Shhhhh... They are sleeping

FINALLY!!! I love my quiet time late night. The girls are sleeping, Clif is snoring... Dogs are snoring... The only thing making noise is my dryer. Ahhhh...

I had a fairly productive day. I got all the stray dog hair off the couch, swept all the stray dog hair off of the floor, cleaned the cat box, did dishes, did laundry, flipped the mattresses (and vac'ed them), got supper cooked, did the dishes from that, did more laundry and now I am sitting in my favorite spot... doing my favorite thing... Blogging and reading others blogs. Nosy little thing, I am...

The girls went to the library today and checked out books... not one or two books.. they checked out 21 books!!!!! They are into reading the series comic books from Japan (or somewhere). I picked up one to look at... Silly things have to be read backwards.. from what we, in America, consider the end of the book to the front of the book... The girls didn't tell me this one small fact and I was sooooo confused by the 3rd page (since I was reading it the way a normal person reads a book..). The girls laughed themselves silly at me... Oh well, such is life. They were talking about these books. I swear it sounded like they were talking a different language. Names like fishugie woogie (thats not the correct spelling, but it is what I heard...) They even watch these series on YouTube based on these books... I wonder if they have to watch them backwards... Don't get me wrong, I am soooo glad they like reading, but geez... We read Nancy Drew, Archie Comics, and even the occasional MAD Magazine... I am so lost..

Speaking of lost... Kayla needed help on her math homework. **sigh** I stopped being able to help Laura when she was in the 3rd grade. If it's not 2+2=4, I can't get it.. Sad really. Clif came home and Kayla asked him for help, I think they finally got it, but even he had to look at her book for a refresher. I did actually help Laura with math once, she was doing division. When I was in school you put the big number in a half box, the small number on the outside and worked the problem by putting the answer on top of the half box (doing your work under the box...) **sigh** That was not how she was supposed to do it... She got an "F" on that homework even though she got all the right answers. That really made me mad, I even called the teacher to complain. She calmly told me that they didn't "do" math that way anymore.... HUH?? What the heck!!! She got the right answers... she understood how we did it... WTF!!!!! Whatever!! The teacher said she would be glad to tutor Laura so she could work the problems the way they should be done. Um.. Hello... SHE GOT THE RIGHT ANSWERS!!!!!! Teacher told me they don't "borrow" anymore, they don't "carry" when they add anymore, etc, etc... Oh well, Laura ended up staying after school for an hour for 3 whole days to unlearn what I had taught her... **sigh** She hasn't asked my help on math anymore since that incident... She did come to me just the other day... for English help.. I thought "Oh boy, this I can do.. its my first language!!!". Then she told me what we had to do... Diagram a sentence... OMG!! ok.. I know nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and verbs... What the heck else is there??? lots it turns out.. **sigh**

Another tidbit from today: I get this phone call right about the time I heard Clif's vehicle outside.

Clif: Do you know where the hose is?
Me (finder of all things): Umm, I think its on the porch.
Clif: Well, find it.
Me (Captain Obvious): Its been raining all day, what do we need to water?
Clif: Me
click....

Clif had an interesting day. One of the many things he is asked to do is move horse manure from a set of stables to a different location. He loads the dump truck with it, then drives 30 miles to where they want it dumped... Usually its an easypeasy thing... today I guess his end dump decided to not cooperate... He got out of the truck, went to the rear of the dumpbed to see why it was jammed... and about the time he walked just to the rear side, the dumpbed decided to work, opening up and spilling its load like it is supposed to do... Poor Clif was about waist deep in horsie poo. Hence the need for the hose.... **sigh**

After supper, Clif and I sat down to go through all the receipts for the items we have purchased since the fire. I have to turn those in to the Insurance Lady tomorrow. Geez, this has been one huge learning experience. I sure wouldn't wish anything like this on ANYONE!!! Not even my ex-husband... another long story there, but that's for another blog on another day... Anyway.. here is some advice for everyone out there....

1. Scan into your computer ALL your photos. But that is not enough.. You also need to upload them to a site. Either on myspace, photobucket, or another album site. Everyone that found out we had a fire said "Oh things can be replaced, but gosh I bet you miss your Photos".. Well, to tell the truth.. I don't, simply because I have them all scanned and Uploaded on a website, or on my msn site. I even scanned in old pictures of my family, not because I thought we might have a fire or them might get ruined with water or whatever, but because I got a new photo program and wanted to make a slide show with them... I just lucked out that I had done that and Uploaded them. Now all I will have to do is send them to wal-mart dot com and print them out when I want hard copies of them....

