Eventful year.

So this year has been a long and eventful year. The 3 biggest changes being a new house and Lanie getting into Pre-School and, of course, me getting a full time permanent job. All of these have been a huge blessing in our lives.


The house is great. It is much larger than the other house and gives each of us our own space. We still cannot put anything but Lanie’s bed in her bedroom because she destroys everything but at least we are able to put her dresser upstairs and not in the living room. Nonnie wants to put it in my room but I don’t want it there. I want my space to be just mine, not an area that they have to go into to get her clothes on a daily basis. Her hanging clothes are in my closet and that is enough and those are just her good clothes that don’t get used much.

Also this year, I got a permanent full time job. I now have insurance and vacation days, personal days and sick days. I still miss my Holiday Bonus but at least I have a job. Although when I had a bonus I only had 13 days I could take during a year. I now have 26 days I can take off during the year. Ok, that is more than the bonus’s I used to get. Ok, I’m done complaining about that one now!

We are busily trying to get the house furnished the way we want it. Looking in antique stores has become a way to spend a day for me! I have not purchased many items but I do have a couple of things on Lay-a-way at one place. I should be able to get it out shortly into the New Year.

I am starting the process of getting Gastric By-pass this year. I have already started the process but must do a 6 month supervised diet for the insurance to pay. I did not lose any weight the first weigh-in, but I didn’t gain any weight either and that was through Thanksgiving. I am a little worried about the one in January. I don’t think I am going to be so lucky on that one!

I also did a sleep study trying to figure out why I am so extremely exhausted in the morning. I do not have sleep apnea but I do have restless leg syndrome. The doctor put me on another medication and I so far it seems to be working. My legs no longer bother me and I am sleeping more. I am still tired a lot but not as much as I used to be. I think the rest of that issued will be solved when I lose some weight.

This is the end of 2013 and I always look back to see what I could have done better and what I am going to try and do for next year. I am still working on what my goals are going to be for the coming year so I am not going to write about them just yet. I am hoping that this year will be an awesome year though. I do have great plans for 2014 and want it to be fun and exciting.



It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

We have decorated the entire living room for Christmas.  The rest of the house, however, has nothing.  None of our regular christmas lights worked, only the LED lights so we are pretty limited on lights, although you would not know that by the looks of the living room.

We are going to Oneita's house next weekend for our family holiday dinner.  I would love to find some kind of game or something that everyone can do that would add fun to the day.  We are not doing presents because we just can't afford them and Oneita and Toni never buy presents.  But it just seems weird that we are not going to because we always do.  So I would love to have some sort of game we can play that would just add some fun to the day. 

Lanie is having a better week this week and does not seem to be getting into quite as much trouble.  Nonnie was able to get her on the waiting list for pre-school so I am hoping that after the first of the year she will be in Pre-school.  That will help get rid of some of that energy, I hope.  I notice that we I pick Lanie up from Terry's that Cayden is almost always asleep and he is in pre-school.  I know that she will not take a nap there.  They only give them 30 minutes of "quiet time" and it takes Lanie about 2 hours to go to sleep during the day.  I know that I will cry like a baby the first day but then another part of me will be jumping with joy!!

Ok, break time is almost over and I need to get back to work.  Have fun, enjoy the holiday season...whoever is reading this blog! 

End. of. my. rope!

Ok so this has been a really, really rough week.  Lanie has been particularly curious and inquisitive shall we say.  She has gotten into the Vaseline and spread it all over then put comet with bleach on top of that.  I made her clean that up, throwing away a good number of her toys and clothes because they were ruined.  She then squeezed out two tubes of toothpaste all over the bathroom, marked her entire face up with Grandma's eyeliner and mascara. The next day she decided to climb up on a chair to reach the lock on my door and unlock it so she could go in and scatter 3 tins full of embroidery floss all over my room, emptied an almost full bottle of excedrin pm into a jar of lotion, emptied the last of my daily medications into a container of vaseline and then emptied about $175 worth of test strips all over the floor of her closet, then dumped the lotion on top of that!

