TIVO

I have to admit, I love my TIVO!!  I remember when I didn't even know what TIVO was.  I was working where I work now and our law clerks were talking about this thing called TIVO.  I was so clueless and thought they were insane.  Then I wrote it off because they were so much younger than I and I figured I was "out of it"...whatever "it" was!  

Then after I left my man when we divorced I had to have DirectTV come back out and reinstall their service and the brought this TIVO box.  Well, I have had TIVO since 2004 and I can't live without it.  The thought of having to get rid of it because of cutting expenses I start to panic and decide I will give up something else instead!  

So to show my love of my TIVO I added my list of what I'm using TIVO for these days...what do you TIVO?!

Another Saturday Comes & Goes...

and I accomplished nothing. Well, not really but nothing I should have. I woke up pretty late today and jumped on my email because I knew I had several to respond to. 24 actually. So I responded to all of those and began reliving my week as I responded to my emails. What a week it was too...

Monday I made my way home after seeing my honey as you well know and I was so exhausted. I was in the bed by 9pm and then Tuesday I was back to a semi-reality with work. But no classes since it was Spring Break, which is now over. Then Tuesday night I had to go to the local charter school for an informational meeting to see if it would be a good fit for the munchkin. I'm so confused because I don't believe in charter schools. But my baby is having trouble with the other kids. So I filled out the application and submitted it and now we wait...we wait for a lottery to take place on March 9th to see if he is one of the lucky ones to be picked. And even if he isn't then we wait to see if he will move up on the wait list as others opt to not take the spot they were given. Nothing is more stressful than dealing with your child and what is best for them and whether they will get it! So please keep your fingers crossed that what is suppose to happen and what will be the best for my munchkin happens! :)

Wednesday after work I had to go to the DMV to get my driver's license replaced. The last day I went to see my honey I put it in my pocket and apparently didn't put it in there the right way because when I squatted down to dig our snacks out of the vending machine I cracked it. Normally I wouldn't have paid the $9 to replace it until I have to get a new license in 2010, except visiting my man wouldn't happen, because they won't accept a damaged license at MDOC. Of course the fact that I have to wait 10 business days to receive it irritated me and I told the woman behind the desk that they were wasting my taxpayer dollars by not printing licenses right there. She said their rationale is because if you have fraudulent papers they don't walk out with a picture id. No...they wait 10 days for it! But they still get a picture id...duh!

Thursday, as you know, was the day that the family drama heated up with my ex-s-i-l. I'm still kind of in shock about the whole thing. According to the detective that contacted my mom, he is building a case against her too. She thinks her life has been rough so far...let her do a little time in prison and she will reevaluate her life quickly!! Again, the only people who are hurt in this whole mess (outside of the gentlemen who was shot, of course) are my two nephews. According to the local paper, the boyfriend is only 17 and so was the victim. Just children themselves. She is going to be 24!! Maybe she was the leader of the pack.... SCARY!!

Later that night I met up with my car guy. I picked out my next car so I'm excited about that. I'm looking at a 2009 Ford Escape Limited 4x4, black pearl, leather charcoal interior, moon roof. I'm so excited about that, but not excited about the amount of money I have to put down to pay off my lease and get my payment to an amount that I can afford. I'm hoping my car insurance won't jump too! EEK!! We are in a recession and I'm trying to look at ways to cut expenses and I'm having to buy a new car. I guess I'm supporting the Big-3, so that is a good thing and since my aunt and uncle bought 2 new cars (a Dodge & a Jeep) I guess my family is contributing to keep the Big-3 going! ;) Way to go family!!! Now it is time to buckle down and go green! I have about 1500 miles left on my lease so I'm going to eat up more miles this month and get the car by the end of the month since my $5,000 rebates expire at the end of the month! LOL I'll post pictures once I get it. :)

Friday I said good-bye to a friend. One of my co-workers got a new job so we said good-bye to him Friday with cake (which is a staple in my office!) and drinks after work. After 4 drinks in 4 hours I left that bar and met up with my "other" aunt and my mom and had one drink there. Then we went to Big Boys to have fish since it was Friday during lent and I followed them home to make sure they made it home okay. Of course I didn't go to bed until 3am last night so I could digest my fish.

Now I'm off to write my honey as I haven't wrote him but once in the last 2 months I think! I'm sure he will be surprised!! :D I hope you all had a fabulous Saturday and was able to relax a bit too.... Enjoy your Sunday too!

Oh the drama...

There was another family court hearing involving my ex-s-i-l. As everyone waited for her, a detective came in to advise that she would not be able to appear in front of the judge this morning because she was involved in a shooting. Apparently it was a drug deal gone bad...the boyfriend is currently locked up facing attempted murder charges, she was taken in for questioning and according to the rumors she has been released. I am thankful for the fact that my nephews were not there as the shooting occurred in their apartment...

What a week...driving home after seeing my man, visiting a potential new school for the munchkin, arguing at the DMV while getting my cracked license replaced, the family drama from above and meeting with my car guy as I prepare to buy another car to bail myself out of my leasing mess.

On top of all of this, I'm just exhausted this week...so I'm extremely happy that I only have one more day to make it through....

Aliens at Meijer...

When I go grocery shopping, especially at Meijer, I have a pattern of how I shop. I enter, go all the way to the back of the grocery section, to the butter, milk and egg section and work my way back down the aisles to the checkout area.

