Been Busy! Just like you guys!

A lot has been going on (I know everyone is busy so everyone is excused for not posting as often as they would have liked to....everyone except those getting paid for posting...hee hee).


Anyway, I have been dealing with the kids, family and working.

WORK:

One of the Physical Therapists (PTs) that worked for the company on an "as needed" basis decided he didn't want to be needed by the company anymore so now we are down to 2 PTs. Both of them are working with the company on an "as needed" basis too. They are also working with other companies as needed so they are pretty busy.

This means that I will be getting my patient load from these 2 PTs only if they have time to accept patient evaluations from my company.

This means that I have just dropped my patient load from 6-8 patients a day to 4 patients a day (which is what I have now). I also looked at my schedule for next week and on Tuesday and Thursday I only have 1 patient.


I have to say. At a time like this...it's a good thing I'm salary.

KIDS:

Devyn just finished his soccer league. We lost everyone of our games, except the one where the other team was a no-show. Whatever. The kids have fun and he is getting better in the sport.

Angel has done half of the Christmas shopping in Corpus and I did the other half here.

Dom was told that if he completes another packet in Science and gets a grade of 90 or above, then he doesn't have to complete any more science packets (he still has 4 more packets to complete). If he does that with all of the subjects then he will automatically be passed onto the 9th grade.


He's excited and I think that is what he is going for.

FAMILY:

I have been trying SO hard to get my sister to be open to doing things more as a family. She has issues and likes to put the blame on everyone else. In case you missed it, THIS is what happened one time when she decided to put her issues first.

The last time we (her boyfriend, her and myself) decided to have a BBQ on a Saturday. Her kids had just stayed the night with mine that Friday. I figured all she had to do was come on over.

Well when I called and asked her about coming over on Saturday, she said "ohhh, I don't think we are going to go after all."

WHAT?!?

Come-on now.

For Real?

You don't want to spend a Saturday with your family even though you are STILL complaining that we don't do anything AS a family?

She did manage to come over and get her kids though.

Whatever chick.

SOOO...people. Here's my last ditch effort:

Devyn and Miah are going to be playing basketball. Just like I wanted to do with soccer (have my sister's kids come and play on the same teams and I would pay their registration fees) I want them to come and play on the same basketball teams (of course I offered to pay their fees, again).

I talked to the coach who is in charge of the whole program and he said we could get basketball underway if he can round up enough coaches (he had a little bit of a hard time getting coaches for soccer).

This is when I told him that maybe we could help him with that. I asked him how much experience he needed and he started saying "some" but ended up saying "none".

PERFECT!

I played basketball in high school and well...that's all.

I proposed the idea to my sister and explained that she and I could coach the girls team and her boyfriend could coach the boys team with our boys and Dom could be the assistant coach for him.


She's excited about the idea. Maybe this time we will be able to do something together as a family cause this shit is killing me.

Her and her boyfriend argue A LOT and she lets that get in the way of everything she needs (or promised) she would do. I told her that she needs to put her personal issues aside when it comes to the kids. Lets see how that goes.


I'm thinking about buying us all some whistles to help them stay motivated.


What do you think?

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So, guess what my friends! I'm sure you all are seeing the gas prices still dropping.

Here's what we have now down here:



P.S. Dom has a new post up. Check it out HERE.

Now that he's not grounded and has a ton of free time with no school work. I will have him posting more frequently again.

Got the tree up...finally. UPDATE: COME SEE!

I sent these pics to Angel on his phone. I use my cell phone to take pics because I don't have that Christmas gift I was waiting on since last year just yet. YUP, I've been waiting on Angel to get me a digital camera for the longest time now.

I have already done the whole "get my own damn present" thing too many times.

Oh,....uh....anywhoooo.

We've had the tree up for a couple of days now but we haven't gotten around to putting up the decorations. And by "We" I mean ME. I've just been passing out after work. I have just enough energy to make sure my kids are home safely and then I knock out.

Um....yeah...about the tree....

I took the pics to show Angel the tree lights and the 1 decoration we have up. This decoration isn't by choice...you'll see....

Click on the pictures to get a better look.

