“THAT” Psycho Family

I’m just so angry.  I wanted to tell all of you what a great week that we had last week at Day Camp, but my ex-husband ruined that for me.  In February, we agreed to a temporary reduction in child support because his income had went down.  This was of course informal and just a verbal agreement.  He was fairly regular about being on time, until this month.  His wife told me that he would pay on 7/18.  Well Friday came and went, and when he dropped Four off this week, I asked her where the check was and she told me to ask him.  So I asked him and he was like ask the wife.  I told him that I already did and she said to talk to him.  He was like I’ll have to go back to the house to get it.  Of course, I never hear from him.  So I went over there to pick it up from her this morning and she was like I told him that he’d needed to talk to you about it.  Of course with no more details.  I just looked at her and was like so I’m not getting child support this month.  That was Four’s birthday money.  Which it was - I planned on that to spend on his party and a gift for him.  I text messaged him and as usual, he’s not answering.

They are supposed to take Ten, Six and Four on vacation next week.  I feel like if he can’t afford child support, they shouldn’t be able to go on vacation with him.  I’m sorry, its just the way I feel.  Its not fair to them to punish them because of hiim, but WTF!

Sorry that this is all mushed together and run on like, but damn.  And I still don’t feel any better.  I’m off to cry and try to plan a different party for Four now.  And I have no idea what to do.

I am off for the next 5 days for Cub Scout Day Camp.  Six is participating this year, and since he is only a Tiger Cub, I have to be there anyways, so I volunteered to help out this week.  I am his group’s Den Leader, which shows you the level of my insanity. Did I mention that it’s 100 degrees out?  Yeah, I thought the SAME thing.  I’m stoooopid!

Ten was supposed to help out, but when I got in from work this morning, he had woken up and said that he wasn’t feeling good and his throat really hurt.  I could look a him and tell that he had a fever.  I took his temp, and yep - 103.8.  So this morning I dropped him at Local Sister’s house and she said that she’d take him to the doctor’s office for me.  I figured it was a case of strep, my boys seem to be prone to it at very inopportune times.  Apparently, the strep test was negative, and the doc said that he has Mono.  SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!  I never had mono as a kid, so I have no idea what to do with him!  I know that it can last for a long time, the weakness and being tired.  Ugh, school starts soon, August 7th, I’m hoping that he will be better by then.  Since I didn’t get to take him to the office though, I have a call into the doctor that saw him.  I am actually requesting that Ten have some blood work done to confirm that this is Mono and not anything else. But I think that its too late and I’ll have to get ahold of someone tomorrow. Poor kid!

I finally went and took the supervisors assessment today.  I planned on taking it the week that I threw out my back, but since I spent 5 days either in my desk chair or the bed, driving to “The Vegas of the South” didn’t seem like such a great idea.  I was a bit nervous, but apparently passed it with flying colors.  When I went in to take it, the adminstrator said that it would take 2 hours - I finished in less that one.  Normally, you get the results immediately, but she was in a traning class, so I had to wait until she was out of it to get my results.  When she called me, she was like, you finished really fast.  Then she said that I did “very, very well.”  Now if I can just get the job!  Here’s to hoping.  Things are getting a bit uncomfortable in my current job.  The new GM seems hell bent on replacing all of the old staff, I think that he wants people that are loyal to him.  That and his background is in fine dining, not your local sports bar like this restaurant is.  He doesn’t understand that we don’t serve from the left and clear from the right (or how ever the hell that goes)  So my trying to get this new job is coming at the right time.  Cross your fingers for me internets, i need all of the help that I can get!

We could talk about the following things…

- Ten went to Boy Scout camp for a week and loved it.  Now if I could just get him to do the worksheets for the merit badges that he earned, he’d get them and gain his Tenderfoot rank.

- I finally got the computer reformatted, and then had to replace the video card in it because the old one died.  Of course, even this computer is as old as the hills, and only has PCI slots so I got the best card that I could.  I’m looking at building a computer this year that will have everything that I want in i.  I’ve done enough repairs this year to this desktop, that I’m thinking of doing the build myself.  Stay tuned.

