Sheba

We got a new furbaby last Saturday. We adopted her from the Humane Society in Waco. I didn't really want to get another baby right now but Jessie was missing Perdy so much that she talked us into going and seeing what they had for adoption. Sheba is an Anatolean Shepherd. She weighs about 50 pounds and her birthday is October 17, 2009. We only had to pay $50 to adopt her. I thought it was going to be $95 like the website said but I'm thinking because she was already adopted once and returned that is why it wasn't $95. She's a wonderful dog. Barely barks. I'm thinking that'll change. She was kept in the feral cat room at the Humane Society so she tolerates cats very well and she loves our little dogs too. The little dogs though are jealous of Sheba and the attention she's getting from Jessie so they're having to be pandered to a little more to try and stop them from fighting each other. I'm sure once the pecking order is firmly in place that everybody will calm down. They need a few more days and the more they're made to be together the easier it should get. They've already started settling down so hopefully it won't be much longer. You'd think with Sheba being the big dog she'd be Alpha but its Ginny our bigger little dog who is. She won't mess with Sheba though since she's so big. The first night home when she came in to sleep in Jessie's room she sniffed our cat Skylar and Skylar did the cat thing by hissing and climbing up to the top of my filing cabinet. Her fur was on end for about 2 hours. Sheba just looked at her and walked away. Cats do not bother her a bit and Skylar is getting used to her too. Oh and she was returned to the Humane Society but the reason was unknown. I'm thinking maybe she got too big for them to handle or they didn't have a good enough yard to keep her in because there's nothing wrong with her that we can see. So far so good and she's a great fit for our family.

Skylar after meeting Sheba the first time.

Charlie Sheen is a GENIUS!

After watching the trainwreck of his life for the past few weeks it finally dawned on me that he's a genius. Getting fired from 2 1/2 Men was great for him. He's getting the rest of that paycheck plus if the show stays in production next year he'll still get paid. Now he's got a tour going (donating $1 from every ticket sold to the Japan Earthquake Relief) and selling stupid t-shirts for $19.95. The man is golden. The best thing he ever did was to ACT crazy and get fired. He's an actor people and is putting on a great SHOW. Do I like that he left people in the lurch on 2 1/2 Men? No, not at all but I can't change it. I watched the show for Jon Cryer. I've loved him since he played Duckie on Pretty in Pink. Hopefully the producers and writers will be able to get 2 1/2 Men back in production. I don't know how they'll be able to bring somebody in as Alan's brother but surely there could be another relative for the Harper's out there somewhere. We shall see I suppose. If its not figured out I hope John Cryer and Angus Jones (Jake) will be able to find another hit series somewhere in TV Land. Here's to Charlie and all of his Sheen genius.

Hello....

I'm alive. I haven't had anything to post about lately. I wasn't able to go see my Dad this past couple of weekends because of being sick. I caught some crud from my niece. See if I take her to the ER again. It wasn't quite the flu but really close and it knocked me for a loop. I have a leftover cough and just enough congestion to bother me. My Mom and them got to go this past Sunday and see Dad. She said he was in a good mood and quite talkative. Hopefully when I get to go and see him next he'll be in a good mood then too. We've been doing pretty good. Chris has become a single line driver now and is home every other day for about 15 hours or so. It's a weird schedule but at least it'll pay the bills. Well, I think it will. We'll find out soon enough. I know it'll pay the bills better than just working the extra board will. He told his partner that he wanted to stay single line and he was okay about it. They'll probably keep pulling the ex partner into the office anyway so its better for us that Chris gets this dedicated run while he can. He's pretty far up on the seniority list so he can get an even better run in a few months hopefully. One that he'll have a couple of days off in a row. Right now he leaves out on Sunday night at 9 p.m., comes home on Tuesday morning around 5 a.m., leaves Tuesday at 9, comes home on Thursday morning around 5 again, goes out Thursday at 9 again and comes in on Saturday morning around 5 and then doesn't go back til Sunday evening at 9. Weird schedule but it works and we're actually seeing more of him than we're used to. I can't seem to get anything accomplished with this schedule and I'm doing a lot more laundry for him than before. LOL. Also, doing a lot more cooking too. That's not a bad thing but I'm used to having sandwiches or TV dinners most of the week. Anyway, that's what's been going on down here deep in the heart.

