A new start??

Financially, we are sinking hard. Bill hasn't worked since May. I am tired of asking for help. An option opened up this last week, and it looks like we are taking it, if a few things fall into place.

Bill's sister lives in Washington, in a small town off the Olympic Peninsula. She has offered us a place a few times, but Bill has always had a good job and we just didn't feelthe motivation to leave. Now we do. The Pros:

1. a really low crime rate and safe schools. I can't imagine not have racial/gang riots and the ensuing lock downs. Or the cops doing practice drills at the high school.

2. A fresh start is always an adventure, right??

3. The unemployment rate on the island is much less than here, and if you are willing to cross the bridge into town, it drops significantly.

4. The cost of living is less. Rent is cheaper, utilities are about the same. We'd use a lot more gas in the winter trying to keep the house warm, but it will balance out with the unnecessary cooling bills in the summer.


The cons:

1. Leaving my parents and Grandma. Grandma is 91. Really, how much time is left with her?? I will really miss her and fight with guilt. Heck, I already am.

2. I have been the Queen of the Hive for a long time. Nuff said.

3. Leaving Cory and Brittany. Brittany has already moved to Flagstaff, and I hope it really works out for them. If things don't work out for them, she will always have a home with us. Cory has finished with his program, and set to go into jobcorps, if he ever hears from them. I am thinking we will be sending him a bus ticket to join us later.

4. the Queen of the Hive thing.

5. Delilah and Jack. Jack is nine years old. He spends half his time at the ladies' house next door, so I may offer them food for a while, and see if they will keep him. I would like to take him, but I am terrified he will bolt halfway there on a potty break. Jack is also my BIL's name, and he may not be amused.I would rather adopt him out than lose him. Delilah has to go with us. She is a member of the family. So is the cat, of course, but dogs just seem to be so much more needy.

So, I finally resign myself to this, and a friend thinks he can get Bill a job making close to what he is used to making. If so, we stay, and try to get caught up. I told Bill he has 10 days to figure it all out and we make a definite decision. I hate not knowing.

Hair today....

The hardest part of this daycare job is taming this hair. LOL. M is 20 months old, and very patient with my pathetic attempts to make her presentable. I usually put it off until I absolutely have to....like when Mom will be home soon. Kailey keeps begging me to buy a pick and really make it bounce. Nothing like a do that has a life of it's own.

Tyler lost her first tooth

While I was at girls camp no less. I think she looks adorable.

Chandler passed

Due to being gone for girls camp, I didn't have a chance to get Chandler in for another interview with the Bishop. So, he had it this morning, and passed with flying colors. Next week he will be ordained, and the following week will b e his first time passing. As tradition, Bill will pass with him, so it will be Bill, Chan and Hunter passing together.

I amglad we cancelled as Mom totally forgot, and had other commitments. I will call her a couple times this week and remind her to be here. Brittany planned on coming today anyway, and have Chan's birthday dinner with us, but then Ty got sick. Okay. No surprise there. Chandler was a little hurt.I just hope they can make it next week.

Chan's birthday dinner was tamale pie and pasta salad. I had sauted zucchini from Cindy's garden, and a touch of pie. After my terrible eating last week, I need to work on eating better. Not that I had any control over what I ate. But I do now, and I plan on fixing it.

Girls Camp

I am so tired, but wow did I have fun. We left Tuesday and came back today at lunch time. In between was tons of fun intermingled with teen drama and mediocre food.

A few highlights:

My camp name is Sister Sappy. Nice, huh?? Not because I am too emotional, but because I stupidly leaned against a tree and got a ton of pine sap in my hair. It was a knotted, matted mess, and I was terrified to go to bed and make it worse, so we were actually on the hunt for scissors when my co cabin mom, Sue, came up with the solution. Bless her. Did you know orange pumice soap for mechanics greasy hands works great??

15 girls is way too many?? It took forever to count, and then do mental attendance to figure out who was missing. By thursday, I had a list in my pocket that I would pull out and check off. I knew I was in trouble when it took a while for me to figure out one day that i was missing my own daughter.

