Life according to me…

I’m a stupid head.

On my way to work Monday morning, I got a speeding ticket. I am not going to disclose the amount of the ticket out of sheer embarassment, but I can tell you this. I was speeding in front of a school and in a construction zone. It was 9:00 a.m., and technically the school zone should have been deactivated, but let’s not argue, I just would have dug myself in deeper if I had. I was speeding because I was late so I know it was after 9 am when I passed by, but the cop was not about to hear it. So, in summary - cha-ching!

I was so upset. I can’t afford a ticket. And, I was wanting to cut back my hours at work so I could be home more and do some projects and spring cleaning. Well, not now! I have to work to pay off my massive ticket and pay for driving school. Lucky for me it won’t effect my driving record so I will still be able to deliver the pizza. But gheeze, it’s sure going to effect my WALLET!

Pay attention while you are driving - it’s the end of the month and the police need to fill up their quotas for tickets. Grrr!!!

Yea, you can guess that since there isn’t a big banner on the home page that no, I did not get picked for the job at Domino’s. Seems they were concerned about my flexibility and such being that I have a family. Oh well.

I was actually doubting whether or not I could handle it today before I even found out. I just felt that it would be too stressful to try to devote my time like that to something besides the family and our home. My husband, kids and my house deserve my full time attention and I want to continue giving that to them. I think I have wanted to work lately because I am so unhappy in this apartment. It’s such a dump here.

Let me complain for a second. My apartment just sucks. See, we found mold in our apartment and they refuse to clean it up properly. Also, the people who live here are extremely noisy. Any given night we can be lying in our bed and hear people speaking VERY LOUDLY right outside as well as feel the entire apartment shake when someone shuts a door, or hear a toilet flush above us if we are in the bedroom or bathroom at the time someone flushes. It is disgusting. Saturday as I was walking the kids to the pool we were almost hit with a baseball because some unsupervised children decided to play baseball right behind our buildings and in between others. Not to mention with 3 growing children, we are starting to run out of room in this little space we have and I am dying to have a backyard and garage and things where the kids have space to play and such.

I really think if we can get into a bigger place I will be happier as the Domestic Queen that I have been called to be. Let’s all pray that things work out and we find a place and are able to move in June, like we are planning.

Sorry for the delay yall!

A job came open at Steve’s company - Marketing Director. This person makes contact with the apartment complexes, hotels, schools, etc..and helps deliver marketing material to them, to the stores, to the post offices and also helps come up with ways to raise sales for the Orlando area. It’s a full time position but the pay is good, I would get to travel to St. Augustine once a month, spend time traveling from store to store and then also work some from home doing phone calls. I decided to go for it because I think I could come up with good ideas for marketing, because I would like to be a part of what Steve does if I am going to work at all, and because I wanted to see if I could actually get a job now after being out of work for so long.

I had my interview on Thursday. I would say it went well, but I am not sure if I am what they are looking for. I do know that the people I interviewed are aware that I have 3 little children and I think they took that into consideration even though it wasn’t mentioned. I had some good answers to their questions based on their responses, and I think they are considering me, but again, from the vibe I am getting since then, I am not sure if they think I could handle it. Steve has told me today that they are considering creating a “marketing team” for Orlando - but the only way I could do that is if the pay would exceed my costs for daycare, which I am not so sure it would if I was splitting one full time position’s pay with others.

So, I either get it or I don’t. I am comfortable either way - I worked full time once Elisa was almost a year old, but I wouldn’t mind staying home either. Sure, our family could use the money just like the next person…but God is taking care of us financially, has been, continues to do so, therfore I am not forced to work and that is a blessing in itself. I do get to work at Steve’s store and make some extra money once or twice a week and that has TOTALLY helped me with my issues about being home all day with the kids and such.

I will keep everyone posted on the job - they said they would make a decision by next Friday. I am spending some time going couponing this week for Domino’s - which means going to businesses and making contact and asking them to have lunch at Domino’s…and I hope that puts some brownie points in for me with the current Marketing Director and Area Supervisor. Those are the people making the decision. I would want them to pick me because they saw that I could do a good job…though I am fine if they do not choose me.

We’ll see how it goes!!!

Okay, so I have 2 things to write about. First, today Steve and the kids and I went and visited his dad at his new apartment. He had been staying with his mother for a while after his last divorce because she is not in the best of health. Up until today, Mike (Steve’s dad) and I never really had a lot in common or a lot to discuss. We didn’t really engage in deep conversation or anything, he just sorta spoke and I listened and responded but he didn’t really hear what I said.

