I had everyday from the deck of our cabin.

Here is some of the color we saw near Houghton, Michigan and around Keewanaw bay on Lake Superior Saturday afternoon.

This was taken from Presque Isle in Marquette on Sunday.

And these are a few pictures on our way home on Monday. They are all taken south of the Bridge. Yes I was multi-tasking at the time, driving and picture taking.

A great time was had by all. I took my mom and grandmother up with me for the weekend. Grandma had a wonderful time, and she enjoyed the drives we took each day. It was great, we got to eat at all our favorite restuarants on both days and never cooked a meal at home. The weather was in the mid 70's both days. The color peaked probably around Wednesday or Thurdsay up there. We saw some good color but a lot of it was gone. At our cabin most of the leaves had fallen already. The northern lower pennisula of Michigan had better color than the upper and better on Friday than on Monday when we were coming home.

No big wild life around. :( We did see some deer, but I was hoping for a bear or a Moose. There will always be next time.

We were getting things around on Sunday night and mom and I had to go back into town to get a few things and the lady working in the store was going to be heading down state this Thursday. She was heading toward I-96 and US 23 which is in the general area between Lansing and Detroit. I was laughing to myself about her carrying on about her trip. I know where she is going because that is right near my sister, and she said that you would have thought that she was heading to Europe for this trip. I think if the "UPers" cross the bridge it is like entering a foreign country to them and they really have not even left the state they live in.

I was kind of bummed that they were going to be getting snow this week and I was leaving and going to miss it. Only to discover that we have snow in our forcast as well, bonus. I know a lot of you are not that excited about it, sorry.

All 3's

Ok I have been Tagged so here it goes:

All the 3s... Here are some things about me

3 smells I love:
Hot Apple Pie
Cinnamon
Orange

3 smells I hate:
Coffee (Sorry)
Body odor
Beer

3 jobs that I have had in my life:
Engineering Manager
Quality Manager
Video Store Manager

3 movies that I could watch over and over:
Good Morning Vietnam
The Shawshank Redemption
Sister Act 1 & 2

3 fond memories:
Going out Friday nights with my Grandparents
The birth of my two sprouts
Christmas at my other Grandparents

3 jobs I would love to have:
Making stainglass pieces full time
Web page designer
Continuing Education Teacher (Adults not kids)

3 places that I have lived:
Reading, Michigan
On Campus Tri-State University
Angola, Indiana

3 things I like to do:
Do Stuff with the kids
Create stainglass pieces
Work on the computer

3 of my favorite foods:
Seafood
Gingerbread cake w/lemon sauce
Grandmas fresh cherry dumplins

3 places I would like to be right now:
Around a campfire by the lake watching the sunset
Outside hanging out with the kids
With my twin sister rocking my nephew

3 websites that I visit daily:
www.yahoo.com
www.boatnerd.com
www.ebay.com

3 things that make me cry:
Onions
Disappointing my children at times
A Broken heart

3 friends that I am tagging:
All my friends in the tagging world have been tagged

...and it just Freaked me out!!

To add to my busy schedule, the sprouts are taking gymnastics once a week. They have been begging me to take them, so I finally found ones that fit everyone's schedule. The youngest has her 40 minute lesson, then we have dinner before the oldest has her lesson. I was putting the finishing touches on dinner last night and chatting with the 4 1/2 year old about her lesson. I do not stay for it, the oldest and I zip to the library a few blocks away and I do the same with the youngest later in the evening as well. Anyways, I was asking what all did they do today, did you get to do the bar, the trampoline,etc. I asked did you do the balance beam, which is a mat like beam that sits on the floor and is about 6 inches tall and maybe 8 - 10" wide. I saw them do that last week. She says "We had to go sideways, forwards, and backwards on it" excitingly telling me this. Then she says that "It just freaked her out" and on she went about her business. The mind of a child. :) They enjoy it, and they love going to the library as well, so life is good on Mondays.