I don't expect the ornaments will be hanging on the tree for very long.

It's going to be a long Xmas with this cat.

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So guess what we have here.

THAT'S RIGHT!!

Gas has come down to $1.49 here, and that's without the gas card with the .03 discount.

I knew it!!

When I saw it I almost peed my pants a little. I know I let out a little squeak while I was driving and it's a good thing I was alone.

All is right with the world!

Maybe...JUST Maybe....

I'll be able to stick to doing something.


AFRo was just talking about making time to do something for yourself.


And..


Honkeie2 over at feeling stoopid is wanting to get back into shape again.


I guess I could do a little getting fit of my own for myself.


I'm going to have to drag these babies back in from the back porch.

Also...

My two babies, Venus and Serena that I got a little while back ....

are now growing up to be muscular and beautiful.

Of course, Snowball, the cat isn't scared of them at all. He's going to just keep on eating his food and ignore the beast on his left.

Tattoo, the kitten, is still a little scared of them and..... they know he's iiiinnnn heeeerrrreeeee.

Those dang dogs tear up EVERYTHING in the back yard!

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I withdrew Dom from the public school he was attending here. It was just too slow for him. He was always getting in trouble because of his grades but I know he is just bored. I put him in an alternative school that is from 8-2p, and on Fridays 8-12:30. It sort of puts a kink in my work day but I think it will be worth it.

He gets to complete his work at his own pace and if he just keeps on working and completing the 8th grade work. He will automatically be moved into the 9th grade. If he works at the pace that I know he is capable of working at...He will be able to graduate in 2 1/2-3 yrs.

Today was his first day and he seemed to like it. Now I can't get after him for coming home and getting on the XBOX right away because he does all of his work at school. (Almost like a home school program...away from home).

I'm excited and he's excited so there is excitement to be had around THIS household.

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So guess what people!!!

Gas around here is getting close to hitting the mark I hoped it would!!!

It's the weekend...

And I'm sure no one wants to hear about Thanksgiving now that it is over. We all want to start on our Christmas posts..etc.

Well, tough titties!

Here's how my Thanksgiving went...

Wednesday Night:


My best friend Lisa and her husband Will came down from Houston for the weekend. They stopped by and we had a few drinks. My sister's family came by too.


Angel said he was "tired" and that he was just going to say "hello" to everyone and go straight to bed.


LIAR.


We all hung out and drank a few then we turned in for the night.


Angel was up longer than any one.

Thursday Morning:


I picked up my Mom and Dad EARLY because she was doing most of the cooking. My Dad likes to come over because he can sit at the computer all day. Well, when it came time to move some furniture around to make room for the tables, I disconnected the computer and we slid it over to the corner.

My dad was following me around the house asking when I was going to re-connect the computer and I told him that I wasn't going to today.

He got pissy after that.

Whatever. He didn't need to be on the computer all day with his back to everyone on a day like today.

Dom had made some ham for his brother and sister the other day and he decided he wanted to make ham for Thanksgiving.

Who was I to say NO?




Angel fried a turkey and my mom and I baked one in the oven.
Fry time: 43 min.


It was REALLY good. We usually fry one or two every year.

(no one focus on the gross looking part on the bottom of the turkey)

We had a ton of food (we still have a lot left over).

I ate and entertained for a brief period before I finally crashed out around ummm....4:30 and Angel woke me around 7:30. He had already put away the rest of the food in the containers I had bought and he left the dishes for me.

There were a TON of dishes!!

We had a good day.

How was yours?

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Current gas prices around here:

It's getting closer to that $1.50 mark I was hoping for!!

About Me-2

I am a light sleeper.

When I say "light", I actually mean "LIGHT"!


Which brings me to the reason I am writing this right now at 2:08 am.


Angel, my beloved husband, is home for the week. His cousins are here with him (yes, right now!) They were here since around 8:30 or so and they have been drinking since then.


Music is blaring because of them.

I can hear the beer bottles clinking around. It's just fucking noisy.

I was sound asleep and they made the bad decision to park themselves RIGHT OUTSIDE my bedroom window. They also decided to make a fire. No. Not just any fire.

