NOT TOO MUCH GOING ON

The insurance adjuster came out a week ago. The deer did close to $1,500 worth of damage to the truck. We have a $500 deductible so they can cut us a check for $900 to have it repaired. We have not received the check yet.

I need to say sorry to Kevin and April. Darren and I had full intentions of getting to Aiden's baptism since we have not seen the cutie yet but we had a lot going on here at the house and it was past 3:30 before we realized what time it was. Sorry you guys. We really did want to be there.

Things right now are going great with my summer classes. I have not had any real problems yet. I am having a problem getting some software to load into my computer to take exams for one class. I may have to have the CD exchanged. I wrote the WSC bookstore about the disk and I am awaiting an answer.

On Saturday we helped Darren's cousin Jeff and Jeff's girlfriend move into their new home. Jeff bought a house across from Ellery Park in Rugby. It is a really nice home. After helping them for a little while we met Darren's parents over at his grandmother's house. It is Darren's grandmothers birthday Wednesday and since nobody could meet with her tomorrow Dave and Deb decided to take her out to eat and invited us to come with. After dinner we headed over to grandma's for cake but the girls were so rotten because they were very tired that I just dropped Darren off and the girls and I came straight home.

I had to take Jessie to the clinic last week. She has an ear infection. She has been on medicine for about a week so she is great now. Cassie has been acting out something terrible. She has been peeing on the floor, dumping lotions, shampoos, and hair stuff all over the floor, she is digging in everything, she has started to color over everything (and I literally mean everything) with a black Sharpie marker. I cannot figure out why she is being so terrible. I am hoping that it is a phase and that we can work it out quickly.

With the last extreme rain fall that we had over the weekend, our trailer sprung some leaks. We got 5 inches in one night and on that night the water was coming in from the base of the kitchen floor and running across the kitchen, coming in at the floor behind one of the couches in the living room, and the ceiling in our bedroom bath was leaking. It was during this water chaos that I came to the realization that I am ready for a house with very little imperfections...hell, just a house would do right now.

This weekend a friend of ours is getting married up at Lake Metigoshi with a dance and reception to follow at a recreational area up there. It is also the weekend of Devils Run Classic Car show too. Darren and I plan to take the girls to the Classic Car Show parade and then later in the evening head up to the lake and catch our friends reception. However, this will be a lot of driving time and since the gas prices are so terrible right now we may just hit the parade with the girls and then come right home.

COLD WEATHER, DEER, AND A BAPTISM

This weekends weather put a hold on Darren's outdoor list of things that need to be done. He did get the yard mowed yesterday. It is a good think too because it is raining today. He was hoping to get outside and pull out some of the bushes going down our driveway that have been a pain in the butt since we moved onto the property.

A deer ran into the side of Darren's truck on Friday night coming home from work. He said he just happened to look out the drivers window and there was the deer. It hit the truck behind the door under the extended cab window and put three good sized dents in the truck going to the wheel well. Darren was VERY mad when we got home. An adjuster for our insurance company is coming out tomorrow afternoon to look at the truck. Darren thinks that the damage might have totalled out his truck considering the age of the vehicle and the mileage. If they total out the truck, he is thinking of taking the insurance money to pay off the loan and then buy back the truck from the insurance company for about $500. That way his will still have a drivable truck, it will take care of a loan payment, and then when we have the extra money we will take it into a body shop and have it fixed.

Aiden is being baptised today and we plan on going. It's in Devils Lake at St. Joseph's church with a reception at the Great Northern building. However, the girls are sick and Jessie has a cough that is a little barky at times so I am going to see if my mother can watch them. That way we don't have to drag them out in this cold weather and make there running noses and light coughs worse.

Tomorrow summer semester starts. Ugh! I am actually a little excited though. The classes are all going to be easy, except for Surgical Transcription which will take some work, so I don't foresee any problems this semester. I am already almost positive I will pass these classes with great grades. Also, I only have two more semesters after this one and I am DONE if everything goes good...knock-on-wood.