-  I ended up having to take a week off of work when I threw my back out in the library.  That wasn’t fun.  Of course, it was the new GM’s first week there.  That’s a great impression to make on the new boss.  Way to go Jenn’s body!

- Speaking of my body, my feet are killing me.  I need new shoes, and I need them soon. Although, I think that I’m still going to have to make a trip to the podiatrist.  The tootsies are in bad shape.

- James and I are going out to dinner tonight.  We never really see each other anymore, and when we do, we fight - ugly hateful words.  Alot of it is the schedule that I work, I never have weekends off, and holidays - forget that shit.  And of course he works a normal job - Monday - Friday 8-5 so you see the problem.

- Next week I am helping with Cub Scout Day Camp.  This wasn’t the idea that I had in mind for my summer vacation.  Six is participating as a Tiger Cub, which means that I have to be there anyways.  Ten is volunteering his time as a gofer.  Well I volunteered him, he doesn’t have much of a choice in the matter.  It should be interesting to say the least.  I will be spending my days outside from 830-330, Monday - Friday.  I’m just hoping that I get the days off that I asked for so I’m not dying by the end of the week.  I’m sure that we will have a blast.

Or we could talk about anything else.  Since I haven’t been a good blogger lately, let’s talk about random things instead, like Aunt Becky did last week.

Jenn’s Random Thoughts

Why isn’t my spell check in FireFox working?  I rely on it so much.

I need a haircut and color in the worst way.  But I have no idea what I want to do.  So the hair on the top of my head stays until I can figure out what to do with it.
I still need to shave my legs, its been 3 months people.  Thank Bob, I’m not very hairy or it could get ugly.

I’m needing to trim my girly bits too.  Think I should do that before my “date” with James tonight?  Or should I let him realize that he’s with a Sasquatch?

Speaking of trimming things, my lawn is in need of mowing.  Maybe I should hire a lawn boy with rippling muscles to do it for me while I sit in a lawn chair with a glass of booze and drool stare practice my stalking habits watch him like a dirty old lady.   OK - back to reality now.
I think I know all of the words to the movie Alvin and the Chipmunks.  Why won’t Four watch something else? Maybe I should hide all of the DVD’s and give him something really good to watch.  Any suggestions?

My washing machine is slowly dying.  This one is only 5 years old.  The one I had before this was about 15 years old.  I want my appliances to last forever.  Why is it that they don’t?
OK - your turn to get those random thoughts out of your head.

Peace!

I’m writing this from the first computer that I ever bought aka the Dinosaur. I had WebTv for almost 3 years before I took the plunge and bought an HP computer from the place that I work (a “depot” that sells “office” supplies). It was a discontinued model and was discounted - that along with my employee discount, it was a pretty sweet deal. I took it home, set it up and was amazed at how quick it was. Compared to WebTv, a computer run by a hamster would have been faster. But nonetheless, it was great, it even had a 12 gig hard drive, how would I ever fill THAT up (/scarasm). I used this computer daily until September 2005, when I decided that I needed something a bit better for my online college classes and not to mention that I was tired of fighting James and my brother to use the computer. I bought ANOTHER HP, and was even MORE amazed at the speed. I suppose that it helped that I immediately did a few upgrades to it. I kept everything on that computer, pictures, resumes, all kinds of games.

Friday night, my newer computer took a gigantic shit. Or rather it caught a virus. I wasn’t the operator at the time, so I have no idea WHAT exactly happened, but I know that it has completely and utterly fucked up my computer. I tried to run a virus scan, and when the scan would start, the computer would start thsi crazy cycle of shutting down, then restarting itself - only to do the same thing over and over and over again. I got avast anti virus downloaded, and was able to initate a boot scan, and avast found a trojan (no shit sherlock) but it didnt remove the problem. I finally was able to get it started in safe mode as the admininstrator, but my dumbass clicked on the little button in the bottom left hand corner and BAM - the off and on cycle happened again. :/ I had forgotten the name of the site that the computer was directed to. Well, now I know, but my computer is totally screwed.