2. Do not store car titles, birth certificates or other important papers in your house. Get a safety deposit box at your bank and keep that stuff there. You might even want to keep extra sets of vehicle keys in the box. (my purse burned up in the fire and I lost keys, social security card, id, credit cards.. etc) You might even want to keep a list of all your medications, credit card numbers, Phone numbers, and even special items of jewelry, or baby's "firsts" in the box.

3. When you purchase "high dollar" items, such as TVs, furniture, appliances, jewels, computers, tools, etc.. make sure you keep the receipt and make a photo record of these items. Keep track of brands, serial numbers, sizes, etc... The Insurance company will want as much information on lost items as you can give them. The receipts, place into the safety deposit box, and the photos, either upload to a private album or make a photo cd and place into your safety deposit box. If you have antiques, it would be a good idea to have them appraised by a credible source and keep the written appraisal in the safety deposit box also.

3. Keep a kinda running total on items of clothing that each family member has... just a general idea: 10 pair jeans, 20 teeshirts, 10 sweaters, 2 pair joggers, etc... if you have very expensive items, it is also a good idea to keep "proof" of these items such as store receipts, tags, or, again, a photo journal.

4. Always check with your insurance company about coverages. Make sure to have "replacement cost" insurance on your items. Make sure to find out what personal items will be covered and which ones need a special "rider" on the policy. Some more expensive items need special coverage, your agent should be able to help you decide on coverage and limits....

5. While on the subject of Insurance... Make sure you have coverage on fire, theft, water (flood) etc damages or loss. Trust me, proper coverages can make or break you in a bad situation.

I hope even just one person will take my advice on at least some of the items... I wish someone had told me all that stuff before we had our housefire on February 24th.

**Yawn** Finally I am sleepy enough to head off to bed... Only to do it all over again tomorrow, minus the horsie poo incident, I hope.....

Easter Sunday

First I want to wish everyone a very Happy Easter!!

Laura's school has been on Spring Break since Thursday. I am so ready for school to start back up.... Right now one of Laura’s friends, Kayla, is living with us. Her Dad and Step-mom are getting ready to divorce and there is a lot of drama going on between the two of them. Kayla’s dad, Jamie, asked if Kayla could live with us until school is out and maybe longer. Jamie is going from friend’s house to friend’s house right now with no stability and didn’t want Kayla to have to do that. Kayla’s step-mom has moved out of the school district and Jamie doesn’t want Kayla living with her anyway, so since he asked and we love Kayla like she is our own anyway, it was a no-brainer… There are some other issues going on with Jamie right now also, so we think he might ask us to keep her while he goes into rehab, which would be the best thing for him… AND Kayla. Anyway... The reason I am ready for school to start back up is because Laura and Kayla are best friends with Kiersten... Both girls asked if Kiersten could come and spend the break with us. So Kiersten showed up Wednesday night... You know how when you have a group of ladies in the same household their "cycles" syncronize... Well... guess what... Yep.. Estrogen Ocean here for the last 4 days.... **sigh** Between the Midol, heating pads, and mood swings... I just about bought stock in Calgon... The kids in the area hang out at the park a couple of blocks away... Most of the kids in the area are BOYS... Of course my girls decided that they ought to go to the park too. Seems that Friday they had a good time playing frizbee, football, and just hanging out, so they wanted to go back Saturday around noon... Clif and I gave the girls a key so that we could go and do some shopping. After a few errands in town Clif and I got back home and the girls were not back yet. I called the cell phone to see how the girls were doing, and they were just hanging out at the picnic tables talking with all the other kids... So I told them to be home by 5 to get ready for supper. I proceeded to get the potato salad ready for our holiday dinner with my aunt... The phone rings about 15 minutes later...

Clif answers: "What, slow down.. What is going on?? Who's bleeding? Slow down... I can't understand you!!"

he hands the phone to me saying "I can't understand blubbering"...

I get on the phone to "She's bleeding, she can't walk, Come get us!!!"

Me: Who is bleeding, where are you?

Phone: Laura cut her toe!!! At the park!! Come get us!!....

So I run out the door and into the van... speed the 500 feet to the park entrance.. and see my Daughter sitting on the ground with her foot covered in blood... Kayla and Kiersten help a laughing Laura into the van and pile in the back seat... I asked her what happened... She said she was running barefooted and stubbed her toe... She was laughing and smiling all the way home.. We help her up the front steps and in the door where she promptly bursts into tears at the site of her Daddy.... He scoops her up and puts her on the side of the bathtub to clean her foot and see what damage is done... It's bad... real bad.. she has split her toe and the "toe meat" is protruding... Big Strong Daddy has to leave... Now it's up to SuperMOM (me) to handle the situation.... **sigh**

SuperMOM: It's ok, honey.. but we are going to have to go and have this looked at by a Doctor

L: NOOOOOOO.. no doctor, no needles, NOOOOOOOO

SuperMOM: C'mon Sweets, we gotta get this toe all fixed up and I don't have the stuff to do it here at home.