I totally lost it!  I am not proud of the way I reacted and I probably traumatized the child forever.  I screamed like a banshee, cried like a baby and through a regular fit!  I actually had to leave the room because I was afraid my temper would get the best of me and I would hurt her.  I let her cry in her room until she fell asleep.  Later that night I felt so guilty for getting so angry that I snuck in and gave her a kiss goodnight. 

Then this morning she got up and did not wake up Grandma and got into everything down stairs.  I don't know what the solution for this problem is. HELP!!!

Moving day three days away!

We are all getting so tired of packing and cleaning and moving...and when I say "we", I mean my sister because I am still working many hours a day.  And working that many hours was supposed to give me money to be able to take care of all the expenses...and it is but it seems like the expenses just keep adding up.  I still, even after working  36 hours of overtime last pay period, do not have any extra money for stocking up or getting anything nice for the house.  I just keep working and working and all the "extra" money I earn seems to get put toward some essential but not anything fun!

I picked Lanie up from the babysitters house las night and Cayden, the other child there, said he wanted to spend the night with Lanie.  I told him that after we got into the new house he could.  Lanie had a good evening at Terry's and did not get into trouble at all.  That is always a red letter day when that happens. 

Lanie went to Trunk or Treat at the YMCA on Saturday and had a good time with Papa.  She will go trick or treating with Grandma on Thursday night.  She already has a ton of candy!  But isn't she the cutest little witch of all time?!!


We Are So Close...

Nonnie texted me today, because I am at work, like I always am-anyway she texted me to let me know that the POD was full and it is now locked and ready to roll.  The POD people will come pick it up on Tuesday and then deliver it to the new house on Friday, November 1.  Yesterday was the only day that I actually spent doing packing stuff.  Got my room all done and now all we have to do is move the larger furniture and the appliances.  I have reserved the truck but John thinks that we will need more hours with the truck so I need to call them again and see if we can get it for longer.  I think we should be able to get it done in the 6 hours but I will reserve for another 6 just in case. 

Lanie is also getting excited about the move but she is also acting out quite a bit.  It more than likely has to do with the move since this is the only house she has ever known, this may be a little bit traumatic.  Just because we are excited to move from this falling down mess doesn't mean that it will be easy for any of us. 

I am at work today, on a Sunday.  We are supposed to be doing recovery work from the Wave 2 migration but I have been sitting here for 7 1/2 hours and have done nothing, not a thing!  I am being paid time and a half for sitting here doing nothing.  I have to say though, I am tired, bored and I really, really want to just go home.  

That's Moosic

So the other night I was getting Lanie dressed for bed and she was sitting on the floor putting on her pull up and she passed gas.  I asked her teasingly, "did you just toot?" she matter of factly said, "nope, that was moosic."  I laughed and said, "music, coming out of your butt?"  she stated, "yep".  I was laughing so hard!  I could not believe that she said that!  So funny!!  The next day papa texted me telling me she was chasing chicken in the back yard.  I just assumed that she was playing and chasing imaginary chickens but noooo, we actually had a chicken in the back yard!

So today the POD people delivered our POD. Nonnie and John are in the process of loading it up with all our boxes that are packed.  I am really hoping they got a lot done.  I have no time to do any of it and I hate leaving it to them but with the 12-16 hour work days I have, then the 2 hours a day on the road, it doesn't even leave enough time to sleep some days let alone pack and load.  I am rather excited to see it on my paycheck though.  I really hope I am not disappointed.  This check I expected to be rather small and it was compared to last time but it was still a bit larger than I anticipated so that was a happy surprise.   I want to be able to have enough when we move in to get a couple of things for the house.  I also want to go put some dishes on layaway.  In the meantime it is work, work, work. 

New House!