I grew up in the same ward (different times) as one of the other cabin moms. Come to find out, she grew up with a lot of people who were there. It became a huge joke and her camp name became Sister Six Degrees. The Six Degrees of Noryne M. It was hysterical. We want to get her a shirt that says "I grew up with her" and then have arrows pointing all over.

I took a box of Triscuits in case I was hungry and the meals weren't diabetic friendly. Glad I did. Anyway, on the back was a picture of a wine glass and the caption of how romantic Triscuits could be. Triscuit became our code word for missing our husbands. The leader's precocious 16 yr old daughter was in on the conversation, and I told her she could not have a Triscuit yet. But when she could, I would get her a box. LOL. She requested a Costco sized box. I had to admit that she won that round, but she ended up with the nickname of Triscuit. I am thinking the Bishop might not approve. Her mom, being the YW President, thought the whole thing funny.

Testimony meeting is always a beautiful experience for the girls. I love watching them get up and profess their love for each other and the Savior. Three out of our fifteen girls got up and bore their testimonies. One of them was Kailey. I was so touched to see her stand there in front of all those girls and say how happy she is to have the gospel in her life, and how much she loves the YW program. She also declared her love for the Lord while trying not to cry. I was in tears in the back with how beautiful she is and how proud of her I am. I tried reallly hard this week not to be her mom, just let her go and be with her friends. I let her come to me when she needed me. When it was over, we hugged. These moments are few and far between. I relish them.

Online school is out....for now

I backed out of AIU. I researched it (thanks for the link, Melissa) and scholarships and grants are not part of their vocabulary. Plus a lot of places don't recognize an online degree. So, 20,000 for each year, and then run the risk of it being no good. Nevermind. I'll figure something out.

The counselor called me everyday, and a lot of times put me on hold so I could talk to a financial aid advisor. When I looked at my cell phone bill, I was baffled by an extra hundred bucks we owe. (Like we have money). I went over my minutes with this counselor!! Hey, Pal!! You gonna help me pay this bill?? Didn't think so. Lose my number!!

Why is it??

I was an idiot at church today. I know, I know......what's new?? You'd think at 42 I could refrain from saying stupid things.I was talking to the mom of the kids I do daycare for, and I told her as soon as I went pee, I would take the baby for her. She has three girls: 4, 20 months, and seven months. Then I said "I'll wash my hands" What was that??!! Was I trying to reassure her with my bathroom habits and cleanliness?? It made it sound like I only wash for special occasions..and ma'am, your baby warrants it!! Now every time I take the baby from her, she'll wonder when I washed last. Sheesh.
Chandler had his interview to become a Deacon. He will be 12 on Wednesday, and so I planned his ordination for next Sunday. I invited family over to go to church, we'll have a BBQ, the works. Then the bishop called me in and said Chan wasn't ready. What?? He asked Chan what the priesthood was and Chan just shrugged. Part of this was me. I should have had a refresher course with him. But you would think all those FHE's and going to church each week of his life, the answers would be there. So I will make another interview and try to keep the plans the same. I asked Chan when the priesthood was restored, and with a little nudging, he recited The First Vision, and the story of Joseph Smith, and the restoration of the church. He then was on a roll and told me how the priesthood is the authority to act in God's name. I asked him why he didn't tell the bishop all this and he said the bishop asked about the oath and the covenant. I guess it threw him off. CHandler does understand how important this is, and I was a little upset he failed like that.
THen Bill tells me that in Priesthood today, the bishop made reference to the boys on high adventure not taking their priesthood seriously. Or as much as he wanted them to. I am thinking all the boys frustrated him, and then Chan shrugged in his interview. I am a little angry.
I will go over the oath and covenant with him, and encourage him to be more forthcoming with his anwers. Hopefullly Bill can get him inthis week while I am up at camp.

Looking forward to peace and quiet...

Hunter left at 5:00 am for Scout Camp this morning. Of course, we were supposed to be there at 5, but the leader didn't show until quarter til six. Glad I was 'prepared' and had my chair in the car. After they left, I came home and got Chandler out the door for a week in Catalina with his friend Jacob. Jacob's dad takes him every year, and this year they asked for
Chan's company.