Did I mention that I don’t have the disks to reformat that computer either? Well, I don’t. So I’m scrounging for someone that has them so I can reformat. In the process, I’m goign to lose all of my pictures - some are backed up on Flickr and SmugMug, but not all of them. That’s the thing that bothers me most - that they are going to be lost in the ethers.

James decided to take the dinosaur that I’m currently on now and hook it up so One would be able to play on the computer this weekend. What, your 1 year old doesn’t play online? But I can’t play SecondLife and James can’t play World of Warcraft. For obivous reasons, this old computer couldn’t handle it. I’m glad that I have it, I can at the very least check my email and read blogs. I’ll be forced into the land of the living until I can get the other computer fixed - maybe do something fun with the boys.

I realized that its been 2 weeks since I’ve blogged - what a 2 weeks its been! I finally got my van back - it decided to break over Memorial Day Weekend. Baseball season is finally over! Ten’s team was their league champions! Six and Four missed their team parties - Four because when they went - James and Four didn’t see the team (they were there). Not to mention that Four freaked out when they got to the party. I still haven’t figured out why - the damn party was at ADD hell - Chuck e Cheese. Six missed his party because the Explorer decided to crap out on the way to the party. Lucky for us it was just the fuel filter and James got it running again, but sadly too late for the party. Ten will miss his party, but for an entirely different reason - he’s a Boy Scout camp this week with his new Troop. He was so excited to go! He said that it was his vacation from his brothers and parents. Heh. We’ll see how long that lasts. I did send him an email (you can email the kids at the camp and they get it during mail call) that I think won’t make him homesick - basically that the neweer computer was still broken, that I had to work and that my days off were going to be house cleaning days - LOL. He will be home Saturday. I think that this will be a great experience for him.

I’m going to post this now so I can go to bed. I actually have to be up early in the morning -errrr rather in a few short hours - James FINALLY starts his new job! Yea!!! I’ve also applied for a supervisors position at my work _ I’m tired of begging for my money each night. Cross your fingers for us guys, things are starting to look up

whatever this world can give to me
It’s you, you’re all I see
Ooo, you make me live now honey
Ooo, you make me live
You’re the best friend
that I ever had
I’ve been with you such a long time
You’re my sunshine
And I want you to know
That my feelings are true
I really love you
You’re my best friend…

This is my best friend of 20+ years, Molly. We met in high school when I was a freshman and she was in 8th grade doing some high school classes getting credit. (She was always the more intelligent of the 2 of us, heh) We became fast friends across the aisle of the Spanish class that we took, Juanita and Margarita. Our teacher was old, decrepit and a real bitch, but we made really good scores on our exams, much of that was the fact that the teacher was blind as a bat and couldn’t see the small, tiny squares of paper that resided on our desk that had the conjugated verbs on it. Nonetheless, we became good friends. She wanted to hook me up with her brother who was a Senior at one of the Catholic Schools in the city North of our city. (In the Chicago suburbs, there were TONS of Catholic Schools) Anyways - I got to spend the night at her house, and the end of the story is that we got trashed with her brother and his friend and I got banned from her parents house for a few months because in my younger days, I though hickeys were cool. I still carry the nickname of “Hickey Queen” to this day LOL. Although, she calls me Gin (OBVIOUS reasons people!) and to this day is only one of 3 people who can call me Jenny and live to tell about it.
Obviously, if I was banned permanently from her parents house, we wouldn’t be talking about her, now would we? Somehow I got back in like Flynn, and like all friends, we went through phases of friendship. We even lived together before I left Chicago permanently. Believe me when I tell you that I was the roommate from hell - I partied my ass off at all hours of the day (and night), I was a slob, and everything in between. I moved away from Chicago and we grew apart. She met this guy and they got married and through the course of time we didn’t talk. About 5 years after that, I was in town for the wedding of another high school friend, and ran into her sister and father in the parking lot of Walgreen’s by my favorite Chicago Style hot dog joint, Mr. Beef (on shit, I’m hungry for one of those NOW!). I gave her sister the phone number of where I was staying, and asked her to please pass it on to Molly. It was fate that I met her sister in that parking lot, her dad come to find out, wasn’t to pleased. He called me Jenny Slus*** the troublemaker. I guess that proves that all parents think that the other kid were the root of all their own child’s problems. But the reality was that we were both troublemakers, not really bad kids per se, but kids that regularly tested their boundaries.