It seems like this is almost where this blog started.  Us trying to find a new home because we got Lanie.  It has been 3 years since we moved into this house and we have just found a new home.  Our landlords at the Big Yellow house have decided that it is not important to pay the mortgage so our house is being forclosed upon.  So, we are moving!  We have found a beautiful house that is brick, cuz real houses are made of brick!  It has hard wood floors, crown molding, 2 fire places, 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.  We are so excited.  Now we just have to find the help to move us.  I am working many, many hours trying to get the money to hire movers, or at least pay for the kids to come in from out of town to help.  But with me working so many hours it is up to Nonnie to do the bulk of the packing.  She has picked that up and ran with it thus far.  I am really afraid that she is going to hurt herself though.  We have a pod being delivered this Saturday so we can start putting stuff in there so Lanie is not into it.  That has been the real challange, that and getting enough boxes.  We are trying to be diligent and ruthless about throwing stuff away.  I tell my self that I am going to be ruthless but then I start packing a box and cave!  I might need that finger nail file and those batteries are good! At least I am not saving broken things and I got rid of an embroidery quilt that I have had for 20 years because I have never finished it.  That is a good thing!  Like I said, I am trying to be ruthless. 

Anyway, I can't wait for this month to be over and we are moved, I just don't like all the working getting there. 

Soooo Tired!

I am so tired. I have worked 50 hour weeks for the last 6 weeks and this week I am working my full 40 hours by by Wednesday!  Thankfully I have Thursday and Friday off or I don't know if I would make it. Sixteen hour days are for the birds!

We went camping this weekend and I have to say it was not all that fun and I don't want to go again for a long time.  Its a good thing this is the end of the season cuz I will not be going on another one - at least with my family-for a long while.  Too much drama, too much yelling, too many non family members and not enough alcohol, at least not since we got Lanie. Anyway, no more camping trips this year!

So now I am back to working, working and working.  I'm sitting here trying to think of something to put in here but my mind is so tired all I want to do is cry!  I got about 5 hours of sleep last night and will hopefully get that much tonight.  But Thursday and Friday I am off and so happy about it.  Ok, not enough interesting stuff to say so I am going to go...Bye

What a sweet kid...

Lanie is getting really good at saying her prayers and it is so cute to watch.  This is how it usually goes:

She folds her arms and closes her eyes really tight and then start swaying like she is Ray Charles playing the piano...

Dear Hebenly Fadder, Please bless grandma and papa, Hannah, Hailey and Dean, Great Grandma and Great Grandpa.  Please my Hannah come over and my cuzzies come over and go camping with me.  Bless my Judy I go to her house.  Help my Haley be safe. Name of Joseph Bright, amen.

I have no idea where the Joseph Bright is coming from but I am working on her saying Jesus Christ.  I know that Heavenly Father knows who she is talking about. I am just so thrilled that she is into saying her prayers.   That is something that needs to be learned very young so that it becomes a habit. 

Her and I are going tomorrow to have our pictures taken.  I am going to have my picture taken with her and if I like it I will buy them, if not it will be just the ones of her! 

So, we found out on Saturday that our wonderful Landlords have not been paying the mortgage with the money we have been paying in rent and our house is now in foreclosure and we have 90 days to move out.  We went into a panic to say the least.  We started immediatley looking at houses. I have sent our paperwork in to see if we can prequalify for a home loan. We should find out by early next week.  I know we can make the payments it just depends on whether they will approve us for the loan.  Wish us Luck!!

This Has Been A Rough Month...

...for all of us.  Lanie has been particularly defiant and obstinate and just plain does not want to listen or obey at all.  And I am feeling like a failure of a parent because I feel like all I do is yell at this poor child.  We have locked every room in the house except the kitchen, living room and bathrooms so that she does not go in and destroy everything.

