Update, Jan. 4, 2009

Things are going better. I had a new job, writing website content for an SEO. However, I cannot tolerate sexual harassment and the answer of "we're IT people" as the excuse for it. I can dish it out as well as anyone, but the things that were said are not something that I should have to deal with.

Scentsy is doing well. I have a very large party planned for Jan. 9, 2009. I am very excited and hope that it will do well. Even 15 people would be wonderful, though the hostess did invite 42.

My writing is going well as well. I am extremely happy with Serpe's story and I have some very good prospects this year.

I start school on Jan. 20 and I have also applied for a Bachelor's program from Charter Oaks College. I will also be attending a proofreading course on Feb. 1st.

The family is doing well. Terry leaves for Chicago tomorrow for two weeks, so that isn't very good. But the girl is growing up and things are happening. The boy is growing as well and has now reached his father's height.

Happy New Year!

My Birthday Wish

I would also like to add to Lela's post about her birthday wish. If possible, please go to Lela's blog, click on her birthday wish and make a small donation to Caedyn's marathon.

Our birthday is a shared day, next Tuesday, the 11th. I was hoping to spend the rest of next week with Terry in California and actually use any money from my birthday for a day alone at Disneyland. That may not happen. I will know better by Friday.

And, in reviewing astrology and such, I have been advised that until the 19th, I should be lucky in achieving my dreams regarding a new career. I am hopeful and would love to get everything done in time so I can actually do some of my own work to make this good luck come true. Wish me luck if you can.

Happy Anniversary

Eighteen years ago, Terry and I went to the Little White Chapel and married. Neither family approved. My dad wanted me to go to college, but didn't really have a way to pay for it. My mom didn't like Terry, so no matter what, she was unhappy. Terry's whole family thought we wouldn't make it two years.

But here we are, eighteen years later. Today, his family is much more supportive. My dad still loves me and Terry and is happy with our success. My mother... well, she's my mother. Totally different story and really not worth the stress of trying to explain.

Every couple has issues. Terry and I have had ours. We admit that there are days we don't particularly like the other, but we always love each other. We have beautiful children. Wait, sorry. We have a beautiful daughter and a handsome son. We have plans for our own success and we support each other in our endeavors.

It makes me laugh that there are those who think they know Terry or me and know how we will react to certain situations. I know what it takes for my husband, my soulmate, to be successful and to get what he wants. Something just clicks and I can see it in his eyes, hear it in his voice and I know, he will succeed in his plans. He doesn't need to have his goals written out to make them come true. He just has to decide.

Terry decided we would have a house by 23. We did. Terry decided we would have our children by 25. He missed that goal by four days, but it was only four days. Terry decided that I would be able to do what I had always dreamed of. And he supported me in completing two novels and has decided, no matter what, by the end of the year, at least one will be published, one way or another. He continues to support me in that dream and works every day to make it easier for me to accomplish that goal for the several other novels I want to write.

Happy Anniversary, Terry. I love you very much. I will miss you so very much while you are away for the next two weeks.

Two Exciting Events This Weekend

First: Derek gm'd his first game. We chose World of Warcraft for him, because he loves the MMORPG so much and because it is just like D&D 3rd Edition. Moreso than we realized. This way, it's his game, his campaign and we join in his world when he wants us. Terry thinks Derek needs to find a group of friends to play with like he and Rob did when they were a couple years older than him. I agree. Derek did well for his first time and the other little boy who joined us, actually the son of one of our regular D&D people, surprised Terry and Rob with his "unique" way of looking at the game. Who knew you could use Animal Handling to send two undead dire wolves packing? Technical stuff aside for that little feat, it was still pretty good thinking on his part.

Second: Micaela went to her first concert on Sunday. She got tickets to see the Cheetah Girls for Christmas with the promise of a T-shirt and dinner with mom. Her smile was absolutely worth sitting in that big stadium, listening to a bunch of kids sing to tapes of their songs. The Cheetah Girls put on a very good show and I have to admit, I really like the message they give the girls. One of their songs talked about how the color of their skin didn't matter, it was the fact that they were friends and sisters that made all the difference. Another song was based on Cinderella. The chorus said something along the lines of "I don't want to rescued by a prince. I want to rescue myself." Go Girl! Independence is a great thing to teach the girls, as long as they learn respect for others in the process.

Overall a good weekend.