Not Much...

to post about. We survived the great Texas freeze. I swear Sonic should change the name of the Route 44 drink to that. LOL. My Mom got to go and see Dad yesterday. She took him a valentine card to hang up on his bulletin board. I didn't go this time. Definitely need to go the next time though. We met them afterwards at Logan's Steakhouse. Cheryl bought everybody lunch. I knew there was no way I could go and make sure Chris and the kids got ready while I was gone. Chris does his best but he's like his Dad and brother and slow unless there's somebody whipping them along to move it faster. They wouldn't have made it on time at all. We had a nice time. It was good to get together with the siblings and Mom. Cheryl said Dad was having a good day but he fell asleep on them. He's doing that more and more. I don't know if its his meds or just his body slowly giving in. Probably a combination of both. We took over my Mom and Dad's little dog Suzy. She's a full sister to our dog Ginny but not a litter mate. Ginny (on the left) is about 6 months older and they're both 6 now. They've had a couple of little tiffs but that's to be expected. They mostly get along and its helped the kids to get over having to have Perdy put down last month.

:::BRRRRR:::

and I mean cold. We're in central Texas and boy, oh boy, is it cold! I think the high today was 25 degrees. I'm not sure of the wind chill but I sure didn't go outside. Thank goodness for a fenced back yard so I was able to put our little dog in and out as she needed. They're saying our low tomorrow will be 9. Yes 9! A single digit temperature! I don't think we've ever been that cold here where we are in forever. I know for the last 10 years we haven't been anyway. Another day of staying inside for me at least. The kids are wanting snow and for school to be out but I don't see either of those situations happening. We're cold but that's it. I sure don't want our 3 digit summer temps but give me back our 40's and 50's please!

Dad Update

The picture above is from April 2010. The picture below is from Jan. 29, 2011

You can definitely tell a difference in how well he's doing. People always say he looks great but he's not great. The infection he had a couple of weeks ago really wore on him. He's so sunken looking to me in his face and he's very moody and lost. That's the only way I can describe his mind. Lost.... He was more like a little boy this past weekend. I hate dementia. He's cheery (a little) when we're up there with Mom but when we leave them alone he always gets angry with her. While I think they need a few minutes alone together I think she's reaching a breaking point where we won't be able to do that anymore. She's so sad after we've seen Dad too. She puts up a good front but you can tell if you know her like we do. So he's better physically, not great, but better and mentally I think he's definitely worse.

Goodbye Girl

I've been putting off writing this post. Last Tuesday (25th) we took our sweet Perdy (Perdita Marie) to be put down. She was the most wonderful dog in the world. We got her from a farmer 12 years ago when she was only a couple of months old. She was half black lab and half blue heeler. It wasn't until she started graying that you could see the blue heeler spots on her at all. She loved water of course and never wanted to be anywhere but her backyard. She only barked when someone or something came into our front yard. My kids can't remember a time without her and I don't look forward to a time without her either. She's spoilt us to having another dog. I'm sure we'll get one eventually and we do still have our Ginny who's 6 but she's nothing like our Perdy of course. Ginny is a little dog. She's half chihuahua and half Carolina dingo. She's a great dog too don't get me wrong but I always felt safe knowing that if Perdy barked I could check outside if needed. It got to the point that I could tell her different barks apart too. No need to check if it was just a cat bark but when she would let loose with a long string of barks I would know that someone was going to be knocking on the door in a minute. I'm going to miss those warning barks. I'm going to miss that dog so much.

So Far...

So good. We found out that Chris will be getting a new partner. One closer to him in age, married with children and he wants to be home on weekends too. Whew! What a relief. It'll be next week before they start up but that's okay. Fun day today. We spent most of the day at the car dealership. Great people there. We were never bored that's for sure. We ended up with a Silver 2010 Dodge Journey. It's very similar to the Dodge Durango but a little smaller and lower to the ground. It's like the Dodge Caravan and a Dodge sedan got together and had a baby. LOL. It's very nice and only had 150 miles on it when we left the lot this afternoon. I sure don't want the car payment but my peace of mind is well worth what that is going to be. :D

Nothing to See Here.....