They are using the propane tank, hose and round fire thing that you would use for deep frying a turkey (which we will be doing this Thanksgiving if he doesn't catch himself on fire).


I'm very pissed right now because since I don't have the ability to put myself back to sleep after being so rudely awakened, I will be awake until around 4 or 5 am. Then I will be trying to squeeze in as much sleep as I possibly can before I have to go and see my first patient around 7:30am.


To add insult to injury:

Angel the "king of rock" is blaring RAP music.

I hate rap music (<--another fun fact about me)

I just can never get into it.

Then he goes and downloads some Rap that I have never ever heard of before.

ALWAYS WITH RAP GROUPS I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF.


I knock on the window to let him know what a bad decision he made with the fire and the noise and the music.


He comes in, he listens, he understands.


They relocate.


To the....FRONT OF THE HOUSE! Music is even louder.


The damage is done. I'm already up.


Might as well steal a few of their beers.


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Devyn had soccer practice yesterday and they scrimmaged against the girls.




It was a little hard to get the boys to concentrate on just watching the ball and following the ball and running after the ball.
There were girls on the field for goodness sake MOMMY!

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Just my luck. I'm running around town treating patients and I see this:

I needed gas anyway because my car gas light came on and it even made a little "ding" noise to alert me that I was about empty.
I pull up to the pump and get my wallet.
I can't find my Debit card anywhere. I start rummaging through my purse and I still can't find it.
I call Angel cause he is at home with my truck and the jeans I wore yesterday. He checks them for me and he finds them in my pants. He is 2o miles away. I have to scrounge around my purse and the car to come up with $3.00 to put in gas.

That sucks.

Fortunately, as I was going to my next patient's house, I see several stations with the same price. I will fill up tomorrow.

Chillin.

Hey Guys


I have been working....they upped my patient load and are still sending me driving across the country to treat them.


Ok..so maybe not exactly across the country but it is a nice ride between patients.


Either way, by Friday, I just wanted to finish my patients, pick up the kids from school and come home to rest.


Didn't happen.

Devyn was supposed to have a soccer game but because of the weather it was cancelled. Goodie.


The church near my house was offering free chili dinner and we took advantage of that.


One of gentlemen from the church was talking to Dom and found out that he plays the violin. He Offered him $1 to play a song for him and another lady there at the church.

He gave Dom $10 bucks. That was really nice of him. Dom played so well.

AFTER THAT...I wanted to come home and relax because I've been on the go alllllll day.

Didn't happen.

I got a phone call from one of my good friends (ADAM) and he was on his way into the Valley. He and I were in the Physical Therapy Program together for 2 yrs. He had moved from the Valley to go to the program also.

He lives in Portland (where I used to work). He is planning on moving back to the Valley in about 4 months so I am going to hook him up with a job.

I told him he could come over and we could drink a few if he wants. So he came and we got some beer. Then he asked who else do I know that lives here. I mentioned our friend Carl who was 1 year behind us in the program. Carl just graduated this year and got a contract with a company here so he is here for a year.

Anyway, I called him up and we all got together at my house to play some bones and drink some drinks.

This is Adam. Obviously getting his ass kicked.

My mom played with us too cause we could use a 4th.

This is Carl. (<---- Click that link.) I don't know how well you guys know your NFL but he used to play for the NY Jets in 1995.

Of course no game is complete without MR. BOONES (that's for you Honkeie2)

I was tempted to place the scores of the game as proof that I could kick some ass but the looks on their faces should say it all. I am a total shit talker and these poor guys heard an earful. Yes..not even my mom was exempt.

Today's gas prices:

Dom was tested...

for seizures.

I took him to a neurologist because of the problems we have been having with his behavior. She ordered a few blood tests (including drug testing). He thought it was gross that he had to pee in a cup. I told him that I hope it's the last time he has to.

This is him. The electrodes and leads were placed and glued onto his head along with this knit cap to keep everything in place. He's awake he just has his eyes closed.

The guy is getting all of the wires together and placing them in a sleeve so that they don't get tangled. Dom has to wear this for 24 hours which meant he couldn't go to school that day.

Which meant that he was stuck with me all day.

