Thunderstorm Thursday

School was canceled for today in anticipation of the storm that never happened. It started out as a 2 hour late arrival so the kids slept in and I went to work. I get a call from Devan standing at the bus stop waiting - and he asks if I'm sure there is school because he's been there for a while and there's nobody else there plus the bus hasn't come yet. And he's freezing because he forgot his coat! I log onto the news and see that school was cancelled. ;) So he heads back to the apartment and Jordan see's him. She is heading to her bus and her mind starts racing..."oh great Devan missed the bus! Now what, what is he going to do? How is he going to get to school? Mom's not gonna be happy! Oh crap!" When he gets close enough he tells her that school is cancelled. Now they both have to trudge back up the hill and curse my name for making them get out of bed and ready for school when they didn't have it! It never did freeze yesterday but any reason to cancel school is a good one right?!

The freeze didn't happen at all. Okay, some places did, but it actually warmed up a little last night so wherever there was ice from the previous night got a repreve. The wind was horrible with pounding rain so I think it the news should have given it a catchy name like "Tornado Warning" rather than "Snow Watch." If it is wet tonight it will freeze because we are expecting temps of around 20 with a few snow flurries this afternoon. It's colder today than yesterday. They are wacked down here. The thought of snow or ice sends them into ultra PANIC mode! No, seriously, there will not be bread or milk in the supermarkets kind of panic. It's crazy.

I made it through my first payroll cycle. So far none of the errors were directly my fault and only one so far is because of us on this end. They do paycards here which is cool so each site can pay an employee immediately. The paycards are like debit cards that we fund with their pay so they can get their money the same day. They mostly use these cards to pay out funds immediately but some people have the cards instead of a bank account. Next week I am flying solo so all the confidence I have now will be squashed like a pesky ant.

I did't win the battle of Jordan joining the track team. By the time we heard back from the track coach about practices/workouts she had missed a week of practices and didn't want to start after everyone else. She is signed up for spring soccer and is going to take a referee class so she can hopefully ref this spring if not then definitely summer and fall.

Not much else going on. I am going out with the group after work tonight to celebrate one of the ladies leaving. This time I know where I am going plus it was immediately established that I was not allowed to follow the girl I tried to follow last time.

Warm and Windy

It went from being in the teens to nearly 60 in a matter of 4 days. Now we've got wind. It really howls at our apartment since we are nearly the highest location in town. I won't sleep well between the wind and the cats being freaked out by the wind.

Jordan and I are having a battle right now. She thinks she doesn't want to do track and I think she does. I know she enjoys running but she wants to focus on soccer so I am trying to point out all the ways it will help her game... ;)

Now that it's time for the news I'm going to watch the highlights of the State of the Union Address.

Adios.

16 degrees and falling

C - O - L - D !!!!!!!! It's very cold but the kicker is that it's dry so we are walking around shocking each other. The cats are getting annoyed with us because whenever we go to pet them we zap them. The look they give us is funny and accusing and questioning. I'm sure they are wondering what they did to deserve a little shock.

Deal of the week: a Columbia sportswear coat for Jordan. It was originally $200 and had a sale sticker of $100 but when the sales lady rang it up it was only $50! It's awesome. Now Jordan won't freeze waiting for the bus.

Work is going well. I really like the group I work with. It's very quiet in our office though. It's actually quieter in this office with 9 of us in there than it was in my office at Neil Kelly with two of us and a nearby neighbor. Now I'm not saying deanna is loud...well, okay, maybe I am. :)- But she wasn't all to blame, I helped a *little* and we had a lot of project managers coming in and everyone knows they are full of hot air and ready to share it with everyone within earshot.

Aaahhhh - just sneezed and launched a snot rocket. Bye!

Adjusting my schedule

I'm getting used to being up early but not liking the commute. I also have to allow extra time to get into the parking garage and then into the building then up to my floor. The group I work with are really nice. I don't feel like the new person outcast. I also know that whatever happens with the economy, I will still have a job so bring on a recession, I'm safe. :)

We have finally figured out Jordan's morning bus schedule which is a huge relief.

The big freeze that is moving in from the north is affecting comcast so my computer is slow and I don't want to lose this in the middle so I'll keep it short and sweet.

Hope you are all staying warm.

The weekend is over - boo hoo

Not only do Monday's suck once again, but Monday when the kids don't have school but I have work makes it suck twice as bad.

My first three days were fine. I got to do actual payroll related stuff on Friday. A few ladies invited me to go out after work. I was following one girl but got separated from her and since I didn't catch the name of the place or get her phone number, so I just got lost in Nashville and spent the next 25 minutes trying to find my way home.

Jordan is getting a little frustrated with track. They are supposed to be having practices or workouts but she has yet to find where they are. She can't seem to find the coach in her room to ask. Every time she has gone to the track or to the weight room there isn't anyone there. I emailed the coach to ask what the schedule is but haven't gotten a response. Jordan is about ready to bag it. At least she's got spring soccer to look forward to.

Counting my paper cuts

Today was my first day at my new job. I got to box up reports and move files. Yippee! The office was totally hot so I am going to have to bring in a small desk fan if I am going to survive. There are 10 in our office, 11 in payroll and we all went out to lunch today to celebrate. Okay, so we weren't celebrating my arrival...it was my supervisors birthday lunch. Oh yeah, I'm on the 9th floor of our building and I can see the Parthenon from our office. I was looking out the window and realized I was looking at the park that it is in. I can really only see the corner because some big ugly building is blocking most of it. But still, I can see the Parthenon.