It's just another craptastic Friday. Chris's partner called and wow he's being sent to the office to work until April while one of the people is out. He's acting like he just found out but I don't believe it for a minute. Chris is supposed to get another partner til then and hopefully it'll be a good match and he'll tell this guy where to go finally after 10 years of missing 2 or 3 months every year. I'm in a dilemma though because we were supposed to see about getting a new to us (used) car but I'm not sure I want a car payment with this thing hanging over our heads. We definitely need a newer vehicle with our KIA being 10 years old especially but I sure don't want a car payment if its going to be hard to make them. I'm guessing I'm going to end up with a hoopdee but as long as it runs and I don't have a huge car payment it might just work until next year. I'm pissed and I still don't believe that this guy just found this out. @@

::::shhhhh::::

LOL. Sorry. Couldn't resist. There's not much going on. My Dad is doing well. He's pretty much over being ill but of course he'll never actually be well really. Anyway, there's nothing much to post about. Today was my Mom's birthday. She turned 69. She didn't really want a celebration but we had a small family party for her at her house. Chris and I gave her a new blanket for her bed last weekend when he was home. I don't know what else she got because I forgot to ask today. We had hamburgers and birthday cake and they were both really good. :) Oh, I made a few tshirt quote graphics. You can go to my graphic page to see them.

Update

We got a call on Thursday that my Dad was very sick. They wanted to know if my Mom wanted my Dad left in a hospice situation or sent to the Temple VA for more aggressive treatment. My Mom will not ever tell them to take my Dad to Temple for treatment after last year when the doctor there told her that he only had 6 weeks to live. Come to find out that doctor does it a lot when it comes to dementia patients because they do not know how to take care of them there. So the Waco VA just did bloodwork (no way to do xrays) and said he has an infection and it was probably pneumonia. We finally were able to get up there on Friday afternoon and see him and considering how sick he was he looked pretty good. Now looking good doesn't mean he's doing good and I wish extended family would realize that. Anytime my Mom posts on our facebook family page about him or somebody asks if she says good they think that means he's doing great. Like with my brother Patrick he's very ill yet they think he's lying or playing up his illnesses. Yes illnesses. He's had major heart problems since he was 38 years old and now has all kinds of other stuff that goes along with that plus diabetes. Anyway, my Dad looked good but when asked how he felt he said pretty good but that's because he doesn't remember being sick. Just a few more weeks and we'll hopefully have a second car and I'll be able to take my Mom about twice a week to see Dad. I hate having to get into another car payment but with the KIA being iffy I'd rather Chris have to deal with it at work. Hopefully next year we'll be able to use the tax refund to fix that wiring harness and a few other problems it has. It only has about 120,000 which isn't bad for a 2001 KIA and if we can make it last long enough it could be Nicky's first car.

Long Time, No Posting

Christmas vacation was really good. It went by way too fast though. We went to my sister Kelly's on Christmas eve and then spent a couple of hours with my Mom and other siblings on Christmas morning. We gave my Mom Chris's old laptop for her to get online with now. She's loving it so far. It's easier for her to sit at the table than to sit at a small computer desk like she was doing. Cheryl and Patrick and then Kelly and Anthony got an XBox 360 with a game and extra controller for each set of them. Chris wanted to do it and we already told them there won't be big presents for any of them again. LOL. My niece Amanda got a $25 phone card for her phone and we gave my nephew Todd and his fiancee a $25 gift card to Denny's. He said they ate burgers there but got chinched on the fries. I told him they should have eaten breakfast instead. We gave Chris's Mom a $100. She finally cashed the check yesterday. Our other nephew John came down on the 29th (his birthday) with his fiancee and her 4 kids. They're really good kids and all 7 and under. They're cuties too. He could do worse but I think he'll be a good stepfather for them. There'll come a time when they probably won't even remember he wasn't there. We gave him $20 and a fancy gun shaped cigarette lighter that has a laser light in it too. The littles got zoo pets which are like pillow pets but less than half the price. I gave Chris a Magellan GPS which he's been wanting and he got me a Nikon Coolpix. I knew I was getting a camera but never expected a Nikon. I thought it'd be a Kodak of some kind. Jessie got a laptop. Yeah I know but it'll be of use when she starts having to write reports and look stuff up for school online. Nicky got a PSP and a bunch of games. They're both happy with it and that's all that matters. I didn't intend to get on here and write about what we got/gave for Christmas. The kids went back to school on the 4th and they haven't been griping about having to get back in the routine of a 5:30 alarm. At least not yet that is. LOL. It took me a few days to get used to it but at least I have the option of a nap if I want one. My Mom went a few more times and saw my Dad after the Christmas party. He was still moody. I know it comes and goes but I hope he doesn't have bad days even when we don't get to see him. Our car is being iffy or I could take my Mom up there like planned on Mondays when I take Chris to work. We're going to have to take some of our tax refund and use it for a down payment on something. I don't know what yet but I know it won't be brand new. We'll see what we get when we get it.

