Saturday, September 29, 2007

Week Four

Houston at Atlanta
AWB - Atlanta
Lucy - Houston
Baltimore at Cleveland
AWB - Cleveland
Lucy - Baltimore
Oakland at Miami
AWB - Miami
Lucy - Oakland
Chicago at Detroit
AWB - Detroit
Lucy - Chicago
New York Jets at Buffalo
AWB - New York Jets
Lucy - New York Jets
Green Bay at Minnesota
AWB -Green Bay
Lucy - Green Bay
St Louis at Dallas
AWB -St Louis
Lucy - Dallas
Seattle at San Francisco
AWB - Seattle
Lucy - San Francisco
Tampa Bay at Carolina
AWB - Tampa Bay
Lucy - Carolina
Kansas City at San Diego
AWB - Kansas City
Lucy - Kansas City
Denver at Indianapolis
AWB - Indianapolis
Lucy - Indianapolis
Pittsburgh at Arizona
AWB - Pittsburgh
Lucy - Arizona
Philadelphia at New York Giants
AWB - Philadelphia
Lucy - New York Giants
New England at Cincinnati
AWB - New England
Lucy -New England

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Week Four

Week four bets are tentatively on hold for now while AWB is under the weather. Last I talked to him it appears to be diverticulitis - oh so very painful. They seem to have found a comfortable mix of morphine and something else he couldn't quite remember. I am sure he will be back to his feisty ways very soon. I wish him a speedy recovery.

Update: We are going to bet on football this week afterall, I will put the picks up in the morning, AWB is planning on being home to watch the games on Sunday, I hope his wish comes true for the sake of all of the nurses!!! hehehe....

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Single parenting can be so hard.....

Its one of those days. One of those days when I just want to cry. One of those days when I question my own ability. I have a thousand and one thoughts going through my head. I am not sure I can get it down here so that it makes sense, but this is my therapy. I feel like if I keep all of this inside of me I am going to explode.

Once upon a time ago I married a man I loved. I had three children with him. We set out to raise our children together. We had the same beliefs. We backed each other up on disciplinary issues. Over time we grew apart. He became an absentee father. We rarely saw him and never did anything together as a family. Finally the day came when we split up. At that point in time, he did not know the security code he needed to have to pick up our youngest son from daycare and he had never changed a diaper on him and he was just a little over two. He did not even know what grade the other two kids were in or who their teachers were.

Suddenly, on an endeavor to impress the judge and increase visitation in hopes of reducing support he became super dad. Available for anything and everything that had to do with the kids, field trips, parent teacher meetings, sporting events, you name it, he had it all. Then he started dating a gal who had jealousy problems. She quickly came between him and our oldest daughter. He has not had visitation or any type of a relationship with our daughter for four and a half years now, because of the "bimbo". She also has issues with our youngest son because he requires too much attention, so her son and her make his life miserable when he visits. She does like our older son because he is the same age as her son and they can entertain each other. She does not behave in any manner that is fitting for any children to be around, my sons have witnessed her in various states of undress which is totally unacceptable and she and my ex both drink around them all of the time.

Its difficult because my exhusband and I had the same hopes and dreams for our kids at one time. We had the same set of morals, which included not living in sin. He has lived with four different women since we separated. I have dated, but no man has spent the night in my home when my kids are here. I just don't understand him and his thinking process.

He throws a fit if I don't give him information regarding things going on at school with the kids. He throws a fit if I do give him information regarding things going on at school with the kids. If they are doing well, nothing is said. If there is a problem he and his girlfriend go off on me and blame it all on me being a horrible parent. My son is carrying a failing grade in English right now and I passed the info on to his dad tonight. His girlfriend called me and said I was a poor excuse for a parent and went on and on blaming it all on me. I tried to talk to my ex and he explained that I should do our son's homework with him every night. I check my kids' homework, but I do not do it. My son is a freshmen and he needs to be responsible for his own work. He tells me he has it done and does not bring it home from school. My other two kids make honor roll. Are their grades the result of me being a bad parent also?

I have been so upset by all of this all evening. Its like once you become a single parent, you live your life under a microscope with everyone just waiting for you to screw up so they can take you to court and try to take your kids away from you.