Several years ago, after work I went to Meijer to grab a couple of groceries and went to the back and picked up my butter, moved to the yogurt and saw this strange man. He really wasn't a man, well, maybe in age, but not in the mental department. You could tell when you saw him or heard him speak that he was challenged. As I looked at him out of the corner of my eye, I realized he had smudges on his face of dirt. I thought to myself, 'awe...poor guy didn't get his face clean before him and his mom came grocery shopping."

I made my way down a few more aisles and I had a strange overwhelming sensation that I was in the twilight zone. Each aisle the sensation became stronger as I noticed more and more people in the store with smudges on their face. And for more than a brief moment I thought aliens had landed at my local Meijer store!

Then I realized, 'Duh! It is Ash Wednesday!' We weren't being overran by aliens in Meijer...just practicing catholics!

Every Ash Wednesday I think of this faithful Meijer trip... Remember, no meat today!

PS: What are folks giving up for Lent?

Fat Tuesday...

Well, I guess if you must return to work after spending 4 days with your honey and a day on the road up and one on the way down, Fat Tuesday is the day to do it! Yummy!!!!

Sunday night really sucked leaving him there. I had to trick my mind so I didn't lose it...so what does the other woman leaving do? Look at me while she has tears streaming down her face. :( Yeah, not helping me here............. I didn't want to go to sleep Sunday night because that meant our time was really over and in what would feel like only minutes later I would be driving south...

I was on the road by 8am Monday morning and there is this one section of road where I cry every single time I'm leaving. Of course I just finished that section of road, dried my tears and what do I see? A state trooper making a u-turn to come and get me. Nice.... 10 mins and 1 warning later, I was back on the road again. I pulled in to my road at 5pm. There were several more spots on the roadway where I cried again, there were a few phone calls from my man to make sure I was doing okay as I made my way home.

I got home, saw my munchkin, which put a smile back on my face, had dinner with him and the aunt. They went to CCD, I unloaded the car, partially unpacked, talked to my man one more time and as soon as I got the okay from my aunt, off to bed I went. I was totally exhausted. So I ended my long weekend by being in bed by 9pm...

I hope everyone has a great Fat Tuesday! Watch out for Ash Wednesday tomorrow and remember NO MEAT! Plus, give your honey a great big hug, a sexy kiss and tell him/her that you love them and be happy that you are able to see them today...

My Groundhog Day

Several people ask me what all I do while I am up visiting my guy. It is pretty much the same everyday. It isn't exciting but it isn't boring either but it has became a routine...

• I start my day by getting up whenever I wake up...yippie, no alarms for 3 entire mornings!!
  
• I get partially ready: shower, get dressed, do my hair.
  
• I travel off to grab breakfast. It is always at the same location...every day, The Hilltop Restaurant. I found this place my very first morning up here and fell in love. The staff is fantastic and super friendly. And oh my god....the food is to die for! They have the best homestyle breakfast I have ever had in my life!! (Their biscuits and gravy surpass any biscuits and gravy Bob Evans has ever served me in my entire life!!!) It appears to be the local favorite too, so I opt to sit in the smoking section as it is way less busy and it gives me a chance to read for school. I usually average about 2 hours there depending on what time I woke up. And in case I slept too late that day and missed breakfast, the rest of their food is excellent too!
  
• I have two options now. If I went to the front desk that morning to pick up my voucher for the casino I go over, turn it in, get my coupons and my certificate for my $5. This is also where I get my rolls of quarters each day for the vending machines during my visit. If I didn't get my voucher I go straight back to the hotel room and again, depending on time, I finish getting ready...do my make-up, count out my quarters, make sure I'm ready for my visit.
• At 3:25pm, I leave my room and drive the 2 minutes it takes to get to the prison. I check in, get snacks, go through my pat-down and go to the visiting room to wait for them to bring my guy in. We visit from 4-8:30pm. Then it is time to go...
• Since the town closes at 8pm, I only have 2 options for dinner. Of course I'm just starting to feel hungry after my wonderful first meal. I could always go to the casino and eat at their Sports Bar, but that is usually going to be pretty busy, so I go to the only other option. A place called Irene's Pizza. This is where I eat dinner and read some more. They too have excellent food. Their pizza is very good, but I'm finding out this trip that their Mexican choices out do their pizza. Their taco pizza is the best one I've ever had and tonight I had a wet burrito, which was excellent. I usually stay there as late as either they are open (which on Fridays and Saturdays is till midnight) or until I feel like coming back to the room. Or like tonight, I head back to the room earlier than normal because I have to put on my PJs because I overate and it is snowing like crazy. (They expect 4-6 inches of snow tonight here & 7 inches of snow is expected at home today too...When will Spring arrive Mr. Groundhog?!?)
• Back to the room I come to get ready for bed, get my stuff ready to do the same thing tomorrow and read some more for school.

Others ask me...don't you get bored? Actually, no. I become very relaxed while I'm here and get loads of rest and reading done. I think I need these weekends as much as he does, but I think I get more out of them then my honey does...

I'm off to get ready for bed and to read more BK!!

PS. I got another moan tonight...guess my evil plan is working! ;)

Hodge-Podge

There are several things I need to follow-up on here so this posting will be a Hodge-Podge of a post. Gosh, I hope I'm not the only person who knows what a Hodge-Podge is! Or maybe I'm not and I just don't know how to spell it, so forgive me if it sounds like I don't know what I'm talking about! Or should I say, forgive me if it sounds like you don't know what I'm talking about! ;)

Comments/Followers....all in one evening!?! Much to my surprise I sign on to my blog and I see something funny. Actually two somethings funny...I HAVE COMMENTS & A FOLLOWER!!!! Woo-hoo!!! Thank you both! I was actually going to post that I finally had the courage to tell 3 very dear people to me about this blog and here 2 of them are!!!!!!!! Thanks gals! I love you both!! Of course the 3rd one can't show up for at least another 22 months and a wake up! But I did get the okay to post his picture showing off his mountain man ways. I'm just not sure if I should or if I can (I'm not really that tech savvy as others!).

