Court Today

I've got great Rick pix to share and a funny story or two about the weekend, plus next week is Lyric's American Idol audition, but today is our second court date.

The first one, Fisher ended up behind me as I parked, and he walked into the courthouse with me and sat by me and talked to me and tried to convince me the whole time that we should not be doing this.

I met with my lawyer a couple of weeks ago and he said I could ask to be put into a conference room.  Sweet!  I've had enough of being badgered by my "was-band".

Last night he dropped the girls off at 9 and wanted to talk. again.  he always wants to talk.  Always wants to tell me how much he loves me and how much he's changed and how thing will be so different and so wonderful now that he's sober.  (which I only partially believe.  I don't think he's quit drinking 100%).  I gave him a few minutes of my time, unwillingly, but ultimate had to ask him to leave.  Kicked him out really.  I feel bad for him for not realizing that things were so bad and I was so unahppy, but I'm not going back now.  I don't even like to be in the same room with him, let alone try to "fix" our marriage.

Then this morning I get "I can't do this without you".  Too freakin' bad.  Because I can do this without you, and there is no way in hell that you are going to guilt me into coming back.  I feel so much better about myself since I moved out.  I feel freer, smart, happier.  I don't have to hid parts of who I am (like my Rick "issue"), or who my friends are, or what I think and feel.  I don't have to worry about how clean the house is, because I only answer to me.  And guess what, I like me.  I get along great with me.  I make me happy.  And that is a wonderful thing.

So, court update and Rick pix to come....stay tuned.

A Second Date With My "Boyfriend"...

For those of you that know me, you know I am a very organized person.  I've even stepped up the organization recently, and it's almost a little scary.  At least I can find stuff easily (except that one little piece of paper that I really need to find).  I'm a planner and a list maker. 

Saturday I'm going to see my boyfriend for the second time this year.  Out of town.  Without my girls.  And I really don't have a plan in place.  I know, I know, you can all pick your chins up off the floor now.  It's two days away.  I will figure it out.  So, I have to wonder:  am I mellowing out in my old age?  or am I just so overwhelmed by life in general that I don't care?  Either way, it's all going to work itself out.

But the week of the 19th I have about 500 things* to coordinate.  Check in with me next week and see if I'm pulling my hair out yet.

*disclaimer:  500 might be a bit of an exageration, but I have A LOT going on that week.

Someday My Prince Will Come

But until then, I'm growing one.  LOL  I will have photos soon.  My friend's bought me a "grow your own Prince" this weekend and it's the funniest damn thing ever.  It's almost fully grown, and then I will post the photos.

I had a decent weekend.  Went a little overboard with the alchol on Friday, but not too awful of a hangover on Saturday.  Then, Saturday evening was a fun time with good friends and good food and lots of laugh.  (Not that there weren't lots of laughs on Friday as well!)  Sunday, the girls came home from their dad's in decent moods and that was a very nice surprise.  We went to a cookout/pool party Sunday afternoon.  Lyric swam, Jazz did not.  We were scheduled to go to the parade, and then it started to rain.  The rain stopped and ultimately, we did end up going to the parade and the fireworks.  I don't think any of the 8 kids were into the fireworks but we stayed til the end anyway. :-)

Monday was a holiday from work for me, so after I slept in, we cleaned and then ran errands.  I got stuff done and felt pretty accomplished.  Now it's back to work...for a little bit anyway.  July is a super busy month for me.  I will try to keep you posted on the what's and how's but right now I'm just trying to make things make sense in my own head.

Happy Fourth of July

I know that technically it's only July 2nd, but I'm guessing I won't be online much since it's the holiday weekend.  The girls are going to Fisher's tonight (friday) and Saturday, instead of the previous plan of Saturday/Sunday.  I've been invited to a cook out on Sunday and they want to go with.  Fisher was generous enough to let them switch.  He also hasn't forced the Thursday overnight issue, which is great, because the girls are having a hard enough time adjusting to the weekend thing.  It sounds like they did have a nice visit yesterday though.

Saturday I will be cleaning, doing laundry and then going to a cookout/fireworks party.  Should be fun times.  Sunday is the aforementioned cookout.  Monday is a whole lot of nothing.  just hanging out with my girls...and maybe getting them to do some chores.  :-)

So, everybody have a great weekend.

The Princess's 40th Birthday Party

here's a few pix from the party.  if you are friends with me on Facebook, there are more there.  Enjoy.  I know I did!

Me and Chris..just playing around

Me and Kell (this is Mrs. Chris!)

Me and my mommy

Colleen, Tina, Jody, Me, and Tammy

the gang from middle school, we are just missing Barb

Shelly, Me and Mike.  He wanted to be a princess too!

Good Things Are Coming

It's been a busy busy beginning to the new year. On Tuesday, I had an interview. On Wednesday, I went to New Student Orientation at school. On Thursday I had another interview. Next week I start nursing school. Two days a week for 1 1/2 hours. So it will be two days a week of work-school-work. At least for now. A little birdy told me that I would be getting a job offer. I don't know which job it will be for but either of them is a good fit for me right now. I will for sure post about it when everything falls into place.