2 more days before my mini vacation to the upper pennisula of Michigan. It is suppose to rain up there this weekend but I do not care, life is always good when ever I can get up there. I missed the seafood festival earlier this year, so I am glad I can get up there at all this year. I have had to do some last minute arrangements to get the sprouts to all of there stuff this weekend, but I have finally accomplished that as well. Now, all that is left is laundry and packing a few clothes for the trip.

My twin sister was trying to find away to go up as well for that weekend, which would of been really cool because I would have gotten to rock my nephew all weekend. He loves me! Well, he loves to spit up on me. :) I do not mind though, he is such a cutie. But, she is not going, and to be honest none of her SUV vehicles are big enough to pack everything that SHE would want to bring for both kids. Mind you there are lots of toys up there already and the little sprout does not require food yet, and there is a washer and dryer there as well. But, she still cannot make it.

A week in review....

I now have a 7yr. She had a great birthday! She got to take treats to school, had a small birthday cake on Friday, and a bigger cake on Saturday with the rest of the family. We went up to my sisters to have the party, so my grandma could see the baby. Everyone had a great time. The 7yr received her new bike for her birthday and she loves it. Rides it when ever possible. She is so tall that a new bike is in order almost every year, but I think I have found one that will last for quite sometime, it has a lot of adjustments on it. Now I have to take the old bike and make it usable for the 4yr because she is also very tall for her age and needs a new bike as well. It all works out in the end.

I help out with the computer at church and put the music in so that it is ready to go for the Sunday services. Well they have upgraded the program that is used, so Sunday the people running it were pretty much doing it blindly. But it was not to bad. I could not figure out everything I needed to figure out on it, in the 2 hours that I had to work with it. I have since figured out more stuff, so hopefully tonight will be a piece of cake getting the music in.

Besides the birthday this weekend was great. The girls and got to swim together. They have swim lessons on Saturdays so while one is having a lesson I swim with the other one and visa versa. They enjoy it. They have been swimming since before they were 3yrs old. We also stopped by my grandma's house after church on Sunday so she could see the girls clothes the she got them for the birthday party. She was so excited to see us again. I grew up seeing my grandma everyday, she lived only 5 miles from us and in town so we had to go to her house after school, while my mom and to finish up stuff at school as a teacher. Out of the 7 grandchildren and 9 great-grandkids, my sisters and I are the only ones she gets to see often. We try to see her as often as we can just because she enjoys it.

I have decide to take a little mini vacation next weekend, and my mom and grandma are going with me. I am just going to spend the weekend at the family cabin and grandma has not been up there that much this year, and mom won't let me go by myself, so they are both going. I usually ask grandma anyways, being 94 and the original owner of the place it is only fair to take her along. She already has the meals planned out for the 2 days we are going to be there. That will probably change some, but you can tell she is excited to be going.

I usually plan a lot of stuff to do, but not this time. I only have a small road trip planned and that will be no different than going to town anyways for a few groceries, so life will be good. Just sit down by the lake and watch time pass me by for two days. Weather permitting, and a few house winterizing projects to do first, nothing to big though.

Annoying/Applause

What really annoys me are people that always see the negative in everything. When someone just wants a friend to listen, the friend seems to have to take the other side and criticize what you are saying all the time. Luckily I do not have friends that do that anymore, I erased them from my Christmas list. But there are still people out there that no matter what you do or say it is never right in their book and they may not even know the entire situation, which doesn't matter to them you still are in the wrong in their eyes. I personally think those people do it to escape their issues what ever they maybe.

I do not even watch the news anymore, one I do not get any local TV stations and I do not watch the national news either. Someone told me that one "Cable" news stations letters stand for Continuous Negative News after listen to it for awhile I had to agree. I am still up and the news locally, regionally, and world wide. I take what I want and leave the rest.

I am glad that my "venting specialist" is the way that she is. Listens, doesn't really criticize me or tell me that I should have done it one way or the other. She makes suggestions and I take them or leave them, usually when I leave them, turns out I should have taken them. But some "venting specialist" tell people what they should be doing and turns out that made it worse, but that is the way they are. Not saying it is good or bad, and that is what makes this country the way it is. Everyone gets to have an opinion.