Sillyjilly~~you made my day by being my follower and making a comment too! Thank you! I love you for that...as for the 80 degree weather, well I'm incredibly jealous, especially after exiting my car tonight to come to the room and it flashed a big ol' 7 degrees at me. Thanks car...you'll get yours when I trade you in next week! hehe

Dani~~thank you for your comment today. I actually thought of your Amy when I was writing my post. I don't admit how often I think of my Nana or my Papa, but maybe I will start now as it felt really good to think of her. I figured she was on my trip with me yesterday because not only did I think of her because of the Yun-Yuns, but also because I didn't realize the new bra I bought had dragonflies on it. I know...strange to think of your grandmother because her symbol is on your bra, but it is what it is! But don't worry...I won't be posting pictures of that even if I could! ;)

Family Drama Continues...I talked with my aunt tonight and she told me the CPS worker assigned to the case tracked my ex-s-i-l down and asked her why she didn't show up to court Thursday and she said "because it is tomorrow." I don't know if this conversation took place on Thursday or Friday, but if it took place on Friday I have to say an extra prayer for her because she wasn't even smart enough to lie about a day that courts are even open. :( When the tip of information was given to this woman all she said was she wasn't surprised by this story as she suspected the same thing. :( :( She then asked if there was anyone known to the family who could take the boys and when she was told that there is a couple who are friends of my aunts friend in Indiana who may be interested in adopting the boys she said for them to call her.... As we suspected, this isn't going to end pretty. I just hope and pray that it ends the drama in my nephews' lives... Keep praying for them as the Texan isn't doing well at all and is acting out severely.

Two teeth gone in a month? So my aunt called me tonight while I was grabbing dinner after my wonderful visit with my man. :) She told me that my baby lost a second tooth today at school. :( So he has went 6.5 years and lost none and now in the last 30 days he has lost two!! EEK!!! He is such a big boy now! Well, of course my child cannot do anything with out controversy. When you lose a tooth at school they put it in the cutest little holder that is in the shape of a tooth, with a string on it so they can carry it around their neck to bring it home and not lose it (again! LOL). Well, he was at Chica's after he got off the bus until my aunt could pick him up and the story goes that he was told twice to stop playing with the string, which is more of a plastic string than a string, string and he didn't, so Chica's Valentine's Day gift ate it... Chica panicked, called the vet who said to watch for it to come out of KC, but if they see it coming out and it isn't out all the way not to pull it out as it could strangle some of the puppy's organs. And of course, if it doesn't come out they will have to do surgery! So now I need to do an email to Chica to offer to pay for any charges they may incur from this incident. :( She was very angry with my munchkin, who then came home and cried because he hurt Chica and her KC. I feel horrible, but I have some issues with this too.

1. If you have to tell a child twice to stop playing with something and they don't, shouldn't you take it away from them? Isn't that part of what your responsibility as an adult is?

2. And how do we know for sure the puppy ate this string. It is a pretty long string...wouldn't he have chocked on it or gagged on it as he was eating it?

3. And ummm...Dr. Vet, can we do an x-ray to make sure the string is in there before we cut open this puppy?

Of course this isn't the only story she has to share with me of the issues my child has had since I left town less than 48 hours ago... Munchkin fell out of my mom's Mountaineer yesterday, landed on his butt and bruised his butt bone, or so we suspect. He complains when he sits down that his butt cheeks hurt. :( My baby!! :( They aren't showing any signs of bruising and hopefully he didn't bust his tail bone and it will go away, but my son~the drama queen~will carry this one as long as he can. I just feel horrible for him. And to add insult to injury this morning at the bus-stop one of the little kids that just moved in to the abandoned house down from ours (one that doesn't have a single window that had not been broken by the neighborhood hoodlums in the last 2 years the house has been empty) pushed my munchkin down on his injured buttocks! My son comes over to my aunt who got out of the car while she had been watching them crying because his arse hurt... She had to tell him not to cry because then they would call him a cry baby and then she told the other kids that there will be no more pushing. My son, being the narc that I have raised, immediately told the bus driver that the other kid pushed him down on his injured butt as soon as they got on the bus who in turn scolded the kid again. I see my son getting beat up for being the narc... But what can he do, when he does something back to the kids he gets in trouble. My baby can't win for nothing! :( What happened to the good old days before zero-tolerance when you could just push them back.

But hey...he made it 5 days with no calls from the school to me (which is great after my 2 calls from the principal last week!) and he didn't flip any disciplinary cards Thursday and Friday. He just narced a kid out and potentially killed a puppy.... He lives on both ends of the extremes. ;)

Yun-Yuns have returned...Well, the hotel I'm at houses some of the Yun-Yun drivers this weekend and at 1:55am (EST~~now that I've went national with my blog!) 4 of them just returned. They must have the Harley-Davidson version of Yun-Yuns as they are really loud!

A peck will get you a moan next time...So at my visit tonight, my guy tells me I just gave him a peck when I left last night. Which I think is funny because I thought he was short-giving on his end of both kisses yesterday. In the prison world for those readers who are not aware, you get one hug and one kiss when you start your visit and one hug and one kiss when you end your visit, these of course are limited to 5 seconds and with some CO's~yes, they are timed. Well, when I left tonight I refused to let him pull away from my kiss until I got his butt to moan...hehe Yes, I am evil.

