What's for Dinner???

I forgot to post yesterday because I was so stinkin' busy. Wednesdays are a little crazy for me because I am taking a pottery class. I used to take pottery before I got married (remember all those ceramic hearts I made for the wedding) and had babies. We moved to Akron and I didn't have the time. Now I live like a half a block from where the class is so I signed back up. I am so excited about it. The plan is to make all my Christmas gifts again this year. This time they will be some sort of pottery. So, if there is anything you would like, please let me know now. Not only is it cool to be back in creating mode but I've been reunited with some of my old pottery buddies. When we'd meet for class we talk about life and what is going on. Amy & Sue remember when I met Jake (he also took one session of pottery with me before marriage) and the excitement of all that. So, it is cool to have a little history.

So, yesterday when I got home from pottery I packed up the kids and headed off to Crown Point. Alicia went with me because her family is interested in signing up. It was a nice drive. By time be got back I was starving and normally I would have gotten a quick fix but luckily I had planned ahead and whipped a veggie & chicken stir fry in no time at all. I had some instant rice (I do have a stockpile of rice) that cooked in 10 minutes. It was yummy. Jake went on a trip yesterday and didn't get home until almost 8 PM so I didn't have to feed him. Which is nice because the plan is to eat leftovers tonight. It will still be new to him.

Tonight I am having a Stampin Up party. If you weren't invited it was probably because your invite was lost in the mail. I mailed them last week at the post office by my work and people weren't getting them until Monday. I spoke to a couple of people who said they didn't get them at all! Pooey. Anyhoo.....I am having this party so Jake gets home last night and almost immediately starts getting the kids ready for bed and I hit the dishes. After the kids get settled in I shampooed the carpet. Aren't you tired just reading this? Either way, I think my house is pretty clean and I am not going to kill myself making it perfect. So, if you want to buy some rubber stamps come on over and you can see just how clean my house is......

Well, have a fabulous day. I am off..................................

Happy Belated Birthday to.....

My Blog. I can't believe I missed it. September 20th. That's all.

Today...

It isn't even noon yet and I can't believe all I've gotten done. Don't you love when that happens? Since I have a little more time now, I am trying to get everyone on a schedule. Well, my kids are already on one but I guess I mean I need to get on a schedule. I work most Monday's (my schedule is always changing) and I am off on Tuesdays. After the last two weeks of constantly doing laundry (it is never ending) I have decided to have a laundry day. Growing up my mom always had a laundry day and now it makes total sense. I told Jake if he can't go a week without washing jeans to go out and buy some more (cheap ones, of course). Tuesday is laundry day. So far it is going well. I've been keeping it going most of the morning. I am hoping to finish it soon and have it all put away, instead of having piles of clean folded laundry laying on the basement table all week. My personal favorite when I came down stairs last week (kinda what made me decided to have ONE laundry day) and found THREE baskets of unfolded, clean laundry sitting on the folding table! When we buy our dream house I am going to have 2 washers and 2 dryers.

Tonight's Dinner: Creamy Chicken & Broccoli Soup w. Wild (well my aren't so wild) Mushrooms, Cornbread & Fresh Peaches.

BTW...Last Nights dinner was really good. We tried some squash we hadn't had before. You should try it if you can find it. I did save the seeds, if anyone is interested in growing some.

This is Delicata Squash.

This one is called Sunshine Squash. It looks like a pumpkin but it isn't. It was sooooo good. It makes all other squash look bad. So if you can find it buy it and try it.

Let me know if you have had these before.

Saving Money...

So, Jake and I finally sat down yesterday and went over our budget. It made me want to throw up. It seems like we work so hard yet, there is never enough money. We have a pretty modest budget for food but it seems like one of the only areas that are negotiable in the budget. I decided that I am going to use what I have in the house before I buy anything else. The only thing I will purchase are the things that spoil (milk, cheese, bread, sour cream). I don't have any bread or cheese in the freezer but I do have tons of other stuff. I am going to see how long I can go without buying real food. I bet I could go at least a month. I will try to keep you updated. I may be exaggerating a little because I don't have the stockpile I used to have but I do have a lot. Last week Stephanie explained how she stretched a chicken for 5 meals. I HAVE TWO FROZEN CHICKENS IN MY FREEZER. We also get food from Crown Point Ecology Center, where we are CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) members until the last week of October. Right now we are getting a lot of "winter" items...squash, greens, onion, potatoes. They do have pick your own peas right now. I only picked a few last week. I need to get out there and get some to freeze. Either way, I think if we are vigilant about our food purchases we can really save a ton of money!

If you are wondering what's for dinner tonight.....
Mushroom Steak, Kale, Delicata Squash & Grapes.

Have a great day!

Goodwill Shopping...

I am having a little dilemma with Elise's wardrobe. She is in the 5th percentile for weight and the 75th percentile for height. 12 month pants are too short but too big in the waist. 18 month pants fit better in length but because they are so big in the waist they fall off her and she ends up walking on them. What is a mom to do? Jude usually fit perfectly in all his sizes. I decided I would run over to the Goodwill by our house to see what kind of one piece or overall outfits they have for cheap. Well as soon as we walked in Jude saw the Halloween costumes. He already told me he wanted to be Buzz Lightyear this year. He was Woody last year. Remember he has a little obsession with Toy Story. We looked on the Disney web-site and they have their costumes on sale for 50% off. The Buzz costume was still $20. I told Jude we had to wait to buy it. I am so glad we did because as we looked through the costumes we found a Buzz costume for $1!!!! I love when we find great deals like that. So we shopped for close to an hour. Elise was a little fussy but Jude did great. Here is what we ended up with.

• Buzz Lightyear Halloween costume
• 18 month Osh Kosh overalls
• a pair of workout pants (more on the working out in a post coming soon)
• a practically brand new pair of Disney Power Ranger PJ's (Jude has never watched this show but he was so excited when he found them)
• Memory Game
• Steve Madden Clogs (almost brand new - leather)
• American Eagle leather shoes (look like they were never even worn)

I cleaned out the garage yesterday and took all the stuff I had saved for the big Garage Sale I was planning to have so they gave me a 20% off coupon. So my grand total for all of that stuff was $17.56! Can you believe it? I was so excited. I rarely get out to the thrift stores but if you have time to look you can find some great deals. I will admit this is my first time buying shoes at a Thrift store but I used some Lysol on them last night and this morning they were dry.

I guess my three people aren't doing my tag. Oh well.

Tag...you're it.

My sister-in-law Stephanie has tagged me. Here is what I have to do:

Grab the closest book you can find. Open it to page 123. Find the 5th sentence. Type the next 3 sentences, the book title, the author's name and tag three more people.

The Wild Girl by Jim Fergus

Now suddenly the girl looked me fully in the eyes and her moan turned to a hiss, a kind of snarl, and she sprang away from me wtih remarkable strength, crabbing backward into the corner of the cell, where she squatted and peered out at me through her hair like a trapped animal. She began to speak then her own language, a low, guttural ancient tongue that sounded like the mutterings of earth. "La chica esta loca," Jesus whispered.

I tag....Hubby Jake, Cousin Kelly and Correction G.

Have fun. I haven't actually read that book yet...I am saving it for vacation but now I just can't wait.

Where have I been????

Okay, so it has been a while since my last post about life. I thought I would take a few minutes and give everyone an update. Last week I was sitting at work basically daydreaming when Josh came into work. I have been seriously bored out of my mind lately and I have a thousand things at home piling up. It is annoying. But I need money so I have to work (I know, I know, I have told you already). Well, Josh says he needs to talk to me. When your boss tells you he needs to talk to you doesn't it kinda feel like you are in trouble or something? Trust me we have had many "talks" since I started. My schedule and pay scale has been changed several times. I think of it as a work in process. Typical of my life. The end result of the talk was that I am now working 2 days a week. I feel so relieved. I am still going to be bringing home about the same amount of money because I will be paying the babysitter considerably less. She is okay with it because I am willing to work around her schedule. Josh benefits because he isn't paying me to blogvertise or to answer the phones all day. I did tell him I would work one Saturday a month. It also benefits me (a great day to make sales) and him (he doesn't have to come in). So, I think this will work out best for everyone right now. My kids are happy that I am home today. We spent the late morning/early afternoon cleaning the basement. I still had things in boxes from our move at the end of June. I organized my crafty/ art stuff so it is usable again. I feel so much better. I am getting ready to tackle the kitchen and vacuum the carpets. We are having our friends over for dinner...something I have wanted to do for a while but like I said before I had pretty much given up cooking because of time. It feels good to be back!