Friday, September 21, 2007

The gourds have been harvested.....


We did it. We harvested the gourds tonight and ripped out the vine. The final count. 70. Seventy gourds. My son made his sign tonight. He is going to set up a little stand in our yard tomorrow and sell them for fifty cents each. I will take pictures. It should be interesting.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Week Three



Sunday, September 23

Miami 28 @ NY Jets 31
AWB - NY Jets
LUCY - NY Jets
San Diego 24 @ Green Bay 31
AWB - Green Bay
LUCY - San Diego
San Francisco 16 @ Pittsburgh 37
AWB - San Francisco
LUCY - San Francisco

Buffalo 7 @ New England 38
AWB - New England
LUCY - New England
Minnesota 10 @ Kansas City 13
AWB - Kansas City
LUCY - Kansas City
Detroit 21 @ Philadelphia 56
AWB - Philadelphia
LUCY - Philadelphia
St Louis 3 @ Tampa Bay 24
AWB - Tampa Bay
LUCY - St Louis
Arizona 23 @ Baltimore 26
AWB - Arizona
LUCY - Baltimore
Indianapolis 30 @ Houston 24
AWB - Indianapolis
LUCY - Indianapolis
Jacksonville 23 @ Denver 14
AWB - Denver
LUCY - Denver
Cleveland 24 @ Oakland 26
AWB - Oakland
LUCY - Oakland
Cincinnati 21 @ Seattle 24
AWB - Seattle
LUCY - Seattle
Carolina 27 @ Atlanta 20
AWB - Carolina
LUCY - Carolina
New York Giants 24 @ Washington 17
AWB - Washington
LUCY - New York Giants
Dallas 34 @ Chicago 10
AWB - Dallas
Lucy - Chicago
AWB wins this week!!!
Monday
Tennessee @ New Orleans
AWB - New Orleans
LUCY - New Orleans

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Something....


Something just seems not quite right. Maybe I am overly anxious. Maybe its nothing at all. The last few weeks have been absolutely wonderful and life-changing. So many things felt like they came back on track and somehow I thought I was getting it all together. A couple of dear friends have slipped through the cracks and I have even been taking steps to remedy that.
Labor Day weekend was one of the best Labor Day weekends I have had in years and I felt closer to my best friend than I have felt in a very long time.
I started as a "Kelly Girl" at one of the orthodpaedic companies as a receptionist. It was a part-time position to fill in for the other two receptionists when they needed sick days or had vacation days, etc. A great foot in the door. The very day that I started one of the girls quit so a full-time position became available. Protocol is to post within the company first and then to the outside public. However since this is an entry-level position they posted it to the outside first. The thought process is that someone already working there would not want to take a pay cut for this entry level position. It turns out several from within have applied for it.
They finally took the position off the website and are now weeding through all of the applicants. My common sense, or maybe just the way I think things should happen in my world, is that they would give proper consideration to any current employees who expressed an interest, but I would think they would not want to take a paycut. Then here is the part that is the perfect part of my world, the next step would be to take a look see at any Kelly Temps who applied, and of course my thought process is I am trained for this spot and I am getting pretty good at it if I do say so myself.......then they would look to the outside applicants. Right?
Yesterday it dawned on me that there were several big-wigs and oldtimers who are trying to pull strings to get family members, girlfriends, friends hired in. That started to make me very nervous. Then today I found out there is someone already working there 20+ years who wants the "demotion", can't handle the stress, and will probably quit otherwise. I have been feeling so down and blue now that I have realized I had gotten way over-confident and basically I really don't have a snowball in hell's shot at this job.
Not only this news, but other things around me feel as if they are falling apart too. I just have this very uneasy feeling I was fooling myself in several different arenas of my life and perhaps none of it is as peachy as I had thought.
Ever have one of those days?

