Please visit Robyn and Todd and congratulate them on their bebe boy! :) I've followed Robyn since 1997, so it's really cool to see their family grow.

Today was a good day, the work day just flew by, and I had a great evening with the kids. We went to KFC for dinner, they were really acting up while I stood in line, but the threat of taking our food home to eat was sufficient to settle them down.

Happy Boy will be having IQ testing and art therapy on the 7th and 8th with the school psychologist. I'm so happy that it's finally being done. I'm a little nervous about the art therapy -- with the events surrounding my dad's death and my ex-husband, I'm worried it may bring back some bad memories for him, but the psychologist said that while it may do just that, she would be better able to help him talk it out and continue the healing process.

On my drive to work, I realized that I have just 10 more years of Happy Boy before he goes off to college. That made me really sad :( I know 10 years is a long time, but looking back at the past 8 years, man, it went by so dang fast! It made me yearn even more for my own house. I want him to grow up and have memories of "our house". Not the 5 apartments we've lived in the past 8 years.

I don't know how to end this post, so I'll just say I'm done.

I spent the majority of the day taking care of the Happy Menagerie - Princess and Suzy (cats), Nikki (dwarf hamster), Kenai and Big Mama (red-ear slider turtles), and Rainbow, Baseball, and Pretty Flower (hermit crabs). I have to admit that we purchased all of our pets except for Kenai and Big Mama, who were given to use on Christmas Eve by a co-worker.

The turtles were given to my co-worker by another family. My co-worker gave them to me because her daughters will be going away for school, and she herself didn't want to take care of them. Kenai has a shell infection, which her daughter pointed out to me when they dropped them off, but not as a shell infection. It was "a harmless red spot, but nothing to worry about". I did alot of reading on the internet when we adopted Kenai and Big Mama, and my suspicions that the red spot wasn't just a spot were confirmed.

Thanks to Freecycle, I picked up another 20-gallon long aquarium late yesterday afternoon, and separated the two turtles. I kept Kenai out of water for about 2 hours, and sure enough, his shell, once dry, started to peel away by itself. I pulled/scraped off about 75% of the dead shell, and got to the "red spot", which was dried blood. The shell underneath was blacked and rotting. I dabbed some Neosporin on it, and left him in some shallow water overnite. I'll make a trip to the vet's office after work to pick up Nolvosan, an antiseptic that Kenai will have to soak in twice a day until his shell is healed. I pray that this will cure him, and we can avoid the vet. He's eating normally and is still very frisky with no other symptoms, so his prognosis looks good.

In the long run, I suspect our newest members of the Happy Family, which we received for "free" may turn out to cost us the most. I don't mind, they're kinda growing on me, and I look forward to creating an outdoor pond for them once we finally move into a house. But this is just a word of caution to anyone who's thinking about accepting a "free" pet -- they never truly are free. The majority of free pets are "loving", "great with kids", or "housetrained", and their owners are "sad", "heartbroken", or "can no longer keep them". Think before you say yes. Don't believe as truth what the owners tell you -- they just want to get rid of their pet. This doesn't apply to everyone, I know Margaret's daughters were heartbroken, seriously, and they didn't have a clue about Kenai's shell infection.

I read once that the more you pay for a pet, the less likely you are to give it away or turn it in to a shelter. There's a perceived value to your pet, and you're more willing to work with it then to simply give it up.

The whole point to this story is that free isn't always free. Use your judgement, and think before you say yes, regardless of how badly your kids are begging you. Trust me, I know. *L*

I'm feeling much better, and so are the kids. So much so, in fact, that Nick had 2 friends sleep over last night. Yes, I am crazy. *L*

Things were really hectic and crazy and overwhelming for a while, hence the spotty blogging, but we're definitely heading our way back into normalcy, and even have a little sunshine heading our way.

