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OnePlusYou Quizzes and Widgets

I am not dead but if I was it would be nice to know that my car would be paid off.

So I have been very very busy with the things of life and did I mention I am buying a house? It is cute. Very Cute. Lots of character.... It has a tree house in the back for the squirrel and we will all have our own bedrooms! That hasn't been the case since September...needless to say we are all a little excited. Yes it needs a little work, painting the rooms, laying a kitchen floor, putting up handrails on the steps, but this is all stuff we can do with minimal amounts of help...unless you are volunteering :o)

I mentioned in the last post that Big Red has gotten married. I am not really upset about it but it isn't like I am going to invite them over for coffee. I do not want to see them together. I just want him to go away. Now that my name is FINALLY off everything we owned jointly I do not have any reason to ever see him again.

HOORAY!!!!

Things are looking up and I am excited!

Still alive and kicking!

I am still alive contrary to the rumors of the death of my blog. I have just been very busy trying to keep up with the Squirrel, deal with Big Red finishing up the odds and ends of name/title changes of the divorce, suffering through Mother's Day, the not-so-new job and the trials of life in general.

Maybe I just need a new layout to get interested in this again...new colors...new information.

Oh wait I have stuff to blog about...just lack the time to do it...And the squirrel thinks my keyboard is too loud so he "shushes" me when I type...

Did I mention Big Red got married a couple of weeks ago? Yeah maybe there will be more on that later...

Whew....

The events of late in my humble abode have left me exhausted to say the least. Dealing with our little squirrel with issues of medication switches, shake ups of homes etc has taken a toll on us all.

The slightly odd note here is that Squirrel has begun refering to me as one of his parents. I find this odd. I have made no secret of my misfortune in the child producing area of my life.

However this past weekend it dawned on me that I am old enough to be the parent of every young girl sitting at my table on Sunday mornings. Most of them were born the year I graduated from High School.

WOW.

I do still have every intention of Adopting someday. God's timing ...not mine...

The new job...

There is someone who was hired at the same time as myself for the same position only Part time.

The problem I have is that she sleeps....yes at work. She is only in her 20's!

She even plans this into her day! "I will just do XY&Z and then sneak in a nap before lunch..." Our supervisor is aware of this but has been SO BUSY he hasn't had time to address this issue with her. I am not implying that this is an excuse for him...we literally have had people walk out and quit, pass away and other issues like flooding at his home etc. All major issues.

I hope this is taken care of soon or at least addressed...the rest of us are tired of picking up the slack. We are only picking up things that reflect on us as a group, her indivdual responsibities are hers to screw up. Which will become abundantly clear in the next several days.

I am tired and will be curling up in my nice warm bed away from the evil wind outside soon so I bid you farewell.

I am tired....

Have you ever had one of those conversations that lasts literally for days?

The Squirrel has literally told me every fact in his brain about planets, volcanoes and a certain foreign country that his Father is in right now.

For the last 4 days......nonstop......several times....over and over and over and.....

well you get the picture...

You can't tune him out either. If you do not respond in the right time frames he will say the same thing over and over raising his volume slightly each time. Followed with a harsh little comment of, "Geezs would it kill you to offer a simple OK? so I know you are listening???"

The speech that follows about respect isn't worth it because he will just start over the entire conversation about the planets etc because he is "not sure which parts you heard".

One way or another you will hear what he has to say...

So I might as well listen half heartedly the first time and throw in a "uh huh" and a "really" every couple of minutes.

In fact I am surprised this post turned out this organized because I have a tendency to type what I hear and he has talked nonstop since I picked him up from school...

Of course I am not as tired as a fellow employee is as she sleeps half of the day every day at work . The boss is aware and I am sure plans are in the works to fix this problem....but more on that a different day....

May the force be with you....

So we have added a little Jedi Warrior to our house. Santa came early on Thursday night because he didn't want the new puppy for the Squirrel (on crack after 4 or 5 espressos) to get cold in the sleigh. Awww... So cute and cuddly and LOUD! He seems to be a Border Collie mix with small feet. They...errr....I mean Santa said he would only get to be maybe 30-35 lbs.

He is pictured here with a full belly after a hard morning of playing with Squirrel. We only let him sleep a few times and only about 15-30 minutes at a time. Last night his day and night hours where a little mixed up.

He is not fond of being alone. Oh and you know it! Tonight he only barked for a half hour before falling asleep.

Smart little sucker he is alright.

We have decided to go the age old route of Kennel training simply to save the carpets when we are not home or sleeping. He is only 12 weeks old. As he watches the other dogs he has figured out (for the most part) piddling outside. Of course he is what I call an excited piddler. When he gets too excited or happy he piddles a little on the floor but he tries to stop himself at least. On the other hand we will be VERY EXCITED when the "yard bombs" are actually outside in the yard and not in my bathroom, the hallway, the bedroom... well you get the picture.