Every night at bedtime is a whining festival with Lanie the star attraction.  She does not seem to be afraid to go to bed, in fact she loves being in her room.  She just does not want to leave what is going on downstairs even though it is usually just me doing up the dishes so I can get to bed.  Maybe I should just tell her I am going to bed too, turn off all the lights, bring Gizzie up like I was going to bed and then sneak back down if I need to.  So extremly frustrating! I feel like such a heel when I tell her no more kisses-even though I have just given her 15!  She is just prolonging the time for bed. I know this but it still makes me feel so bad.  I want good bedtimes, calm, quiet, talking and saying prayers but I even get upset when we are saying prayers because she is bouncing on the bed or screaming, "me do it first".

I have to figure out a better way.

Such a Polite Little Girl

I got home the other night and Lanie was coloring at the table.  Now you are thinking, so what, lots of kids color at the table.  But what you don't understand is that Lanie was coloring AT the table, not ON the table.  That is a pretty significant note where Miss Lanie is concerned.  Not only was she coloring AT the table but when I said, "Hi Lanie Lou, Hows my girl today?"  She responded in a very polite, very grown up voice, "I'm fine, and how was your day."  I about fell over!  She usually starts with an "I want...".  This was the start of a very nice evening.  We colored for awhile, I fixed dinner without her whining, she ate-without whining and the evening progressed with a very polite and happy child...at least until bed time then all heck broke loose!  I do not know how to make bedtime less stressfull.  We have a routine, I start warning her a 1/2 hour before bedtime and then we go up, brush teeth, have a story, say prayers and then the whining, crying and screaming starts.  And no, that is not me doing the whining, crying or even screaming.  She wants a thousand kisses and then be tucked in after she kicks the covers off 4 times, she wants a drink of water even though we just had one when she brushed her teeth. I have tried telling her, "you get 5 kisses and then I am leaving." She just starts screaming as I walk out the door..."KKKIIIISSSSS MMMMEEEE!"  It is so disurbing and I have such guilt.  I think, "Its only a kiss, what does it matter if I go back and kiss her again?"  But if I go back and kiss her again, that will go on all night long. So I end up going downstairs, leaving her screaming and feeling like a really bad mom for not kissing my child again, and again, and again. 

When I tell her that she gets five kisses and I will leave and if she starts crying and whining I will come back in and spank her butt, she gets this very pained look on her face and scrunches he nose up, just trying not to scream.  It really is funny o watch her because you know she is trying so hard not to whine.

Anyway, my whole point here was to let you know that she really can be good, and she is very polite and I HATE BEDTIME!!  If anyone has any advice to make it better, I will be happy to accept that advice!!

Next week I start more training.

I am starting a class next week for more training for my job.  It will allow me to take more over time and I am happy about that.  I basically need to work 25 hours of OT a week for 6 weeks to get us into a new home by October. The problem is getting the OT because I am very low on the totem pole!  I have only gotten 1 hour of OT a week since I was hired permanent.  Today I had three but only because one of my classmates needed to take today off.

Anyway, we are trying to find a house to move into so we decided to let our landlords know that we did not want to sign a year lease but just go month to month.  They are freaking out!  4 calls in 24 hours.  And he only hears what he wants to hear and ignores everything else.  I wish now that we had just not told them until they sent the lease for us to sign! 

This has been a strange week and I really do not have much to write but I know I won't have time this next week because of the training so I just wanted to update.  I do not have any new pictures.  Lanie was outside most of the weekend but the mosquitos about kill me so I really don't stay out long before I become a feast for the little buggers.  I did, however, get a picture of her climbing out of the pool but all you can see is the top of her head and her butt.  Not all tha adorable...sorry.

I will update as soon as I can.  Happy Independence Day to all!

Photos

A few random pictures:

Grandma and Lanie pretending to be asleep.

Lanie and her new Sponge Bob sheets.

Lanie getting ready to go swimming at 7:40 a.m.  The dog is even still sleeping.