They put everything into a little backpack and locked it so that no one will tamper with it. He also had to sleep with the pack overnight.

The Doctor asked him to blink and this is what happened when he did (see the longer squiggly lines). I told him we needed to use it as a lie detector test.

This is the next day when it was being taken off. I had to take him at 7:20 am and then I took him straight to school.
I should be getting the results back soon.

Until then...here's what the gas prices are in my neck of the woods. They have been this price for several days.

Are your gas prices going down at all?

P.S. My (I mean Miah's) cat Tattoo.....is a boy. Go figure.

Date Night.

I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!!

I didn't post that day because I was scrambling around trying to get the kids in order.

Thursday I had to go to the school and deal with a situation concerning Dom. He got suspended for writing threatening letters to another student.

I am trying to get him out of this public school and put him in a Charter School so that he can work at his own pace. The school here is basically designed to teach the kids of the Rio Grande Valley. The majority of the kids here are Mexican (or from Mexico) and at a different level intellectually. (Not meaning to offend anyone...but in these parts...it's true). A lot of the work is being done in class in a group so that everyone has a chance to learn and understand. Dom is constantly bored because he says that if the class doesn't understand something, they will go over it again the next day and then again the next until they get it. 3 days of doing the same thing would drive me crazy, especially if I already know the stuff.

Dom is already way ahead of the class because he has and IQ of 140. He was in the gifted and talented class but he decided he didn't want to do his work so they dropped him when his grades dropped ...a long time ago.

Anyway, the charter school will let him work at his own pace and move on to the next subject when he is ready. No waiting for the class to catch up. If he continues to complete his work correctly, He may be able to graduate in 2 or 3 years. (Depending on the speed of his pace).

That's what's going on with him.

Miah came home with a letter from school saying she can't return until she gets a vaccination she is missing. Luckily for me (and her) we got her up to date on her vaccines Thursday night at the night clinic. I just have to take a copy of her shot records to the school nurse.
This made Miah happy because she is not trying to miss school. She is proud of her perfect attendance. She has been a little sick but she wouldn't stay home.

Friday night we took the kids Trick or Treating and the kids weren't satisfied with the amount of candy they got. The kept wanting to hit up more houses. The next day, Miah and Devyn sorted the candy like civilized little kids. They divided ALL of it between the 3 of them and gave me the odd pieces.

Saturday Night.

Angel and I went on a date. My company had given me a $25 gift card for The Olive Garden AND since my company OWNS the Killer Bees Ice Hockey Team...we got free tickets and free T-shirts to see the game. It was Home Health Night and the majority of my co-workers were there.
When we first got to the Arena. A girl who works for the Arena came over and asked if we wanted to be the winners of the "Best Seats in the House". All we had to do was just stand there while she made her little speech and our faces were going to be on the Jumbotron. We were kind of embarrassed and we declined. She moved on.

LATER...she comes back and says she's going to give us a second chance but this time we would be featured as the Sweetest Couple...we didn't have to say anything, we won a dinner for 2 AND we got our faces plastered on the Jumbotron.

I also caught one of those shirts that they were throwing around. When I opened it up...it fit Devyn.

We drank 1 beer each cause they were $6. I just can't buy expensive beer like that. The water bottle was $3.

We left at half-time cause it was already 9:30 and we were super tired and all the food we ate at the Olive Garden was putting us in a coma.

This is the mascot for the Killer Bees.



Either way...we had a good time.
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Today's Gas Prices:

I wonder if it will get to $1.50???

Remember These?

I found them at Walmart!!
The kids have never heard of them (or, of course, tasted them) so I HAD to buy all 3 of them. I can't remember which one was my favorite. I think it was Boo Berry.
Either way...I got 'em.
I had to eat them with my lactose free milk cause I'm lactose intolerant (when did that happen?).
I can't remember if they actually taste the same as before.
Whatever.
It's a blast from the past. Who can beat that?
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I seem to be the only one playing this game:

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I got BOO'd!!! I love it.

Drama Mama from Drama Pond Boo'd me!

Check it out!!

So this is what you do!!

Go to as many people as you want and "Boo" them.