Have a great Saturday y'all! I love you guys and hugs all around...I'm off to bed...

Yun-Yuns

Being up here in all this snow and expiring the northern part of my upbringing I've thought a lot about my Nana.  She would have loved it up here with all the snow and snowmobilers.  Back in her day she loved a good ride on a snowmobile and where all that would take her in the northern world!  :)  In my toddler youth I renamed snowmobiles as "Yun-Yuns".  I assume it was because my family would always say snowmobiles were fun and maybe I couldn't say that so in our family they became known as "Yun-Yuns".

So as I pass each one on this wonderful weekend trip I say to myself, out loud, of course.  "YUN-YUNS!"  I instantly think of my grandma and add, "I love you Nana and miss you more than you will ever know!"

Family Drama...

A bit of an update...my ex-s-i-l who lost my two new nephews two weeks ago today (Friday...sorry, I'm posting late tonight) had a court date today that she and my bro were to attend as a follow-up to the emergency hearing the day the state took the kids. Well....before I can get to that I must update with the first call I received while on the road today (outside of my man calling to check on my progress and to tell me to drive safe in the blizzard-y conditions! He is so sweet!!!)...it was my aunt

aunt: Do you remember ex-s-i-l's friend A?

j'lynn: Yes

aunt: Well A's mom, L called me to tell me that she overheard a conversation of A's where she said that the boyfriend (who we suspect is the actual perpetrator) has moved in to ex-s-i-l's apartment and they are cutting meth there!

j'lynn: That is just great! You need to get word to someone for today's court hearing. Those babies do not need to be returned to that.

Well, I spent the remainder of the morning and the first half of my afternoon wondering what happened at court. Finally, I called for an update...the ex-s-i-l never showed up, no one is able to get a hold of her and at court they said they didn't know where she is. Her car is at her apartment, but her phone is disconnected. So now we wait to see what is going on and what is going to happen.

Yet again I'm saddened, heartbroken and surely disappointed. As for how the boys are doing...not great. :( If only I could take them myself and remove them from this misery... I really wish I could take a break from my hectic life to take them and help them get on track, but I have to remember that I can't due to time constraints of having to complete school and also my commitment to my son, because I don't think it would be fair to him. But if someone could promise me that he would be okay and my school would be okay, I would go right now and pick them up, hold them in my arms, love on them, and take them home with me...

Mountain Man?????

I made my trip and almost succeeded with my time goals. I actually didn't get on the road until 8am. I made a stop to Starbucks about 45 mins in as I didn't take time to eat or drink anything before I left. Then I stopped for gas twice and hit the hotel at 5:30pm. This gave me enough time to slap some makeup on and sprint over for a 2.5 hour visit with my guy! :D

I was so happy to get to see him, but OMG...he told me he wasn't going to shave and I in turn told him I wasn't going to shave either. That was the first laugh and smile I got from D after we had a situation a couple weeks ago. So I expected him to be scruffy, but when he walked in and he had a full beard I was shocked!! :o I didn't know what to say. My man had became a mountain man in the (bitterly) cold local weather this winter!!!! The more I looked at it, the more I liked it. :) It was just so different and did it make him look older.

My man always has looked younger than he is. He is going to be 40 this year and this is the first time that he has actually looked close to his age. I'll have to tell him tomorrow that once I got over my shock, it grew on me and it is more than a little sexy! :)

After our visit I went to the casino to cash in my "hotel certificates". I got more stuff than I thought I would and I spent more than I anticipated! EEK!! I guess that is how they suck you in. LOL I received a free drink (my signature drink...a tootsie roll), to double winnings on 2 hands of black jack and $5! I cashed in $40 and lost it all. I was up a bit a couple times but I ended up putting it all back in. The biggest problem with $5/hand blackjack...if you lose, it goes fast! I figured about an hour of fun for $40 isn't bad and with taking $5 out with me, I really only lost $35 and since I got my drink free, which normally would cost at a minimum $5...I really only lost $30. Yes, that is rationalizing at work my friends!

Alright, I'm off to bed so I can get up, get ready and go to my favorite breakfast spot in this little prison town! ;)

Hugs y'all!!!!

Surviving...

Well, I made it!  I really did it!!  I wasn't sure if I could, but I did!!!  I survived my last day at work and school for the week.  It was a rough week and I am so glad that the hard part is over.  I'm so exhausted, but need to get some stuff done before I can go to bed and get up, finish packing and hit the road!  ;)  

I'm really excited about my trip.  The longest part is the drive.  :(  That I hate...especially during the winter months.  Well, I can't really say that as this will be the first "winter" trip I make up there, but I'm 99% sure I won't like it!  Out side of those 2 things, I love the fact that I'm making this trip right now.  I really think I need it...for me, for him and more for me!  hehe  I just need that "break" and this is a wonderful break.  It has been the prior two times I've made this trip and expect this one to be no different!  

So I have 3/4ths of my packing done, am doing a load of laundry and need to finish gathering my books and stuff like that for tomorrow morning.  Of course I just looked out the window and it is snowing pretty steadily....  My goal is to leave here no later than 7:30am and get there no later than 5pm.  We will have to wait and see how that works out for me.  

I hope everyone else has a wonderful Thursday tomorrow and I'll eventually update after I get to the room and get settled....

Hugs to all....

Ground is feeling a little shaky

Tonight was the GM press conference.  I don't know if you watched it, listened to it or even care; but the big 3 have always been significant in my life.  There are 4 careers in my family~the military, construction, healthcare and the big 3.  I understand that things must change with the big 3 and that they are not alone in their struggle; however, we need to remember how much their situation affects all of us and how much it affects so many around us directly.  