First, the totally awesome news - Nick's 2nd Quarter report card showed 14 areas of improvement, and just 1 area went down - and that was for gym. *rolls her eyes* As I'm sure you're all aware, with the challenges we've been facing, "Needing Improvement" in Gym, is the least of my worries. Let's be honest, with a show of hands (or with a comment), which reader ever took Gym seriously? Geez ... I'm the girl that signed up for Marching Band for the free physical education credit. *L*

Wait, there's more sunshine coming ... I filed my taxes yesterday, and am getting back a $4,126 Federal Tax Return, and a $20 State Tax Return. I literally fell off my seat when Turbo Tax calculated my tax overpayment. Holey Rusted Metal, Batman!!!!!!!!!!

Naturally, it's all spent *L* The plan is to pay off my past-due rent ($870.65), electric ($500) and telephone ($300) bills, car loan ($700), furniture loan ($1,000), various miscellaneous "small" bills ($120.84), getting the cats spayed and vaccinated ($150), buying Happy Girl a big girl bed ($250), and the rest will go into a secured MasterCard. In 15 days, I will be a debt free girl!! Yahoo!!

I created a new budget effective March 1st, and without all the aforementioned bills looming over my head, will actually be able to put money into a savings account each paycheck, and also do small-time investing as well. I have every single penny of my income budgeted. I have to tweak it a bit, and explain to the Happy Kids sections that apply to them, particularly the "Fun Fund". :) Basically, I have a set amount each pay period (2-weeks) for groceries, gas, allowances, utilities, pet supplies, etc. Any money left over for each category will go into the "Fun Fund". For example, I budgeted $60 a week for groceries. If I spend $55 on grocerties that week, then $5 will go into the "Fun Fund". This is what will be used for McDonald's, watching a movie, going to the waterpark, etc. I want to make them aware of where our money goes, and how to save money for a special treat. Another thing -- toys, games, etc will be for birthdays and Christmas only. They will need to save their allowance ($5 for Happy Boy and $2 for Happy Girl) if they want to buy something. They also need to save 15% and tithe 10% of their allowance each week. As an incentive, I will match their savings (which will go into their own savings) and tithe (in addition to my own tithe).

I think our new budget will work. And I'm teaching the kids the value of money - saving, tithing and spending. It is going to the be first time in my adult life to be debt free. And I know I'll have to be diligent to stay that way. My parents didn't teach this to me, and I learned the hard way once I moved out on my own. And now, 12 years later, I've finally learned my lesson.

Whew. The sickie bug made a return trip to the Happy Family, and we're still recovering, but doing better.

In high school, my best friend was named Camille. She was a wonderful friend and we did everything together. We drifted apart after high school, and didn't keep in touch. Today's her birthday, and I actually mailed her a birthday card earlier this week. I wonder of our pledges of "best friends forever" will stand the silence of the past 13 years?

The Happy Family is feeling a little better, but Meghan and I got our flu shots today, so we may be the Crabby Family in a few days *LOL* Thanks everyone for your get well wishes! It's so nice to be missed! :)

Over the weekend, I discovered the "subtitles" option on DVDs. I'll never watch a movie without them again! The kids and I watched the LOTR trilogy, with the subtitles, and although I've watched each of the 3 movies at least twice before, watching the movie as I read along with the subtitles turned it into a completely different movie! It was pretty cool, and Nick enjoyed reading along with the movies as well.

We finally dug out of the snowfall, and with temperatures in the 30s, it's all turning into a slushy mess. I can't wait until springtime, not having to put my coat and hat and mittens and scarf and snow boots on, just to check the mail. It was fun at first, but it's such a chore now. Meghan's getting irked too, she's tired of wearing pants all the time.

Oh well ... it's good to be back, I'm going to catch up with my blogroll and all my kind commentors! God Bless!

P.S. What did you think of the Oscar nominations? I wasn't overly impressed, and no one actor/actress specifically stood out to me. Leave your predictions in a comment below!