WHAT A DAY

Just when I thought things were going good and I believed that the house and the girls were under control something let loose and I wish I knew how to fix it. For some reason Cassie has been having a problem not making it to the bathroom. I think we have had 10 accidents in 3 days. If she is still having all these accidents over the weekend I may take her to the clinic to see if she has an infection. During nap time today Cassie got up to use the bathroom and she took the bar of soap from the bathtub back to the bedroom with her. She gave it to Jessie and when I went into the room 2 hours later the side of the crib was caked with a white waxy layer of soap. I can only guess how much of that Jessie ate. Then a few hours later I went to into the girls bedroom to get Cassie a shirt so we could walk down to the park and the crib mobile was in the middle of the floor and Cassie had taken a pair of scissors and cut the farm animals off the mobile, cut the little strings off the animals and cut those up into a bazillion pieces, and also cut up the crib bumper. I told Cassie she couldn’t go to the park after that. That sent Cassie into a crying fit that seemed to last forever. Jessie has turned into a toilet monster. If the bathroom door is not locked she will literally run into the bathroom and dive into the toilet to play in the water. Each time to use the toilet you have to look into it before use because she also throws everything in the toilet or the garbage can in the kitchen. I couln't handle it much longer so I called my mom to come over and watch the girls while I ran into Leeds to get some groceries quickly. I am so glad that she watched them because I needed the break BAD. I know it was just a day and that tomorrow will be better. Dad will be home over the weekend, so if I have to, I can run outside for a bit when I get stressed.

Gas prices are just ridiculous. Darren and I do not like the vehicles to get under a half of a tank just in case there is an emergency over the weekend or we have to go somewhere in the middle of the night so I filled the car up with gas when I got groceries today. The lady at the gas station said I showed up just in time because she was just getting ready to go out and raise the price sign another 11 cents. Gas now is $3.45. OUCH! I have decided not to go anywhere unless it is to Billy’s because I can also do homework at her place while all the kids play together and I am going to give my mother my shopping lists so she can pick stuff up for me when she is done with work. If I need to go anywhere else, I am going to take my horse.

On a good note, my sister called me on her way to Rochester, MN. We talked for 1 ½ hours or better. She gave me some great suggestions on how to put a small portfolio together so I am not lugging a 5 pound book around. She also said that she was very proud of me because of some recent choices that I have made for myself and for how well I am doing with my college. I think she was very surprised when she realized I will have 3 degrees after only 2 years of college. Just think how great I could have been in high school if I actually worked at it.

WEEKEND PLANS AND OTHER THINGS

Darren made plans for this weekend. We need to mow our yard again, there is stuff around the garage that needs to be picked up, some things inside the house need work, and one day this weekend he wants to take the girls and I out for treats. This usually means a trip to the Dairy Queen in Rugby. I am totally in love with their brownie batter blizzard. Any one who has a chocolate addiction, like me, will appreciate this blizzard.

This Sunday is also little Aiden’s baptism. If Darren cannot go for some reason then I will see if my mom can watch the girls for me, otherwise we all plan on going. It should be fun and the last time we saw everyone was on Doug’s birthday so it will be nice to get together with everyone. It would be nice if we could all hang out for a bit again too.

In one of my last posts, I wrote how I forgot to send in the summer sheet for financial aid. I did hear back from the college and I was approved for some finanical aid. Luckily I have just enough to cover the books and classes. Bad side is that I will only have $138 left. I was hoping for the extra grants to help catch up on some bills but the grants were on a first come, first serve basis and the were out of funds by the time my application came in. Shoot anyway! I am very positive that we will find another means to help catch up on bills.

I want to collect stuff that I have done in some of my classes and put together a portfolio so that I have something to show future employers. However, I have never had to put one together before and I don’t know to do it. I was going to print out some of the transcripts that I have typed for classes and also print out some of the Keyboarding II stuff. Other than that, I really don’t know what to include.