Christmas Party

I took my Mom up to the VA last Wednesday (12/15) for the Christmas party for the residents where my Dad is living. He was so very uncomfortable. I know my Mom doesn't think we'll have him much longer but I already told her I don't want to go next year. Dad just wanted to be in his room. He's always been a loner and while I know it wouldn't be good for him to be alone a lot they do have him in activities where he's not alone. I know I'm not making sense. I just can't get into words how difficult the party was for him. They only allowed 2 people to come to the party and Dad kept asking about everyone. It was just too many people and too noisy for him. I'd rather he not know me than be so ill at ease and saying help every 5 minutes like he did before we finally left.

Why?

I can't figure you people out at all. Why wasn't my family ever good enough for you? You haven't seen your son or your grandchildren in 8 years now. I hear how wonderful you and your wife treat brother in law and his family and it breaks my heart. You got them big boucoup presents for Christmas this year. Why were we only given re-gifts when we got gifts at all? Why couldn't we have Christmas with you on Christmas instead of in February? Why were we only allowed at your house when you could show off for the neighbors? Why did you throw my son over on his 5th birthday party after begging to give it for a gun show so we had to have his party on a Thursday evening? Why did your wife say my kids are YOUR grandchildren like she did? Not only said it but in front of me and the children.

Backstory

Father-in-Law and my husband's mother are divorced and have been since he was around 11. He's been married about 5 times overall. His latest wife and he have been married 14 years now. She's only about 4 years older than me. I have never been left alone in a room with my Father-in-Law. His wife is very insecure and I guess she thinks I'll go for Daddy. The thought of that makes me sick. I have a great husband and thankfully he takes more after his Mom than his Dad. Brother-in-Law is more like Dad but with enough of Mom thrown in to not be too bad at least. Three days after my husband and I married Father-in-Laws wife showed up and proceeded to inform me did I know why Father-in-Law and Mother-in-Law divorced? I told her no I didn't know and didn't need to know. She told me that they divorced because Mother-in-Law was a LESBIAN. Okay. Well, she's not and I never thought she was either. This stupid lady is so insecure that she thought I'd be scared of my husband's mother for being a lesbian. Nope. No way, no how. I did tell her she was insecure and that it wasn't her place to tell me about Mother-in-Law. This lady and my Father-in-Law weren't even married yet. Definitely none of her business. Father-in-Law loves to tell tall tales come to find out. He told current wife that he came home and found Mother-in-Law locked in their bedroom with her best gal pal and that he had to break the door down to get to her. Okay big lie. I've been to that house. The door is still in the original door frame. There's no damage around the door latch/lock area. He told that tall tale because he didn't want to look like the bad guy. The bad guy he is. He's a big time cheater and had cheated on Mother-in-Law since the first year of their marriage. He cheated so badly that he married her cousin by marriage after he divorced her. Guess what? He cheated on that marriage too and I have no doubt that he has cheated on his current wife either. I just don't get why he would want to label Mother-in-Law with the Lesbian label and then leave his 8 and 11 year old sons to grow up with her and have to live down those lies. I just added this part of the story so you could see I've been listening to the lies from both Father-in-Law and his current wife since my husband and I were married for only 3 days. Now they are taking stories we told them about stuff our kids did and saying they happened at their house when my kids were little. They said our kids colored on their TV and threw a set of keys at it too. We set those stories straight with Brother-in-Law. Those two things happened at our house and they weren't even there. I guess they feel better about lying about us than telling the truth that we're not good enough for them. It makes me so sad that my Dad isn't really here anymore so my kids don't have him as a Grandpa but the Grandpa they have won't be there for them. The kids have a band concert coming up on Tuesday (14th) and I would love to have Father-in-Law come and see but until my husband straightens out a few things with him it won't be happening. This is one fight that I can't settle. Father-in-Law has told Brother-in-Law that its more or less my fault. That his wife hasn't done anything wrong. Yeah, that's what he thinks and I never set him straight because I was taught to respect my parents and not go tattletelling on somebody when they lie about me or mine. Of course, my Mom and Dad never had Father-in-Law and his current wife as their in-Laws either. I might have been taught different if they had.

Moved

My Mom and siblings got moved in down the street and around the corner from me. Now to get the odds and ends from the old place and get everything unpacked. I didn't do any of the moving of the stuff. They hired a small moving company but I can help with the unpacking and that's what I plan to do today after my Mother in Law goes home. Here's a picture from Thanksgiving day of almost the whole family. We're only missing my Dad, my brother Terry and nephew John.

:)

Finally got to go and visit my Dad again. Between the small paychecks and gas prices I wasn't able to go anywhere very much. He didn't get out of bed this time and looks so small. He called me 'her' and didn't know me really but that's okay. I think he knew me by the end of the visit. As long as he remembers my Mom is all that matters anyway.