Anyways, she called that night, and we’ve been tight ever since. Sometimes its months before we get to talk, but its like putting on a pair of comfortable old jeans. They slid right on, and are broken in, like there has been no time since you’ve worn them last. We’ve gone through babies, deaths, weddings and the day to day, mostly over the phone. We don’t see each other as much as we like to, or even talk on the phone, but she knows all of my secrets, even now.

The one thing about her is that no matter if I call with good or bad news, she listens and is so supportive. I believe that I try to do the same for her, but sometimes I feel like I get more than I give in this friendship. She’d also help me bury a body LOL.
That was very true today. I called to catch up with her while I was on my way home. Everything that I’ve been bitching about here, and more that I haven’t talked about because I don’t want to be known as the “Emo Kid” or some facsimile on the internets. But she listened, and gave advice and encouragement, as she always does. Even though she’s having issues also - back to work to help support her family while homeschooling 4 kids, Mother in Law passing away, money issues (who isn’t these days?) One day, I hope to be her sounding board like she’s been mine all of these years.

If nothing else in this world, I am rich. Rich because she’s always been my friend no matter what. She’s always there for me. If I needed her, she’d be here ASAP. I know I’d do the same for her. Everyone needs someone like this in their lives. For that alone, I’m the richest woman in the world.

(P.S. Who can name the song and the Artist(s?) who did the some at the top of this post? Just checking your knowledge here, trying to make the internets smarter and all.)

I started to write this detailed post about Monday night at work, but my computer decided to restart itself (stupid computer! has a brain of its own!) and I’m not going to even try to start over again so here’s the condensed version:

- Shitty tippers all night.

- Bad weather and lots and lots of wind.

- Power pole gets knocked down right in front of the casino, and takes a few power poles with it.

- Back up generator gets hit by lightening, therefore, no lights at all other than the sternos that we placed on the tables and cell phone lights LOL

- Sat my ass behind the bar after checking on people/getting them drinks and smoked with the bartender.  I won’t say if I had a drink or not, but I will say that I really like Lemon Drops   And my boss that was on duty likes Grey Goose!

- Guests finally escorted out of the casino after being in the dark for 1 1/2 hours.

- During the time that said guests were in my restaurant, I still gave them drinks and checked on them, cleared their tables, and not a ONE in the entire restaurant left either me or any of the other girls a tip. NOT A ONE. I’m sorry, I know that you had to eat by cellphone or Sterno light, but you got your meal for FREE and we still took care of you to the best of our ability. Would a dollar or 5 have been THAT big of a deal, fuckers?

- It was almost 4 hours after the lights first went out before I even tried to leave the casino, because I wasn’t wasting my 3.79 a gallon gas to sit in a line a bazillion miles long to get out to the main road.

- If I had to get stuck in a casino for 4 hours total, I’m really, really glad that it was with co-workers that I actually liked.