Revolve Pics....

Okay, we had 2 nose rings, 3 lip rings, 5 home schoolers, 4 middle schoolers, 11 high schoolers, a lot of pink (ehhwwww...the hot pink kind too!), home-made t-shirts and a lot of fun. Check it out for yourself.......................

Revoloving with My Girls...

So, I spent the better part of my week-end on a bus with a load of teen-aged girls. Back in July I was asked if I could take some of our girls to the Revolve Tour . It is "Women of Faith" for girls 7th - 12th grade. I said yes without even thinking...I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Luckily for me the church hired a youth pastor shortly after I committed and his wife (Nikki) jumped right on board for this trip. The conference was in Columbus (about 2 hours away) and we really didn't know where we would be staying or how we would get there when we first purchased the tickets. It wasn't long after Nikki came along that we decided to include Suzanne as a chaparone. So, three adults 15 girls. We ended up hooking up with another church who had a bus and we all rode down together. We stayed at a church that wasn't too far from Columbus. We all slept (well...we were supposed to sleep) in the youth room. The church is where our youth pastor's father is a pastor. Anyhooo...we had something like 40 teen girls in one room. I have never seen so much pink. Revolve was as awesome as I had expected. The topics were so relevant and they really hit home with some of our teens. Last week we had extra tickets and we weren't even sure who was going and who wasn't going. In the end, I think everyone who was supposed to be there was. I got to take Caitlyn (Melanie's daughter), Brittany (old neighbor), Desarae (Brittany's sister), Hannah (their friend) and Nicole (a respite girl most of you know and love). I think they all had a lot of fun. The only one out of my group who ever goes to church is Nicole so I was slightly concerned the rest of them wouldn't like the whole "God" thing BUT they really liked it. On friday night Natalie Grant was singing. I looked over and they were all clapping and dancing around. I can't tell you how nice it is to see teen girls happy. Our world is so messed up- you don't see happy girls everyday.

Well, I am still tired (I went to bed at 3 AM on friday night) and I want to get going. I will leave you with 10 things I learned this week-end and then some pics.

1. Teens can (and do) make a difference. 3 out of the 5 girls I had in my group sponsored kids for World Vision.
2. The Bible talks about cutting. I can't believe I never knew this. Matthew 5:5
3. Even the skinny teens girls EAT A LOT.
4. Do not mess with Nicole while she is sleeping. (You trifflin' is that how you spell that word?)
5. I can't listen to a girl talk about painful things like suicide, cutting, being used by boys, etc... without crying. I've turned so soft.
6. No matter how many times I hear Tammy Trent's story....I cry and I always will.
7. Hearing the truth about boys from a hot guy makes it so much more believable.
8. It takes a lot longer than 2 hours to get to Columbus with a bus load of girls than it would driving in a car by yourself.
9. Natalie Grant is awesome. I never even paid attention to her until Women of Faith and even then I didn't know how cool. Girls are lucky to have her around. She rocks.
10. Being old isn't so bad after all. I think I still relate.


Poo...the pics aren't working now. I will post them later.

Where is my Site Meter???

So I switched over to this Beta thing....whatever that means, I don't really understand and now I can't get my sitemeter back. Help!!!!!!!!!!!!1

OHIO...The Heart of it All, Really???

Ohio is listed #15th on the list of fattest states in America. (BTW - West Virginia is ranked 3rd. Paul is always saying he feels skinny there!)

Ohio governor, Bob Taft ranks 50th on the national list of Governors.

Ohio's tax burden is ranked 3rd in the US.

Cleveland is ranked as the poorest city in the US. About a third of it's residents live in poverty.

It is no wonder Ohio ranks 47th for population growth.

Ohio is a beautiful state. The weather is kinda crummy in the winter but it certainly isn't as bad as some states. I've heard northeast ohio has fewer sunny days than Seattle but I think that is just an urban legend because I couldn't find those facts anywhere.

What the Blogvertise????

I must admit I am a sucker for get rich quick schemes. I have been a Mary-Kay lady, an Avon lady, a Discovery Toys lady, I'm a garage sale entrepreneur , I've bought lottery tickets and filled out surveys. I've even signed up to be a secret shopper. I am still not rich. As you know, I love to write and my blog has been a big part of my life for the last year. My brother in law, Applehead first started the blogging rage in the Miller family but now several of us (7, I think) have blogs. It is so cool. Stephanie's (Applehead's wife) has recently taken off. She gets hundreds of hits a day. That is so cool. I check it a couple of times a day myself. I like to keep up to date on the comments. Well, I go on there and she has this thing that you can sign up for where you get paid to Blogsvertise. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? My sister in law isn't the type who usually falls for this sort of thing. I am not sure I really understand the whole thing but I think they pay you to write about certain things in your blog...hence the name Blogsvertise. For example...Maybe someone has a web-site where they sell a product, you go on it and check it out then write about it on your blog. I think it is subtle advertising. Isn't this a scam? Won't this ruin the purity of the blog??? Once you get paid to do something doesn't it usually suck the joy and life out of it?

So, I get home from work today and Jake is downstairs on the computer. I ask him what he is doing....He says, I am getting paid to blog! Yes, now my husband has now signed up to Blogsvertise. Aren't you going to wonder now if he is writing something real or if he writing something just to get paid???? Hmmmmmm. I guess only time will tell.

Sleeping in....

Last night I didn't go to bed until around midnight because my friend came over and I helped her sign up for an eharmony account. If it is something you are thinking about doing let me warn you....it takes a long time to completely fill out all the questions they ask you. So, I didn't go to bed until late. When my alarm clock went off at 6 A.M. I hit snooze over and over again. Finally, somewhere around 6:40 I decided to just turn the dumb thing off. I told Jake he needed to get up for work and he did. I, however, went right back to sleep. So, I am laying in bed somewhere in dreamland and I hear a knock at my door. It was Alicia, the babysitter. She had let herself in, like she always does and didn't think anything about the fact that I didn't come right down. I am usually finishing up when she arrives. She turned on the T.V. and waited. After about 15-20 minutes she decided she should go upstairs and make sure I was awake since she didn't hear me walking around or anything. So, that is how I woke up this morning. I took a shower, did my hair, got dressed, put on my make-up and brushed my teeth in a record 18 minutes. I guess I need Jude to wake me up in the morning! Elise was still asleep. She usually wakes up around 8:30-9:00.

So, Jake and I have been Geocaching a lot more lately. It seems we go through phases with it. Sunday we let Elise with Alicia and headed off for the woods. We would have taken her but she refuses to sleep in the backpack thing and she was very tired before we even set out for the journey. It was a short hike (2 miles, maybe?) but it wasn't even terrain - made for a little bit of a challenge. It was fun. We found the first two caches with little trouble but the last one...we searched and searched. Finally we gave in and called the babysitter to look it up on line for us and tell us the hint they gave. As soon as we got it we found the cache within a 2 minutes. It did rain a little but since we were in the thick of the woods we had some cover. It was very humid. We were dirty and smelly by the time we got home.

We are heading for Tennessee next week-end and hope to do a bunch while we are down there.

Well, I never.....

Stephanie posted a blog today listing the things she thought she would never do before she had children. She invited people to to do the same so I thought I would give you my list. If you want to post your own list on your blog then go to her blog and list your website in her comments.

I have a lot of things I said I would never do before I had children. Here are a few....

• My kids will NEVER eat hot dogs! ha ha ha ha ha ha ha HAAAAA!
• My kids will NEVER sleep in my bed. Yeah right. Jude still crawls into bed with us.
• Characters??? Well, my children aren't going part of ridiculous world of child consumerism. I swore they would not like characters. As most of you know, Jude is a character JUNKY! The Wiggles, spiderman, blues clues, Toy Story, dora, etc... He has everything from night lights to underwear with characters!
• I will NOT let my kids go and stay with relatives out of state for a week at a time. And I certainly would never take a vacation without my kids. By the way...anyone want to take them for a while? A week? Two? Okay, give me a call.
• I will not be a working mom. Why would someone have children and then pawn them off on someone else? See my last post.
• And last....I thought it was some sort of child abuse to let your kids cry for more than 5 minutes at a time. It took me a while to catch on but man I was stupid then.