I called Billy yesterday. The puppies were going like hot cakes. When I called, there was already someone out there that was taking Del and a brown male. I am glad she got a good home. There was someone who was supposed to go out today and take another one and that will leave her with just one brown male to get rid of. I cannot believe how fast they went. I guess lab/retriever puppies are in great demand.

I am gearing up for classes which start on Monday already. I am going to be taking:
Medical Terminology II
Introduction to Computers
Surgical Transcription
Pharmacology for Business

Billy chewed my butt for not taking the summer off like normal people. She is just bummed because I won’t be able to hang out with her and the boys on really nice hot days. I will make time for them though. Besides, I may have to go out to their farm and use their DSL for some classes.

BED, GRADES, AND THE LAST OF THE PUPPY TALK

On Saturday of last weekend my mother bought the girls a really nice bunk bed. It is real solid pine and the top bunk has a really nice railing and set of stairs. Darren put the bunk bed together on Sunday and Cassie really loves the new bed. We do not have twin mattresses right now so we have to use 5 standard pillows surrounding her toddler bed mattress. Cassie doesn't mind at all. She is just happy about her new bed. I got an e-mail from Darren's mother today and she checked on twin mattresses at St. Michel's furniture store in Rugby and she will give us money in a couple of weeks to help pay for the mattresses. Thank you Grandma's for the girls wonderful new beds! It wouldn't be possible without both of you!!!

I got my semester grades back and I am happy with them except for one. They are:
Keyboarding II - A
Medical Law& Ethics - A
Laboratory Procedures - B
Applied Medical Transcription - C

The C in Applied Med Trans is the first C EVER since starting college and is currently my lowest grade to date. However, I am very hopeful that it will change to a B. My instructor still has 4 assignments of mine to grade and when she is finished she will submit the change to the records office. She also said that she will never lower a grade. Either way, I passed all my classes. The C bums me out a little though.

The girls and I met Billy and the boys in the park today. I told her that when I finish all of my classes in the spring of next year, and I have all 3 of my degrees, I want to celebrate by going to Glacier National Park in Montana as a vacation before I start working. I have checked out the park and there are cabins that you can rent within the park as well as tent sites. I have to check it out more. Billy told me about this cool place in South Dakota near Aberdeen called Story Book Land that she and Vinny want to take the boys to. They were going to go last year but never got the right opportunity to do so. We checked Story Book Land out on the Internet at Billy's house when the kids finished playing at the park and it looks like a super cool place. I want to take the girls there too!! They are going to try and get there this summer. This summer might be short notice for us because we are still trying to catch up with bills and things so it may have to wait until later. I think a trip to Glacier and Story Book Land would be such wonderful trips for the kids and I have always wanted to visit the national parks in the U.S.

I spoke to Darren one last time about the Delilah on Monday. It was a very positive no. I called Billy and let her know that I wouldn't be able to take Del. I was so bummed out that I didn't want to make the phone call. The puppies will be on Tradio tomorrow. I will be sad when Del goes. I got a little spiteful because Darren is planning to buy a case for his hunting bow, some arrows, and arrow heads. He doesn't use his bow (not right now anyway since he really doesn't know how to use it) and all the money that the items cost I could have bough puppy food for 1/3 of the cost. I am working on letting it go though and also on being more vocal about things that upset me and that I disapprove of instead of being so submissive all the time.

NEW HEADING

I am sure you have noticed the new The Wild West Show heading. I have to give all the credit to Mr. Toast who put it all together for me and informed me of how to put it on my blog. Without him I would not have the really cool heading. THANK YOU MR. TOAST!

FYI- The photo is an actual photo of real wild horses out in the Medora National Park badlands. I have always loved Medora and after high school I became very close to working out there on the horse stables where they do the trail rides. I cannot wait until Darren and I can take the girls out there for a weekend or two. It is such a beautiful place.

