To me, at this point, any load is a yay :P He needs to be moving, not sitting at home. Holiday or not!

I was thinking that too and mentioned it to brother but he said surface and should be able to just clean the seats. Apparently, the junkyard is having a 50% off sale on the 4th so they are planning to go then and save $ hahaha so if he decides it DOES need new seats, that would be the time to grab them along with the hatch and taillight!! :P He said he is a little concerned on if he can get the corner banged out enough to put a new light in, he didn't realize how smashed in it was through the plastic. They've been working on that. He said Nathan fell asleep early after slinging the sledgehammer ROFL!!

I still need to get a new tire for the xterra. The spare is on the car. (full size spare) The tire has been in the back, flat. I took it to get the flat fixed and was told it was the sidewall so they couldn't fix it, and I have to get a whole new tire. But have spent $ on other stuff going on instead so no new tire yet.

I ran to Walmart to get the bratchild some bread, and some charcoal for later this week - if he comes home again, he will grill and he used the last of the other bag yesterday. And when I came home, I decided to mow Belle's runner line area because its supposed to rain off & on the rest of the week, and I ended up mowing the whole front/back yard too. (not the far front area tho, just the area in front of the house).

[edit] 230pm Ok phew. I have turned in my speech proposal and I have worked, worked, worked and I think I have the speech outline done too. Now I have to practice it, so that I don't sound like I am reading off my script hahaha (which is what the outline is really). And then I can practice it while recording too. Yay? :P I am honestly not sure how "persuasive" my speech will be, I think it's probably more informative? But oh well. I tried. I went for a more mildly persuasive type of speech anyway, one in which the book says you are only trying to get people to agree with what you are saying, rather than actually DOING anything about what you are saying.

No worries, Mieke. There are times when my username doesn't register for me and I sit here wondering why someone sent me some duck item. lol I'm with Kat, I lol'd right out loud atthe book reference. I remember reading it to my kids ages ago. :) Kat, that's good news about the car and your son. As for the anniversary, count every year you want! I guess recent events would make the 4th bittersweet for you. Is there any event you could go to to start a new tradition for your family? :D

Not that I am aware of. Plus no one wants to do anything anyway? Nathan is at my brother's. Shane may or may not be home. And Katie will be at college with her boyfriend.

I have no idea why but I decided to clean the hot tub and see if I can patch it so it stays inflated. I probably ought to have just gone and bought a small kiddie pool lol I just think I want something to soak in that is bigger than the tub. But not the hassle of a big pool

[edit] 11am Ok it won't stay inflated. So I deflated it. Dunno that I'll bother buying a kiddie pool tho. Most reviews say they won't stay inflated or the walls fall in if its not an inflatable type. Oh well. Worth trying I guess. Oooh I just remembered I had an amazon gift card - so I just went and used it. Am a little annoyed that I either could get really cheap books and pay a lot for shipping, or only get 1-2 books at a regular price and NOT pay shipping. Ugh. Oh well. I did get an omnibus and a book, so really I got 4 books in a series I LOVE and want to own all of eventually :P I paid $2 from my checking account in the end, after the giftcard. I'll have my new books by the 8th :D Since they are new I don't mind paying what I did, but I had hoped to get a bunch of used ones cheaper, but it wasn't cheaper since I had to pay shipping. :P Whatever shrugs I am happy I got books!

Heeey! Happy almost Independence Day!

I've been in a funk and I just can't seem to get out of it. My sleep has been all out of whack, too. Haven't left the house in days, except for today.

Kat, you really do sound like a teacher, in a good way. ;) Your voice is more delicate and nurturing - IMO - to kids in the age group you want to teach. (According to others, I have a more "sultry" voice.) You're words are very clear and articulated well and the only thing that was off about your longer speech was the nervous parts where you were piecing together (mentally) what was next in your speech. That actually made ME feel nervous for you! LOL My gawd I couldn't imagine giving a 5min long speech, though. I have a bad tendency to mumble when I'm insecure about what I'm talking about or really nervous and combined w/ a more sultry type of voice, it makes it hard to understand me. You may have listened to someone in your class that was pretty similar.