My list could go on and on but for now that is it!

Confessions of a Working Mother...

I've been reading Stephanie's Blog lately and she has been doing a lot of posts about being frugal, homeschooling, organizing etc.... She reads a bunch of other mom's blogs about similar stuff. I check them out when I get a free moment. I used to be one of them. Until Jude turned three I was a stay at home mom. I used cloth diapers, made my own baby food, cut coupons and I would drive to 4 different grocery stores to buy specific sale items at each. But, alas, last fall I had to go back to work. We changed jobs and after working and reworking our budget I had to accept my working mother fate. I took a "part-time", yet crazy schedule job teaching abstinence in the local schools. It was fun but Jake and I had to work opposite shifts and we never seemed to get anything accomplished. I hated working opposite each other but we did save on babysitters (we didn't need one most of the time) and our kids at least got to be with one parent at all times. Unfortunately, my job didn't pay that much and we barely could pay our bills. We were still very frugal and pinched every penny. Fortunately, that only lasted 8 months or so. This past spring Jake and I decided to change careers/jobs. So....as most of you should know, we now work pretty much the same schedule and we have a full time babysitter. We (well our children) really lucked out because she (Alicia) comes to our house and the kids get to be in their own environment. She is great with them and takes them to do all the things I wish I had time to do (zoo, the park, swimming, etc...). They get to take naps in their own beds and play with their own toys. So that part is great.
As far as our new jobs - Jake loves his job and is eager to learn more and move up the company ladder (it is a short ladder...I think 15 employees???). I was pretty bitter about working. I really REALLY want to stay at home. But I have come to terms with the fact that I have to work. It doesn't matter how frugal I am or how much I go without we have accumulated bills in the past that we have to pay for now. I do enjoy my job. It is going well and I am making a little more money. I have the potential to make a lot more. So, it is motivating.
So, now for the confessions. Now that I am working full time I am not as organized as I used to be. I have tried and tried to get on some sort of schedule for cooking, cleaning, etc... but I still haven't gotten into the groove. I don't cut coupons or shop sales. I rarely go to Aldi's because it is out of my way and I don't shop at 4-5 different stores anymore. I shop at one. It is not the cheapest but I earn money off my gasoline (and it is close to my home). As far as cooking....well, I've cooked twice this week, which is more than I cooked all last week. I keep taking the time to write out a menu but then I don't follow through. I forget to thaw something out or I don't have time to get it together the night before. Because I make these BIG plans and don't follow through, I have recently let several things rot in my fridge (greens, peaches, cabbage that I bought for cabbage rolls, fennel, a ton of fresh basil that I planned to make into pesto and freeze). How wasteful of me. It is embarrassing. I have also been buying frozen prepared meals. I am a "home cooking" kind of lady so this has been a big step for me. Last Saturday I decided to have a deep cleaning day. We have lived in our house for 2 months and we hadn't had one. I barely had any cleaning supplies. Jake and I talked about it and we joked that I really am frugal! I have been saving a ton of money by just not cleaning. You really can save by not buying those expensive cleaning supplies. And speaking of cleaning....Jude's Room. ARgggghhhh. It is awful. I mean it is such a mess. You can barely walk through it. And guess what. I really don't care. I try not to go in it. I've decided it just isn't that important. I also don't make my own bed 75% of the time. I know it only takes a minute or two but honestly, I just don't have a minute or two. I used to believe that old saying "you make time for what you want to do". Well, I do think it is true to an extent- I do what is the most important but I don't get to do everything that is important. I wish I had more time. Then I could blog more and take my kids to story time at the library. We do eat together and take family walks/hikes each night. All I know is this....It is just a season.

Funny Jen F Stories...

Jen is an old friend of mine. We worked together at East Side Mario's back in the day. There were like 4 or 5 Jen's working there at the time so we called them by Jen & the first initial of their last name. Needless to say, the name Jen F stuck and don't think I could ever just call her Jennifer or Jen. She'll is Jen F to me. We have always had a love/hate relationship. Although we don't talk that often anymore I think of her frequently. I think I have had more fights with her than I have had with anyone. We are both stupid. Our last fight (I can't even remember what it was about) happened in October. We didn't talk for months on end but when Jake was sick and in the hospital she called! We never talk about whatever our "last argument" was over. Either way, I was thinking about my past and trying to figure out what exciting and entertaining story I could tell you and I decided I am going to list some of my all time favorite all time Jen F moments.... I don't think I could even think about putting them in any particular order.

• We used to go walking or roller blading a lot. I have tons of stories just surrounding those "exercise sessions". When I lived in Peninsula she would come over after work sometimes and say "We are going to walk!" So this one evening we set out at about 11 P.M. to take a power walk down Olde Eight Road. It was pitch black. We were going along just fine, chatting about something juicy I am sure - when we see this car coming behind us. As the car gets closer it began to slow down. It eventually pulled off to the side of the road we were on. We were both scared out of our minds. So Jen RUNS off and leaves me standing there frozen. It was a police officer. He questioned me and wanted to know why my friend ran. Uh...I don't know. I yelled for her to come back and she did. She had been hiding in some bushes. We didn't get into trouble or anything.
• Another time we went for a walk down Olde Eight Road but I think it was more of a leasure walk. I remember it was a hot spring day and we were wearing flip flops. I had stopped along the way and picked a fist full of daisies to take back home with me. We were walking along...I am sure talking about something just as juicy as before when out of nowhere these GOATS bolted into the road directly to us. Well, I was (yet again) frozen but Jen took of (flip flop flip flop really fast). The goats decided to leave her alone but they surrounded me. I ended up feeding them my daisies. There were abnormally agressive goats. Cars were driving by, honking their horns and laughing their butts off but no one helped me. Jen was long gone. She didn't come back.
  
• Another time we were roller blading in this metro park. Jen was wearing a bikini top and umbro type shorts. I can't remember what I was wearing but it is irrelevent to the story. Neither of us had on any sort of padding because it would mess up our tan lines. When we first set out on the trail a couple of people commented on us roller blading. We just thought they were suprised to see us because of all the bike traffic. So, here we go and things were going well. Then we get to this BIG hill. I think okay, I can do this. I bend my knees and steady myself. I assumed Jen was doing the same. I was gaining momentum when I looked back I saw Jen had ditched the hill effort mid attempt. I turned just in time to see her dive into the grass and do a flip. I was worried and shocked. So I tried to slow down. Bad move. I wrecked too. Except I hit the pavement. I just layed there trying to figure out if I should laugh or cry. I finally scrapped myself together enough to go check on Jen. I had blood everywhere and still have scars to proove it! Jen however escaped without any blood BUT she had "grass burn" (like rug burn only done with grass) all over her abdomen. It was bad.
  
• Jen F always had a few boyfriends at a time. Always a serious boyfriend and then many suitors. I was in a bar with her when two of her boyfriends were there in diffent areas of the bar! It was something out of the movies. Oh it was a hoot. I think many of the men knew she dated other guys and just didn't care! Seriously there have been a few guys who would do ANYTHING for her. And it didn't matter how she treated them.
  
• When we went out dancing guys flocked to her. She could get so stinkin drunk that she pukes and guys still wanted her number. I used to give it out to everyone! She would be mad (for a minute) but in the end I think she saw the humor in it all. Oh back in the day....Well I could go on and on but it is so late and I must be getting that beauty rest!
  

Secret Message...

GWAR can do the new pants dance but if you are a fatty Boomba Latty you might have to put on your MC Hammer Pants and hammer time to Ice Ice Baby.

Does this mean anything to anyone?

Just Asking....

A Story About Nothing....

Today on the radio they reported on the funniest story. There was this waitress working at a restraunt and one of her customers asked for an alcoholic beverage. Being a good waitress and abiding by the law she asked to see the patrons identification. When the girl handed the server her ID the waitress just stared in disbelief. IT WAS HER ID!!!! Not the customers but it belonged to the waitresses! I guess she was at an "establishment" in Cleveland and her purse was stolen, about a month ago. There were charges on her credit cards but the culprit had not been found. Apparently the girl had been using the ID as her own (maybe she planned to pay with the stolen credit cards???) Who knows. The girl tried to run away but was apprehended by the police. I can't remember what her name was but what even added to the stupidity - she is 23 years old. It is not even like she needed a fake ID or anything. She was just plain dumb. A friend of mine works at the place but I haven't had time to talk to her about it.