HAPPY MOM'S DAY ... AND OTHER THINGS

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!!
Especially to my mother, April, Karissa, and Billy Jo.

Boy, things are going to hell in a hand basket over here. A while back we had a leaking water line from our toilet. No water collected on the floor, it was just damp constantly around the toilet. Darren wrapped a towel around the base of the toilet and as soon as he did that, the water couldn’t run down the water line, through the hole in the floor, and under the trailer house. Instead, it soaked the towel and flooded half of the bathroom and warped the bathroom floor BAD. We knew we would have to replace the floor soon but I wanted to wait until I had some extra financial aid money so that we could put a new tub in (because the one we have now is very old and has cracked VERY bad), replace the linoleum, and fix the toilet all at the same time. My luck got worse four days ago when the floor finally gave out from underneath me as I was getting the girls out of the back room. I didn’t go all the way through the floor with everything else, but it was close. Now we don’t know how when we are going to be able to fix the floor but it will have to be soon or we will have problems.

A representative from the phone company out in Stanley was here today around noon. The phone was still scratchy and staticy. I did some work outside the house for a while, came back in to check the phone, the phone wasn’t any better, he went back outside and drove away, then he came back and informed me that the main phone line hanging in the air the is supply the phone with the phone line is spilt and hanging. Unfortunately there was nothing he could do about that today because he needs an aerial truck to get to the main line. They came back today with a truck and worked for a few hours. I am happy to say that they got the line fixed and my phone and Internet are now working properly again.

I got my books for summer classes on Friday. Just another reminder that classes start again in one week. The books were not near as expensive as the other semester books. It makes me wonder if I got all the books that I need for the classes or not. I am going to go through the boxes and then check with the professors of the classes. That way if I need another book, or two, I can get them ordered and sent off before classes start.

I begged Darren the other day for the puppy. I told him I felt really bad for her and if nothing else, I wanted to keep her until she was fat and healthy like the other ones and then we could give her to someone. He said no and was very adamant about it. I will have to remind him of that when he wants to go out and buy stuff for his hunting bow and when he wants to buy another toy that we really do not need right now. I do see his point though. We would have to feed her, vaccinate her, and get her tags and all that stuff really does add up to be a lot. He also said that he doesn’t want to move a dog into town if we move. I reminded him that we have Tucker already and he said that he doesn’t know what he wants to do with him if we move either and doesn’t want to worry about two dogs. News flash...it is a corner lot. It’s a HUGE yard. If we fence in the whole area we will have room for a dog. I don’t know about two dogs, but we wouldn’t have to get rid of Tucker. I cannot see him getting rid of Tucker either just because we move. I must also say a big THANK YOU to Anonymous commenting in the last post. I makes me feel good when someone understands where I am coming from about the dog issue.

DELILAH

The girls and I called Billy Jo and we went to see the puppies today...mainly Delilah. When the puppies were born Delilah was the runt of the litter but she was not all that much smaller than the rest. Now the size difference between Del and her siblings is very noticeable and she is much thinner too. Billy has started to feed Del by herself away from the other pups. She and her husband figure that since Del is so much smaller than the other puppies, they push her out of the way to get to the food and Del isn’t strong enough to push back so she doesn’t get as much food as the others. If she had one-on-one attention and food away from the other pups, my friend thinks she will do really well, but right now it is a little rough for her. This makes me want Delilah even more than before. I have always been a sucker for sick animals that need care. I got that from my dad. My dad could never turn away a starving, injured, or disabled animal either. I want to bring her home, if anything to just get her fat and strong like the other pups. It breaks my heart thinking that if Del was a pup in the wild she would have a 95% chance of not making it because of the siblings. Thank goodness Billy and her husband are there to look out for her. Now how to I tell my husband that the puppy I want for Mother’s Day is sick and needs some special attention when he doesn’t even want her in the first place. If I do get her, that it is a very big “IF”, the first thing I am going to do is make a vet appointment and have Delilah checkout and have vaccinations done right away. That way we will know if there is something more than just siblings holding Del down

STUFF

First off, I must sent my prayers out to TLawWife. She is an avid reader from KS and since my last post they had that terrible tornado that wiped out a town and have been having not-so-great weather since then. I just want to make sure that she and her family are okay because I have been thinking about her a lot the last week.