So I spent  the first couple of hors of my birthday at work, trapped in the casino.  But it wasn’t all bad.  I finally got home, relaxed and then finally slept. I then had to get up to get my van towed to the shop.  (Over last weekend, the serpentine belt came off that pretty much controls, oh the ENTIRE fucking van).  I was hoping that it was just the belt, but no such luck.  Water Pump = 409.00 that I DON’T have!  Can we say shoot me NOW?)  I was supposed to take Brother to court in the afternoon, but thank Bob it was postponed until July!
For my birthday present, all of the boys (including the biggest boy of all, James) cleaned up the house.  They did a great job   They made me a birthday cake and I got to have Linguine with clam sauce for my dinner.  All in all it was a really nice day.  But I still don’t have 409.00.  Does anyone want to loan me some money?  *snort*

I outed myself to Florida Sister this afternoon about the blog. I actually got the famed “tequila poop” picture from her bachelorette party which I have yet figure out what exactly I am going to do with it. I am definitely going to save it to show her future teenagers when they need a lecture on alcohol consumption. I will title it “Don’t drink too much tequila, drink beer instead.” So I decided that since there aren’t too many secrets in my family, I’d send them the link and invite them to read. So say hello to the siblings. I don’t know if they will comment or even read regularly, but I also have no plans on censoring myself either. It has to do with that broken internal filter thing I have going on.

Meet the siblings (sounds like meet the fuckers LOL)-

This is Boston Sister and Boston BIL. They are the parents of Niece #2 (the one of the famed baby feet picture that was taken at the recent wedding)

This is Local Sister. She is the mom to Nephews #1 and #2. (Shown with Nephew #1 here)

This is Florida Sister AKA Bridezilla AKA the Tequila Poop Kid and Florida BIL.

And Finally Brother, dad to Niece #1, shown here with One the escape artist.

So Hi guys! Welcome to my mind. If you aren’t happy about something that I’ve written here, SUCK IT UP YOU BIG BABY (heh). Naw - we actually fight like any normal family, but seem to be exceptionally close for a “Psycho Family.” And for that I am grateful. If there is one thing that I pass on to my boys (a good quality. shut. up.), is to have that sense of family.

So I’m having a birthday Tuesday. It’s not a big one (one ending in 0 or even a 5), only 34 this time, but for some reason, I’m incredibly bothered by it. Could it be that I am surrounded by 20-somethings daily at work who have no real responsibilities, i.e car payments, kids or even how food is going to get on the table that have hot bodies that haven’t been ravaged by the wonders of childbirth? Or is it that I’m NOWHERE where I thought I’d be in my life (no education, not owning my OWN home, independently wealthy, heh)? Or that James has been out of work for FIVE (yes, count ‘em - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) months now, leaving the financial burden totally on me in a job that depends solely on assholes lovely people deciding if they are going to be normal human beings that will tip properly with a recession going on? Not to mention that if I was getting a gift this year, I’d have to buy the fucker myself.

I suppose that with everything that has happened this past year, I’m definitely feeling older. I’m starting to look it too. I’ve had gray hairs since I was about 25, but this year the wrinkles are starting to make their presence know on my forehead. Maybe its the amount of worrying and frowning that I have been doing as of late. (Although people are surprised to hear that I have 4 kids and am going to be 34. Those people, I want to kiss!!!) The bills are piling up, even just making the basics are getting more and more difficult with each passing week. Credit Card payments? Heh, my credit score looks like a high scoring basketball game. The boys still have to be fed, and the activities? Shit, it’s something new every week, even now after school is out for the summer. Thank Bob, I’ve lived in this house for almost 10 years and my landlady knows I’m good for the late rent. Well, she hasn’t thrown me out yet anyways. (knock on LOTS of wood, people)
I’m trying to keep a positive outlook. James has a job offer, but we are still waiting on the contract to be signed. When that will happen, I don’t know - it’s been 3 weeks already. I know that its been difficult for him - he’s done as good of a job as he can do with taking care of the kids and keeping the house clean. (think man cave clean, not woman clean) My family won’t let my kids go hungry, but its hard to ask for help when I’ve always been the helper, not the helpee. I look at the economy and know that this country is in for more hard times before it gets better. Hell I paid 3.79 a gallon for gas 2 days ago. I about cried. My 50 mile a day commute in the van or even the truck is KILLING me.

So Happy Birthday to me. I hope that this year is better. I really want to see wonderful things happen for me and my family. It’s just the execution that I have to work on.