Here is a link.....DUMB GIRL STORY

Is it really Friday? Thank God!

Work was great this week. We had a lot of activity. It was nice to talk with a lot of potential customers and I even made some of them happy by saving them a few (hundred or so) bucks. Isn't that cool. I don't think of it as selling insurance but rather selling a savings. Ha. Sounds corny but it is true.

I was a little suprised that no one commented on the pictures. WHY NOT? Well, a few of my friends did discuss them with me in person. Either way, the funniest thing someone said was "That Applehead looks mean!" So, Applehead...if you were going for the aggressive look I think you accomplished it. BTW...I did say you aren't mean. I thought the dump truck picture was priceless but then again, I know the people in the photo which makes it that much funnier to me. I don't know.

The kids are great. Jude's toe was well on the way to recovery. He is going to loose his nail. But he did have a little set back this week and he decided he couldn't walk on it again.

Today I was in the basement doing laundry and Elise stopped and was looking at me. I thought she had a VERY guilty look on her face so I said "What are you doing?" She started laughing and ran towards me with her hand out. When she got to me she handed me a penny. Isn't that something? She knew she wasn't supposed to have it and I busted her! So cute.

Well, I am tired and must be going to bed but I wanted to update everyone.

I am going to the beach and I am taking......

Well, I am not going to the beach but Jude came home today! I had a busy day at work. My mom took him to my house around 4:30ish and I didn't get off until 7 P.M. Jake brought the kids and met me at Sam's Club (exciting I know). But we really needed to stock up. So, I got there first and was just waiting. When they pulled in Jude was laughing and being goofy. He was happy to see me (yes, I can breathe a sigh of relief...my son does like his mother after all). He gave me a big hug and all that but some time ago he decided he doesn't like kisses and wipes them off. It has become the big joke. He even wipes Elise's kisses off. So we go into the store and Jude needs to go to the bathroom and then Elise has a poopy diaper. Of course we didn't bring the diaper bag in because...well we just didn't. So, Jake goes out to the car and the kids and I continue to shop. Hecktic Hecktic hecktic. After all the bathroom stuff was finished Jude was trying to hang on the cart and Elise was kicking him. She obviously didn't want him near her. I think she enjoyed being the only child for a while and wasn't happy Jude returned. Either way, we did survive Sam's Club and made it out without spending every penny we have. You know how it is...you go in for one or two things and the next thing you know you have enough meat for the next month.

When we got back out to the cars (remember we drove separately), Jude decided he wanted to ride home with Mommy. We anticipated this already so it wasn't a big deal to move the car seat over. On the way home he said "Mom, lets play a game". I figured I was up for a big game of "I Spy". He always picks something we are going past and by the time I figure out what he is spying...well, we are five miles down the road from it! But isn't that cute. He then proceeds to tell me what he is taking to the beach (you were wondering where I was going with the title weren't you?). I quickly remembered a game we used to play with my mom. She'd say I am going to the beach and taking (blank). Then we would have to say "I am going to the beach and taking your (blank) and my (blank)". The idea is to remember the whole list of what you are taking to the beach. I used to love playing this game with my mom and sister. It was undivided attention. So, I played along with Jude and as I listened to him tell what he was taking to the beach I recognized the items as the same ones my mom used to say to me when I was a little girl. For example I told him I was going to take water to drink. He said "NO...we are going to take whemonade!" Isn't it so sweet??? I have a feeling this will be "the game" for a while. I know when we were kids we always wanted to play it. I am sure it drove my mother crazy at times.

So, everyone is back home. Jake will be gone tommorow night. I am sure you will read all about that soon enough. Have a great day!

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words (or Laughs)....

Here are the pictures I have been waiting to get on here.


A hot and tired Jude relaxing on Daddy's lap.Applehead and Vivian....
Is is Jake or is it Tony Stewart with a Ryan Newman hat on????


Remember when I wrote about the kids sliding in the mud in West Virginia? Well here is the proof....Elise on the 4th of July.
Jude sitting in a dump truck - doesn't he look proud!?
Muddy West Virginia kids again...



This is Elise eating an ice cream cone after getting her first hair cut! This is Cody at the Akron Aeros game with us. He had a great time.


Oh this picute will have to speak for itself...... This isn't something I found on the internet. I actually know these people and took this picture myself! ha ha ha...
Jude and Lydia wearing their boots.

Pictures of You...

Okay...Here is the deal. I want you to write captions for these pictures. I will tell you who and what they are later. I am having a tough time getting to these other pics I want to post. Hopefully Jake can help soon. Either way....write captions.

1.
2.

3.

It is official...

I can officially sell for Allstate. Isn't that cool? Okay, enough about work.

Jude went to Tennessee for a week. It seems like he never wants to stay home these days. He is having fun. He did talk to us the first night but last night he just wasn't that interested. He said "night night mommie, I love you" that is it! Can you believe it?

I am hoping to post some pics this evening. I have some great ones!

Everything is a little stressful right now. Money is tight...of course Jake and I both changed jobs/careers at the same time. We still aren't completely unpacked. Work is piling up! ARRRGGGHHHHHH. Last week there was some talk about me going part time at work but I don't know where we are on that right now. Still waiting for a budget!!!! My babysitter is having surgery on her jaw at the end of the month and I am not quite sure who will watch the kids. Then when she comes back my other babysitter is going on vaction in Mexico (I must be paying her too much.....ha ha ha....inside joke!). What will I do with my babies???? Oh, and on top of all of this, Jake says he is ready for another kid! Oh boy.............................

Okay, more later......

I Read A Boring Blog......

That is what my friend Sherry told me last night. Can you believe that she would say that????? Well, she was just teasing me about not blogging lately. The thing is - I keep thinking I will get time to sit and write but it just hasn't happened. I still don't have a routine and I haven't quite figured out how to be a "working mother". Right now I am in another class. I have to be here to FINALLY get my binding authority. That means I will be able to actually sell insurance for the company (on Wednesday). Today we are learning about property policies....

This past week-end I went to the Women of Faith conference. It was fun. I roomed with Heather (my sister), Rixey and Justiene. All of our traveling was done on a bus. It was interesting. The loud mouth crowd sat in the back of the bus, just like in school. Can you guess where I was???? Well, since it was all girls you can imagine the talks we had!!!! Let's just say they weren't all fit for a public audience so I won't be repeating them here. But I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. The conference was great. There were very moving speakers and lots of great music and drama. I really enjoyed myself and would like to go back in the future. It was a far cry from the Nine Inch Nails concert I attended a month ago. Both fun....just in a very big way. Honestly, I fit it a lot better at WoF. Isn't that great to know??? I did cry several times and you all know how much I love to cry. Ha ha. But tell me, how can I sit there and listen to Natalie Grant sing a song about a two week old baby dying from SIDS and not bawl my eyes out? Luckily I anticipated the emotional roller coaster and stocked up on kleenex before attending. The speakers were so real. I mean VERY VERY VERY honest about their misgivings and mistakes they have made. Everything from spending time in mental facilities to having many abortions. There was a strong emphasis on knowing God will forgive you for your past and he loves you where you are. I dealt with my own guilt for my past mistakes a long time ago so the conference really just re-emphasised what I learned a long time ago. BUT...I think the best part was just getting away for a week-end (Thank you Mom for watching the kids) and spending time with the ladies from our church a little better. Girl time is always needed and refreshing. Most of our husbands went to Promise Keepers in Columbus. I think it was a little more intense.

Okay, well, it is lunch time. I have to get going. Leave me a comment and let me know you are still with me.

Today I Took A Boring Class...

It is for my binding authority. Since I have been working for an Allstate agent for a month now I already know everything. Ha ha. Well not everything. But a lot of it is review to me. Today we learned how to do quotes. I think I've done close to 100 already. And we did a 2.5 hour long session about the different Auto Policies. It is boring for me to even tell you about it. Imagine if you were in the class. I will say, I was a little nervous about going to the class in the first place. I hate meeting new people. I know it doesn't sound like the Delilah you know but, I am truly a shy person. I fake the rest. Either way, I got there an hour early (thanks Josh) and there was this other lady who was also early. The instructor told me she was in the break room getting coffee. I went and introduced myself and asked her if she wanted to run to Panera Bread with me. She said yes before I actually caught her name. Then, on our way out we met this other girl who looked a little lost. I asked her if she was there for the class and she said yes so we invited her on our excursion as well. She joined us. So, within the first 10 minutes I met two new people and didn't even break out in hives. Yes, I do that from time to time. Maybe I am not as shy as I used to be. Who knows. I do know this...I spent a large portion of my day staring at the shoes of the girl who was sitting across the isle from me. I hope she didn't notice because she probably thinks I have some weird freakish foot fetish. I was just daydreaming and checking out her cool shoes. I want to get a pair. I'll have to put those shoe dreams on hold though....no new shoes for me!