I went on a "venture"

So I got home last night and Lanie came running up to me to tell me she went on a "Venture". 
Me: You went on an adventure?
Lanie: Yes, I went to the "deep Pool" to see Santa and I pulled his sleigh.
Me: Oh wow.  How did you get to the North Pole?
Lanie:  I had to go through the crocodile forest.
Me:  How did you get through?
Lanie:  I had to be really quiet and tiptoe so I don't wake the crocodiles.

OMG, she was so cute!  She showed me how she was really quiet and tiptoed past the crocodiles.  This kid has a wonderful imagination that is just spurred on by Dora and UmiZoomi and George!

After I put her to bed, I went up to check on her and she had made a fort out of her blankets and was sleeping in her fort.  So incredibly cute! How can someone so cute be so defiant?!

So, Rough Weekend Here

Today is the 3rd anniversary of Tonya's death. (Lanie's birth mom) Nonnie and John are having a very hard time but at least Nonnie will acknowledge why, John, however, is just silent and brooding.   He will not discuss it or even broach the subject so I just tried to tiptoe around him all weekend and hid in my room most of the day Sunday.

Lanie is being particularly difficult this weekend and I am not sure if it is actually her or the tension in the house.  I know that she feels that tension.  She is just so busy and curious...and THREE.  Sometimes, because she talks so well, we think that she is older than she is.  She is only three and we would do well to remember that.

Nonnie and I also went out and looked at houses this weekend.  We only found one for rent but it was way too expensive. We found plenty of houses we liked but people were living in them and we did not think they would be happy about moving out for us!  We will just continue to look, it will happy when we are ready for it and no sooner.

Long week...

This has been a truly long week.  Lanie has been particularly defiant this week.  I'm not sure what is going on there but it has been really rough.

I had put in for 18 hours of overtime this week and got 1 hour.  Actually, they gave me three hours on Saturday, 1 hour on, 2 hours off, 1 hour on, 2 hours off, one hour on.  Needless to say, that was not happening.  I live 45 minutes away and was not going to spend the day here!  I gave it away to someone who lives close by and can go home between hours worked.  I think it is going to be awhile before I start getting any decent kind of overtime.  I have 1 hour for next week also.  I'll keep trying.

Oneita and Travis stopped by last Saturday on their way to Florida for family reunion and are stopping by tonight as they head home.  I'm looking forward to seeing them and hearing about thier vacation.   

Lanie also got to ride her first "Noisy" cycle last weekend. It was not with Uncle Ray but instead a freind of the family, Nathan.  She was scared at first but then got into it and enjoyed every second.  She is hooked now.  She saw one that was for sale and told Pappi that he needed to go buy it for her.  Pappi took a video of her on the bike.  I will try to post it, if possible.

So no new pictures this week.  I just did not get any done.

We are looking for a new house now.  This old house is just getting to old and things are just going bad all around.  Our ceiling in our living room is falling down and the landlord is not getting it fixed. It is 113 years old and things are starting to fall apart.  It happens but it is just time to move on.  It is too stressful everytime something goes wrong.  The problem now is finding a place big enough that we can afford. I look online every day but the listings are wrong and I get my hopes up and they are actually for sale not rent.  It is very frustrating.  There are a lot of places in the city but we want the county, South county to be specific.  I don't want to have to drive too much farther, I already drive 45 minutes-30.8 miles one way.  Wish us luck!

Finally!! Woo Hoo!

Yes folks, I finally got a permanent gig!  I am a full time employee of American Water.  I am working 11:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. I had 90 days of training as a temporary employee and my first day of permanent employment was my birthday.  Happy Birthday!  Nice present.  I have 90 days of probation before I get my benefits but I am a happy camper.

Lanie has been growing like a weed and calls me mommy fairly consistently.  She is really growing up and no longer a little baby but a big girl, which she constantly reminds me of! 

And such a cutie!

We went to a garage sale this last Saturday and these were her best find...although she traded them in for green ones before we left.  The ladies running the garage sale wanted to take a picture of her but she told them that mommy already did so she didn't want another one!