OH happy belated birthday, honey!! I'm glad you had a good day.
You are settling in quite nicely into this chat format, with no pinging everybody and just talking. :D How did you end up on this place, anyway?

That's so cute about the ducks and how your daughter always chooses those to make. Ducks are MUCH cuter than chickens! :P You guys are getting an almost new van?! That's amazing!! You are SO right on the prices of used vehicles and honestly, with the prices of replacement parts and labor included, it's worth it to get newer. For me, anyway. I no longer have contact with the flakey brothers in my life to help me out with the harder car part replacements but I DO think I can at least change my brakes, when needed. I just hope I have enough strength to push the piston back in, lol. (with the help of a C clamp, of course)

Oh... I DID buy the stupid pool but it was not one of those stupid inflatables. We have NEVER had luck w/ anything that inflates. I don't look forward to putting it up but I'll do it b/c I know we'll both enjoy it and both wanted it. We got into a little tiff the other night and I put her on mute after telling her I didn't want to talk to her until the day she left to drive home and that breaks my heart. She's sent me all kinds of mommy/daughter stuff and told me she loves me and it's KILLING me not to respond.... but I'm going to respond w/ a picture of the pool, when I get it set up. :D That will melt her heart as much as she's been melting mine. <3

What books did you get? I'm reading "Fairy Tale" by Stephen King right now. It's pretty good. When I'm done I'm going to finish the second half of Pierce Brown's"Red Rising" series. I don't remember if you like sci-fi/fantasy but it's a good series if you do. It combines sci-fi/fantasy in a rather unique way. :D

I got Mercedes Lackey books!! :D She is my absolute favorite author. - My other absolute favorite was Anne McCaffrey and I am so sad she passed away years ago, no more new books from her.... I got the omnibus "The Heralds of Valdemar" - which is the Arrows Trilogy (or, as individual books, Arrows of the Queen, Arrows Flight, Arrows Fall) AND one of the anthology books, "Passages" which is a collection of short stories written by her and other people who love her world and write stories in it. I do like sci-fi/fantasy, and my favorite author in that is Lois McMaster Bujold :D her Vorkosigan saga especially but I also like The Sharing Knife series.

awww well thank you. Yes, I caught that myself, the nervous pauses trying to remember, but I had had enough of trying to do it better and that one was my best I'd done. Aww for tiff w/ the daughter. So annoying. And for lack of good sleep/not feeling up to things. ((((HUGS))))

Ok ok sooooo GUYS!! I went ahead and did my application to Mercer. I ordered my transcripts to be sent to them. I plan to start there in Jan, so figured I'd go ahead and apply and they can help me work through whatever I might need to do for getting into the teacher program I want. And I know I have to work with them on my financial aid, like I had to for SCTC. AND OMG GUYS! SCTC finalized my income reduction and updated my new financial aid amount and :o WHOA. I mean, I probably won't use all of it, I haven't yet used everything I got in the past, but it is WAY more than I got in the past too. So I am just WOWED by the amount. Next step is to go talk to financial aid at some point and make sure how much of my tuition gets paid off that (but it should be ALL of it plus some for books, if I need it!!) - I just like to KNOW... ;)

That is WONDERFUL news, KAT!!!!!!!! My gawd, maybe you won't spend so many stressful days/weeks with people that don't know what they're doing now! I am really happy for you! <3 /hugs back - really appreciate that <3

My youngest and I are really close which is why we hurt each other by taking advantage of each other's kindness. You know that saying - You hurt the ones you love the most. My oldest called me earlier and wanted to see if I felt like hanging out or going to some stores in between her classes today and while I didn't, we chatted for at least 45min and it was nice. At 27, I think she's finally "getting it"..... Either way, I don't care what people may claim as I've met other parents that actually admit the truth - you don't bond the same with every child and I never had the same connection with her that I do w/ my youngest. I think she needs more life experience to get to a place where we are going to have the connection I've always wanted.