Have a great day!

Step off the blog...(please!?!?)

Did you know I have had so much blog drama???? Well, I have. I think I was a little gun shy (yes I can be shy) about even writing anything for a while because I had 2 incidences right in a row concerning my blog. The first case was just crazy. A person from my past started reading my blog and read a comment I made that was in reference to him and a future ex-men Monday post. He and his girlfriend got a little bananas about that. Seriously, they did have a valid point. I was making fun of the guy and he had a right to be upset but they took it to an extreme...insulting my children, friends, my God, music, etc.... They called me all sorts of colorful and creative names. I kinda got a kick out of it but in the end I was upset because they posted some pretty nasty and untrue things about me on the internet with my full name. So that was drama #1. Now for drama #2. My old room-mate from college read the post I wrote about her and she was very upset. She left me a comment and I couldn't even respond to her. She was insulted by the things I said and thought I had a bad opinion of her. Honestly, I thought she was one of the funniest and nicest people I've known. I re-read the post and didn't seem to find any of it offensive. I think I even said some very nice things about her. Either way, she handled the situation with a lot more class, which I appreciate, but neverless hasn't spoken to me since. I did leave her an apology comment. Who knows if she ever read it. Right after that happened I heard about this study about the "tone" of an email. The conclusion of the study was that most people (something like 75%) misinterpret the tone of an email. I think the case may be the same in my blog. So, here's the deal. My intentions are not to hurt anyone. I write about my life, current events and past history. I don't always have nice and flowery things to say about everyone. That doesn't mean I am bashing others or making fun. Sometimes reality isn't pretty. Know what I mean???? I try to keep those that would be embarassed by what I reveal anonymous. I think that is fair. Obviously there are people who have been in my life for a long time that will know some of those I speak about but it doesn't matter because they lived what I write about first hand.

In closing I would like to say this...blogs are such a cool thing. It is more fun than a journal because you can get feedback from other people and share a part of yourself you might not ever get to in another venue. Sometimes we say things on our blogs that we might not ever bring ourselves to say out in the open. And there are people who read my blog who never even talk to me. It is almost like they are eavesdropping on my life. And there are people I have been able to keep up with that under normal circumstances I may not have been able too (Aunt D, Aunt Nancy, Jason & Kelly - to name a few). Allthough I was upset about the drama, I am flattered that people took the time to read through my pages upon pages of posts. I do think I have some good (funny) stuff and some serious stuff....mostly just goofy. Please, if you are a reader...don't take any of it too seriously. It is a blog...not a newspaper...or book (beware though, I might write a book someday)...it doesn't carry much weight. I am just a girl from the suburbs writing about my life....................................... I love you all so keep reading - maybe I'll write about YOU next!!!

Lots to Say...Little Time.

I really should be in bed right now but I feel like I have really neglected the old blog these past few weeks. I have been busy and we've had so much going on. I started my new job. It is going well. I still have some classes to finish up for the company and then I am "offically" good to go. If you need insurance be sure to call me (or email me). We moved into our house last week. Jake and his Dad, with the help of Bill, moved stuff all week long. By time our moving day came along we had already spent the night in the new house. It worked out. Saturday morning I decided to go to a garage sale across the street. I was holding Elise and stepped off the last step of the porch, fell down and damaged my ankle. At first I thought I was going to pass out. It really hurt. But I did manage back up the steps and got Elise to safety (she was fine by the way). I brushed myself off and got it together. I should have taken it easier...by noon I couldn't walk on it. I ended up in the ER getting x-rays. It wasn't broken (thank God) but it was sprained. The doctor said it was pretty bad and gave me the big lecture about staying off it and the whole healing process. After about 6 hours on cruches I figured I'd rather be in pain. Those things were a pain. I looked ridiculous. It feels much better now. There is still a little swelling and bruising but nothing major.

On Thursday my laptop crashed. Yes, I lost everything on it. I had backed it up last summer but I lost all my pictures from the last year. It is so sad. I also lost the hundred's of recipes I typed out for the cookbooks I made last fall. My advice to you is...back up your computer RIGHT NOW! It is devistating.

Today we had a pretty bad leak. The landlord came over and had to take down part of our ceiling in the kitchen to fix it. Man, that was a job. He got right on it though. He is a very good landlord.

Tonight we went to our small group. It was nice to have it kinda back to normal. There were a few people missing.

Okay, I am falling asleep, as usual. Have a good day.

What if Trent Reznor became a Christian????

"I hurt myself today
To see if I still feel
I focus on the pain
The only thing that's real"

Do you know him? Trent is the lead singer of one of the most popular industial bands , Nine Inch Nails. He is originally from Cleveland and everyone in Northeast Ohio knows someone who knows Trent. I knew Michael, who dated my friend Stephanie. He was a member of the Exotic Birds, Trent's first band. My old friend Jenifer Bass loved NIN. She introduced me to the music. It was music that wouldn't be making it to the radio anytime soon. My pal, Audrey, from High School, has a huge NIN tattooed on her leg and she named her first born child, Trent. One of the first times I talked to Melanie she had just moved to Ohio from Florida. We were straightening the party isle at Toys R Us. She told me she was going to see NIN by herself because she didn't know anyone else to go with. I told her a ton of other people were going and I introduced her to them. That was when she became one of the gang. Tori Amos dated Trent. Everyone knows I love Tori. She wrote about him in a song. Courtney Love also dated Trent. I went to her concert and she kept talking about the size of Trent's "manhood". It was so stupid but Courtney thought she was so cool.

"What have I become?
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know
Goes away in the end
You could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt"

Okay, There is the "HISTORY". Here is what brought it all up again. A couple of months ago I was standing in the Kitchen and Melanie calls. She had just won tickets on the radio. They were to see Nine Inch Nails! She asked me to go with her. To be honest, I wasn't sure at first. I had A LOT of stuff going on and concerts...well, they are part of my past. I used to love going to concerts. I went almost weekly. I've seen so many bands live. Everything from Chicago to NOFX. I worked at Blossom for 5 summers with my friend Tiffany. We served coffee and HUGE cookies. Man it was fun. I've danced on stage with The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and yes, I have stage dived and been in MANY mosh pits. Either way, I digress... I used to love Nine Inch Nails. When I got married and had the respite kids coming to live with us I really censored my CD collection. I gave away or sold most of my old stuff. Besides, most of it I can hear on the computer if I want to. After settling in to my new job and moving I agreed to go to the concert with Melanie. Yes, I went to see Trent, eleven years after the last time. It was so much different this time around. First of all....I didn't dress in the normal garb. Yes, I was slightly concerned about what to wear but when it came right down to it - I really didn't care. I don't care to look like everyone else. I just went as me. Denim shorts and a black shirt with my favorite, stinky sandals. As we walked through I stared at all the people. I really felt like I was amongst a bunch of people who just hadn't arrived yet. They were mostly close to my age. I didn't really talk to any of them so I can't be quite certain but I felt like they just never grew out of that ANGST RIDDEN stage of life. I have always been about the meaning of the music. I've analysed lyrics and have even asked a few song writers what they meant by certain songs. I had forgotten about the serious religious overtones of NIN.

"God money i'll do anything for you. God money just tell me what you want me to. God money nail me up against the wall. God money don't want everything he wants it all."

The music is religous. Just not my religion. Trent sings about being hurt and strong at the same time. He gives hope to his followers. I watched people dancing and praising him. I thought (ironically) "this is what worship should be like". Unfortunately...well people are worshipping Trent Reznor. What is he going to do for them? Hmmmm.

"no you can't take it no you can't take it no you can't take that away from me"

So, I started thinking about it all. And I wondered...what would Trent Reznor do if he accepted Christ and became a Christian? Would he stop singing? Would he stop singing those songs? Would he apologize? Would his followers hate him? Or would they love him? Would it be a great testimony or would he be a traitor?