Tell those people that they've been Boo'd

Take the pic and put it on your sidebar.

Link back to the person who Boo'd you.

That's it. Super Cool!

Thanks Drama Mama!!

Jared's Right.

I AM starting a zoo.


Not intentionally, though.


I already had the 2 hamsters and the gerbil when I moved to this house. We promised the kids that we would get dogs when we did because we used to live in an apartment that didn't allow cats or dogs. We also promised Miah that she could get a cat here too. (Snowball didn't count because she was "left" here).


The current house occupant list:
1 husband
3 kids
3 rodents
2 dogs ("with a worm farm" says Jared)
1 (outside) cat
and 1 new kitten.


MEET TATTOO...
She's the one in the back saying "WHAT'S UP!"





She's Miah's kitten. Her birthday is coming up and Miah is the best little girl in the world. (She would have to be to put up with 2 brothers).

The dogs have been outside since their little infestation of worms. Yes people...they still are my babies....just "outside" babies right now.
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This part is for MOE!


He wrote a post about saving money. It was a really great post with excellent tips. (Thanks MOE).

Here's how I saved money.

As you know, on my birthday, my water heater broke and we had to buy another one. That wasn't the only problem. The pipes in this house were sooo old. They were galvanized pipes and they were completely clogged. My father-in-law called my uncle and he came over with a friend.

This friend of his knew how to replace the pipes.

That's what he did!

He replaced all of the pipes in the house so now we have excellent water flow throughout the entire house.

Guess how much all of this costs?

$150.00 (not including the price of the water heater).

This man spent 3 days replacing pipes and that is all he charged.

SO...my helpful tip for saving money...marry into a family of construction workers who have friends with plumbing experience. (Also, Uncle Benny is a mechanic....how cool is that!!)



TODAY'S GAS PRICES:

Today is my birthday!

It's also Angel's.

I'm not ashamed to say that I am 36 years old and Angel is 32.

He is still the man he was when I met him at his tender age of 21 (at least he could buy me beer).



The only difference is that we have children and he drinks less....A LOT less. He still cares and loves me very much, maybe even more now, and I feel like he is more appreciative. I know I can't imagine my life without him.



We celebrated last night with my grandmother at her house (it's her birthday too) by having a BBQ. There were 3 cakes. One was a super chocolate cake...mmmm. Another was made by my mother in law..it was an orange cake with homemade orange frosting and the last was made by our cousin Amy. It was Angel food cake with homemade whipped cream frosting, strawberries, blackberries and raspberries all over it. They were all delicious.



Today, we slept in and then got the kids ready to go have lunch together as a family. We went to Golden Corral Buffet.



We got back home and I took a nap (I actually ate myself into a food coma) and then I hear Angel and our Uncle Benny (along with another man I never met) banging on some pipes in the hall. Apparently our water heater was on the fritz and all the pipes were clogged. Water was all over the hall. They had to take it out, put in new pipes and we had to purchase a new water heater. There goes $500. Looks like that is our birthday present. At least now we may be able to take hot showers.



Since we inherited this house....we knew it was going to be a project. We knew the water pressure was very low and that we were going to have problems with the plumbing...of course...not like THIS!



HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA IMELDA!





Also...how many of you can buy 5 gallons of water for .75? Each gallon here is .15.

I don't know if you can see it...The sign on top says the price of gas is $2.15. Of course, with the free card..gas is $2.12.

P.S. I was tagged....read the previous post.

I'm gonna get to it...

I was tagged by The Nice One over at Even Then Nice Ones.

The thing is...I'm still trying to think of 7 things about me that isn't complete bullshit.

I will do it...I promise.

Right now...as always..a little more face rubbing...(does that sound right) or rubbing it in your face? Yeah, that sounds better...

Either way......

I got a little pissed off today.
I filled up my company car earlier today at this price. How cool is that???

What pissed me off was that, later this evening, I drove by the same gas station and this was the price:

Couldn't they have changed that shit earlier? You know..when I was putting gas earlier today?

Dom was cracking up at the fact that they have Hygea 1 gallon milk listed at $399 instead of at least spacing it out to make it look like $3.99.

Only in Mexicanville, I guess.