I personally find the situation scary and some times depressing.  Of course the press conference came to me after I went to my local mall to pick up some makeup.  I have not been to the mall in forever.  It just isn't my cup of tea, so to speak.  But I was shocked when I pulled in...it was like going to a ghost town.  I found it almost nerve-wracking.  When you pull up to some place that has Target and Sears as its anchor stores and there are less than 50 cars in the entire parking lot, you first wonder if it is even open and when you walk in and see employees just standing around, straightening up and chit-chatting you know there are serious problems here!

I finally feel the need to sit down, do my taxes and start looking at my finances to see where else we can cut more costs as we go further in to 2009 when I come back from my long weekend away, which is needed even more now.  Let's hope that Obama's Stimulus Plan gets to working pronto!!!!

Good luck my fellow big-3 brothers & sistas!  I'm hoping and praying for us all....

Too early...

Okay, day #2 for making it to work on time; however, I may have discovered why I never make it in on time! People are crazier at 7:55am than any other time during the day...

(If I could draw a map to go with this story it would be easier, but I will have to do the best I can with what I've got!) There is a bank of two elevators to get from the street level of my building to the lobby. Upon exitting those elevators if you go immediately to your right you are on your way to the lobby, if you go straight ahead you go to an overly priced deli that always has stale bagels and if you go on an angle to the right you go down a handicap ramp to make your way to our city's version of a subway system. So this morning being as early as I am I go to the over priced deli to get a mini-OJ and a mini-Apple Juice upon leaving the deli I witness a man come out of the elevators and angle his way to the right, walk down the ramp, past the entrances to our subway system, up the four steps at the end of the walk way, circle around to his right to come back to the lobby entrance, which was on his immediate right when he got off the elevator. He then proceeded to go to another bank of elevators to go up to work! Anyone familiar with our building would know that it isn't like you make an error and miss the walk way to your immediate right when you are coming off the first bank of elevators... If one is doing such a thing because they were going to enter our subway system or to hit the ATM at the top of those 4 steps or swing in to the mailroom, one thinks they would hesitate at one of these locations, but this gentlemen did not. I found this behaviour odd....

But things would get worse before they got better... Upon my entrance in to my 2nd bank of elevators to get to my office on the ever-superstitious 13th floor (yes, that would be my fate to work on the 13th floor in a tall building downtown) I pressed the button and stepped back and to the right in the elevator to allow others to get on. You know...the custom of how it should work on an elevator. A woman gets on behind me and tries to access a floor with the use of her building pass, but the light never turns green to allow her access to that floor. The elevator doors close as she continues to wave her pass in front of the electronic eye faster and more deliberate. I could tell she was a bit paniced because the elevator's security system wasn't giving her the little "beep" to let her know it would allow her to press her floor's button. At this point the elevator hasn't moved yet, so she hits the button to open the doors and proceeds to say (to me? to herself? to the elevator?), "Well, that one isn't going very far." She steps off the elevator, presses the up button for another elevator from the bank of 5 available choices and stands there. My elevator now closes the doors and takes me to the 13th floor. I'm thinking the issue wasn't the elevator, but more likely her pass, but maybe the elevator wasn't happy with the way she was waving her pass so frantically at it! I'm not here to judge, but I was happy to get to my "cursed" floor with the normal crazies I work with versus the random crazies infiltrating our lobby...........

I'm wondering if tomorrow my brain will block these incidents to allow me day #3 on time or if it will protect me and make me late to come in with the normal folk?

A Good Monday for a Change...

It wasn't a perfect day, but it was darn near close! :) I was actually on time for work, then my AIL-P class was canceled (hope you feel better Prof. P), Crim Sent had a substitute (hope you are having fun in Spain Prof. Y), and Crim Pro was shortened to the regular class time instead of the added hour that was originally scheduled as a make up tonight (thank you, a lot, Prof. W)! :D

Add on to that the fact that this is a short week for me. I only have 16 pages left to read for this week's classes and my phone rang (on silent) while I was in class, which tells me to relax and to continue my planning for this weekend.

A few hiccups today will not get me down. Like for instance, this morning I was unable to locate a file so I start asking questions about it to the 3 people that were on the original email. Two of them then had to call me about it. Both saying the opposite thing. UGH. Just get me the damn info so I can do my job. I don't need to discuss it!

So January 2008 I joined the local YMCA in the city I work. Well, it just never worked out for me, so on 1/6/09 I faxed a letter canceling my membership since my 12 months were up on the 10th and I didn't want it to become a monthly thing at $50 a pop! Especially since I now belong to a better gym, that is being paid for by someone else that I actually use (till I got sick about 2 weeks ago), so last week when I realized that they still withdrew my money this month I contacted them. Couldn't talk to the contact person I sent my request to, so I went the "corporate" route and it was solved within 12 hours. So who calls me today? The contact person who I faxed my request to.

j'lynn: Hello?

CP: Hi. Is this j'lynn?

j'lynn: Yes

CP: This is CP from your local YMCA calling about the letter you faxed to me.

j'lynn: The 1/6/09 letter?

CP: Yes.

j'lynn: Yeah, I spoke to her in accounts receivable last week and she resolved the problem.

CP: Oh?! Okay. Thanks.

j'lynn: Thank you.

Come on now! You only called because you received word that I went to corporate on your ass! Let's not BS one another....you weren't just now calling me on 2/16/09 regarding my letter from 1/6/09!!