A week with only three kids?? What will I do with myself?? First off, a big whoo hoo!!! Okay, now what??

Next week is girls camp, and we have a planning meeting today. Kailey is so excited. She loves girls camp, and talks about it all year. She doesn't even seem to mind that I go. I am excited about that. LOL. This year I am staying all week. Let's see how she does. We will have two cabins, so most likely she will be in the other cabin with the older girls, and I will be in with the Beehives.

No daycare for Preshus this week, as she is going to her Grandma's house. I don't understand why she doesn't go next week, while I am gone, but that is fine. I do have the three girls on Wednesday, though. But with K's help it is easy. I am not looking forward to her going to school and leaving me alone.

Off to do financial aid crap.

New Blog

My subscription ran out on the other one, and they wanted actual money to renew it. Uhh, no. I am just too cheap for that.

Bill has left for the day with Brittany, Cory, and Chandler. They went to Cruefest. Normally, we don't let the kids go to a concert before they are 16, but we made an exception. Oh, and Britt's boyfriend Ty went too. We NEVER call him Tyler as that is the name of our favorite 6 yr old girl. Anyway, back to breaking the rules for Chandler. His 12th birthday is coming up on the 13th. This is the year he gets a party. So, the plan has been to go to a skate park with his new board (that Amazon shipped yesterday) and have a BBQ, and friends. Then, Bill bought tickets to the concert for B and C's birthdays back in May. He bought one for me, and I graciously gave mine to Kailey.(i.e. what was he thinking??!!). Meanwhile, Chan has been listening to 6am, the headlining band. And really getting into them. Listening to the CD over and over and discussing it with Bill. Bill mentioned it was too bad Chan was so young, because he would LOVE the concert.

After thinking about it for say....five minutes, I propose to Bill that he takes Chandler, and maybe I can get out of the park party. See, I told some of you I have moments of incredible lousy mommying. I am just not looking forward to a park in August with a bunch of punky boys, mine being the punkiest. But the final decision is Chan's. I am not going to take the fall for ripping the fun away, he had to CHOOSE to. I started to talk to Chan and he didn't even let me finish before he is whooping like a madman. He excitedly picked the concert. Life is easy for me as now I am home with the two little girls and Hunter.

Kailey opted not to go, as tonight is the Irvine dance and anyone who is anyone is going. She is hoping a certain teacher inthe stake will be there. She is more like me, and concerts do nothing for her. Although, I would love to one day see Billy Joel.

The girls are out in the pool with the dog and Hunter is doing his best to fill up his recent sketch book. This gives me comp time. Bill took the camera, or I'd show you fun at it's summer best.

We haven't seen Brittany for about seven weeks. She was supposed to come over for the 4th of July, but Ty was sick. So, she comes in and gives me a half hearted hug and asks for the keys to her car. Not even a glance at her sisters. Cameryn and Tyler have always been close to B, and I was a little surprised by that. I encouraged both of them to go see Brittany and give her a hug. A few minutes later, Brittany comes in and asks to see the pictures I took of the little daycare girls this week. I thought it would be fun to make a scrapbook of some of our activites and give it to their mom for Christmas as a gift from them. Cute, huh??

Well, Brittany starts gushing how cute A is. She was in Brittany's Primary class before Britt decided to assert her independence. She wants to come over one day this week to see her. Don't get me wrong, A is cute. But, hey, what about your sisters?? Your SISTERS??!! The ones who cried for weeks when you left?? The ones who waited for every phone call and visit like two inmates waiting for parole?? Your sisters who are starting to act indifferent to you because they are tired of being hurt?? Your sisters who cling more to me tobe sure I won't leave them. Why don't you make a special trip to see them??!! Don't you dare come to see A and hurt them again.

Obviously I am still not doing well with this.

On a good note, Kmart is struggling getting people to do my old job. So far, they are paying two people to do my job, and a couple have quit. The new guy wanted info, and asked buddy Melissa if I would help him. I refused because after the way they treated me, they can deal with it.