"head like a hole. black as your soul. i'd rather die than give you control."

I think he was writing about drugs??? Not sure. Definitely some religious stuff tucked away in there.

"bow down before the one you serve. you're going to get what you deserve. God money's not looking for the cure. God money's not concerned with the sick amongst the pure. God money let's go dancing on the backs of the bruised. God money's not one to choose"

I did have a great time. I love the loud music and the energy. I love seeing everyone dance around, united by a common thread (even if it is a pretty small one). But I felt different this time around....A little out of place. The best part was just getting to hang out with Melanie and laugh. Thanks Melanie.

Updates and Random Info...

I have 5 minutes. I will see how much I can tell you....

• We are moving to Cuyahoga Falls in less than 2 weeks. I would have been giving you a box count but....I haven't packed one thing yet. Jake has packed a few boxes though. The house we are moving to is PINK! I don't even care. It is very nice and has more space. They even mow their lawn.
• I saw Cody (the little boy I used to take care of...see previous posts). It appears I will be having contact with him again. More on that later....
• Work is going well. I made my first sale on Friday.
• Jude went to West Virginia with The Millers until Wednesday. He called me last night to say he wanted to come home to give me a hug. AWWWWWWW.
• Jarhead (yes the one I wrote about before) sent me an email this week-end.
• I had a good, fun filled week-end.... The Millers visited on friday. Went to a wedding on Saturday (girls night out w. Mandy & Sherry). Someone called us the Charlies Angels. I think they were drunk. Sunday we went to church, watched Jake play softball, went grocery shopping and went to the farm and picked peas (yummy). I didn't get to bed until almost 1 AM because I was cutting out fish (why do we need so many?????)
• I am working at VBS this week, working my job and packing. I will try to keep you updated.

Have a great day.

I did not abandon.....

I've been accused of being a blog abandoner... I can't even begin to explain how busy I have been. Is it ever going to slow down? I used to say when we were done doing Respite we would have all this free time. Then I had to work part-time, crazy hours, long drives....Well, it wasn't any less hectic. I kept saying when the school year is over and summer is here, I will have more time. Now I am working full-time and I can't seem to catch up. Some day..... So, as soon as I get in the swing of things and get a few things caught up I will blog again. Until then you'll just have to wait patiently. (please)

I did start the new job today. It was an easy day. No biggie.

This evening we went driving around and I think we found a new house to rent. We have half heartedly decided we should wait until next year to buy a house. At least I want to wait so we can afford the house we really want....not just the house we can afford right now, which wouldn't be much of a house. Jake isn't completely sold on the idea but either way, we found a really nice house in Cuyahoga Falls to rent. We filled out an application. It was really a cute place with more space and a much better drive way. It is on a quiet street and very close to a park. The yard is only about one tenth of what we have now, but it doesn't matter because we can't use the yard we have since the landlord never mows it. Last week the weeds were up to Elise's chin. How embarrassing. We would have to cut our lease a little short but I don't fear any legal recourse since she hasn't fixed the sidewalk or our floor yet and the grass thing. I will keep you updated on the house. Oh, one more note about the house...it has never been rented out before, so it is so nice. A family of four just bought a house around the corner and just moved a few months ago. Small closets though....

Have a good day. Talk to you soon, I hope.

Memorial Day in the Woods, Miller Style.....

Friday morning I woke up and headed over to teach my last classes as an abstinence teacher. I only had two classes for the day. Eighth grade classes. What a way to go out. They went well and I felt a little sad but very excited knowing I have this new career awaiting me. Either way, I didn't have time to sit and ponder it because I had to run home and start preparing for the week-end. I had piles of laundry to do, kids to get ready and bags to pack. After what already seemed like a long day we headed out for the Hundred Acre Woods on Blackberry Lane. Jake had just been to visit his family with the kids the previous week-end since I was had class and wouldn't be home anyway. Jude was excited to go back. I can't even really remember why our trip ended up being so long but it really ended up being about 2 hours longer than it should have. We didn't get there until around 11 P.M. When we got there the kids were wound up. Jude was jumping around and acting all crazy. Earlier, Linda had called and said a bad storm had passed through and the power had been knocked off. It was on by time we got there (whew one bit of craziness avoided). But it was HOT. Even though it was so late, it was still in the eighties. You may of guessed but we didn't have air conditioning. I didn't really mind. I prefer it to be hot. In fact, I am not really warm until it is around 90 degrees. All the windows in the house were open. Unfortunately, not all the windows have screens. Now, let me give you a few side notes. First, although the Miller Clan lives in the middle of a forest there really aren't that many misquitos. Really. You would expect since it is in the south and in the woods there would be a zillion of those pesky things but really I have only seen a few around. So, misquitos weren't really a concern. But other bugs...well, they came in the house. Nothing major...moths and stuff like that. But, Jude is a city boy. He doesn't like bugs. Even if it was a moth. He decided he wasn't going to sleeep in his "assigned" room. He ended up sleeping in bed with Mamaw & Papaw. It worked out well for us.

Saturday morning we woke up and relaxed. It was great. The Applehead family has some friends visiting from Ohio. We didn't really know them but they ended up being very nice people and had three small children. By lunchtime I was looking around and realized the kids outnumbered the adults (9 adults, 10 kids- 8 were 4 yrs old or younger!!!!). Because it had rained the day before it was a huge mud pit. The kids were loving it. Well, all except Jude, who cried and wanted to change his clothes because they got a little dirty. He is such a city kid. It was sweltering hot. I mean like 95 and no breeze. Yuck. The older kids started playing with these squirt guns. Before long they had this big idea to make a mud slide. No, not the drink...a real live mud slide. In the back yard there is this little "drop off". The kids sprayed water down the little hill and then started sliding down it on their butts. It was so funny. They were covered in mud. It was really innocent, good ole fashion fun. Jude didn't have anything to do with it. After the kids got cleaned up and in fresh clothes some of the groupd went on a hike. Jake and Elise went shopping and Jude and I took a nap. It was nice (but hot). After everyone made there way back, we got ready for dinner. We had planned to have our "family" birthday party. Remember I said we had a lot of spring birthdays? Well, this was the big one. Now, I am going to have to stop here because it is late and I am whooped. I will give you part two sometime soon so check back.

I Passed My Test....

So, I passed. Glad all that studying is over. I hate sitting still and memorizing. Either way, I passed. it is official. I am a licensed inusrance agent. Didn't this all happen fast?

No Longer a College Student.....

Did you remember I am taking that Pre-licensing class to become an insurance agent? Well, I have been taking it for the last 2 week-ends. Man....40 hours chucked full of unfamiliar information crammed into such a short amount of time. It has been crazy. I have officially finished the class and have my certificate. Now I have to pass the test and I am good to go. I have A LOT of studying to do. Hours and hours of it. This is going to be one seriously crazy week. Tomorrow I am taking a "crammer" course for the test. It is another 8 hours. I also have to work, get my hair done (pu-leese, it is so overdue), buy birthday gifts for all of Jake's family that has a birthday during the month of May (you have no idea how many....why do we keep reproducing????), get the gifts ready for presentation (you know wrap them, thank you God for gift bags), buy a new "professional wardrobe", go to this Mary Kay thing on Tuesday and then all the other family/wifey stuff I do. I think I am overextended for the week. I know, whine whine, whine....I am grateful for this opportunity. Seriously. I think insurance is so cool. I am officially a nerd. So, with all this said, I will probably not blog too much this week. I will try to update and as you all know I am an incredible procrastinator and I "find" things to occupy my time instead of doing what I should be doing (aka blogging instead of studying). I am going to try not to do that this week. Next week look for the long awaited and anticipated return of Ex-men Tuesday and Kent State Saturdays. I have some good stories brewing for ya! So, stay tuned and have a good week.

Happy Birthday Elise!!!!!!!

I tried to upload these in a certain order but it didn't work out for me. They aren't even just backwards but all messed up. Either way, here is my family....

Elise got into Jude's markers and wrote on herself....How cute.

This is Jude's serious look. I went in his room and he was sitting on his tool bench with his piggy bank in his lap, trying to count his money. This is one of his favorite past times.
Okay, this one should have been first....This is ME exactly one year ago today. Jake took this picture at 5:30 in the morning before we went in to have Elise. Man, I sure don't remember being that big!
One last marker picture. Check out those teeth.