Sorry to ping you again but I saw that you were reading or finishing up a Stephen King book and wanted to know which books of his were your favorites. Short stories included. :D I recently watched Mr. Harrington's Phone which is based off of one of his short stories that I had not read but now I wish that I had.

Well I won't be going to mercer until January at the earliest, so that gives me time to work out what I need with them. I do know it is a more expensive school, but hopefully I can get some extra scholarships and grants or something besides the pell (edit: I know of SEVERAL I can try to get, one from BFTS (PreK program), one from GSCS (my work), and Mercer themselves offer a $500 scholarship per year for anyone who gets PELL.) But I will have to deal with the financial stuff until I have that set up and I might have to get student loans. But yes, mercer is a dedicated program, and the classes will be specifically set. So I won't worry about can I take this one or that one. (edit: I AM going to see if I can exempt any classes based off my work/knowledge, when I asked about that before they said it MIGHT be possible).

[edit] 7/5 3pm Well, Shane got another load, so he only briefly stopped at the truck stop so I could throw some food at him lol (some frozen corndogs and some of my hamburger stew) to get him thru til Friday. (payday). He totally expected to be sent home again but I am glad he got another run. Then I just ran to colliers (the little market place where I can get the $10 haul of produce/stuff). Got lots of little goodies again! Including, ack. More green beans LOL Going to see if someone else wants them, if not I'll blanch and freeze ;) Also got a mini watermelon, 2 boxes of strawberries, a fruit/cheese tray, 2 beefsteak tomatoes, a bag of pears, a napa cabbage, a bag of Brussel sprouts, 4 plums (I think they are plums anyway), cilantro, 2 boxes of blueberries and two bags of baby carrots (aaahhh more carrots too? at least these are babies!)

I like Mercedes Lackey but haven't read her in years, decades even. Anne McCaffery was also one of my favorite early authors. I loved her Dragon Riders of Pern. It was sad when she passed. My favorite fantasy writer is Brandon Sanderson. I love his Stormlight Archiveseries. For horror, Stephen King is my favorite. Nobody can chacterize like him. He's also amazing at world building and is a wiz with implied knowledge. Taarna, I can't give you that list because I think it's just about everything he's written. Of course, there are stories of his that I don't like but they are few and far between. A few of my favorites are IT, The Stand, and 'Salem's Lot. I even liked Rose Madder. One that I didn't like was The Tommyknockers. The ending fell flat, imo. :)

Congrats on the financial aid win. It's a nice feeling when school is all paid for. It lets you concentrate on the important stuff. I really am going to have to come down there to this farmer's market you have. lol It sounds awesome!

- Thank you for the birthday wishes. :) To answer your question, I've been talking to Kat77 on and off during holiday events. This last Masquerade she let me know about this thread. I came, I looked, I sat down and decided to stay. lol :D

And, you're not alone. I love my older kids to death but i have a special bond with my youngest. It was all good until he found out about it and now he tries to blackmail me with the fact. I just counter-blackmail him with the possibility of his baby pics turning up on the internet. rofl It's all trashtalk because my older kids know we have a special bond and they actually don't mind. I don't let him know that, though. ;)

Each child has a different type of connection. I love them all. Just differently. Just like you raise each differently, because you've grown changed learned....and so naturally you act/react differently to the same or similar situation with a different child. Plus that child is different too.

I am always amazed at how authors change over the years. They grown and learn too! Lol I think even tho the older books are great, the newer ones are better.

I got my acceptance for Mercer and then a phone call inviting me to new student orientation so I guess I'll go to that. It's on the 20th of this month, so early, but gives me a chance to go reask my questions and make sure I do everything I need to do before starting in Jan!!!

Lol well it's not really a farmers market but I guess it does seem a bit like that with all the produce. It's a food ministry. I for one am enjoying the fresh fruit!! Veg are nice too but yay for fruit!! Where do you live?