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Week Two


Sunday, Sep 16



Houston 34 (6.5) vs Carolina 21
Lucy - Carolina
AWB - Carolina
Cincinnati 45 vs Cleveland 51 (6.5)
Lucy - Cincy .5
AWB - Cleveland
Atlanta 7 (10.5) vs Jacksonville 13
Lucy - Atlanta 4.5
AWB - Jacksonville
Green Bay 35 (1) vs NY Giants 13
Lucy - NY Giants
AWB - Green Bay
Buffalo 3 (9.5) vs Pittsburgh 26
Lucy - Buffalo
AWB - Pittsburgh
San Francisco 17 (2.5) vs St. Louis 16
Lucy - St Louis
AWB -St Louis
New Orleans 14 vs Tampa Bay 31 (3.5)
Lucy - New Orleans
AWB - Tampa Bay
Indianapolis 22 vs Tennessee 20 (6.5)
Lucy - Indianapolis
AWB - Indianapolis
Seattle 20 vs Arizona 13 (2.5)
Lucy - Seattle
AWB - Arizona
Minnesota 17 (2.5) vs Detroit 20
Lucy - Minnesota
AWB - Detroit
Dallas 37 vs Miami 20 (3.5)
Lucy - Dallas
AWB - Miami
NY Jets 13 vs Baltimore 20
Lucy - Baltimore
AWB - Baltimore
Kansas City 10 (12.5) vs Chicago 20
Lucy - Chicago
AWB - Chicago
Oakland 20 (9.5) vs Denver 23
Lucy - Oakland 6.5
AWB - Denver
San Diego 14 3.5 vs New England 38
Lucy - San Diego
AWB - New England
Monday, Sep 17
It's a draw this week since we both picked Philly for tonight....AWB would have stomped my butt if it weren't for the point spread thingy.....we'll see what happens next week!
Washington 6.5 vs Philadelphia
Lucy - Philadelphia
AWB - Philadelphia

The gourd that ate my house...






The gourd plant is starting to die, at least part of it is, as you can see, the new sprout that is hanging on the window is still green and pretty....maybe one night this week I will get some pictures of the kittens with the gourds.

A Baby Chipmunk









The boys were doing their yardwork this evening and somehow they managed to sweep up a baby chipmunk with the lawn sweeper. After much arguing, I convinced them they had to turn it loose, after the addition of the kittens on Thursday and the death of a tadpole last Tuesday, a chipmunk would have just been too much! ;) Thank goodness there was no discussion about keeping the huge bullfrog they caught last week.

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Announcing the addition of....


MIKEY AND MAGGIE

Mikey and Maggie joined our family Thursday evening and as you can see they are just the cutest little critters. We were not particularly in need of this addition to our family, but they had been orphaned and were doomed to death and well of course I could just not let that happen. They are a little over four weeks old and are drinking formula at four hour intervals and are keeping us quite entertained. Maggie is the white one, she is a runt, but boy is she a bully. Mikey just puts up with it for now, but I suspect one of these days....




Thursday, September 13, 2007

Budweiser-Clydesdales at ground zero.

Wish I would have posted this earlier this week, beware though, it will bring a tear to your eye

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

We cannot forget




Today is the sixth anniversary of 911. A day that we can never forget. Each and every person you talk with can give you specific memories of that day. The absolute lonely terror that each and every American felt right down to their bones.
Personally I was going through a very trying time in my life. My husband and I had just separated and filed for divorce two months prior. I was already terrified for myself and my family and how we would make it. I knew I had made the best decision for all of us at the time, but September 11, 2001 shook the very foundation of everything I believed to be true. On that evening I held my kids very near and dear to me. My estranged husband called and talked to each of us that evening to make sure we were all right. For that one night, we called truce and genuinely cared about our family again. We even discussed if divorce was the best option for us at that time. We both did a lot of soul searching and we did determine that a divorce was the best thing for each member of our family. But we realized there was no need to be so nasty for awhile at least.
Each year since I have sat quietly and recounted the events of that day. Every year I still shed tears for the changes that came to be in the life of each and every American. Today however, was the most difficult anniversary of 911 I have happened across in these last six years. This morning as I arrived at work the security guard was lowering the flag to half mast and as I walked into the front lobby there was a sort of hushed gloom inside that I had not been prepared for. You see, we arrived to work today to find that a co-worker of ours had lost her son in Iraq just yesterday. Last week she was overflowing with joy as she told us how excited she was because her son was coming home in less than two weeks. Less than two weeks to go and he paid the ultimate price for all of us, so that we may enjoy our freedom. Nine American soldiers were killed yesterday and one of them was from Warsaw. It just laid the reality of all of this a little heavier on our hearts today. I arrived at work aggravated at my kids' behavior over the last 24 hours, but when I arrived home tonight, I hugged and kissed each of them and was so very thankful to have them near me.
We cannot forget.