We're all sick here, just your common variety cold, no fever, but definitely knocking us all on our butts. Hope to post again soon ...

I'm back from a 3-day break in blogging. Work has been extremely busy, with the new manager assigned to me. She's awesome, we're the same age, and although I'm divorced with 2 kids, and she's single and a world-traveller, we have similar things in common. She's a very upbeat and positive person, I'm going to enjoy working with her, and hanging out with her too.

We're in the middle of Wisconsin's 2nd snow storm. The first one lasted maybe 8 - 12 hours and dumped 8 inches of snow on us. This one has been going for 13 hours with another 8 to go, and we've already gotten 8 inches of snow. Being a few miles from Lake Michigan, we're forecast to get another 6 - 8 inches by 6pm. This is just my 3rd winter season, so I'm really enjoying the snow.

Unfortunately, we have Nick's Cub Scout Pinewood Derby at noon - 3pm today, and I have to run to the post office and library prior to that, and the market after that, so it'll be a slow drive. Fortunately, everything's within a few miles, so I'm driving on local roads and won't have to get on the interstate.

One of our hermit crabs died yesterday. I gave them fresh water in the morning as I usually do, and right before we left for work, Meghan came running and said something was wrong ... it had come completely out of it's shell. It was still moving, so I assumed it grew out of it's shell or was taking a break. Hey, I don't know *L* But by the time we came home, sucker was stiff. Ewww ... and of course, the kids wouldn't touch it, so I had to take it out of the tank. We're still within our 2-week replacement period that the pet store gave to us, so we'll try and get it done tomorrow.

Last night was a typical Friday night for me. Filled with cleaning, washing dishes, laundry, etc. Woowhee ... I'm such a social butterfly. *L* Between cleaning the kitty litter box, changing the hamster's pine shavings, changing the turtles' water, and cleaning the hermit crab tank, I was pretty pooped.

Also on my list of things to do today are to post pictures on my photolog. I still have photos from Christmas day *L* So, be sure to take a trip over there later in the day!

I've been forgetting to post my Bible in a Year reading assignments ... I'll get back on track tomorrow, in case anyone's been following along with me.

I thought I'd share some interesting/funny/neat links that I came across today in this post rather than writing about my day, which was busy, but fairly uneventful. These links are all safe, I promise!

Protect your pets from the government!! Click Here

As if the Tsunami survivors don't have enough to worry about. Click Here

If this were my son, there'd be hell to pay! Click Here

2005's Best Books for Kids. Click Here

Eating an iPod Shuffle is hazardous to your health. Click Here (look at the very bottom of the web page, in small print)

Borders 25% off coupon. Click Here

I'm okay. I just got back from my resident manager's office. We made a new payment plan for my past due rent, and everything's gonna be okay. We made it so that I'll be all caught up by March 19th. And this is without my having to tap into my tax return for my rent. Which means my tax return will pay off the title loan and electric bill, and I'll still have quite a bit left over for savings.

I had a nice talk with Angela (the Resident Manager). She's new, and really wants to turn the place around. I told her the apartments are beautiful, but some of the people are just trash. She ackowledged that, and said she's working to get a lot of those people out. The majority will simply not be allowed to renew their lease. She made me feel pretty good, and I'm actually thinking about renewing my lease when it expires this summer. I gave her my list of people I think should go, and she confirmed that they were all on her list too *LOL* I asked her if I was on her list, since I owe so much in back rent, and she said no, that it's not my fault I was laid off from my previous job because the nursing home closed, and she even said I'm one of her better tenants. She said the fact that I do acknowledge my past due rent, and make an effort to get caught up speaks very highly of me. I am so grateful right now!

I am also so very relieved. I'm going to enjoy the rest of my day off from work -- our office is closed in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. day, and I'm going to pay my respects, thank God, and take it easy!