L: I will stay here, you go buy the stuff and come back

SuperMOM: Babe, I can't fix this. Your toe is split open, it needs a doctor to fix it so it is right. If I do something wrong, you might not be able to wear those pointy toe high heels you have.

L: Lets go have the Doctor fix it

Whew.. ok, common sense didn't work, but fashion sense did... ooookk... Off to Urgent Care we go. When we arrive, there is no one else in the waiting room so the Doctor took us (Laura, Kayla, Kiersten and me) all back to the "Procedure Room"... The doctor, nurse, and Trainee clean her foot and assess what needs to be done.... They have to go into the hall to discuss the problem.. I think Uhoh.. not a good sign... The doctor comes back in.. She says they are going to have to debried and remove the damaged area... Ohboy.. Anyway.. during the procedure, Kayla holds Laura's hand, they cry together... Kiersten sits in the corner, giggling (she handles stress this way) and I keep a watchful eye on the doctor and the scalpel... Its all over and done, Laura is fitted for a walking boot and we are on our way home. Laura says, "Geez and I didn't even get a sticker"... **sigh**

Saturday night they girls were more subdued, and just hung out in Laura and Kayla's room watching Twlight on the laptop and reading.

This morning Kiersten's mom came and picked her up then we headed out to my aunt's house for the holiday dinner. I made potato salad and a carrot cake. Clif made his famous baked beans. Nancy had the ham, pineapple fluff, rolls, deviled eggs and relish tray waiting. We all ate until we was stuffed. Then Clif and I hid eggs for the girls to hunt.. We had to keep them in the driveway area since Laura couldn't get her foot wet and the grass was still damp from the rains we had Friday.

See my fashionista with the walking boot... All the runway models will be sporting one by the end of the day tomorrow........

And folks wonder why I have gray hair.......

First One Here...

I have been blogging for a while now, but it seems that everyone I used to read and that read me has scooted somewhere else. This is my first blog here, so I will introduce myself and my cast of characters...

Me: I am an almost 40 year old mother, stepmother, wife, maid, taxi service, dog walker, etc... I enjoy all my roles, except for washing dishes and laundry. You will hear me complain about those two on a daily basis...

Clif: He is the strong silent type. When I say silent.. I mean he doesn't talk much, at all... When I say strong, I mean he is my rock in every situation! We have been together 17 years. He knows me better than I know myself.

Kids:

(Ours) Laura, 11, my baby... Knows no fear.. well, she doesn't much like spiders, but everything else is fair game... She is the biggest girly tomboy ever... She wants to wear dresses and make up, then proceeds to hang upside down from the tallest tree.... **sigh** She is one of the reasons for my gray hairs.

(Mine) David, 17, Almost a man. Over the years he has put us through our paces. His grades have always been "good" not excellent, even though he is one of the smartest kids around. He doesn't want the label of "Smart Kid"... He walked on the wild side for about 8 months (shoplifting, breaking curfew, running away, back talking, etc) but has really straightened his life out and is ready to go to Jr College in the fall.

(His) Cody, 18, Clergy bound. Cody has been the Good Boy. Excellent grades, respectful, involved in church and school activities.

(My Angel) Tori, would be 18, but passed away at the age of 11 in 2002. Tori had CP, and a slew of other illness from the moment of birth, but was always my shining light. Doctors said she would not survive past the age of 2, but she proved them wrong, time and time again. Her smile could light the world, or least it felt that way to me.

(His) Jerrod, 20, always our source of entertainment. He is goofy, funny, sarcastic, smart, hard-working, and a joy to be around. He is his dad all over again, but not as quiet.

(His) Jessica, 22, Senior in College. Jessica is one of those people that everyone wants to know, be friends with, or just hang around. She is fun, sweet, smart, focused, hard-working, and honest.

We have had amazing times in the past with all the kids, went lots of places, had lots of adventures. Now with Laura the only one living at home with us, and the other kids 3 states away in Missouri, we are still having fun and adventures, just on a smaller level...

We have pets too... Over the years we have always had dogs and cats, (and whatever the boys thought they could hide in their rooms...) Right now, we have our 14 year old pit bull mix, Maggie. and Nita, our 3 year old lab/st Bernard mix. Later this month we will have Keyni, a new yellow lab pup. We also have Domino, our cat... well he is really Clif's cat. Domino and I have finally reached an understanding... I will fill the food bowl, he will not reach out and swipe at parts of my body as I walk by... We don't like each other much, but have learned to live together...sorta...

As introductions go, this is the best I can do for now. I am sure in the following months and numerous postings I will be doing more stuff about us will surface, but for now.. Here I am...