Please Let This Be An Isolated Incident

Day 7 of the new year brings the family a $1300 bill to fix Terry's truck. The damn thing started having problems before Christmas, but he was able to work around it, thinking the injectors just needed cleaning. So he bought the fluid, put it in and nothing much happened. Then it started dying everytime he was sitting at a light. The RPM was sitting between 500 and 600.

So we take it in, have the place look at it, and they give us a bill of $1300 to totally fix it. $300+ for a 'major tuneup', $300 for the O2 sensor and carb thingy, and $700 for something else, I don't remember.

Terry wants to pay the full $600, to at least get the vehicle moving again and I have to play the bad guy and tell him no. I agree to the O2 sensor and carb thingy, so the vehicle moves again and we still have to do the tuneup.

Just when things start to pick up (settlement for Terry's accident from 2005, Feb 10 will be another bonus day), we get hit. What the hell!

And for those of you saying "karma", well kiss off. Our family does plenty of good things for Karma: Donate to Goodwill, Safe Nest (shelter for abused women and children), Opportunity Village (place for disabled people to do things), gave back an extra Guitar Hero II game the guys gave us for free. You don't know me, or us, as well as you think you do.

Sorry, wrong kind of rant. The truck sucks. That's what I meant to say. I don't like the truck. I wish he had bought the other one instead of this one. There.

"Mrs. Campbell... This is the school nurse"

*sigh* Ok, who doesn't dread that call from the school? You always think the worst, to find out it was something small, like they fell and the school has to notify you verbally that they treated your child with ice and let him/her rest for a few minutes before sending them back to class.

Derek tripped today coming out of his Orchestra class. Landed on his left wrist, ball of the wrist, wrist bent, probably jammed it, but nothing is broken. We went to the Quick Care, had it x-ray'd and they put a sling on it. He gets out of P.E. for a week and Orchestra, because he plays the Cello and can't do it now. Doesn't matter what instrument he plays, he would have had to gone a week with no playing anyway.

Update On The School Shooting

The police found the kid who shot the girl. It was a 16-year-old boy. Not sure the reason still, but they arrested him Tuesday. Fortunately some of the students on the bus came forward and ID'd the kid. Guess we'll find out eventually why he did it.

School Violence Hits Home

In the past few weeks, Las Vegas has seen an increase in children taking weapons to school. This is not in addition to everything else that has been seen in the country itself. This is purely in Las Vegas.

Last week, as I was driving to the airport for my trip to Alaska, I drive right by an elementary school that was on lockdown. I found this out as I was driving past it. There is a high school not too far from the elementary school and both schools were on lockdown because a former student of the high school had returned to the school with a gun. The most frightening part? I was within a two mile range for the schools my children attend. What was to keep the guy from going to my daughter's elementary school or my son's middle school? Not a damn thing. Violence is not restricted to certain streets just because the police do a lockdown.

And then, when I arrive in Alaska, and get to my hotel room and watch the news, I hear the story about the school house back east where the girls were held hostage and shot in the Amish community. If an Amish community is affected by all this violence, what's to protect my own children? No matter how hard I try, I can't be with them 24 hours a day.

Boy, that was definitely a lesson that hit home hard on Monday. Derek had been home for about 30 minutes, having walked home from school. As I leave the house to pick up Micaela, I notice the loud helicopter sounds and the police copter flying over the area of her school. "That doesn't make me feel good," I said as I got into the car and began the less than 5 minute drive to her school. Yes, I remember exactly what I said. In this kind of situation, I would be surprised if any parent forgot exactly what was said and exactly what they did.

I drove to the school, and as I got closer, the huge cluster of vehicles I had noticed immediately upon turning onto the street became clear. There was yellow crime scene tape across the street. The road was blocked by police cars; metro, highway patrol and school district. A group of students was walking in my direction as I slowly inched my van closer to the yellow tape, a knot forming in my stomach. Micaela waved her hand at me and though the knot didn't go away, a wave of relief swept over me.

She gets into the van and I immediately begin crying, trying to hold her close to me. She kept saying, "Mom, I'm ok. No one was hurt." She didn't know what had happened, only that there were lots of police and her school was put on lockdown because of it. Even the note that came home with her from the principle only said 'police activity'. The police escorted the children across the street instead of the crossing guards.

So, after I finally stopped bawling, I drove us home and began the search through the channels for some news. My mother-in-law, who teaches at the school, didn't even call me to tell me what she knew.

Turns out, a high school student was walking home after getting off her bus and she was shot in the leg by an unknown assailant. No one knew why, or at least they weren't saying and they didn't know who had done it. And they didn't know where he/she had gone.