I internalize a lot of my feelings. Right now, it's stress. And when I get extremely stressed out, it manifests itself into a honking fever-blister on my lips, usually the upper one. I have one coming up right smack dap in the middle of my upper lip. Joy. It'll be gone in a week, or so. *sigh*

I skipped looking at the Victorian for rent, I was tired and chose to take a 30 minute nap instead. I did see the $500 upper, it was very small, but functional. The owner, Connie, was really nice, and I think it's mine for the taking. I told her I was very interested and would get back to her by Friday. I would be giving up a lot of space - I live in a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, with a kitchen, dining room and living room. This upper has 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, a kitchen and a small living room. It does have two HUGE walk-in closets, the kids already claimed the one in the living room as their playroom *L* I would also lose the garage. But I do gain a washer/dryer and storage space in the basement. I would save roughly $200 a month. Oh, I would also gain cable tv back because the guy that used to live in the upper, now lives in the lower, and had the entire house wired for cable, so I'd be getting the basic cable for free. Obviously I'm not in love with the upper itself, but there are positives - mainly the money I'd save, and we all know I need the money, and secondly, it's in an awesome location. Walking distance to the library and waterpark for the summer.

I guess it'll all depend on what my resident manager's manager tells her today about the payment I missed on my payment plan. I'm hoping it'll be okay - they originally gave me 3 months to get caught up, and I created a plan to get caught up in two months, so I still have that extra month to get caught up.

If only my last W-2 form would come in so I can file my tax return. Last year, this company didn't pass them out until Jan 31st, which I picture them doing again this year. Oh well, it'll come soon enough! It'll take care of my title loan, my rent, pastdue electric and phone bills, and hopefully enough left to go into my savings account.

It'll all work out in the end ... it always does.

I dropped off 1/3 of what I owe to my resident manager this afternoon. She seemed to be okay with it, I explained I will give her another 1/3 on Friday, and will work on the remaining 1/3 as soon as I can. She said she'll review it on Monday, and has to let her manager know, but I'm thinking it'll be okay. It's not like I'm blowing them off completely, right? I hope by giving her what I could today shows that I do intend to get caught up. Being a bit snarky now, but there are so many empty units, I think it's better for them that I do stay. No one moves in the middle of winter. Not in Wisconsin, anyway.

If it gets down to the nitty gritty, I do have someone I can get the money from, but I would very much rather try to get it paid on my own without having to borrow money from him. It's not that he won't help me, I know he will, and he won't even ask me to pay him back. But it's important to me to do this on my own. I need to stand up on my own two feet and support myself. I got myself into this, and I need to be responsible, and handle it on my own.

Thank you Cindy and Sarah for your support and prayers! I know it helped!

Remember the Victorian house for rent right by the library? Well, they're asking $1200/mo. And that's just for the upper. Give me a break! I made an appointment at 2p tomorrow afternoon anyway, I'm still curious to see what it's like on the inside.

There's another house for rent a few blocks up from the Victorian, it's another upper/lower split. The upper's a 2 bedroom, and going for $500/month which includes water. I'd sacrifice a bedroom, but since Meghan sleeps with me anyway, it's not that big of a deal. I'm going to see it tomorrow at 3p.

A quick mid-day update ... I got 1/3 of what I needed from the title loan. It's better than nothing, I guess. I will have another 1/3 on the 21st, which is payday, but still need to figure out the remaining 1/3. And it's all supposed to be due today, but I think I can squeeze a final one week grace.

If you donated money to the Tsunami Relief effort in January of 2005, you can deduct it as a charitable donation on your 2004 Tax Return (if you itemize). For more information: click here.

Now one for me ... please send a positive prayer my way today, I have some issues that need to be dealt with, and I can use all the prayers I can get. Thank you!