Happy 1st Birthday Elise!

8 Hours of Sleep????

Aren't we supposed to get 8 hours of sleep? I've never really required a lot of sleep (with the exception of sleeping off a rough night). I can sleep 6 hours and function perfectly. I wake up in the morning happy. Yes, I am an annoying morning person. I have learned through the years to be sensitive to other people's morning grouchiness...not a big deal. Either way, I am okay with and inadequate amount of sleep. When my kids were newborns, I never walked around like a zombie due sleep deprivation. So, my point is to tell you I am tired. It is finally catching up to me and I still have so much to do..... I am working the most hours I've ever worked this week. I am studying for my big test coming up on the 25th and starting my new career on June 5th. How exciting is all this???? It is crazy and draining. I also have to get my hair done next week and buy new clothes. I don't own anything fancier than what you could buy at Old Navy. Yikes....... Elise's birthday is on Thursday. Can you believe she is already one???? I don't even have a party planned for her or anything. Also, we are doing this cancer walk in June. I haven't even started raising money for it.... Anyone want to donate?

Okay, enough whining. Let me tell you what my husband is doing right now. He just came in and got Jude and took him outside to play with the neighbor's dog. I swear, he is "courting" the dog. The neighbor started to tie the dog out close to our yard, away from his house. Jake started going over to pet the dog and before long he was talking to the owner about the dog. The owner tells him he doesn't know what he is going to do with the dog because his girlfriend moved in with her dog and 2 cats. Are you seeing where I am going with this? I told Jake NO WAY. He obviously doesn't listen very well. And it doesn't help with Jude asking for a pet. Either way, no dog until we buy a house this fall. The dog is a golden retriever. She is really pretty but we don't have the room or time. Sorry doggy.

Well, I almost posted the blog and Jake came back in. Guess what???? The guy offered to give the dog to us. Jake told him we can't right now. I suppose I better go introduce myself because I think we are going to end up with the dog. GRRRRR.... I am not a dog person. More of a cat lady myself. Please talk my husband out of this.

Jude wants a Pet...

Yesterday I spent a good portion of the day trying to convince Jude that Molly, our cat, is a pet. Here is how it went....Jude says, "Mom, I need a pet." I replied, "Well Jude, you have a pet. Molly is your pet cat." He gets a little louder, "No, Mawwy is not a pet. I want a new pet." After a pretty intense conversation for a few minutes, I ask Jude, "What kind of pet do you want?" He said, "a sheep". I explained that sheep aren't pets. He wasn't buying it. Last night while I was at my class Jake took the kids to the mall. They stopped at the pet store like they always do. While in there, Jude told Jake he wants a sheep for a pet. Where does he get this stuff?????? Lobsters and sheep...................

Spring Fever.....

I got up this morning at 6 a.m. and went to the grocery store before Jake went to work. I didn't want to have to drag the kids with me. Jude does okay sometimes but the last time we went to Giant Eagle together he spotted the lobsters. It was all over. He cried and whined the rest of the shopping trip. Imagine the looks on peoples faces when they heard my three year old crying and begging me to buy him a lobster to eat. Although Jude isn't really a picky eater, there are very few things he asks for (pink milk, shrimp, mushrooms, black olives, Parmesan cheese and lobster). I know, strange like his parents. And Elise - let me tell you....she is a little Houdini. Seriously, she can twist and squirm her way out of any high chair or shopping cart. She is determined. Very determined. And vocal about whatever it is she wants. Not fun when you are shopping. Not that this has anything to do with going to the grocery store but Elise is also a climber. Jude never really climbed on anything. Elise climbs on top of tables and chairs. I caught her standing on Jude's rocking chair. She had a big smile on her face like, "yes I know how cool I am". I think I am in trouble. Seriously.

I start my pre-licensing class this evening. I am taking the week-end course. It is actually 2 week-ends. Friday evening, all day Saturday and Sunday. I am going to have to miss Church. I am not to thrilled with that but we do meet with some folks from our Church Saturday night. That'll be fun. It is at my future boss's house. And I am going to miss Mother's Day. Sacrifice. Either way, I started studying the vocabulary words for this course and this is going to be hard for me. Most of the classes I took in college were what I refer to as "warm fuzzy feeling classes that are subject to debate...more than one answer can be correct". Not in the insurance business. There is a right and wrong answer. You have to memorize. So, I am really going to have to study. I am pretty excited about it. After I get past the class and the test, I think I am going to be really good at this job. I am so excited. Honestly, I want to stay home with my kids. Everyone knows that. But right now we have debt to pay off and we want to buy a house. So, I have to work. And if I am going to work then I better make it worth my wild to be away from my family. Don't worry, I'll still be a "do good-er", just in a different capacity.

This is so TYPICAL of me....

Man it has been a long day and I still have stuff to do. I need to do a bunch of stuff so I can't type long. I wanted to give everyone an update. Jake started his new job and everything is going well. We did realize I need to continue working to pay off some debt and to save up for buying a house (hopefully sooner than later...). I had been searching the want ads. It's not my favorite job. Seriously, what can you really tell about a job in 5 lines? Most jobs I have had in my life have literally fallen in my lap. Here are some examples....

• Went shopping at Dots with my mom when I was 16. We knew the manager. After a brief discussion she decided to hire me and asked me to come in that day at 5 P.M. I didn't fill out an application.
• Toys R Us. Sean J. (a friend of mine) worked there while I was looking for a job. He told me to come and fill out an application. I was hired that day. I worked there for 6 years.
  
• Joe's Crab Shack - I filled out an application and before I walked out I was hired.
  
• When I quit Joe's I told the boss I wanted to get a job in my field. He picked up the phone and called Safe Landing. I ended up working there for 6 years.
• When Jake and I decided to leave Shelter Care, we were looking for jobs. I had basically given up. Cheryl (my current boss) called me to see how the baby was doing. After talking a while I told her I was looking for a job. I was hired by the end of the day.
  

So, you get my drift. I have never really had a problem finding a job. I still hate the mystery of the unknown...especially when I need a job to pay the bills.

Well, Sunday at Church I sat next to Josh. He owns a insurance buisness. He hired me. So, this week end and next and will be taking classes to be an insurance agent. I'll start in June. I have to take a test and it looks pretty difficult. I guess you can say this is a HUGE career change for me. Paul Miller owned a insurance buisness for years. Now I can finally be just like him!!!!!!!!!!!! Everyone already compares us. Ha ha.

This Week in Class....

This week I was in an upper middle class community teaching the program. It was a 6th grade class and it was nice to be in a classroom where the kids have talked about the facts of life with their parents. This is the same school I was at 7-8 years ago and a kid raised his hand and asked him how the sperm and egg ended up in the same place. When I told him, he cried. Isnt' that awful. Well, this week was fun. I gave the kids an assignment where they had to ask their parents questions about love. It is always cool to see what other adults think about the subject. One dad wrote this long romantic description of love. The girl told me her mom just rolled her eyes at his response. Well, then the girl told me her dad said for her to give me his number because I would probably want it after reading his paper. Ha ha ha. She said he always jokes like that and his mom is used to it. I just laughed and told her to tell her dad I have my very own Romeo at home.

Anatomy and Puberty day went smoothly. We had another teacher out teaching in the other 6th grade classroom. She had a kid throw up. I guess she didn't even know he got sick because he actually left the room then barfed. I was a little disappointed it wasn't in my room. Isn't that awful. I did have lots of funny questions and comments. Here is a list of some good ones.....

• Testicles need to be "room temperature" in order to make sperm. That is why they are on the outside of the body.
• Someone asked why the call it "The birds and the bees". I actually have this pamphlet about "talking to you kids about sex" the Ohio Dept. of Health put out in 1921 (Linda gave it to me). I was reading it and it suggests you explain how birds or bees carry pollen from one flower to another and that is how a flower is "fertilized" and can grow into a fruit or vegetable. So, if you ever wondered that yourself...now you know.
• One girl said, "Mrs. Miller, Let me get this straight- You have to have S-E-X to have a baby?" Later she asked a teacher's aid how Mary got pregnant with Jesus.
• Pubic hair is to keep you warm.
• One keg of beer (which is 15 gallons) has the same amount of alcohol as 1 shot of whiskey. Oh and so does a bottle of moonshine (how do these kids even know what moonshine is????). There is a question in one of the games that how much beer or wine is equal to the amount of alcohol in a shot of whiskey.
  