So here I am today, sitting at home, trying to work and pay attention to conference calls while my daughter goes to a school that had a shooting within 100 feet of school property. Terry is out of town and doesn't truly understand how upset I was yesterday and I can't make him understand, not right now. He has a lot of stress to deal with at his hotel.

I watched my daughter walk away from me, into the school yard and it scared me. I haven't been this scared since I took my son to his school on September 11, 2001. I don't know what I would do if something happened to either of them.

The Dogs

Licorice - half bassett hound, half labrador, all pain in the ass. Despite how Terry tries to tell me that Licorice is everyone's dog, this dog definitely belongs to him. He's about the only one who can bet the dog when he wants to, play with him and keep him in place. This dog has a bedtime that is more strict than the one we have for the kids. By 10 p.m., Licorice becomes the biggest jerk ever created. He growls at everyone. If I go near Terry and Licorice is laying near his chair, he growls. If we even talk to him while we're going to bed, he growls. My favorite quote for the dog is "he's an asshole." It's definitely a love/hate relationship. There are days I absolutely love to hate the dog.
Amira - About 75% wolf, 25% siberian husky. Amira is Anceint Egyptian for Princess and she is definitely a princess. She is very lovable, talks to us all the time, hardly barks, but loves to destroy things if allowed to. She will sit at her bowl of food, fill her mouth, then drop all the pieces on the floor, picking through them one at a time until she eats them all. Then she does it all again. She goes into the kids' rooms, checks on them, then sits either at the top of the stairs or at the bottom, waiting until I go to bed. Her neck is soft and she's absolutely gorgeous when she has a full coat of fur. She sleeps on the porch in the middle of winter and on the kitchen floor during the summer.
Coco - part golden retriever, chocolate labrador, australian shepherd and pig. Pig? Yes, pig. Her tail curls up like a pig's. We love her, but she has the most annoying bark. And she barks... all the freaking time. I can't take a shower without her barking at the shower door shutting. She barks at the garage door as it opens. She barks at Derek and Micaela when they go outside to play. She barks when we come home, for who knows what reason. She and Amira have an ongoing struggle for dominance in the pack, which varies on who feels like chewing on the other the most that day. The good thing about Coco, she loves the kids, she loves the family and she plays with both Licorice and Amira equally.

Not Going To Conform

I am so NOT going to fall into the trap of wishing Vinnie a happy birthday like everyone else. I mean, honestly, it's just another day, and there's no need to wish Vinnie happy birthday. What good will come out of wishing Vinnie happy birthday? And would it serve any purpose to remind him that he's supposed to be asking for lasagna for his birthday dinner?

So, Vinnie, I'm not wishing you a happy birthday. And I don't hope it was a good day for you. And I certainly don't hope your dad got you something nice. And for dinner, I don't hope you get your lasagna, because we know mine is the best in the country.

The kids love ya, Vin and miss ya. Terry and I do too.

Only My Daughter

She went outside to play at school and fell because a boy pushed her down. She smacked her mouth on the ground. When she came home, Dad and I made her wash her mouth, because it looked like dirt. Upon further inspection, we found it was a bruise and she had lots of little burst blood vessels on her top lip and inside her mouth. She says the boy did it because he's a "big, fat, stupid, ugly dork."



Then, when we were in San Francisco, she was wrestling with her brother on the bed and fell and smacked her eye on the nightstand. The next day, she had a beautiful black and blue mark on her cheek and her eye hurt.

Only my daughter could hurt herself in these ways. And now she's mad at me because I'm posting these pictures.

Family

This is part of the family.

Vinnie is no longer with us. He's moved back to Florida to be with his family and go to school.

Everyone else is Micaela (daughter), Derek (son), Terry {hubby(behind the plant)} Nick aka Nebin (brother), Crystal (middle brother's girlfriend) and in the back is my step-mother, Diane.

Out of Town

Hubby is out of town again. Second time this week. I don't like it when he's gone, especially when I can't sleep in the same room. Hate the snoring, love the company.

Dog is whining still. Now she is suffering from more severe emotional distress than normal. She's always had anxiety. Now it's worse.

I have no desire to play CoH while he's gone. I don't have much of a desire to do anything. I haven't touched a pen for writing and can't even do the simple thing of reviewing an outline.

Basically, this week sucks.