Bible in a Year: Genesis 33 - 35; Matthew 10:1 - 20

I don't know how it is in your state, but if you need to go to a DMV Service Center in Southeastern Wisconsin, you may as well ask for a half-day vacation. They make you stand in line, just to get a number. Aargh!! When I got there, 12 people were waiting in line to get a number. 20 minutes later, there were still 6 people ahead of me. 45 minutes later, I had my number, and waited for it to be called. Another 20 minutes later, my number was called and I presented my completed forms, documents, identification, my first born and another 15 minutes later, I had what I needed. I will never go to another Southeastern Wisconsin DMV Service Center again. Ever. I will be prepared and pro-active, and do it all by mail instead of waiting until the last minute. You know, I think they purposely do that to encourage people to do their transactions by mail. But then, I do know someone that renewed her registration in the mail, a month before it expired, and still had problems. So ... until a mass transit rail system is built, I'll be SOL.

One of my favorite houses in my town is up for rent. It's a cute Victorian, right across the street from the library, and a block from the city waterpark. I WANT IT!! *LOL* It was too dark to see the number on the "For Rent" sign last night, so I'm going to drive by again tomorrow and call them up. The rent's probably out of my budget, but I'd still love to go in and see what it looks like.

AAARRRGGGHHH! The thing about having a cubicle at the corner is that everyone converges to talk. And talk. And talk. Darn people are being too flipping noisy, they've been standing here for at least 20 minutes, and there doesn't seem to be a break in the conversation coming. Incredibly irritating ... these people have nice big offices. Why hang around my cube? Okay, okay, stop being snarky, M ...

Bible in a Year: Genesis 31 - 32; Matthew 9:18 - 38

I have been feeling particularly laid back and worry/anxiety free the past couple of days. It's weird because I do have a couple of things looming over my head, but I have my plan, and will do the best I can, and I've accepted that. First and foremost though, I've accepted that no worry is too small for the Lord. I know he won't suddenly make me win the Powerball on Saturday, etc, but the acceptance of that too has taken a load off my mind.

Today was my busiest day yet at work. Kelly had me hopping all day long, but today still pales in comparison to my previous two jobs. Trudy offered to help, bless her, because I kept sighing and stuff. But I wasn't sighing because I was overwhelmed, I was sighing because of a lot of minor things that Kelly should have done prior to giving me the forms, etc. I did bring it to her attention, and by the end of the day, we were on a roll.

It's supposed to be below zero tomorrow, with a windchill of 15 to 20 below zero. I just hope Nick doesn't freeze his little tushie on the bus. Ahh, the joys of winter! :)

Bible in a Year: Genesis 29 - 30; Matthew 9:1 - 17

My friends and co-workers tell me this is typical Wisconsin weather -- exactly one week ago, we had our first winter storm, and had accumulations of 8 - 12 inches of snow all over Southeastern Wisconsin. Today, we have a Severe Weather Alert for a Flood Warning -- a thunderstorm is on the way, predicted to pour an inch of rain on us starting at noon today. The rain, combined with the above-freezing temps in the mid 30's to low 40's has prompted the flood warning. Wait, it gets better ... we are expecting below zero temps on Friday and just above zero temps on Saturday, so everythings gonna freeze. There should be a nice layer of ice on EVERYTHING. Oh well ...

THANK YOU JESUS! Just got off the phone with the school psychologist. She called to get my permission to screen Nick for ADHD. I explained to her that as recent as October 2004, Nick was screened by his pediatrician and found to not have ADHD. He suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which I informed his teacher of way back in September. Apparently, the school psychologist wasn't informed of that part. And she confided in me that she has been observing Nick since December, and she too, feels that he does not have ADHD. She feels the PTSD combined with his high intelligence is manifesting itself into certain behaviors that are annoying to the teacher. At her suggestion, I have given her permission to form a team to help him at school with the PTSD, and to assess his brightness and have him officially placed into the gifted and talented program. Yes!! I can't believe this is finally happening! I've been fighting the schools since Kindergarten regarding their "diagnosis" of ADHD for Nick.