We are anxious to get past this part of the potty training...house breaking....or whatever you call it so he can start sleeping with the Squirrel at night. The cat is actually still bigger than him at this point. Right now he is just too "leaky" and well he decides to play at night and actually tried to nurse on my sister's earlobes while she was sleeping...briefly sleeping at that point :o)

Puppy surprise at Christmas time sounded like such a good idea but of course the youngest dog I have ever had was a fully trained 2 1/2 year old lab. Well at least we have the next several days to work on this training thing.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I promise to try to update more often but my time has been consumed with the job search!

I enjoyed a relaxed Thanksgiving dinner with my sister et all. I didn't know that a holiday could be like this....great food, relaxing and well I guess we have always had interesting conversations but they were quiet and civilized today?!?

More coming soon but a football game is calling my name...

A compliment

So I received a compliment from my Sister.

She looked at me and smiled as I was carrying a TV set back to the "fort" in her room to set up the GameCube for the squirrel. I asked what she was smiling about and she said she was thinking of something.

And then she said IT.

She said, "You know you turned into the cool Aunt."

I had to think about it. I always said I wanted to be the cool Aunt when she had kids (well and when that other guy we have to call a brother had children).

I have taken him after school to places to buy used games for the new system with his Birthday Money. Let him set it up in my room and actually played a game to show him how to launch the BeyBlades (don't ask). Today I took him to buy the memory card for the system so he can save games and we picked up another used game for only $4.99.

See Aunt One4JC knows where to get deals on used games because Uncle Big Red had almost every gaming system created at the time and at least 30 games for each one. Hrmph...issues beyond adultery...no...never!

I also helped him set up the "Fort"area with the pull out bed thingy, the TV and GameCube so he can hide out and play without disturbing anyone else and he can have his "own space". While I can't take credit for the concept of the "fort" (that would be his Mom's idea) somehow I am the one who made it real to him and now he feels safe enough to go in the "fort".

Of course he just ran from the room because there was a "centipede looking thing type bug in there!!!!!!"

Even "big boys" have there moments...

The hunt is STILL on

The job hunt is an ongoing process....

Sigh......

I had 1 interview today and another on Thursday with a different company.

Right now my job is...finding a job...at least that's what Dr. Phil would say.

The thing I like right now is that I can sleep in until 7:00am, take the Squirrel to school and grab a cup of coffee before I start the search. I sure don't miss the phone calls at 5:00am when someone called in sick and the mad rush to get there before the first child arrived.

I do however need a job so I can move out and give my nephew his own room. Not to mention that the money would come in very handy with Christmas approaching.

Oh Wait! We just had our Christmas and Thanksgiving combined up at the lake in a restaurant because Mom and Beau are leaving for the south of the country this Thursday. This Thursday. I am not sure when they return but I am thinking someone might have mentioned April?

I still want a job so I can move out and feel like a grown up!

Some interesting facts I have learned on the World Wide Web:

Earthworms have five hearts

SCUBA divers cannot pass gas at depths of 33 feet or below

More than 90% of plane crashes have survivors.

Watching television can act as a natural painkiller for children

Iceland has the highest concentration of broadband users in the world.

The two most famous actors who portrayed the “Marlboro Man” in the cigarette ads died of lung cancer.

Men with a certain rare medical condition can breastfeed babies

The largest pumpkin weighed 377 pounds.

On an average work day, a typist's fingers travel 12.6 miles.

On average, a 4-year-old child asks 437 questions a day.

Nondairy creamer is flammable.

More American workers (18%) call sick on Friday than any other day of the week. Tuesday has the lowest percent of absenteeism (11%).

Average number of days a German goes without washing his underwear: 7.

The Eisenhower interstate system requires that one mile in every five must be straight. These straight sections are useable as airstrips in times of war or other emergencies.

The average person will spend two weeks over their lifetime waiting for the traffic light to change

Donald Duck comics were banned in Finland because he didn't wear pants.

Tokyo has had 24 recorded instances of people either killed or receiving serious skull fractures while bowing to each other with the traditional Japanese greeting.

What happens when she gets bored?

While that is not my hair that is a good representation of the amount I took off yesterday.

Yes it is true the hair has come off.

I was bored and ready for a change so it resulted in me losing 7-8 inches of hair. When I went into my stylist she reminded me that I had not been there since October 7th...LAST YEAR! Yes it is true I had been cutting my own bangs and just letting the hair go wild for the last year. Part was because I haven't had time recently and part is because I haven't had a style I liked enough to keep up with it.

I literally lost that much hair but also I look like I lost 20 lbs and 5 years off my age! It is ironic because I took in a picture of Lisa Rinna thinking that my face was too round for it but I like the messy look. My Stylist almost fell over and the stylist next to me said, "Rock on! Own the cut!"

I told her I would like it a little longer but gave her free reign but reminding her that I have an interview next week...Oh yes did I mention that yet?

Several years ago I noticed my hair had gotten a little natural wave to it. Odd as it has been stick straight my entire life. Well with this cut it has curled up and looks awesome!

Someone even commented that I had gotten highlights as well...no but the gray is positioned in such a way that they look like blond streaks. Once I get a J-O-B I will go ahead and splurge to get a few highlights as well.