Mixed Emotions

I'm really happy because my Mom and siblings are moving not far from us. Walking distance except I can't walk it of course. They'll be about 3 blocks from here. I'm sad though because her house is going to be foreclosed on in December. They were supposed to get a modification loan and the bank strung them along for about 7 months before demanding money and then informed them that even though they paid the money it didn't mean they would get approved for the mod loan. Rather than paying up and taking a chance of not having anywhere to go they found this place to rent not far from us. My brother has been getting sicker so it's a blessing just in case something happens with him. Really the only bad thing is my Dad is still in the VA in that town but still we'll be visiting him the same and I'll be able to take my Mom on Mondays too when I take Chris to work. The mobile home they'll be renting is huge and my sister will finally have a real room with a door instead of an alcove area. I'm hoping we can get them moved by Thanksgiving. We'll find out soon enough. The lease will be signed today. There's a window to be fixed and the deck railings on the front and back porch and a few cosmetic things. Some cleaning to be done too.

Wide Awake

I woke up and the clock read 3:33. There's supposed to be a spirtiual meaning when you wake up at that time. I'm wide awake. I will make myself go and lie back down in a little bit because we have a long day ahead of us and I don't want to crash and burn too early. We're celebrating Nicky's birthday today. It was on Nov. 11th but we're getting together with extended family to have cake. It should be fun. Also, my Mom's house is going to be foreclosed on so my sister is looking for somewhere to rent and they are going to try to get over here where we are. They'll be a couple of blocks away from us so it shouldn't be too bad. My brother had an episode when he went to pick up my sister from work yesterday. Thank God my little sister was with him because she ended up having to drive them all back home. He said he got really dizzy and then sick to his stomache and threw up something that looked like blood. Hopefully it was just his blood sugar being too low or his blood pressure being low too and nothing major to worry about. He's very sick anyway and has major heart problems so it worries me this happened. I think them being closer will be a godsend for us all. Both of my sisters work and if something happens this way I'll be right there and not have to travel 30 miles to get there. Selfish? Yes. But still I would worry less with being closer to them. My sister said she would worry less too if they get out here by us so that made me feel less selfish at least.

Catscan Results

I went for a catscan yesterday and got the results a little bit ago. I have diverticulitis and have to make a major change in my diet. Need to add a bunch of fiber and the doctor wants me to take miralax every day to see if that'll help also. Goodbye meat and ice cream. I'll still have meat but definitely cutting portions in half. At least its nothing major and can be controlled by diet but wouldn't you know its almost time for the holidays when we have all our good food. LOL. I'll still enjoy the food just not so much. Chris better get in the mood for a food change for himself also. It won't hurt him or the kids for that matter either to have a diet change. Thank goodness it wasn't something worse than what it is. Oh, I added a nifty little fiber counter way at the bottom of my blog so if you want to keep up with certain counts you can. I read that women are supposed to have at least 21 grams of fiber a day. I sure have a lot of catching up to do with that count for sure. One good thing about fiber is it does make you feel full longer and it keeps your colon happy too.

Famous Last Words

Late August 1995 I told my boss that my Grandfather was not expected to be around much longer and that I would be taking the 3 days off that our company allowed for a grandparent passing. She then informed me it was only one day with pay and that I could only take that one day. I told her that I would take 2 vacation days with it then. Without batting an eyelash she blurted out these famous last words at me.

Work comes first, then family.

I don't think so I thought to myself. About a week later it was Labor Day weekend so my sister, brother and I went to visit our parents in Waco. Had a great time with them and heard even more how badly my Grandfather was doing. I came back to work that Tuesday and called my Dad and told him I wanted to quit my job and move to Waco. Can I stay with ya'll? He said okay so that day I gave my notice. My boss was flabbergasted when I told her I wanted to quit and was giving my two week notice. She kept demanding a different reason for quitting than the one I gave. I told her I wanted to quit because I wanted to move to Waco. She never took my answer as the real one. Oh well is all I'll say. I had been working for this company all my adult life, since I was 18 in fact. I loved the company but the current boss was wearing thin on my nerves. Once before I had tried to leave that department and go to another one but she more or less told me that I couldn't handle working anywhere else in the company. I wish I hadn't have let her intimidate me like she did. She had an employee spying on me but what made it really bad is that employee was a really close friend. I finally had enough is why I quit. I was 33 years old and about to make the biggest change and the best change of my life. More to follow tomorrow.