It is not my intention to offend anyone with ADHD. I have a place in my heart for the children with ADHD as well as their parents. My problem was the teachers so quick to label him as ADHD, and to not take into account his PTSD. The moral here -- you are the only advocate your child has. You always have a choice, and you must stand up for your child, because no one else will!

Bible in a Year: Genesis 27 - 28; Matthew 8:18 - 34

The visit from the social worker went well. She's closing our case (which should never have been opened in the first place). I got a little irked when she asked me how I discipline the kids. Helllllo? Idiot. What happened was a one-time deal. Grrrr ... anyway, it's done. [For any newcomers, I was cited by my county's social services department for leaving my son home alone and unsupervised. For the record, he is an extremely mature, intelligent, and responsible boy. This was a one time deal, as he was starting a new before & after school program the very day after we were cited. I do not beat, neglect, or abuse my children. My form of discipline is to take away priviledges, i.e. Gameboy, computer, tv, etc. Check the archives for more info.]

I was driving to work this morning when it hit me that I'm bringing home $330 less every two weeks than I used to. It's no wonder that I'm stressed out about money all the time! Geez! I may have to run and get a quick title loan on my car, it wouldn't be too bad though, tax return time is next month -- I always file my own taxes electronically and have it direct deposited, so I have my refund in 10 days. And I usually get at least $3K. It's all going to pay bills ... I need the title loan to get caught up on my overdue rent, then will use the tax return to pay off the title loan, and get caught up on my electric bill and furniture loan. That $3K is exactly what I need to finally break even, and get back on track. I did create a new budget based upon my new take-home pay, but it's impossible to follow because of my past due bills from when I was laid off. My budget is based upon getting paid twice a month, but in April, we actually have 3 paydays, so that'll go towards new brakes and rear tires on my car. October also has 3 paydays, so that extra check is reserved for Christmas. Everything always works out in the end!

Didja watch The Bachelorette last night? It's the first time I'm watching any reality show from the beginning. I didn't watch either of the first two Bachelorettes (Trista or Meredith), and caught just the 2nd Bachelor (Jesse), from maybe the last 3 episodes. I thought last night's show was pretty good, Jen seems like a nice gal. That Stu guy, though, he was pretty creepy ... talk about a stalker!

Hahaha ... Kim (at work) just mentioned that the first thing she does when she gets home is take off her bra. Me too! I can't do anything until the bra comes off *LOL* Second thing is to put my hair up into a ponytail. My little TMI for the day *L*

Before I go, I just wanna say Hi to FTS, Shannon, Sarah, Jay, Stew, Kym, and Jenny!

Bible in a Year: Genesis 25 - 26; Matthew 8:1 - 17

I miss walking around in my barefeet ... and my strappy sandals ... and cute flip-flops ... I'm craving spring!

Imagine to my surprise while surfing Blog Explosion to come across a very well-known female blogger with new blog layout very similar to my walk out to winter layout? They say imitation is the purest form of flattery :) I didn't get too worked up about it, after all, all of my templates are made by the fabulous and retired miz graphics, so it's not really my layout that she's copying. Anyway ...

Yesterday was a huge day of "finds". Let me explain ... I "found" my old church. It was the first time I went back there in 8 months. It's an hour away from where I live, and that's one way, without traffic. But it was so wonderful to be back at my home church ... the kids and I decided that we'll make the drive each week, no matter what. We're even considering moving back (it's a long story why I live where I live now, I'll get into that in a future post).

Another "find" ... my ruby and diamond ring that I bought for myself in the spring. I had taken it off and put it on the counter to wash dishes and never saw it again. Between Meghan and the cats, I figured it was knocked off the counter and hiding someplace. I finally got the bright idea yesterday to look under the stove ... so I pulled out the stove (with the help of Nick) and found my ring! :)

I also found my ice scraper for the car. Guess where I found it? In the trunk, of all places *L* I swear I looked in there many times, but there it was, hidden in the way back, underneath two folding chairs I keep in the trunk.