Last hiccup before I go to bed...I just stabbed myself in the eye with my plant extract lotion....fun! I recommend it for everyone!!

Off to bed...late again!

Day of Rest...

Sunday is the day of rest and the day of God. I get that. I'm catholic and have a catholic nun in my family who I am really super close to and wouldn't be where I am today without her, but I don't practice my catholic ways. Don't get me wrong...I believe in God, I pray, I have faith, but I don't go to church. My munchkin goes more often than me. He also goes to CCD, which I did too when I was younger. I actually made all of my sacraments through the 8th grade and the only one I didn't do was getting married in the catholic church, but I'm hoping next time I do. But I digress...

With the utmost respect for God's day, I must say I don't like Sundays. I actually kind of hate them. :( My goal in life is to never leave my home on a Sunday unless I have no where to go on Monday! LOL I try not getting dressed that day and if I lived in a dream world I would do absolutely nothing all day, every Sunday! But I don't live in said dream world, so my Sundays are usually pretty hairy versus relaxing and never long enough. Heck, with the exception of sleeping in the morning from Saturday night and an occasional nap on a Sunday afternoon, I never go to bed until it is "technically" Monday! :(

Let's look at today's agenda for our day of rest:

1. Do laundry (I just started with the munchkin's clothes in the wash).

2. Do homework (I have 117 pages in Crim Pro to read and 2 cases to brief).

3. Pick up the house (I just picked up the living room and have the kitchen left to do).

4. Go through all of the papers that I've collected during the week that I didn't have time to look at.

5. Get things ready for the week for the munchkin.

6. Get things ready for the week for myself.

7. Get the munchkin ready for the week.

8. Get myself ready for the week.

9. Charge all of the phones and the electric toothbrushes.

10. Rest up for the week.

I'm about ready for a nap just looking at my list! hehe I better run so I can get to this list... Hope everyone enjoys their Sunday!

Happy St. Valentine's Day...

Happy St. Valentine's Day y'all! :D I hope you are spending the time with someone you love or at least being able to tell that person how much you love him, her or them.

I came to a realization this morning as I got up to start my St. Valentine's Day. This isn't a new realization, but it is something that I need to adjust one way or another! My realization is: I have a tendency to have higher expectations of myself than I should. For example, I had an expectation that I would get up no later than 7am, get ready, pick up things as needed, gather my necessary items and get out the door early! Well, that never happened...and it never does. :( I always set my alarm thinking I will get up a little early so I can get a few extra things done in the AM, but it never happens. Just like this morning. Or I will say to myself, 'okay, I have 2 hours before I have to leave, so I should get A-M done on my list' and in reality in that time frame I really can only get A-D done. Why do I continue to do this? Do I do this in the hopes that one of these times I'm going to accomplish this? Because let me tell you...you are never happy when you don't get all of it done when you thought you could/would, so why keep putting that pressure on myself? Why not say, 'okay, I have 2 hours...I'll get A & B done' and when I get C & D done too feel great about my accomplishments? Or this morning...why didn't I say, I'll get up at 8am to just get ready and get where I'm going on time since I was so tired and it was so late by the time I got in bed (after 2am)?

Apparently I can't answer these questions and I keep asking them, but I never change what/how I'm doing. Another thing to add to my list of things to accomplish and overcome. Maybe I need to start a list of such things too....

Does Friday the 13th Scare You?

Not me. Usually, Friday the 13th is good for me and things go my way that day, so I do not usually wish I stayed home with the blanket over my head. However, today was a little different, because I did wish I had stayed home, but I didn't require the blanket over my head. I do not know if it is because some days this week we had weather in to the 60's and tomorrow the hi is 29 degrees with 1-3" of snow, but I have been exhausted. This morning was no different. I did not want to get out of bed and I almost didn't! I finally got up sometime after 6:30am! Definitely late today!!

Once I finally got to work, my tiredness did not subside. :( I was tired all day. I just wanted to close my eyes and take a nice long nap. I was excited that my weekly Friday meeting was canceled but not excited when the big man said it was because he wasn't feeling well. :( "The CH", I hope you feel better. I did not really accomplish much else all day outside of typing up my BK notes and then during lunch I read for AIL-P, of course I nodded off several times while reading. :( I did refer out 3 of my ACP-S files, but that was about it. I just couldn't motivate. My goodness...I had a rough week and you probably think I don't work while I'm at work, but normally I do. This week has just been one of those weeks where you can't work or don't want to work. Does that make sense? I promise...I do work and 90% of the time I bust my ass! Just not this week. :(

Of course the munchkin started hacking with a crazy cough last night so I had auntie take him to the doc today and sure enough...throat infection. Probably what I had back on 1/24. :( I hope he feels better. I hate it when any of us are sick. It just totally bums me out...and adds a lot of stress to my already hectic life. After work and the muchkin's trip to the doctor I met him and auntie at The Olive Garden for dinner. It was kind of our pre-Valentine's Day dinner.

My god...was it busy! Luckily I got there about 5:45pm and still had to wait over 30 mins for a table. I took "Custer Died for Your Sins" with me to get some of my AIL-P reading done. Of course some woman standing next to me inquired what I was doing reading "An Indian Manifesto". I used to entertain such conversations, but I don't know when, how or why but I no longer can stand such conversations. I notice myself getting older and a lot bitchier too. I responded to her question by just telling her that it was for school and for my AIL-P class and just when she looked either impressed or disgusted my pager went off to tell me my table was ready!