Today was totally different. He was telling us about his flower arrangements he had made and about the mirrors he put up on the wall, and about the entertainment center we had made, and asking me questions about raising the kids and differences in women and men…IT WAS AMAZING! We had the best time. I didn’t want to go to his apartment because of the lack of connection he and I had up until now…but I am so glad I did. He actually engaged in conversation with me. He even asked me to speak to Angela for him - which I told him I would try but that she doesn’t really talk to me about anything serious (must run in the family hehehehe). He had no pictures of his family put up yet except for our family picture and the twins picture we gave him for Christmas. He said he would be putting up more soon but for now those were the only ones he displayed.

I was SO HAPPY. I felt like giving him a big hug when we left but I didn’t want him to feel or think I was weird. Yesterday was his birthday and Steve and I didn’t get to get him much - he never really wants anything..but he has some candle holders that don’t have candles yet and I told him I wanted to get them for him. He is coming over tomorrow to see the babies and Elisa and I hope to have the candles by then to give to him.

It is a relief to be able to talk to Steve’s dad now - to really talk. I am a talking person, that is how I feel comfortable around people and I am glad I will be able to be more comfortable around my father-in-law. I do love him very much, he has been an amazing father to his kids and an even better grandfather to the babies and Elisa. I’m so glad I went to his apartment today!!!!

Okay, the second thing…this one has me bursting from the seams as well. I had some old clothes that were in the back of Steve’s car for a while to be given to Goodwill. We hadn’t done it up until this point and they had to be moved so we could use his car while the van was in the shop. When I got them out I decided to look through them and found 2 pair of shorts I had purchased when I was driving for Dominos long before I got pregnant. I took them out and gave the rest of the clothes away. Well, I tried them on and THEY FIT!!! They didn’t fit a few months ago when I cleaned out my clothes and I felt so helpless about the weight I had put on with the twins that I decided to just give them away so I had no reminders of how big I was. Well I am sure glad that we procrastinated in getting those clothes to Goodwill, because now I have 2 more pairs of shorts I can wear!! I have noticed that I feel better about myself when I wear more tight fitting clothes - but it’s hard because all of my clothes are really baggy since I got them right after I had Sarah and Stephen. I haven’t bought much more than baggy stuff because I like to hide my weight. I guess the fight is still on to lose more weight now that I have this motivator of fitting into old shorts. YAY!!!!!

Ok I am going to go run around some more and celebrate the wonderful day I had. YIPPEEE!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh my goodness. This has been the most CRAPPY week where our cars are concerned. To start, the van has been having this revving/gear changing problem for a while since we got it back from the shop after Steve’s September accident. Well, one day this week while Steve and I were running errands, it started shaking very badly and smelling like something was burning, so we pulled over to have it looked at. The place we stopped at would not check it because it sounded like a transmission problem.

Well, IT SURE WAS a transmission problem. We ended up taking it to a place that was recommended to us by the tow truck driver. I didn’t want to take it to a well-known place because I knew they would rip us off. This place is run by a woman and when I spoke to her on the phone she sounded so sincere and honest. The driver also sounded that same way and said he trusted this place and didn’t want to see us ripped off. I felt confident so we let him take it there.

Turns out, we had been missing second gear. A band that helped run second gear was missing, had been worn down and had been making things run metal to metal. The revving we were hearing was the van trying to find second gear and missing it. It had been causing metal stuff to run through the entire transmission and also start to wreck the clutch. They found clutch material in the transmission fluid which was very dark, and I guess it’s not supposed to be that way. SOOOO we had to have them rebuild and clean out the transmission, replace all washers and seals and that band as well as new fluid and filters and such.

Grand total with labor and parts: $1,444.00.

There goes our cruise. We got the money refunded, and Steve was very profitable at his job this pay period so we are going to be able to handle all the work on the van. And then be poor.

The transmission shop lady said that the rest of the van looked brand new and working well so once we had this done we should not have to shell out anymore money for a while. It comes with a good warranty and stuff and so if it happens again it will all be covered. It just was sad to have to spend so much on it, but by God’s amazing grace we were able to come up with the money and we will be able to afford a cruise in the far off future.

The blue car has a small leak in the radiator and a fan that is not working, and the air did not work until thankfully my dad had a look at it and fixed it. He was so nice to take care of that for us as it was our only car for the weekend. He also fixed the brakes for us and it runs so nicely now. THANKS DADDY!!!!

Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhh spending all that money on a car is such a pain. I felt like it was my fault because we ran the van with that problem for quite a while before we took it to be looked at. We knew it would be costly and were waiting for the time to be able to afford to do it, but I guess we were forced to get it done now. Next time I am having anything that seems weird looked at AS SOON AS IT HAPPENS. No more new transmissions!!!!!