Two weeks from today is my birthday party. It's the 11th anniversary of my 29th birthday. it's going to be a gathering of friends and family with lots of fun and laughter and drinking and good times. Unfortunately, one of my very best friends is unable to attend, but I've been promised a make up party at a later date. That actually works out good because our birthdays are very close so we will get a private party sometime in the future. (LOVE YOU!)

Don't forget to check out http://www.payit40.blogspot.com/  for info on the Pay It 40 campaign.


What things do you have planned for the new year???

Well, Hello

Hi, there, bloggy world!  Hope everybody survived the weekend okay.  We did a whirlwind of family gatherings.  Tuesday - Lyric's birthday, Wednesday - dinner at our house (usually this is done Christmas eve), Thursday - out to eat, Friday - food at my mom's and Fisher's brothers.  Saturday we got a little bit of a breather, but E came over and then Fisher and I took the girls, E, and two cousins to see Alvin and the Chipmunks.  Sunday was church, grocery shopping, Indian food (thanks, Darla!), and then family sledding.  I didn't go because for some reason my neck is bothering me again.  Last night was dinner with Sarah and the girls. 

My girls are trying to fill up the rest of their week as well, and I am having none of that!  Well, maybe a little of that.  They are both making plans for New Year's Eve.  Jazz is going to a sleepover, Lyric is hoping to babysit.  Lyric is about $30 away from having enough money to pay for driver's ed.  I'm coming to terms with it.  I don't want my hang ups to become hers.  And she won't get her license for a year anyway, so she might as well "practice".  It still is creeping me out a little.

What did Santa bring me, you might be wondering.  Santa brought me a Sony Cybershot.  It's honestly not a camera I would have picked out for myself, but so far I LOVE IT!  It has some fun features (smile detection and a food photo setting) that I've never seen before, but I've taken quite a few pix in low light and they are turning out great!  Somewhere in the settings I saw that it can focus up to 23 feet away!  I expect Great pix of the Rickster this year, no matter where our seats are!  I'll post some of the other photos I've taken soon.

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas

and it's a darn good thing that I'm done with school!  Jazz had dance last night so Fisher ran her back and forth while I tried to find an adaptor for the tapes we use in our camcorder (no go) and picked up a few more Christmas gifts (score!).  Tonight Lyric has a show choir performance.(did you see Taylor Lautner's show choir skit on SNL?  Funny funny stuff)  Tomorrow, daytime Lyric has a show choir performance.  Tomorrow night, Jazz has a band concert.  Thursday night - 7pm - holiday musical for Jazz.  Thursday night - 8pm - band concert for Lyric.  Friday night - NOTHING!  Thank goodness.  except it will probably turn into a shopping night because I have a little list of people to finish buying for.  Saturday is busy with Girl Scout stuff and then a hockey game.  Sunday is church and cookie baking.  Monday - first day of Winter break.  I'm sure the girls will sleep in while Fisher and I get up and head to work.  The good thing is, when I don't have to get Jazz off,  I can sleep for almost an extra hour.  YAY for extra sleep.

I'll try to put up some pix of Lyric in her show choir outfit and link to the SNL skit. I'm also going to link another one because it is funny, funny stuff.

Now back to your regularly scheduled Tuesday!

Soapbox part two

Actually, I'm not stepping up, I'm just updating.

Remember this, well, there's more. Lyric texted (is that a word??) me from school yesterday. K was really upset because her parents had gotten in a HUGE fight the night before and her dad left. Left! Walked out. The kids: J (17) , K (14) and A (8) went to their aunt's house for the night, and K was so afraid/scared/stressed. I just wanted to go to school and give her a hug, and I've never actually met this kid yet! K wasn't sure if the fight/dad's leaving had to do with the boyfriend situation. She tried to stay away and keep A away (A is her little brother and he's autistic) so he wouldn't get upset.

As of this morning, dad was back home, but everybody was still stressing.

I feel bad for them, but it really puts the craziness from the Random Thoughts House into perspective. We are together, not fighting (for the most part) and working through our little issues.

If you are inclinded, say a little prayer for K's family that it all works out. And if you feel like it, say a little prayer for us as well.

The Good, The Bad, The New

I usually try to keep things light(er) and fun around here, and I still want to do that, but I want to say, if I'm not around for a few days, it's just because things at my house are a little crazy. Here's a quick rundown (and then I'll get to the good stuff). Stubborn, independant, a teeny bit selfish teenage girl. super sensitive,emotional, started her "monthly" too early, pre teen. Middle aged, doesn't always know how to deal with girls dad. Super organized, and a little high maintance mom. Sufice it to say, we've got some stress. Add in that Lyric is getting ready for high school and thinks she knows everything. Jazz is the baby, and always will be. I'm trying to figure out how to pay for school, and keep working to hold onto health insurance and tuition reimbursement. And Fisher is just overwhelmed with the whole thing. Anyway, if you could just send a prayer or two up for us, I would appreciate it. I'm sure things will even out, but I don't know when. we've got a couple of things in the works to help us all get on the same page.

