Putting on that CAN DO attitude :)

Another uneventful weekend gone. Had dinner with my dad on Sunday like we always do. Carter ate like a horse and Ava didn't do so bad herself. I called it a few weeks ago.. I told Steven when Carter was eating like a bird, "Watch.. in a few weeks he will eat up everything in the house. It's a growth spurt." Good thing we haven't done out school shopping yet. It won't be long though, only three weeks until my babies go back to school! Bittersweet for sure.. I will miss them in the mornings before I go to work but it will be so good for both of them. This will be Carter's first year of school at all and I'm sure he is going to do well and enjoy it. It will be Ava's second year, and honestly I think she needs the structure. She is so out of sorts right now, and I'm sure she misses being a social butterfly.

Tonight we are going to try a new recipe for dinner.

Sausage Stuffed Zucchini Boats from Skinny Taste. It definitely does look delicious so I can't wait to see how it turns out. I follow her on Pinterest and she has tons of amazing (and healthy!) recipes. I want to try them all.. seriously! I'll be sure to report back on this one :)

OH! Our feline house guest went home.. finally!! Steven dropped him off Saturday afternoon, after he completely attacked him! I felt so bad for the poor guy (the cat.. haha) but he needed to be someone elses problem. We spent the afternoon cleaning out his cage and getting him all ready to go then cleaning off the patio where he was hanging out. However, Steven's right hand is swollen and a little bit red/warm but not toooooo bad. He kept asking me for advice about what to do, if I thought it was infected, etc. I told him to take some Tylenol to reduce the swelling (which helped immensely) and if he was really concerned to either go to the ER or call up the nurses line and see what they say. He has some scratched further up on his wrist/forearm and a few very small puncture woulds from the bite. He (the cat) held on to Steven like a tree branch, it was definitely a sight to see. I tried my hardest to not giggle, really I did.

Hopefully by the end of the week I will be all registered for school.. I hope. It seems like every time I have tried to enroll, something always backfires and I end up saying "next semester..." and "next semester" never comes. I feel like I'm ready to take on some regular curriculum classes this time around, thanks to the pharmacy tech course I took last year/earlier this year. (It's not what I feel a passion for and do not plan to pursue it but it did give me a lot of information that is helpful in day-to-day life, especially with kids!) I figure, if I'm still only working part time and there are no full time prospects on the horizon, then the absolute least I can do is take some classes and work towards something. So, wish me luck!

Can I do a favor for you?

WARNING!! RANT AHEAD!

So this past Sunday night, I started "cat sitting" for a relative of a friend. It's a male cat and he is neutered so I didn't think it would be a huge deal. It has ended up being so much more and it has snowballed into such a bigger situation. And now... now I am just fed up with it.

So the cat stayed in the house Sunday night. Abbie sleeps in her kennel at night and Breezy sleeps with Ava in her room at night so I wasn't worried about any fights or anything. I wake up monday morning to the pleasant aroma of cat piss wafting through my house. Wonderful. So I ended up taking the day off from work to stay home and clean all the floors and everything hoping like hell to get the stench out. It helped a lot, but I'm not totally convinced it is completely gone.

So I kick the cat to the porch, inside his big wire cage. He's hanging out in the shade with food and water and has been there ever since. I have to scrub down the whole patio with a broom and some kind of cleaning agent (bleach? Dawn? vinegar? all of the above, maybe?) to get the cat smell out... that's not an overly huge deal though.

So Steven calls cat owner this morning and tells them that he will be bringing the cat back to them tonight. They proceed to ask Steven if he will register a car in his name for them... absolutely not. Mom got a DWI about 3 years ago and is not even close to getting her license back. Daughter can't get a license even though she is 16 because she dropped out of school almost a year ago and they won't grant her one. Why do unlicensed drivers need a car and even more than that, why does it have to be in mine/his/our names? Absolutely not. Moreso, "if" Steven were to put the car in his name, he would need to get insurance on it. Even if "they pay it", if they don't then they will suspend Steven's license. Not to ask anyone to go out on a limb for them or anything.

So I get to work in the afternoon and cat owner texts me to ask if she can come (with her chihuahua) and stay the weekend at my house. I told her we weren't going to be home, so no. Then I told her we are taking the cat back to her tonight.. then she asks if I can send her some cat food because they don't have any. I already know this, because they didn't bring any cat food on SUNDAY when they brought the cat over anyways so it has been up to me to feet this monster. I agreed to send some cat food for him.