It's snowing! yay! It's sticking!! double yay!! Snow cripples this town and I still have to get to work tomorrow. boo! We live on the best hill for the kids to slide down and they are totally keeping their fingers crossed for it to get colder tonight so they won't have school tomorrow.

Gotta round up the kidlets to get dinner. One is so thoughtfully clearing all the snow off the cars in the parking lot - okay, not thoughtful, playful, car snow is the best for making snowballs. The other is curled up under the super soft fleece throw which is under the down comforter enjoying a silly book. I get to be the kill joy and rip them away from all the fun...hee hee hee. I love being the mom. :)-

I am employed

I got a job. It's in Nashville for a very large company. It's a temp to hire position. It's a really good company to work for and I will be learning a lot. They are an outsourcing company so I will be learning a whole new industry. This position has some data entry but it is mostly analyzing. I start Wed morning.

The kids got their report cards. Jordan got straight A's again and her overall GPA was 4.25. She was so excited when she saw that. She had a silly perma-grin for about two hours afterward. Devan didn't do as well on his. He had a couple A's, a few B's and a couple C's. His grading scale is harder than Jordan's by a few points so overall he did very well. There is still room for improvement of course. I don't expect straight A's but I don't like seeing the C's.

Jordan has decided to try high school track. I think she will like it because on the high school level the kids don't do it just because it's a cool social thing, well some do, but it's not the majority. Also on the high school level there are coaches willing to work with the middle and long distance runners. I told her the worst that could happen is that she might make a new friendship in time for summer. :) She has become friends with a couple girls who play soccer; although neither of them did this year, so she is excited for next year because she is going to drag at least one of them to soccer tryouts with her which will help her game knowing she has a friend. We missed the sign up time for indoor soccer so she decided to play outdoor spring soccer. She is also going to take a referee training class. She's going to have a busy spring.

Devan is still interested in playing lacrosse and they have a winter indoor session that I found out about - of course after the fact. We are going to get him playing in the spring outdoor league. It will be interesting to see him in shoes other than skater shoes.

Hope you all had a great weekend.

Off to a good start

It only took eleven plus years but I finally have confirmation that the kids' father is finally providing health insurance for them! YAY! I'm doing a little jig because he is employed by a company that is nationwide so even though he is in Washington, we can have coverage here. DOUBLE YAY!! The plan also provides dental as well as orthodontics!!! TRIPLE YAY!!! I waited on getting Devan braces to see if his jaw would grow and improve his bite and now I am sooo glad I did wait.






The box was almost waist high full of shredded paper. Inside was a pair of concert tickets to see country music singer Brad Paisley. She had fun throwing all the shredded paper out of the box to make a big mess on the floor.







UGLY ORNAMENT WINNER! Here is the frosted pink toilet brush with beads ornament I found to make me the winner or is it loser?! :)- Devan decided to boycott the fun but mom and Jordan had some really ugly ornaments also. Jordan found a star that had jingle bells on each tip and it looked as if a 3 year old had made it. My mom's entry was a white feathery bird. I think the best part of her ornament is the reaction she got when she bought it. The sales lady said it was "beautiful" which was highly amusing to my mom. It was a fun tradition that we started and I can't wait until next year to see what we all come up with and who might be joining us and to see what they bring as well.

Monday Morning Blues

Jordan's new blanket. She loves it, loves it, loves it. Can you tell? Who knew her favorite present would be a $5 super soft throw?










Devan in the middle of his scavenger hunt for his gift. He is THRILLED to have to go outside for another clue!








I will post more pictures tomorrow.

I am nearly over my cold. Still fighting off a slight ear infection. I haven't gone to the doctor but I'm sure I had some sort of upper respiratory infection since it floored me so hard and I'm still coughing. Oh, and the blisters on my nose are gone, now it's just the hardened peeling skin. The bad part is that I sent my mom home with the cold. Sorry Oregon, you can blame me if you want.

I've had a couple interviews lately and I'm signed up with another agency so something should be happening soon on the job front. I'm getting super bored and am ready for some money to be coming in - instead of going out. :)~

The kids went back to school today. They were so excited to go back *she said sarcastically*. Jordan was really excited because she was worried about one essay that hadn't been graded. She was afraid it would bring her grade down. As luck would have it, the teacher lost it, so she excused Jordan from that assignment which will probably raise her grade.

A better update

Oh yeah, I WON THE UGLY ORNAMENT CONTEST this year! All the ornaments were ugly but mine was so icky that nobody even wanted to touch it. It looks like a pink mini toilet brush with little beads glued on. There was also a feathery bird and a stuffed star that looked like a 3 year old made it. Devan decided to boycott the ugly ornament fun-ness.

My nose is healing thanks for asking. It is a little itchy, kind of like a scab as it heals. And yes, the blisters are going away. Blisters? Yes, blisters, the ones that appeared because I used too much Neosporan to coat my nose when I was busy blowing through 7 rolls of toilet paper. The more I blew my nose, the more it began to chap so I used the neo to help it not chap so bad. Well, that totally backfired. Not only did my nose chap but it was red and my nostrils swollen, but now there are tiny blisters on it! It looks a little better now but that's because I was able to get rid of most of the skin peeling off. My nose is still tender to the touch and is still red and the skin so irritated from being chapped that it is a little hard (I'm sure it will peel later) and cracked and itchy but I'm sure it will be gone by the next week.

Hope you haven't broken your New Year's resolutions already. My resolution is to keep in touch better meaning I will be calling you all more often... :)~