We celebrated her birthday back in February but I did not get pictures posted so here are a couple from then.

She liked blowing out the candle.

She went through a short period of time that she let me do her hair daily.  It was a very short period of time...only about a week.  I'm glad I got this picture because there was not many times that she would keep them in long enough to take a picture!

Her cousin Jordan came to visit for a couple of weeks the beginning of the summer but has gone home now for summer school.  Uncle Ray came to visit also, on his way to Florida for Family Reunion which we were unable to go to since I cannot take 4 days off from my job.  Just starting and all, they don't like that!

Lanie got to sit on her first "noisy" cycle (Motor Cycle)  I will post pictures later of that.  She only sat on it, she would not let Uncle Ray start it or give her a ride.  Uncle Ray told her if she touched a certain button a Gorilla would jump out and lick her ear.  I don't think she knows what a Gorilla is but I don't think she liked the idea of it licking her ear!  And she told me about it the minute I walked in the door.

This weekend her other "cuzzies" are stopping by on their way to Florida for Family Reunion.  Oneita, Travis and the kids and the other Grandma are supposed to be stopping by on Saturday.  It will be a short visit but at least we get to see them.

We have finally found an amazing babysitter for Lanie.  She is only there 3-4 days a week and only 3 1/2 hours a day but she loves it.  There is a 4 year old



I am getting very frustrated and depressed.

I still have no job and we are now at the point where we have to apply for state aid.  I applied for food stamps, medicare and help with our gas bill.  I have never had to do this and it has taken a lot for me to swallow my pride and do it.  The good news is that I was able to apply for food stamps online.  I may still have to provide other documentation but at least it was a start.  I sent our information to CAASTLC to help with the gas bill. I think we will also be applying for WIC.  This has been really hard and I really do not like it!

Last day of this gig...

Today is my last day at this gig.  It has been an ok 3 1/2 days.  A little bit of money and got me out of the house.  Before this I had not left the house in 10 days!  Literally had not left the house.  The farthest I went outside as to step out and check the mail.  That's it folks! My lazy butt did not leave the house for 10 whole days.  I should not say lazy because actually I got a lot done in those 10 days and I am already working on Christmas presents for next year.  I am bound and determined that I am going to make everyone's gift this next year.  I have only done that one time before and that was many, many years ago and I cannot even remember what I made everyone.  I believe it was crocheting but I'm not totally sure.

Ok, today I had a little incident and I am really upset by it because I don't think it was justified.  There was a client that came in to pay his bill.  Here at this office they just put a check or MO in an envelope and put it in a drop box.  The man came in and was on the phone so I didn't immediately ask him how I could help him, I waited until he got off the phone.  When he did I said, very politely, "how may I help you?"  He responded that he needed to pay his rent so I pointed to the envelopes and asked him to put it in the envelope and to make sure he filled the envelope out so that they can be sure to credit it to the proper account.  He then asked for a pen I handed him the one that was on the desk right in front of him.  He filled it out and asked if I need to take it or should he put it in the box marked Rent Drop. I stated, "you will need to put it in the rent drop box."  He did and as he walked out he said, "you don't have to have such an attitude."  I did not have an attitude, I was being very polite and nice, I even had a smile on my face.  I don't know what the issue was but I need some serious help if I am putting off the vibe of attitude just while giving directions!  I called him sir, said please and thank you, did not say yeah or nope but used yes and no.  I don't know what the problem is!  I am so trying to be good!  I don't want the reputation of having an attitude.  I really have to fix this.  If you have any suggestions, please help me!  If you know me and know my personality, give me some advice!