The cherry on top was when cat owner/daughter texts me AGAIN and asks me if I can bring her a pack of cigarettes too "because she's in a bad mood." You wanna know something, sweetheart? You are putting me in a bad mood with all these favors you are asking of me. When I do something for her, I don't even get a thank you or anything out of it. Last weekend she texted us on sunday asking if we would pick her up and take her to Walmart to get a card for her phone. Whatever, we had to go to Walmart anyways and to 2 other stores in the same strip mall so it wasn't a big big deal. We are all loaded up in the car (Me, Steven, and 2 kids in carseats) and she texts asking if I am coming alone. STOP BEING PICKY! You are getting a free ride after I go out of my way to pick you up. She said she had like $6 and would give it to us for taking her. Cool, a couple of bucks in the pocket for our effort. Do you think she thought to give it to us before she got out of the car? Of course not! So Steven texted her later that night reminding her about the $6 and she told him she forgot and bought a pack of cigarettes with it instead. Real. Fucking. Nice.

So basically the jest of the story is that I'm DONE being taken for a ride by these people who don't want to do shit for themselves. I'm done trying to take care of MY family AND theirs. It's not my responsibility and it's not up to me. NO MORE. I am completely fed up with the way some people can  have such little disregard for other people and their belongings.

Get your own fucking ride from now on because this gravy train won't be returning.

whoooo whoooooo....

Did you hear that? That's the sound of the new nightowl we have in the house!

Ava stayed up ALL NIGHT last night with her bedroom light on, playing with the cat, playing with her dolls, reading her books and sight words... argh.

I can't even begin to think of how many times Steven told her to turn the light off and go to bed.

Crazy child.

Another weekend down

The weekends are way too short and the work weeks are way too long. "They" should balance it out more like 3 day weekends and 4 day workweeks.

Anyways, this weekend was pretty uneventful. We stayed home and hung out, the kids played outside, my dad came over and we cooked on the grill. I took a nap :) The dog got loose TWICE and it's always a frenzy to get her back home ASAP. People like to fly around the curve at the end of our street and besides that, Abbie will jump in a car with pretty much anyone. Which is exactly what she did.

A neighbor on the street behind our house brought her back because Abbie jumped in her car as she was getting ready to go to the bank. She asked around and her neighbors pointed her in our direction. She pulled up and asked if we lost our dog and Abbie poked her head up from the back window. Ava invited the girls 5 year old brother over to play so we all talked and hung out. What a weird way to meet someone though, no?

I have been "cat sitting" for two days now... shoot me now. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE cats, we have a cat (kitten) but this one... ohhhhhh this one. He is an outside cat and is VERY unhappy about being made to stay inside. He terrorized Abbie and Breezy then proceeded to piss all over my house. OMG YES. I woke up to cat piss smell wafting through my house which made me less than ecstatic. I ended up calling into work and spending the whole day cleaning trying to get rid of the smell. I put the cat in his wire cage and put him outside on my covered patio/porch area with his food and water bowl. I switch the food out with a small litter box a couple times a day. When I left for work the bastard had knocked his water over, mixed with the little bit of litter that was in the bottom of the cage and it was a huge mess. I told Steven that we were going to have to put a collar on him and walk him around the yard while we clean the cage out. Ugh. The cherry on top is that I am more than sure there won't be a "thank you" or anything uttered from the owner. I also told Steven "NO MORE FAVORS" for these people. I am tired of going out of my way for them and not even getting a thank you in the end. No more.

Aside from that excitement, I'm still waiting for my financial aid to come through. Registration for fall is next monday and tuesday so *fingers crossed* that it works out. I will be so sad if I have to miss out on this semester... but that seems to be how it usually works out.

Another weekend gone, another week here too soon.

Blah! It's just been too hot to do really much of anything. I've been dying to go to the beach but it's just entirely too hot and to deal with the parking and the crowds... no thanks. Maybe we will make it out there one afternoon after everyone has packed up and gone for the day. One can hope! This weekend we did set the kids' pool up in the back yard. It is extremely lopsided so one side is like 6" deep and the other is like 2' deep. We will fix that later though.

We got a grill a few weeks ago... a steal of a deal if I may say so myself. Things like that happen in a military town though :) We cooked a pork loin on it one night last week and it was pretty good! Can't wait to throw some mojo chicken on there and some kabobs too. I've been dying for some kabobs for what feels like years but we never get around to it.

This week I have been focusing on getting everything lined up for school in the fall. If I have to sit out this semester because of financial aid, I'm going to be devastated. On top of that, I've been trying to tie down a second job but no dice as of yet. I'm going to keep at it though.