So I applaud those people that just listen, but sometimes that is all a person wants is a pair of ears for awhile. To those that do not know when to just listen, eventually you will know when you should have just listened.

Mountain out of a mole hill.....

Well my life the past month or so has been stuck in a legal battle with my former spouse. According to the final papers he has to pay me half of the medical bills after I pay so much first. I used up my allotment back in April. I gave him the spread sheet of everything he asked a few questions said he was going to have to talk to the insurance people...blah blah blah. A month later I sent a certified letter stating what was 30 days past due, he signed for it...fine. Later I sent another certified letter and he never picked it up nor did her picked up the other 3 that I sent over the course of the summer. I asked him in person when I picked up the sprouts if he was going to reimburse me his share of the medical bills and he said yes that he was waiting to hear back from the insurance company. Which now is 2 months later. When I got back from vacation I filed a contempt of court at the court house and got a court date in August. I received an email from him a few days after I filed that said that he had heard from the insurance company. Great now I might get to see some money which is almost half way to 4 digits now. Court arrives almost 30 days after he has heard from the insurance company, no money yet, and he is a no show because he did not sign for the certified letter. Judge sets a new date, and has his papers served by sheriff. A week later I get an email saying that I am going to be getting a check for so much and that the rest he will figure up and get to me at the end of the year. I sent back the spread sheet he attached and filled in the stuff he was missing, and never mentioned anything like "that will be fine to get the rest at the end of the year." I just let the time frame go, no point in beating on it. I figured that he got his papers. A few days later I pick up my certified letter from him, actually his wife did everything, wrote the check addressed the envelope wrong. It was part of the money, and I received a little more the next week.

During this whole time he has changed the visitation schedule to his liking without discussing it with me, of which I told him I did not like that schedule but would be glad to sit down with him to work one out, and he wants other things changed, because he would have to pay for part of it now. Then another email comes wanting to know why he got served papers. Because I did not have any money from you at that time, was my response. He came back with I told you I will get you the money when I get the insurance papers back. I did not respond back, I hate getting into an email "fight" with him, he just sends it to his wife to respond, not worth my time to go there.

So, now the court date has been changed twice by his lawyer and the court because he has filed a motion to have the visitation changed and the child support lowered. Now I really have no money, and grow deeper in debt to my parents for the lawyer fees, and I am not all that confident that the child support isn't going to be lowered. At least my lawyer thinks it won't so that is a good thing I guess.

I have everything in order, have had for almost 2 months now. The new court date is on what use to be my wedding anniversary, hope that isn't a bad thing again. I will be glad when it is all over with, then maybe I can get some sleep and back to my normal life.

The sad part about this, is that most of this could be solved by just simple communication of which will never happen as long as he is married to her. I have sat down with the two of them before and tried to work some stuff out, but that just turned into her telling me how everything was my fault. Not doing that again.

The Verdict part 2

Once again it has been changed. My ex called my yesterday morning to tell me that he was having the oldest ride the bus from daycare to school because of the three hour fog delay, he could not take her to school because he had to be somewhere else. I was not happy because she has to transfer buses to get to her school which he was not aware of. She made it, but the story she told me this morning about it did not have any enthusiasm with it for getting to ride the bus to school for the first time. Anyways, when he is all done with that information, he then says that the court date tomorrow (meaning today) has been change and he gave me the time and day of the new date. Not pleased about this I call the court, which had no knowledge of the change but the person was out and I had to call back this morning to confirm. So, I did and yep he changed it, because he has retained counsel and he of course was on duty today and probably did not want to ask for the time off as well, which pisses me off because I have to get the time off no matter what. SO, I have an appointment with my lawyer soon as well. I am sure he is going to make a mountain out of a mole hill, and I might even try to get the lawyers to work it out now, which would be in the best interest of my ex since the judge is not all that thrilled that he did not show up the last time. Time will tell I guess. What is another couple of sleepless weeks, it is only time anyways, except now it is money.

Hodge Podge of stuff!!!!

The last couple of weeks have been a whirl wind of stuff going on...