Well I need to help finish the final prep work for the Birthday Party that is happening here tonight. Nope not me but the Squirrel! He had me awake by 5:15 AM singing "Happy Birthday to me" to the tune of "We Wish you a Merry Christmas"?? He was a little excited to say the least!

From generation to generation...

So my lovely sister and I introduced the Squirrel (aka my nephew) to the movie "Goonies". At first it was like pulling teeth to get him to sit down for this movie...he whined...he complained...he almost threw a full fledged fit but stopped just as the map was pulled out in the movie. Soon he was fully enthralled in the movie...and loved it!

I remember seeing this movie in the theater as somehow my sister convinced my Mom to let me go see it with her. This became one of my favorite movies. I had the poster, the folders for school and envied the kids lucky enough to get the lunch box.

This was the movie everyone in my generation loved. Some were too old for E.T. and some of us were too young to see the Star Wars movies but we all loved The Goonies. I think the Goonies was so popular because it was ever person's dream regardless of age. To stumble upon a get rich quick plan that actually works and saves the day while becoming a hero to all (including parents), catching the bad guys and finding a girlfriend/boyfriend was the ultimate dream.

This movie is one of the greatest ever and I am really glad that after all the teeth pulling to get the Squirrel to actually watch it that he ended up really loving it.

The graduation recap

The graduation was the same fun filled event that I expected it should be....you know with Mom and Beau involved.

I started off running interference between Mom and Sister. You see when Sister graduated with her Associates degree Mom walked...no wait....stormed in and embarrassed Sister in front of ALL the people in her graduating class. Over something utterly stupid and ridiculous that did not even happen.

I made sure that I fixed Sister's cap for the ceremony including the tassel that Mom insisted should look that way (all crooked and bunched up). I took Mom's camera and made sure all the settings were correct for her to take pictures during the ceremony. Good Lord I hope she didn't change them!

I made sure the Squirrel had plenty of suggestions of what to draw to avoid any irritations. Given that everyone was super hungry I tried to get the restaurant changed to one we could get into quicker but I lost that battle.

We did have a highly humorous conversation about cursive letters. Squirrel is learning those in school. She told him the lower case m's have 2 humps and n's have one hump. No I say he has it right m's have 3 humps and n's have 2 humps. A full fledged critique of my educational experience was launched. Normally I might have let this go but the boy listens to Grandma's advice intently. And well ... he had it correct. After several minutes of this disagreement I finally looked at the people behind us who were stifling laughter and asked them. Yes alas the boy and I were right. She told them not to get involved with it... in her own passive aggressive way. The IRONY here is that for 40+ years of her life she has been signing her checks with a name that includes no less than 3 of these lower case letters. I asked her if she had been signing her name wrong all these years...OK maybe that wasn't so nice but she but she all but called me an idiot and questioned my profession of teaching children about letters.

After Sister received her diploma and made sure it was signed :o) we headed off to the local eatery for a late dinner.

My sister ordered a Patty Melt. When it arrived my Mom said, "Huh! I have never seen a Patty Melt served on Bread before!"

In my sisters wisdom she simply responded, "Well I like them this way."

I love my family but sometimes I really worry about Mom. She has been referred on several occasions for testing for Alzheimer's but she refuses to go. Sometimes I feel that if she refuses to get help and admit there might be a problem then my hands are tied. And golly that makes it really hard to deal with her on a daily basis.

I am glad that Beau is in her life. It helps me not worry about her setting the house on fire or hurting herself as much.

I have the squirrel!

If you read my sister's blog you will know about the squirrel aka the squirrel on crack after 4 or 5 espressos. I have agreed to watch the dear boy and the dog so that they may scamper away to a concert and night away post graduation celebration type thing.

Notes so far:

• I have only had him for 6 hours.
  
• A mere 32 more to go.
• He is very excited to have the dog AND (my) cat in the same house.
• He cheats at Jenga.
• He says that's how Daddy plays...
• Now that the DVD player is fixed he doesn't want to watch any of the ones I have.
• After setting all the guards and security levels at the highest possible settings I let him play a few computer games online.
• I have already stepped on too many Lego pieces
  
• He discovered a "brand new game" called Space Invaders
• My "Internet safety" settings can be set high enough to not allow the phrase Alien Blast or Ammo
• He apparently is getting ready to grow OR he is never fed at home.
• he has mastered the entire train set and set up every possible configuration.
  
• With over 100 channels on the dish he still can't find anything he likes.
• He has barely let me out of his sight. Well a girl has to pee sometime!
• He rarely stops talking or observing things.
  
• I have told him the Aunt one4jc needs some quiet time of at least 30 minutes.
• NOW!
• I am sure the sis will get a full report of the "no fun" we had
• We have played many games, online and off together. Talked about God, the dog, the cat, Santa Claus (not sure where that came from), toilets, superman, mail delivery, army men, laundry, breaking promises, school, money, food, drawing, GI Joe and Uncle Big Red.
• The dog mistook the cat litter box for her treat jar.
  

Well he has decided my time is up.....

He is on the hunt for food....AGAIN.