Speaking of school, the kids go back in a little over a month! I can't believe it. I will have two going to two separate schools and neither ride a bus so getting the schedule ironed out should be a lot of fun. I suppose we will start the back to school shopping soon. The kids and Steven will be going back to FL the week before school starts to do some shopping with his dad down there. The man hates me, but he does treat my kids rather well.

Anyways, nothing new here. Going to truck through this week and can't wait for the weekend to get here :)

on to the next.

No dice on the job. Of course. I have decided to just give up on trying to snag a FT here. I'm going to focus on my school in the fall and attempt to get another PT job to supplement.

I'm really excited about finally getting back into school. I took a pharmacy technology course last year/earlier this year and I really enjoyed it... but it's just not something that I want to pursue. It was my first online course and it was a lot smoother than I thought it would be. I'm considering taking one campus class and one online class just to start. I'm going to try to expand and get a degree that will match my past experience and add to that. Hopefully it works out.. if not, there's always next semester :)

On another note, I left my phone at home today and I just sat down at my desk and broke off my thumb nail. For an ex-mostly reformed-nail biter, that is traumatic! So instead of chewing the nub off, I just filed it down. *sigh* I would ask "What else can go wrong?" but I'll save myself the grief and just leave it be.

Bitch, whine and complain.

If you don't wanna hear it, feel free to skip.

At what point do you give up on the company you work for? I have been working PT since September of last year at a school. I like my job alright, it's really easy. However, I do dislike the pay and the fact that there are no benefits at all for PT employees. I've been trying to get on FT for a few months now. In that time, I have had TWO interviews for FT positions. I thought both interviews went OK, nothing spectacular but nothing terrible either. Both times, I have been passed over with no reason and no explanation at all.

It hurts. More than I would like to admit. I am very experienced as far as working in an office goes as well as customer service. My resume is beautiful and is formatted nice and easy to read.

I'm so over it. I'm to the point that I don't feel like I can just stick it out because I've been here for so long. I can't be loyal to people who have the inability to look out for their own. I don't feel like I can turn in another application or go to another interview for this place. I am sick of being here and not going anywhere. No where at all.

I think I'm going to try to get back into a restaurant somewhere. I have several years experience working various restaurant positions and I enjoyed it for the most part. When the economy tanked a couple of years ago, I left the restaurant business to get back into the office business for more consistent hours and pay.

"Knocked down seven times, stand up eight."

Happy 5th of July?!

Haha here I am again. Steven and the kids got back on Sunday. We relaxed and hung out at the house all day.. it was nice. I worked my usual monday and tuesday and had wednesday off for 4th of July. We cooked out at my dads and did some fireworks with the kids. We stayed out late then came home and crashed.

My dad is on a new diet.. he is diabetic and has high blood pressure and all kinds of other issues but he's trying to get off some of the many meds he has been taking for years. He changing his way of eating has inspired me (again!) to clean up the way we eat at home. Buying fresh produce is SO EXPENSIVE so I think we will make an effort to hit up the farmers market at least one of the two times they have it during the week. I will try to add more healthy protein like chicken and tuna and try to stay away from beef and sausage and stuff like that. I want to start trying to do this 30 day ab and core challenge with the kids at night and see what happens. After Ava was born I bounced back pretty quickly. With Carter, not so much. Plus being in a very comfortable relationship for going on 4 years has not helped at all! Way too many Reese's cups and bags of chips between the two of us! If I ever successfully land a FT job I plan on hiring a personal trainer to at least help me out in the beginning so I can get myself on the right track. I don't mind walking and I live in a decent neighborhood where walking is possible, but it seriously kills my high arches. Better shoes will go on the list along with a personal trainer. I'm too young to be this out of shape.. it's sad, really.

Other than that, Ava lost TWO teeth in less than 24 hours! First she lost the one on the bottom after being overly dramatic and crying that "it huuuuurts", Steven finally got it out. It seriously didn't even bleed. Tooth Fairy left her $1.95 in random, loose change under her pillow but she was totally stoked. For her front top tooth she got $2 paper dollars and was even more excited. And she still has one more that is loose! This child is seriously going to break the Tooth Fairy, she's going to start writing IOU's. On the other hand, Carter has only lost the one that he knocked out on accident about 2 years ago.

Anyways.. nothing else exciting going on. I need to get on the ball and get my admission stuff for fall semester finished up but I'm waiting to hear back on a few things before I do that.