So onto something else...Last night Lanie, of course, wanted to watch Dora so she watched 3 Dora's and then still had an hour before bedtime but I wanted to watch my show,  At this time she usually throws a fit so I put her on my lap and explained that I had been a good Hettie and let her watch 3 Dora's, had fed her and given her a treat and it was now her turn to be nice to me and let me watch my show.  I told her that if she was a good girl and played with her toys while I watched my show then she would be able to stay up for a while but if she threw a fit then she would have to go to bed.  Normally she would have thrown a fit and cried and whined for me to put Dora back on but last night she actually played with her toys and was good.for about 30 minutes.  I was a happy camper on that one!  She is starting to do well at following directions.  She still throws a fit but they are fewer and farther between and sometimes don't last too long.  I am just being hopeful right now.

Still No Job

I am still doing the Temp thing.  I have not worked in four weeks and have a short gig right now at Beyond Housing.  It is only for 3 1/2 days but at least it is something.  I am doing reception work and it is not a very busy office.  I am just trying to keep busy.

On the home front, I have been decluttering the house.  I have a feeling that we will be moving sometime this year.  For one reason we are working towards home ownership this year and I think that the Casino is getting closer to buying the area that we are living in right now.  So we have been discussing buying a house instead of renting again.  We'll see what happens.

Besides decluttering, I have been focusing on cleaning more often and keeping the dishes done up.  We don't really have much food in the house so I cannot really do much cooking. 

Lanie is doing well.  Growing so fast and changing so much.  The other night she said her prayers all by herself and it brought tears to my eyes.  I am teaching her something!  That makes me happy.  I noticed too that she is paying more attention to the things I tell her because she had been taking her mattress off her bed everyday at nap time and we had a discussion about a week ago where I told her that if she did it again I would spank her butt and make her sleep on the floor.  She has not done it again and tells me everytime I put her to bed that she does not want to sleep on the floor so she will not take her mattress off the bed.  Also, we had a discussion about water on the bathroom floor.  Everytime she takes a bath I end up with a lake in the bathroom so I asked her not to dump water on the floor because it makes a mess for me to clean up.  She has not gotten water on the floor in the last 3-4 days.  I am so proud of her. 

Because I am typing this at work I cannot upload any pictures but I will try to do some over the weekend. She is just changing and growing so much...and she never stops talking!  OMG! She starts talking the minute she wakes up and does not stop until she goes back to sleep.  When we put her in her room for a "nap"...and I put that in quotes because she never actually goes to sleep during her "nap"...she continues to talk to herself non-stop.  She will talk about all of us but then she also talks about Dora and Diego.  She will clap her hands or stomp her feel and then say, "good stomping" or "good clapping".  It is very funny to listen to her. She will also spank her babies or put them in a corner or tell them they are being bad or doing something good.  Very, very cute! 

Not much more to tell right now but if you have the time or inclination, could you say a prayer for me to find a permanent job?  I would really appreciate all the prayers and help I can get!

Happy New Year...or...Goodbye 2012!

I must say that I am really grateful that 2012 is now over.  Actually, it was not a bad year, just the last couple months were HELL!

My job assignment ended a week and a half before Christmas and as I was budgeted very tight anyway, that last paycheck before Christmas had to go to rent so I had about $20 to spend on Christmas.  Lanie was the only one who got anything and then that was pretty skimpy.  But Grandma and Grandpa made up for it and she had a wonderful time.  Nothing too extravagent but she had fun.  But Sunday before Christmas our plumbing got messed up and we could not use the facilities at all.  We had to do dishes in a bucket and dump it out, do our business and flush it into a bucket and dump it out.  We could not take showers so went to the YMCA to do that, could not wash clothes so wore them way too long before changing into something clean.  Yeah, this was a fun Christmas.  It was not fixed until the Friday after Christmas.  I took the longest shower in my life after it was fixed.  We are now very grateful for our plumbing facilities. 

There is a lot I would love to say about my assignment ending but I am really trying to be positive and trying to believe that something better is out there for me.  That is really hard because I am so old now that I don't think there is such a thing a better anymore. I keep hoping that my agency has something in store for me.