I only have 3 more weeks. The next two are at the same school. It is a hike but a good school, either way.

If I could just be a skinny girl.........

So, last week I was teaching in a health class. I am sure all of you remember what your health room was like....full of posters warning you about the dangers of drugs & alcohol. Well, I was sorta wandering around waiting for the kids to finishing answering their "Dating Game" questions. I see this poster that has all different types of drugs and what categories they belonged to. So I am reading (I like to keep my info updated) and I see a list of stimulants. There are pictures of the drugs. I am going along the list and then I see it. My old friend. Metabolife 365. It is a popular weight loss drug from back in the day. It is illegal now, although, there is a new version "Metabolife Ultra". I was really surprised to see this on a DRUG poster. And it was a stimulant! Yikes. Well, let me tell you about my experience with these pills. I was probably 24 and I decided I needed to lose weight. I wore a size 12 (loose) and I felt like I was too fat. I was "dating" and it seemed like there was such an emphasis on weight. Seriously...I had a guy tell once that I was the perfect girl(personality) but he likes skinny girls. I was very active. I went to the gym. I worked several jobs. I went out dancing. Probably if I had laid off the beer I would have been fine. But that is another story for some other time. I was not fat. Most of what I had was muscle. I will never be a size 3. I would look horrible. But I wanted to loose some weight. My friend had been taking Metabolife and started loosing weight. I decided I would try it. I still remember my first dose. I took 1 1/2 pills like the bottle said. It wasn't long before I was bouncing off the walls. I cleaned the entire house before going into work. That evening I went in for my shift at Fisher's. I get there and I am so ready to go. You have never seen anyone wait on tables like I was... I told my boss he could send everyone home, I could take ALL the tables. I picked up extras and even did most of the side work for my coworkers. It was awesome. When it was time to sleep, I crashed. This went on for a couple of weeks. I started loosing a ton of weight. Other than the energy boost, it makes you super thirsty. I would drink like a gallon of water a day. I couldn't quench my thirst. After those first few, good weeks I started noticing I couldn't go to sleep at night. I would be up half the night. And when I did sleep I would have nightmares. A few months into taking the pills I had lost 25 or so pounds. I was down to a size 8 (once again - loose). It was awesome. I was the thinnest I have ever been in my life (since puberty). But the pills were taking a toll on me. I had friends tell me I was a different person. I told them I thought THEY were crazy. I don't really remember what I did or anything like that but I think I was just unreasonable. I dated this guy during this time (who by the way told me I was fat after I found out he had slept with my ex-roommate - see Jarhead previous post) and he still (to this day) tells people I am crazy. Isn't that lovely. Of course maybe I was??? I prefer to think it makes him feel better about the way he treated me. Either way...after a while Metabolife really wasn't working. I stopped loosing weight. And the drugs were expensive. I did keep most of the weight off for a few years. Pretty much until I met Jake (ha ha ha) and started having babies. Kinda crazy.

So, here were some of the side effects listed on the poster: rapid heart rate, inability to sleep, nightmares, nervousness, irritability, upset stomach, chest pain, stroke, heart attack, psychosis and death. Can you believe that? Crazy. It is no long on the market. I guess some young healthy 20 somethings actually did die from that stuff. I am lucky.

The MySpace World....

Did you know there is an entire subculture of Myspacer's out there? Well there is. My Space is a web-site where you can blog, post pics, tell people about yourself, meet people, accumulate friends (you keep an "official" count) and share your fav music etc.... I went on myspace.com a while back to check things out and see who was on there. I was shocked at how many people from my past had a myspace. It seems like most people on myspace fit into one of three categories. 1. Young 2.Artsy 3. Musicians I guess it just attracts that sort of person. Either way, I set mine up. I am now a "myspace nerd". I sent out a bunch of invites for people to be my "friend". I have only heard back from 9 people but most were people I hadn't talked to in a long time. I am happy to hear from them. Either way, never fear....I will not allow myspace to take away from my blog. I love my blogspot and you know I enjoy ranting and raving about all sorts of things. I have a good topic all ready for tomorrow and I have big plans to start blogging daily again. Things are finally getting back to normal around here! I am enjoying the beautiful weather and Jake really likes his new job! I am at a good (very good) school this week and I will be there for the next 2 weeks. Yeah. What a great way to end the year!

The Rest of the Hospital Story...

April 14th - Jake's fever went down. The ID doc came in and asked me why her partner prescribed Jake antibiotics. She was pretty much accusing me of talking him into giving him them. I never actually talked to the man. She said his MRI was "clear" and there was no reason to have him on the antibiotics and she was taking him off of them Sat. Morning. He would get to finish out the cycle that was started. I questioned her about the fact that his fever went down and she told me with the flu (mind you....His second flu test came back negative) his fever would go up and down and it was just a coincidence that his fever had gone down while taking the antibiotics. I told her when Jake was coherent enough to talk he was complaining about his ear hurting. I asked her to look in his ear. She told me she didn't have the equipment to do so. I asked her if she could go get it and she said NO. The Neurologist came in and also said the MRI was fine. I told him I had noticed a distinct change in Jake's personality. He told me the hospital could do that to people. I told him about the hallucinations and explained that Jake had been very "distant" and almost "cold". He blew me off. He said it was the fever, drugs or effects of meningitis. "Jake is getting better", he said. The General Practioner came in and informed us that everyone had overreached the previous evening. He also said they would stop the antibiotics in the A.M. We told the GP about Jake's ear ache and he asked Jake if it still hurt. Jake said no because, after taking strong narcotics, it didn't hurt anymore. Plus he was seeing flowers and zoo scenes on the wall...Nothing hurt at that point. So, the GP didn't look at his ear. Friday evening, his nurse from Tuesday came in to work. She looked at his file and was very confused. I started talking to her about some of the stuff that went on during the stay. She talked to a few other nurses and they all agreed something was seriously wrong. So that night while I slept she started digging. By the next morning she had found the infection in his ear from the MRI report. THREE Doctors missed it but a nurse could see it. She had called supervisors, management, patient care people... I told her I wanted the ID doc removed from the case.

April 15th - The ID doc came in and told me she was the only doc in for the week-end and wanted to know if she had permission to give Jake care. I told her if she was our only choice that was fine. She was very humbled. This is what she said...."Your husband has mastoiditis. It is an infection of the mastoid area. We will be keeping him on the antibiotics." She turned and walked out. I chased her into the hall and I said, "Can that effect his brain?" She said "yes, but we have no reason to think it has". GREAT. No reason except my husband's entire personality had changed and he is seeing things that aren't there. So, I talked to the day nurse and asked him to page the GP because we had a lot of questions and we would like an ear, nose and throat doc to come in and speak with us. She told the nurse, "He doesn't need one and if she wants one she can hire one herself or argue with the other GP on Monday about it." Aren't these people lovely. She did come in later during the day. She did not identify herself and listened to Jake's abdomen, heart and asked him if he needed anything. She left and we didn't even know it was her for a few hours later. No explanations. No bedside manner. The Neurologist came in and we questioned him about the MRI results. He said it was his job to look at the brain, not the rest of the results. He was smug. Jake woke up and talked to him just fine. I told him, he was not normal and something was still wrong. He said it was the narcotic.

Easter: April 16 - I woke up at 5:30 A.M. I watched Jake twitch and hallucinate for two hours before I went home to get ready for Church. He had not taken the narcotic for 12 hours and had not had a fever for 48 hours. I was convinced they had messed my husband up. Sunday was so hard for me. I didn't know if I would ever get the real Jake back. I decided to have him transferred to the Cleveland Clinic. The on call GP was extremely rude and asked me if I thought I knew more than the doctors. I told her that didn't matter. I had lost all trust in the docs at the current hospital and I wanted to go somewhere else. She was so rude about the whole thing. The Neurologist came in and said he was taking Jake off some of the meds he had prescribed. I went home and looked up the meds. I decided Jake would be back tomorrow. The meds were making him crazy.

April 17 - The phone rings at 6:50 A.M. It was Jake. He was back!!!!!! He transferred to Cleveland around 3 P.M.

That was Monday. He was home by Wednesday.

So, the moral of the story is....Don't trust everything a doctor says to you. They are human and they make BIG mistakes sometimes. If something doesn't seem right, you have to say something.

Have a good day.