Puppy Update

Coco is home and doing good. She has to have pain medicine on a regular basis and has two antibiotics to take. One to make sure she doesn't have an infection from the surgery and the other is to get rid of the urinary tract infection that is part of what caused the pyometria.

A bit of advice, if you have an animal, be it dog or cat, get them fixed as soon as possible. We delayed spaying Coco, it wasn't foremost on our minds unless she was in heat. This would have saved us a lot of money and Coco a lot of pain.

Amira is scheduled for a spaying on August 2nd and we are going to get pet insurance before we do it.

17th Anniversary

Today is our 17th anniversary. Seventeen years of marital bliss as he says.

Not sure what we're doing today. We don't usually plan things. Right now I'm watching him play CoV, two missions after he said he was going to log and run to the store. Once again, he forgot to get the card. He's so inconsistent.

This past year has been better than previous ones. Money isn't a constant worry for us anymore, which helps relieve a lot of stress. We're both happy with our jobs, to a point. The kids are healthy. The house is still standing. Things are good.

For two kids who got married right out of high school and weren't supposed to make it 2 years, we've done pretty good.

We love each other, show more passion in public than some people and a lot less than others. But we don't have to prove it to others for each of us to know. As long as he knows I love him and I know he loves me, that's all that matters.

Puppy Problems

My dog, Coco, had to go to the hospital last night. She's 3-1/2 years old and has an infected uterus. When they spay females, they usually only remove the ovaries. Coco has to have a dog hysterectomy because of the infection.

So, $2000 later and we hope we have a healthy dog, because there are no guarantees they can remove the uterus without losing some of the infection (this infection is in liquid form) in her abdominal cavity.

The other two dogs are not happy. They love Coco and Amira misses her alot. The kids are worried. Hubby and I are worried and a little unhappy with the amount of money.

The Woes of Other People

I don't know what's more amazing... the fact that people act like complete idiots, or the fact that when they do, they blame it on someone else.

My daughter has a girl in her class she was friends with. This girl would call constantly to speak to my daughter. She would call, get the answering machine and then call back without leaving a message. She would call up to 10 times a day until I told her to stop doing that. I never went to her mother about it. Then, she started taking money from other kids to be their friends. Let me say that again. The other kids would pay her to be their friends! My daughter doesn't believe in that, one thing I'm proud to say I've taught her. If someone wants money to be your friend, they aren't worth the time of day, let alone the air they waste.

So, my daughter loaned this girl a book. Now, see, my daughter has an excellent memory. If we lose something in the house, if she doesn't know where it is, it's lost. She knows where the most obscure things are. If she says this girl has the book, she has it. My daughter left a message on the girl's answering machine, asking for her book back now. Granted, "now" may not have been the more appropriate word to use, but she's 9. The girl's mother called me and began telling me about how it was a family answering machine and her daughter was at church. I told her, if she wants to talk about kids, let's talk about her daughter. She immediately began yelling at me about how dare I mention her daughter when she was calling about mine. So, I sat in silence while she proceeded to harp on my daughter leaving ONE message. When she finally let me speak, I told her about how her daughter would call so much, and called my girl stupid, and would start arguments. She didn't want to hear that. She hung up on me. SEVERAL TIMES!

So, I called her again from my cell and told her we were on the way to get the book. She met me at the door, after I left two messages telling her to just put the book outside. Her daughter lied (remember my daughter's memory?) and said she didn't have the book.

Let me side track... the book is a signed book from the author. I paid for an entire series and had them signed by the author with my daughter's name put in each one. So, either her daughter lied or she destroyed the book to keep me from having it.

Back to the story... I try to explain to the woman how she can't ask me to listen to her complaints without listening to mine. She began flinging her arms in my face, yelling at me, calling me bitch, telling me to kiss her ass, said I was a white bitch. I responded in kind and suddenly, I was the racist. She said it FIRST! I was finally able to get off her property (she wouldn't let me move) and she then blocks my path to my van. So I point out to her, I'm not on her propery, pointed out the property line and she continues to fling her arms in my face and call me all sorts of words.

Then she gets her husband outside. When he tries to talk to me, she steps between us and tells me "he ain't talking to you bitch". I'm like, excuse me, but he was. She wouldn't let me talk to him. But he kept asking me questions and she wouldn't let me get to my van! Finally, her husband says to me, just leave, and literally had to pick her up and carry her away from me because she followed me to the car door!

I swear, she wouldn't let me leave. I almost called 9-1-1, and I cried about it for an hour afterward because she scared me so much.

Lunatics shouldn't breed.