[edit] 730am haha. So you guys remember I emailed the teacher about how that quiz question was hard to get a correct answer for as it didn't really give proper detail? Here is her response :

[edit] 225pm Ok wow. The little market shop has gotten another truck coming in! No idea what is on it, I am going to wait until at least 330 (when they are supposed to open) and look to see if they post pictures this time, I don't need a lot right now, but who can turn down $10 for a haul of groceries?? Especially if its stuff I'll like and will use!

Also I logged into Mercer's student portal and looked around, and then kind of looked at classes...and :o Ok so this lady I talked to once may have been right on the class hours - but I've been told we only have to go in person 2x a term per class - this schedule says class is "mondays" or "wednesdays" or whatever - but what the lady was right about is that class is scheduled to meet from as early as 545 to as late as 1015 :o whaaat? (I mean, some end at 945, some don't start til 615 or 630 but WHAAAT??? FOUR-FIVE HOUR CLASS TIME??) I cannot do that twice a week EVERY WEEK so it better not be like that. I'd barely be able to manage that the twice per term. (which with two classes would actually be 4x per term - a term is every 8 weeks). I wonder if you only have to go in person twice, but you have to log onto the computer the other times or something? Something I will HAVE to ask about :o I am glad the campus I will go to is only like 15-20min from my house - the lady I spoke with had to go to Atlanta when she did it and that is an hour 15min drive - NO NO NO NO NO Not me, not that late at night! I am normally ASLEEP at 10pm!!!! :o Yes, I'm complaining. Yes I'll figure it out, and probably adjust to it....If it becomes too much I'll try one class per term instead of two. And I SHOULD be able to handle that...

[edit] Friday 450pm Well I didn't go yesterday, but they had another truck TODAY :o When I saw the pictures, I went. Steak today! Denver steak, which I like. That alone made the trip worth it. (Not quite as good as the T-bone that first time but still!) Also got 4 bags of baby carrots (yikes), a bag of Brussel sprouts, a bag of broccoli florets, a bag of snap peas (yay! I like peas), a bag of cubed butternut squash, 3 bags of green onions, 3 mangos, 7 plums, a snack pack that had apples cheese and pretzels and a box of Frankenberry cereal lol I am sad I did not get the watermelon they showed in the pictures, but it was still worth it!

Also it is now pouring down rain. Ugh. Hopefully it blows over quickly. I may or may not mow the grass tomorrow or the next day.... weedy crap already sky high again.

Shane got another load, so I'm going to run a little bit more food up to him tomorrow and he'll keep on trucking! :D good for him! He did want to come home and go shopping and help me make a few things so he could have some homecooked meals on the road instead of frozen/fast food. I am going to make him Spanish rice and maybe if/when he runs back thru this way I'll have chili or hamburger helper or something else ready to give him. I need stuff to eat for lunch and dinner myself and I cannot manage to make chili or Spanish rice or hamburger helper for less than 4 servings, and sometimes its more like 6 servings and I do NOT like eating it over & over again, so win/win if he takes some and I eat some ;)

All of that stuff freezes well though, ! Maybe pick up some cheap freezer containers on amazon or walmart, you can sort them into single servings!

nope, no actual new van! haha. Just it's basically all new parts :P

Sorry guys, just been.. busy. I don't even know with what LOL. Marching band starts Monday, though!

My neighbor went later and SHE got a watermelon! She is giving it to me lol I do not eat brussel sprouts or green onions. Have not tried the butternut squash yet, I froze the last package in smaller parts, using ziplock bags. I am not huge on plums or pears and am not sure if I've ever eaten fresh mango!! But I am willing to try it. I will probably cut it up and freeze it for smoothies lol I think that is going to be my new go-to breakfast or snack the rest of summer 😝

Yes you've all been busy. I've been talking to myself again 😂 I love you all tho and it's ok. I just hope you don't mind my rambling edited posts too much 😂🤣

Oh and I got my new books today so I have spent half the afternoon reading my short stories book!! ❤️

Oh, I meant the chili, hamburger helper, etc! haha. Perfect single serve things!

The rice actually, you can put it into ziplocs and smoosh it flat, and it'll freeze and stand up that way. Honestly, chili too, but I find soup is easier in a plastic container.. but it takes up way less space when it's flat like that!