1. My nephew has arrived finally, last Sunday 8/27 in the afternoon sometime. He arrived by c-section because he was 11 pounds and 6oz. That is 3oz less than what my twin sister and I weighed together. Mom and baby are doing just fine. His big sister loves him, despite him being a little sister for along time. She is over that now. :) He is a cutie with chubby cheeks and a head full of dark hair.

2. I finally have received some money from my former spouse. I thought it was because he got served his papers for court, but these came before he got the papers. He has brought up a few new issues that I am not happy with so we will just let the court decide on them. I am tired of negotiating with him so that he gets what he wants all the time, to change later because they do not work to his benefit later on. What he tells me in one email changes the next week in another email, so the man in the black robe can make the decision for him as far as I am concerned right now.

3. My oldest has been in school all day now, first grade and loves it.

4. I am going to vent here about my younger sister "red". We do not get along very well, and I will be cordial for the most part. I do not call her up to see how her day is going or anything like that. We have never really seen eye to eye on things for a very long time. She is divorced x2 and has a daughter, the oldest of the grandkids. She pretty much lives off my parents, even though she has her own place in an adjacent town. She works for my dad which is fine, but she seeks handouts for everything. Granted my parents have helped me out during my divorce and continue to do so if I need them to. I paid for my divorce, my parents paid for her 2 divorces. Anyways, my parents took out a lone for me to pay off my spouse from the divorce settlement. I would not be able to refinance my house and car if I had that loan in my name. I make the monthly payments on that loan so all is well. I clean my parents house most everyweekend for mom. She only has one third of a knee cap on one leg and cannot bend it hardly at all, and has been like that most of my life, so she cannot get on her hands and knees to clean stuff. She shattered her elbow a few years ago, rods and screws were required to put the splinter like pieces of bone back together with the hope that she would have at least a 10% movement in it. She lacks about 10% of full movement from it, but is still limited in doing stuff. So, instead of paying someone to come in to do her cleaning, I get paid to do it. Which usually is taken off of my loan payment for the month. I do not mind cleaning the house, I mind cleaning after "red" when she has spent the night at mom and dads. Mind you she only lives 20 minutes at most away. I have to always put away the blankets and pillows that she drags out of the closet in the room she sleeps in. I have to take care of all the stuff she gets out of the bathroom drawers and just leaves them on the counter when she is done instead of putting them back. It is just annoying. She was offered to clean the house for extra money but never did it. Go figure.

5. An exciting moment happened this weekend. 8 of us went to a county fair in an adjoining state on Sunday. This fair was my moms and grandmas fair many years ago. Most of us usually go every year, but this year we piled into an RV and took grandma along. She has not been there for many many years. She was dressed in her Sunday best for a 93yr. We pushed her around in a wheel chair, she only has 50% of her heart working from a heart attack a few years ago so the walking is out. We took her through a long cabin that her brother help build and had some items in it from her grandfather. She was in seventh heaven there. I glanced at a large quilt in the corner than had twelve or sixteen squares on it. Each square had a circle with a name on it and a wagon wheel of names embroidered around it. I asked my mom who a couple of names were and she said they were her grandma and grandfather, then I spotted my grandmas name on it. This quilt was made back in 1927 and the names on it were from the members of a small community back then. The people were so excited that my grandmas name was on it and that she was still living. Someone came through a couple of hours ahead of us and said that no one was still living. They took a picture of my grandma in front of the quilt and she was in her glory.

The Verdict is....

Postponed until both parties appear at the same time. I had a court appearance this week to try to get some money from my former spouse that he owes me for medical expenses for the sprouts, all of which is stated in the divorce decree. He did not show because he did not pick up the certified letter that the court set him stating the date and time of court. I know this because one the court did not have a record of it, and two he has not picked up any of my certified letters to him since he signed for the first one back in May. I still have one at the post office which I will probably get back this week.