Sunday, September 9, 2007

Direction of the wind???



If any of you followed my blog last year, AWB and I had weekly bets going on the outcome of the football games. He has accused me of stepping outside to see which way the wind is blowing in order to make my picks. Honestly, even he knows me well enough that the direction of the wind would only serve to confuse me. I am not so good at N, S, E and W other than North is up and if you remember WE instead of EW, it will help. I did pretty well with my bets last year, and am holding my own with the season opener this year. Trust me, I have seen my system go to hell in a handbasket in a hurry, but it seems to work more often than not.

So let me share with you the intricate workings of my mind and this high tech system I have devised. Its quite simple actually, I think even you menfolk can follow along...

I ALWAYS pick Indianapolis.

I ALWAYS pick Chicago (unless they are playing Indianapolis)

I NEVER pick a Florida team. (Unless two Florida teams are playing, then the one the furthest to the north)

The rest is quite simple, I pick the city I would most like to visit!!!

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Week One!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alright gang, here we go! Feel free to put your picks in the comment section and see how we all do. AWB and I have decided we will be betting with the point spreads this year, even though I don't quite understand that part, I am going to continue to use my system and if I recall how the point spread worked last year it helped me even more...so we shall see how it goes this year! In your comments with your bet you can indicate if its with or without the point spread thingy.....Mike, Tim, Bob G, anyone else, are you game??? OH COME ON BLOGGERS - YOU CAN STILL GET YOUR PICKS POSTED.....THIS COULD BE FUN!!!!!
September 06

New Orleans 10 (5.5) at Indianapolis 41 8:30 PM

LUCY: INDIANAPOLIS
AWB: INDIANAPOLIS


Sunday, September 09

Philadelphia 13 @ Green Bay 16 (+2.5) 1:00 PM
LUCY: PHILADELPHIA

AWB: GREEN BAY

Atlanta 3 (2.5) @ Minnesota 24 1:00 PM
LUCY: ATLANTA

AWB: MINNESOTA


Miami 13 (2.5) @ Washington 16 1:00 PM
LUCY: WASHINGTON
AWB: MIAMI

New England 38 @ New York Jets 14 (+6.5) 1:00 PM
LUCY: NEW ENGLAND

AWB: NY JETS

Tennessee 13 (6.5) @ Jacksonville 10 1:00 PM
LUCY: TENNESSEE
AWB: JACKSONVILLE


Denver 15 @ Buffalo 14 (+3.5) 1:00 PM
LUCY: BUFFALO
AWB: DENVER


Pittsburgh 34 @ Cleveland 7 (+4.5) 1:00 PM
LUCY: CLEVELAND

AWB: PITTSBURGH


Carolina 27 (1) @ St. Louis 13 1:00 PM
LUCY: CAROLINA

AWB: ST. LOUIS

Kansas City 3 (3) @ Houston 20 1:00 PM
LUCY: KANSAS CITY
AWB: HOUSTON

Tampa Bay 6 (5.5) @ Seattle 20 4:15 PM
LUCY: SEATTLE

AWB: SEATTLE


Chicago 3 (5.5) @ San Diego 14 4:15 PM
LUCY: CHICAGO
AWB: CHICAGO

Detroit 36 (1.5) @ Oakland 21 4:15 PM
LUCY: OAKLAND

AWB: DETROIT

New York Giants 35 (5.5) @ Dallas 45 8:15 PM
LUCY:DALLAS

AWB: DALLAS


Monday, September 10

Baltimore 20 (2.5)@ Cincinnati 27 7:00 PM
LUCY: BALTIMORE

AWB: BALTIMORE

Arizona 17 (3.5) @ San Francisco 20 10:15 PM
LUCY: SAN FRANCISCO
AWB: ARIZONA

And there you have it, AWB claims victory this week

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

New Job

I started the new job on Tuesday. I only worked until one and then I had an appointment with the surgeon later on. He strongly suggested that we at least try to drain fluid from my stomach again, each time is a higher risk of infection. I asked if we could ride it out a bit longer and see what happens. This man is so inconsiderate of time, I waited 1 1/2 hours to see him. By the time he got to me I was a borderline basket case. My kids were home alone and I was very hot and cranky. I am not at all impressed with him.