Good news- Fisher won some money in a school fundraiser/raffle this weekend. It's enough to pay for my part of the New York Trip, plus Lyric's last payment, plus our spending money for the trip. We were super excited about that! BONUS!

Bad news- We're not going to be able to see Rick while we are in NYC. The concert is actually (from what I can find) the night that we are heading back. (Remember the driving through the night story??)

New- see begininng of post. The girls are also going to be responsible for more help around the house. They aren't really happy, but it's a necessity with school coming for me. And it's a good thing for them to learn. Not only will they have specific chores, they will have a timeline and consequences- all mapped out. So, everybody will be on the same page, etc.

I'm looking forward to some positive changes around our house, for everybody's mental health. Again, pray for us!

Oh, and one more thing. I signed up today to be a product tester. it's a specific item, but I don't want to say what yet, because if I get picked, I want to SURPRISE you with my fantastic review. I hope I get picked, I hope I get picked. "P" people, if you are reading this- I'm so in!

Tonight Is The Night...

We get our chem tests back. If I didn't get a good grade (ie- pass) I will be dropping the class. Not only that, I think I've decided to quit school. When Fisher and I made the decision three years ago, I didn't know it was going to be so hard or take so long or be so many hoops to jump through to get to the final result.

Lyric is going to be in high school next year, she's going to be busy. Jazz is getting busier all the time too. And there is nothing worse than "mommy, why do you have to go to school?" everytime I leave for class.

There are a couple of other certificate type things I'm interested in: phlebotomy (Lyric would die if she knew I wanted to poke people) and EKG tech. I'm going to keep my eye out for the continuing education class schedule. It should be out in August and that gives me time to figure things out.

Fisher is okay with whatever. He said as long as we have each other, nothing else matters. Yup, that's right. That's why I married him. He knows the right thing to say when I'm about at my wits end.

And I'm not saying that if I got an acceptance letter, I would turn it down, but two out of the three programs require this chem class. So, we'll see how it goes. I'd say pray for me, but really, I believe it will be as it is intended. Good things will happen.

I'll also give you the info on my new blogs. If you can find them, and leave a comment, before I actually post the link, there may be a prize involved!

I know, I know

two posts in one day!?? How is that possible?? LOL. I'm getting ready to pop in the movie and I thought I'd vent/blog a bit.

Fisher is back tomorrow...YEAH! I don't mind when he goes, but I think I missed him more this weekend than any other time. I've been sliding into some sort of funk for the past few weeks and the stuff with Lyric last week didn't help.

I made the neurologist appointment today, with the one that is close by and on our insurance. I'll give him a shot. There's always a second opinioin of we need it. And what I'm find on the internet is that it's probably something easily treated. Cross your fingers and say a prayer or two or even three. We have to wait until 11/13 to get the results, unless her pediatrician calls us before the neurology appointment.

I wanted to put out a public thank you to all who read my blog, post and play along. I'm very grateful for my close friends, and my friends, and my soon to be friends. As I've gotten older, I've realized that people with diverse backgrounds and interests can be friends with the connection of one simple thing. If my blog is that- I'm thankful. If somebody else's blog is that- I'm still thankful. So friends and family don't always have to be related by blood or somebody you have known forever. There are a few people I have known forever and I need to touch base with them. I apologize for letting time get away.

Okay, I'm ranting and rolling. I'm off to watch the movie. If I haven't freaked you out or scared you away, stop back tomorrow....I just might have something witty to say.

til next time,

A

New Schedule

I believe in schedules. I'm a list maker. I believe that happiness lies in being organized. I like being able to cross things off. It shows accomplishment. It's shows that I can actually get a whole bunch of stuff done, well. I believe that everybody should have schedules and stick to them and cross things off as they are completed. Nobody else in my house feels this way. Fisher does makes lists but they are usually "don't forget" lists, not "these are all the things I want to get done today so that I can feel like I really did something" lists.

Anyway, that's not really what this post was supposed to be about, but I guess it all ties in. I'm going to try something for a month. Certain days of the week will correspond with a certain theme post. It really makes sense and helps me put on my creative hat a little bit.

So, here is the upcoming schedule (for the next month at least)

MONDAY- Money Making Money (remember that other blog I had for awhile? it's going to be like that)
TUESDAY- open discussion, whatever comes up
WEDNESDAY- Wonderful Wednesday (the good, the wonderful)
THURSDAY- another open day
FRIDAY- Phriday Photo Phinish Phiesta ( I found this by chance, started it for fun, will continue as long as I can find a good picture to show)
SATURDAY/SUNDAY- Super Days! I don't often blog both days so these will be saved for something super- coming up, recent past, past past, whatever)

Phriday Photo Phinish

I'm in again! Here's two versions of a four generation photo. One is my brother, his son, my mom and grandfather. The other is me and my girls with my mom and grandfather.






























We have also been lucky enough to have a five generation photo on the other side of my mom's family. All first generation women. I was born on my Great Grandma's birthday. She recently celebrated her 90th birthday.

I love these photos because we don't get to see my grandparents very often, and it was just a really special chance to get us all in the same place.