I like the rambling edited posts :P

Oh. Lol yea. I do fridge or freeze some portions of those meals. I have two or three containers of frozen hamburger stew right now. I never thought about freezing it in ziplock bags. I've always used Rubbermaid type containers....hmmm. Yes soup would probably be a bit messy in bags lol I don't make soup tho. When I eat soup it's usually from a can lol It's just if I forget to freeze it then I feel like I need to eat it so it doesn't go bad and I just don't like repeat eating.

I tell you what I almost feel like I should get the chest freezer back from Ryan lol but I enjoy not having it take up space in the kitchen. And no I don't have anywhere else to put it. I would almost rather get a smaller front opening freezer than use the chest freezer again. We almost got one when we got all the new appliances, but they didn't have the one we liked in stock when we actually went back to buy

Haha yeah, having the extra freezer is so helpful!

We only have the one extra one right now, it's a big standup one though. The chest freezer is thawed out (thankfully!), but we didn't plug it back in yet because we need to get the big one down enough that everything will fit into the chest freezer, so that we can thaw the big one, too. :/

We haven't bought meat since I think April, maybe the very beginning of May?! And we're still going, it's crazy haha

Though we DID pick up a pack of cheeseburgers today, for dinner.

I went ahead and got the baby pool lol it's all set up and filled now. Debating how to turn the tarp o bought for a cover I to a sunshade when I'm actually sitting in the baby pool. And yes. BABY!!! It's like 1ft tall and 4x4 ft square lol it has a frame like the rectangular above ground pools. So no inflatable parts! Enough to cool off in, not big enough to require chemicals and filters. Small enough to drain and refill if needed w/o huge amounts of water used.

I think I need to defrost my freezer to figure out why the ice maker isn't working. I think the line is frozen or something but I have no idea where the line is. It dispenses water fine tho....just won't make ice

[edit] 530pm So I mowed the lawn (in the heat, good thing I have a riding mower, nice breeze). Then hopped in the baby pool for a quick dip, because Belle is being a pain in the butt dog and has managed to learn how to push the gate and go down the hall. WHYYYYYYY Stupid dog. So now I cannot leave her inside by herself. Lovely. I rarely do, but she normally just lays on the floor when I have her inside, but I am usually in the LR with her. I found this out when I came in to put my swimsuit on, so I tied her up to the door for my quick dip. She was down the hall and the gate was pushed back into the hall (crooked) so.... yah. Not sure how I can keep her from doing that unless I am inside watching. (she likes to get into the bathroom trash, and both dogs will get into Nathans trash - which right now there isnt any but still.... AND Skittles will poop in bedrooms for some stupid reason, so that is why we have a hallway gate and the dogs stay in the LR) Oh and the gate is just a peice of plywood held up by Skittles kennel/cage lol So its not like super strong or anything

We keep the kitchen trash can in the sunroom now, to keep Bella out of it haha. Can you close the doors maybe? :(

I could, but we think the a/c works better if the doors are open and the ceiling fans are going. Honestly I do not know if that is true? The only return (sucking) vent is in the hallway, there are (blowing) vents in every room. This does not prevent Nathan from closing the door when he is in a room, and we both close our doors when we sleep. Me, it's more for keeping the light out of my room than a/c flow at night. My room gets a lot hotter at night I've found tho.... My kitchen trash can is on a chair in the corner as I have little need for four chairs at the table lol

Isn't it funny what we do to ourselves to keep our pets out of trouble? :P Which is just, really, making more mess for us! haha.

Hmmm maybe just get an actual cheap baby gate? They're like, $20 I think, but you may be able to find one cheaper on your local buy nothing group or something!

I used to have real baby gates years ago, I ended up using the plywood because I was able to cut it short enough to make it easy for short little me (and kids at that point) to step over it. I am debating finding a more expensive type that screws into the wall and has an opening gate.... (or maybe, having Ryan build one, depends on what would be cheaper - my mom built a swinging wooden gate in her hallway a long time ago for animals)