I finished all of my classes up yesterday. A whole whopping 3 days before the end of class deadline. One of my final grades has already came back. It was for my Medical Law and Ethics course and my final grade is an A. I am hoping that I did that well on the other three. I have a break now until the 21st and then my summer classes start up.

I am close to ripping our telephone company a new one. About a week ago our phone line became very staticy. It was so bad that I could not stand being on the phone with someone very long because it was annoying. It had even effected our Internet. The computer would only connect at a maximum of about 14.3 which blew. I called the phone company and they said they didn’t know when someone would be in the York area (the phone company is based out of Stanley, ND..near MEDORA!!) Luckily though, someone did show up two days later. They said we had carotid lines and that was causing the problems so they cleaned up the lines. It worked for two days and our phone and Internet is crappy again. I called the phone company today and a woman said that she didn’t know when someone was going to be in the area again but they were going to put a rush on it since I take online college schooling. Since Stanley is located across the state from York, they like to have 3 or more phone problems before they come up this way, since a trip up this way takes them all day. I am still trying to figure out why York went with a phone company across the state and not NDTC from either Rugby or Devils Lake. There is even a little NDTC office in Leeds, which is only 7 miles away, for cripes sake!!

Darren asked what I wanted for Mother’s Day. Of course I tried asking for the female black lab pup. He shot that down right away. It disappointed me a little bit. I really do want the puppy but I have a feeling that he is not going to let me get it. My friend said the puppies are on dog food and they can go in about a week and a half. So I still have a little bit of time to work on Darren before I tell my friend that she will have to find another owner for the pup. I would just bring puppy home but Darren would flip out if there was a puppy in the house on an evening when he came home and he wouldn’t do anything like that to me, at least I hope not. However, he did kick my cat outside to be a permanent outdoor kitty and we have not seen her for over a week. If he made my cat runaway, I am going to be very mad. He better hope that she comes back.


The last few days have been gorgeous. Sunday Darren, the girls, and I met Billy, Vinny, and their two boys at The Farm House cafe for lunch. After lunch Billy, her boy, Darren, the girls, and I went to the park in Leeds and let the kids play for an hour or so. We had fun gabbing while the kids ran all over the park. Yesterday Billy, I, and the kids went back to the park and we were there for a few hours. We packed coolers, drinks, and snacks so that we didn’t have to go anywhere. I made sure I had sunscreen for the girls. I didn’t put any on so I am a bit toasted but not too red. Today is supposed to be another 87 degree day so I am heading out to Billy’s house to see my puppy and sit in her cool farm house.

Here is the house that we are looking at. I actually really REALLY like this house. I do understand though that our reality is that we may never actually move into the house, but at least we found something that sparked our interest and now we know what we are looking for in a home.

What an AMAZING back yard!! I think this is one of the main reasons (and the picture window) why I love this house. What you cannot see is the storage shed that would be off to the left where the tree branch is sneaking into the picture. There is also a fence connected to the shed for a dog. Talk about perfect.

The kitchen is older but the only thing and I would change is the flooring. I am not a fan of the 60s tan crap. Other than that though it's nice and spacious.

This is the living room and I LOVE it. It has a nice picture window that faces the street...I can imagine my christmas tree in front if it or in that corner by the window already.

Bedroom #1. This would be our room. It isn't huge but it isn't too small, almost the perfect size. We wouldn't have to do anything to this room.