Today I worked a full day. I am training as a temp for the switchboard. Its a great gig, you walk away at 4:30 and leave the day behind. But in the course of the day I am trying to track down any one of at least 400 people, not including out of building, international and production, that brings the total to at least 1200. This poor gentleman called in from India and was incredibly difficult to understand, I could not find any listing anywhere for the person he was calling for, he was even spelling the name. Later, after I told him I was unable to help him, I found the name of the person he was looking for, he was spelling the first name, not the last... You live you learn. I have this mental block against paging people. Tomorrow I will overcome that!

I think half of my neighbors work at this same company....I have never gotten around to meeting all of my neighbors, but I have met several in the last two days. Unfortunately, I don't know how I will ever learn the names of all of these people. Could be fun!

The gourd that ate my house...




Some of the leaves are starting to turn brown and shrivel up, but the gourds are doing well and there are still new chutes and blossoms taking off, as you can see the new ones are heading up the window... Time will tell what this thing is going to do I think I am going to have to go out and do a gourd count again soon!

Monday, September 3, 2007

Coming Soon!


Don't forget - football starts this week! I will have picks up by tomorrow night - feel free to put yours pics in the comment section each week, it should be fun to see how well we all do!


Whew, what a weekend!

This has been an absolutely great weekend. Good times with good friends, best friends even and time on the lake and some shopping! What more could a girl ask for? The kids all came back home Sunday evening so I started hanging out with family and there is more, we are all going to my sister's at 6 for a cookout for my mother's birthday. Last night I got a boat ride and dinner at the country club with my parents. It has certainly been busy!

I am glad that I have decided to jump back in to life with both feet. Don't get me wrong, it is a bit difficult, I have been melting into bed and going into a deep sleep at night, but I am doing more and more each day and it seems to be hurting less and less. I hope this thing in my abdomen goes away on its on. I am starting a diet tomorrow, I am not sure if its a good thing to do when starting a new job, but it can't hurt to try. My thought process is because I am going back to work to a real job where I have the be there on time, hehehe, I am going to be setting up a lot of new habits, getting up earlier, getting the kids ready for school, planning the evening meal in advance so it will be easy, etc., etc... so I should be able to set up a diet and exercise plan also. At least I am hoping so!

It's kind of sad to think of this weekend as the end of summer, but for me it just seems like a whole lot of new beginnings are right at my front door. Its time to just do it!

Sunday, September 2, 2007

It's a girl thing



I start my new job on Tuesday. I think it has been the best medicine for me. Instead of taking baby steps like the doctors have said I have jumped back into life full force. It has been a non-stop weekend so far and tomorrow is a busy day also. I really am tired and would love to go to bed, but I have to wait until my son is ready to be picked up from the dance hall. Its 11 now, and thank goodness they close at midnight....so I have an hour to go until I can go to bed.


Today I went shopping in Fort Wayne for some new clothes. These surgeries that I have had have altered my body in not the best way. I have this "pooch" in my lower abdomen that is just ugly and depressing and a lot of my clothes no longer fit. I have had fluid drained from it once and that helped but its all poochy again and I do have an appt with the doctor on Tuesday to decide if they are going to drain it again or heaven forbid if it will require surgery. I don't think they can talk me into another surgery unless its a matter of life or death.


I got some really good buys and got a good base for a fall wardrobe to mix and match. I bought this jacket, its really cute, of course it looks better on this chick than me, but I still like it a lot! I love "The Avenue" for clothes. The quality and price are just too good to be true and they always fit well too. Its not too often I find a store that I will rave about - but this one is it for me.
So guess I will sign off for now and do some organizing in my closet. The kids want to play on the lake tomorrow but I just want to clean and organize. So we shall see what the day brings!