Turning Teenagerish

My youngest daughter has decided to embrace her age of 16 and start acting like a teenager.

I was very hopeful that she wouldn't.  When her older sister was acting all whacked out all the time, she would look at me and ask "do I HAVE to become a teenager" with a sad, kind of forlorn look.  To which I would reply Hell No!  Please don't.

But alas, the inevitable has happened.  She has become lazy and surly and all whacked out all the time.

Her only 2 chores:  mowing the lawn, and doing the dishes.  And she would get paid for it, it's not like she was treated like an indentured servant or anything.  And we do have a dishwasher, so she wasn't expected to, like, drag them down to the river and beat them on rocks to get them clean, or anything.

With the dishes the intervals in between the loadings got longer and longer.  She wouldn't unload the clean dishes and would wait until they ended up mostly being used, before she would put away the cup or two that was left.  By this time there would be so many dishes piled in the sink and on the counter, waiting to be loaded that the kitchen, and occasionally the whole house, would become, um, aromatic.

Then the mowing went downhill.  It started with only mowing the front yard and not the back yard.  Then skipping a couple of weeks, so the front yard looked REALY bad.  Then finally mowing the front yard, and again, not the back.  So by now, the back yard is looking a tad bit jungleish.  Not quite Romancing The Stone Jack and Joan hacking their way through with a machete, but still.

So what did I spend Memorial Day doing?  Washing dishes and mowing the lawn.

Remind me again why I thought having kids was a good idea?

Saturday Weigh In

Dec 2005 doctor appointment: 338 lbs (Holy Shit)

March 29 2006 Lap Band Surgery: 312 lbs  (after 2 week liquid preop diet)

May 24 2008 at Weight Watchers: 237.4

I will save you the trouble of doing the math.

           -100.6 lbs

ACK! Cut Backs

Layoffs.  AGAIN.

 

The Company announced they are going to start making cut backs in about 4-6 weeks.

 

Am I safe?  Who knows.

 

It would be nice to think that my 22 years of service counted for SOMETHING, but according to Company policy, I don’t even have job security.  And why don’t I qualify for job security after all those years?  Because for 2 ½ of those 22 years, I was Management.  If I had been classified as “clerical support” for the whole time, I would now have job security.

 

And severance pay?  At 22 years I should qualify for 13 weeks pay, UNLESS the layoff is due to a “special situation”.  And do they define what constitutes a “special situation”?  No they do not.  Because then they couldn’t make up whatever rules they want to fit whatever situation they want.

They let you COBRA your insurance for 18 months after, but apparently they don't really want you to do it.  Because if they did, they wouldn't charge $942 a month for it!

 

Maybe they will lower the retirement age.  A LOT.

The Power of THE LIST

Ha!  It worked.  Something on the list got done, and I got to cross it off.

I wonder if I added things like: 

*oldest daughter graduates high school

*mother stops driving me insane

if it would work as well?

A powerful tool

The List of things to be done

What magic it holds

edited to add: ok, THE LIST won't let me do strike through on the font, so I didn't get to "cross it off". But I did get to move it to FINISHED.

Doesn't it look lonely?  All by itself on the FINISHED list?

I made a LIST

I made a List of all of our projects that have been started and not finished, or not even started, but planned/need to be done.

I am hoping that having to look at The List will help to inspire completion of some things on The List.

What?  It could happen.

School Daze Ahead

I’m thinking about going back to school. 

 

I went to the local junior college, off and on, from 1985-1997.  I took a little bit of these classes and some of those classes.  After my divorce I went almost full time, worked part time and accumulated thousands and thousands of dollars in student loan debt, to pay the day care, rent, food, etc.  And then didn’t get a degree in anything.  Not even an Associates. 

 

Now I have the urge to finish SOMETHING.

 

During my matriculation I went from accounting, to computer programming, to management, to physical therapy assistant.  So my transcript has quite the eclectic collection of classes.

 

So what am I thinking of taking? 

 

Paralegal Studies.

 

It’s something new.  It’s something different.

 

It’s something to which only 18, of the 71 hours I have taken, can be applied.

 

            Which degree plan now?

Paralegal Studies? Hmmm.

Maybe I’ll finish.

Why did I say LEGO?

I didn't mean to.

I made my 6 year old nephew cry.

His dad was having surgery for kidney stones.  I knew he would be restless in the waiting room so I bought him a giant coloring book, some crayons, markers, and a driving game.  We are sitting at a little table coloring together, just chatting. All is well.

Then he mentions that gee, he really likes this coloring book and all, but boy, did he wish I had gotten him a Lego set.

And not thinking, I replied, Oh really?  You like Lego sets?  I almost bought you one but I wasn't sure if you liked them.

Major melt down ensues.  Including rolling on the floor and yelling I WANT A LEGO SET.

I really didn't mean to make him cry.

why is that boy there,

on the floor, screaming LEGO?

he has a bad aunt

I've discovered that I like Haikus

I never knew how fond of the Haiku I was until just recently.

I find myself counting and composing, at different times, all day long.  About anything and everything.  

Those ugly black shoes 

I see under the stall door

Why would you buy those?

They are so quick and easy.....

OOOOHHHH!  I just answered my own question.  Quick and easy.  THAT is why I like them.  I don't have the follow through for a REAL poem.