I showed up at court and apparently was the only case for the day. The clerk came in and asked me if I knew if he knew he was to be there today. I did not know but told her that I doubt he knows because of the mail situation. She said she was going to have to talk to the judge. She came back and told me to have a seat, that the judge wanted to put in on record that he was not there. It was a quick proceeding, and I have a new court date. So, I get to wait almost 3 weeks, and after the sheriff visits his employer I am sure I will get a phone call after that. Why is it that when the consequences of your actions are not to your liking, you blame other people for them? The judge did not seem very happy that my ex did not pick up his mail. He did not seem happy with the snail mail system either. :)

What can brown do for you......

Take care of a package that is not mine that is what they can do for me. A week ago, there was a package on my front steps when I got home from work. I was thinking to myself, I have not ordered anything to have a package delivered, but my birthday was the next day so maybe it was a gift from someone. NOPE, it was a package for my former spouses business, from the same people that tried to pick up something from my garage about a year ago, luckily I was home when that happened.

I put the package in the car and was headed out for my birthday plans with the sprouts, and find a guy in brown still working so, I turn around and make my way back to see if he can help me. I give him the package and explain that it was delivered to my house today and that it is not mine, it is my address but that person is my ex and has not been there for over two years now. He says not a problem I will mark it moved away, and off we go on our merry ways.

A few days later I get a postcard in the mail, for the same address as the package saying that they have a moved notice and where the package can be picked up at. I write on it not here anymore like the rest of the mail I get that is not mine and send it back thru the system.

This morning I get a phone call from my ex, "Did you have a package delivered to the house recently?", "Yep", "Did you send it back?", "Yep", "I told them the address had changed and gave them the new address a long time ago they just never changed it!" "I do not know what to tell you, you might contact the hub, they might be holding it there." Off he goes on his adventure to find his long lost package.

I have no idea if he got it or not. It was coming from the same town that his parents live in and is only 40 miles away from either of us, so I am not that concerned about it. He could have picked one up himself at some point and time, I have been there to do just that for him before the end of our marriage.

I did not feel that it was my responsibility to deliver it to him either. Either one of us apparently is not that thrilled with having contact with the other person, why I have no idea. I still inform him how doctors appointments go, dentists appointments and such, if I take them. If he takes them, I have to call him and find out how things went. If it was someone else's package that was not my neighbor I would have done the same thing, sent it back.

Awesome Weekend!

I had to fill in for my twin sister in her spouses company golf outing this weekend. She is expecting and due anytime, doctor says she is at 2cm today. A good time was had by all, at least for the 4 of us that made up our team. We took first place! Mind you my brother-in-law and I, and sister have golfed in tournaments before mostly just for fun. Anytime we can get out on the course is a good thing for us, so we really do not care how we do. He came in last place last year, and maybe the year before that, so first place is awesome for us. We were hooked up with his plant manager, and a sales rep. for one of the vendors. The sales rep is a competitive guy, but that did not bother either of us since we had only been able to make it out once so far this year. We rolled right along all day and it truly was a team effort. Everyone contributed off the tee at different times, and we all made putts and some point as well. When all was done we shot a 12 under, and that was good enough for first place by 3 shots I believe. We received 2 rounds of golf at a nice course near Detroit some where. Another road trip for me, but always a good road trip if golf is involved.

I won free gas for getting closest to the pin on one of the holes for the women. That was cool since I was the first name on the list. It was pretty close and we were shooting over a huge pond which was the courses signature hole. That paid for my gas up there.

I even got a door prize, everyone received a door prize.

The down side to the weekend, was that it took me 3 hours to get to my sisters when it normally takes 2hours or less. I got onto 96 and came to a crawl so I got off, I knew there was construction coming up and I knew there was another major road that ran parallel to 96 not far away, so I headed for that road. Thanks, to cell phones my mom helped me find the road I needed, with no problems. After a bit I got back on 96 to go about 1/2 mile and be at a crawl again, for what reason I have no idea but after about 4 miles of it, I got off and went back to the other road for the rest of my trip which took me to where I would have gotten off 96 anyways. That was a fun and exciting time.....NOT! I left work early to arrive at the same time I would have if I didn't leave early. And there is nothing like a 4yr back seat driver telling me where I can get off the highway to go faster and take a "shortcut" to make your evening.

We did arrive safely, and you cannot ask for more than that.