After dinner the munchkin went off to home with his aunt to spend the weekend with her so I can do homework, etc. and off to Catherine's & Avenue I go to get some new clothes for everyday and more importantly for next weekend to see my honey! :) But I think I did really well...I bought $701.15 in clothes; but I saved $216.36 and spent only $484.79. I love coupons, gift cards, and perk cards! :D

Finally I arrived home, still as exhausted as I was when I woke this morning, and am about to go to bed so I can get up early tomorrow so I can go get my hair highlighted! I hate having to get up and be somewhere early on a Saturday. :( But nothing I can do there....except getting my butt to bed and up early in the AM.

I hope everyone else had a wonderful Friday the 13th and didn't feel the need the cover over the head and remain in bed.

...and a wake-up!

Boy...what a week! This has been a long, tiring week... I'm ready for it to be over. All I have left to do is get through one more work day, a substitute Valentine's Day dinner with my munchkin and my aunt tomorrow night and then I have a full weekend of reading, studying and homework! Woo-hoo...what an exciting Valentine's weekend, huh?

But watch out come next weekend...I leave in less than 7 days to drive 10 hours to see my man! :D I'm so excited I can't wait!!!! I booked my hotel today and wrote out my list of what to take. Now hopefully I can get to work tomorrow on time and make it through the day...

TGIAF.... ;)

Hump Day...one of my favorite week days

Happy Hump Day!  

This is one of my favorite weekdays.  The others are Friday, Saturday and the fact that I don't have to work I like Sundays too.  I try not to think about the fact that I have to go back the next day!  LOL

You may wonder~why is hump day my favorite day of the week?  Well, put your dirty cap on and you will know I just like to say "Happy Hump Day!"  hehe

I don't know if we will have power tomorrow as I sit here feeling the house shake thanks to the wind gusts up to 60mphs!  I'm totally exhausted, so I'm off to bed a little earlier than the other nights this week, so I hope everyone has a great night!  

Hugs to all!!!!

Wednesday's Food Journal...

Not good again.  I really don't expect that I will get things together until after I get back from seeing my honey on the 23rd!  But I keep trying to do better...

Breakfast:  2 eggs, a slice of toast

Lunch:  Large Chicken Greek salad w/o beets and olives and with Italian dressing and a pita bread plus a large coke

Dinner:  Holy Moly and a large pepsi

Snack:  iced brownie

No water, no workout....

My man...

I actually need to combine the last two days in to one post because I missed being sweet on my man yesterday & today.  :D

Monday morning when my man called as we were talking and flirting with one another the best you can while someone is always listening to the call, thanks MDOC!!  There was talk about hands and since he kicked ass in his typing/computer class I told him he could type my dictation naked, etc.  Ladies...you know how it goes....LOL  Well I must have gotten too excited because when I looked down the underwire in my bra popped out!  It busted right through the fabric and I had to remove it!!  

Then today my man said, "Baby, I can't wait until you come up to see me next week."  Well honey, neither can I....  I love you D!  Muah!!!!!

Tuesday's Food Journal...

Today wasn't good...  :(

Breakfast:  Sausage McGriddle with an extra piece of sausage; large sweet tea

Lunch:  Nacho Platter, but I only ate approximately 1/2 of it.

Dinner:  Chips & Salsa; cheese w/chorizo, sour cream and tortillas; and 2 large cokes

No water, no workout.  

I knew/know it is going to be a rough week this week, but I will pull it together!  

Suspension???

As I sat in my office this morning my cell phone rang and it was my son's school.  When I answered, it was his principal to tell me my first grader was being suspended for the remainder of the day.  

It appears that the lunch lady witnessed my son tickling a classmate in the groin area.  :(  She indicated that my son stated that boy had done the same thing to him, but there was no witness to that.  She then went on to tell me the same exact thing happened the day before with two other 1st grade boys in the other 1st grade classroom.  EEK!!  What is going on?!?  

Of course I had a mandatory staff meeting at 1pm so I couldn't leave to get my baby, so I had to call my aunt and ask if she could leave work to go and get him for me.  I'm so grateful for my aunt as she is always able to help me...I couldn't do what I do without her!

After work I went to dinner with former co-workers.  I don't know if it is because of what has been going on with my family and my life, but it just wasn't nearly as fun as I was hoping.  :(  I felt like I was that 3rd wheel and part of that is because I'm just now going to school to be what they are and don't know all of the "ins & outs" like they do.  Also, they don't know about my reconnect with my man because they just wouldn't understand...  I'm glad we met as it had been too long and I spent more time there tonight than I anticipated so it wasn't all bad!  Plus it was at one of my favorite places~~with the best chips and salsa in the world!  :)

You Are Welcome~~USPS!!

For those of you who do not know...one of the staples to a man in prison is mail. Well, my honey and I had a bit of a disagreement about 2 weeks ago and since then I have sent one letter. Now mind you, I would average about 10 envelopes a week with either letters, cards & pictures, printouts, etc. We have since been on the mend since our disagreement and I had already planned to send him some printouts that he asked for (i.e. channel schedules for AMC & TCM), so when he told me today that people, including CO's, had became concerned about me due to the lack of envelopes he was receiving I had a bright idea!!! :)

My original intention was to send a St. Valentine's Day Card each day for a month. Well, when we had our tiff I had only sent maybe 7 so far. So I decided today to send the rest I had already purchased out today (13) plus an additional card that I've been holding on to and the printouts he had requested. Making for a grand total of 28 envelopes being mailed out today to my honey...all from me! :D

Since I have enclosed extra pages or pictures in each, they are all being sent with two $0.42 stamps on them. Since I expect a big ol' "Thank You" from the United States Postal Service for my $26.88 in postage I'm mailing today just to my honey (not counting my other mail that I have yet to stamp and send out too!) so I shall say, "You Are Welcome" first!! :)

Another Monday Down...