Bedroom #2. The walls are already purple for the girls. Even though it may be a bit dark it will work for now. After a while we can paint the walls more "girly."

Here is bedroom #3. I cannot say that I am a fan of the paint job but it would double as a nursery if we have that baby boy Darren wants.

FINALLY SOME PICTURES

With the help of my Digimax Master software I was able to change the size of my pics so that blogger was able to post them!! About darn time!!!! Enjoy.

Cassie and dad after a 3-wheeler ride. Cassie LOVES riding on the 3-wheeler.

Because the shape of the white star on the filly's forhead I have dubbed her Peanut. I am pretty sure the name will be changed though.

Billy Jo Weixel's dog had puppies on Easter Sunday. The girls and I have been out a few times to see them. Cassie and I, well me really, have fallen in love with this little black female pup. This would be a wonderful Mother's Day gift.

Are these puppies not the cutest things in the world!!! There are six in all. Two black labs; 1 male and my female and four chocolate labs; 3 males and 1 female. LOVE THEM!!

AJ, Jessie, and Cassie playing with the puppies. If I could, I would take them all when Billy wasn't looking and hide them in the trunk of my car and bring them home.

Cassie really likes to play with the dog when she is outside. She would love the dog to be inside and sleep next to her bed but with all his extra hair he gets way to hot to be a house dog. We still let him inside very once in a while though.

Jessie has finally gotten used to the dog. For awhile she did nothing but scream at him and wouldn't let him get close to her. Now, she shouts "TUCKER!" out the living room window at him and she cries for him when we are done playing outside.

Here is a very wonderful picture of two sister's showing nothing but love for one another. This picture is my inspiration for everything I am doing. What a beautiful legacy.

I had to post this picture too because it is rare to see this anymore. It has turned into pushing and screaming.

These last few pics are from our visit to the pig farmers place earlier this spring. We saw the wife in church on Sunday and she said they have a bunch of brand new baby pigs that we have to go see so we may have some more pig pics to come.

The pigs were very friendly and they LOVED to chew on your rubber boots. In fact, the would maul you to get at your boots. After awhile it got pretty annoying.

Cassie finally had enough of the pigs chewing on her boots so we put her up on a hay bale. I had to give the pigs an A for effort...they were pretty persistant.

ANOTHER MUCH NEEDED UPDATE

Sorry I have not blogged lately. I have been working my butt off the last few weeks. As of right now there are only 9 days of classes left until I have a really short break and then fall classes start on the 21st. Thanks to my mother, who has been coming over religiously after work for the last week, I have been able to complete two classes. I have a about 20 more typing assignments to complete in order to finish up my Keyboarding II class and then I just need to tweak a few dozen dictations and hand those in as well for my Medical Transcription I class. At this rate I should have everything handed in on time or maybe even a few days ahead of schedule.

Things have been rough around here lately.I am not going to get into it because it is personal and I just don't know how things will turn out. I have a lot of faith and have been attending church on a very regular basis. I know there is sun on the other side of this situation. It is waiting for the sun that is the hardest part.

I have been working the Mr. Toast for a new header for my blog. He put together some really nice stuff and now I am just trying to decide what type of text. With a little luck we might get it finished here shortly. I am also going to ask him to apply it for me since I am super challenged when it comes to Web design.

Today the girls and I had to run to town and pick up my mom. She had to drop her Jeep off at the body shop to have some work done. Then I stopped at Wal-Mart quick to pick up a girly necessity and then my mom picked up supper at McDonald's for us to eat on the way home. The girls went to bed shortly after we got back. I have been relaxing, watching American Idol, and thinking about doing some more homework.

I am still working on my picture posting. it is taking forever. Apparently my pics are too big and the size is the reason that it takes 45 minutes or more for one pic to post. I have to find a way to make the pic smaller so that it posts quicker without damaging the clarity of the photos. I will find a way though. I do not go down without a good fight.