After working my 6 hours today off to school I went...

First class down. Check!

Second class down. Check!

Third class down. Canceled! Woo-hoo!!!

Then I found out that one of the "smart kids" got in to an altercation at our "prom" and is looking at Assault & Battery charges! EEK!!! Boy oh boy, I was very glad that I'm not that smart and I don't do adult proms. :D

Let me finish my food diary for today...

Snack: Well during my first two classes I snacked on carrot sticks. Drank more water and started a diet sunkist.

Dinner: Since class was canceled I went to Rio Wraps and had me a Holy Moly!! Yummy. Probably a thousand calories, but yummy!

Snack: A vanilla frozen yogurt cone & a sweet tea...

On a side note, I finally texted my x-s-i-l, "b" to see if she had anything to say after losing my nephews to the state again. :( (I will elaborate some day, but it is still currently under investigation so I will wait!) But she didn't respond so now I wait to see what comes out of her next. I did call my oldest friend "a" since she has a connection in to the PD to see if "b" was sitting there and found out "a" won tickets to see Nickelback! Rock on!! I offered to sacrifice and go with her if she needs someone to go! Only time will tell!! Part of me hopes she needs someone to go and part of me hopes her bf can go.

Well the munchkin just ran by to get in my bed for the night, and since my alarm goes off in about 4 hours or less, off to bed I go. G'Nite Y'all! Hugs....

How Exciting...

Okay, today is day #2 in my new world of blogging. This is kind of exciting. :) Actually, more than kind of! I now see the attraction to it that others have talked about. I am even more excited about the fact that my 1pm "team" meeting was canceled allowing me time to retype my notes from class last Thursday and from my review meeting with my prof! Simple things like this excite me!

So as I sit here typing my notes from my BK class I thought to myself that I didn't give a lot of detail on the whole battle of the bulge issue. So let me take a moment or two to do that...

I have been fat almost my entire life...well, at least a good majority of it! I was stick thin until around the age of 8. I think my mom meeting my dad (step then adopted) and moving us in with him when I was 6 didn't help matters. Since I don't have a psychology degree to my name, I try my best to figure things out with a dose of self-diagnosing! I think this major shift in my life caused me great pain and anxiety and instead of voicing my issues I think I ate them. I went from a normal, almost too-thin, 6 year old to a morbidly obese 8 year old. And needless to say...that hasn't really changed in my life, unfortunately, but I try and work on it every day.

Back on January 24th I went to urgent care for an unrelated issue and weighed in at 358. You would think this number would ashame me, but I won't let it. It is a starting point for me. This is even after eating healthier on most days and starting to work out at the gym. So that is the number I'm sticking with right now until I know differently. And since this number is so high I'm unable to weigh myself on my scale as it doesn't go that high. So here is my plan: I will continue to eat healthy as much as I possible can, go to the gym as frequently as I can and weigh myself at home on my scales until it no longer says "error".

I already know this week isn't going to be the best for my plan and neither is next week since I'm going out of town to see my "man"! :) But I will do the best that I can. You can expect daily updates with my "food journaling"! So let me get started today so far...

Breakfast: Ugh...I missed breakfast because I was too busy getting the munchkin's things in order & getting my last load of laundry together, plus packing my school bag and work bag. I'm especially lucky because my mom comes over in the morning to get the munchkin on the bus so I can attempt to get to work on time!
Snack: I usually try and have a snack in between so I'm not ravaged at lunch time but I didn't get an opportunity to eat my snack today, probably because I thought I had a 1pm meeting so I actually had lunch at a normal time~noon~today. LOL
Lunch: Instead of having my usual frozen meal or my Healthy Choice Fresh Mixer I opted to go to the little greasy spoon likely in the hopes of having something really bad for me like their wonderful chili-fries; however, I held strong and nothing sounded good so I went with their small famous grilled chicken greek salad w/o beets or olives and with italian dressing (+ extra dressing) and the pita bread it is served with. It was filling and delicious! I actually really like their famous grilled chicken greek salad so it was a win-win. Plus I'm stuffed now too!

Also another down fall for me is pop or soda as some call it! Especially Coke or Pepsi! And fountain too...watch out. I can put away a good 64 ozs of regular Coke or Pepsi if it is fountain pop! So needless to say, getting my minimum of 64 ozs of water in daily is rough for me too. So I just opened my second 25oz bottle of water today and am working on that! Plus I took my multi-vitamin.

So far...so good...

Well, well, well...

I am finally doing this.  I've been debating for over a year to start my own blog and then when I found a particular site back in April I found what I needed and was able to express everything there.  However, due to some petty bullshit I had to leave that site and found myself needing a place to express myself, so here I am.  Finally.  

I can't guarantee that this will be an everyday thing or even a weekly thing.  I don't even know if anyone will ever read this, but it will help me work things out in my life as I have several things going on right now...

A few things you should know about me...

~~I work full time

~~I go to school part time 

~~I am divorced

~~I have a munchkin who is the love of my life

~~The other love of my life is my boyfriend

~~My boyfriend is my baby's daddy

~~He is also my ex-husband

~~And he is doing time

~~Lastly, I am fighting the battle of the bulge (huge bulge!)!

So this blog is all about me...my loves...my challenges.  This is also for me.  It won't be your typical blog that so many people are used to, so you have been prewarned!  Until next time...hugs to you all!!