MY MOTHER HAD SURGERY

My mother had surgery this morning. In fact, she had 3 surgeries performed at one time. All surgeries were "female" related. My father called me around 2:30 to let me know mom was out of surgery and it all went well and she was resting currently resting. My mother's hospital room is right next door to a day/waiting room for visiting patients. That should come in handy when I have the girls with me. I can turn on the TV and they can watch cartoons, draw, or whatever while I am in the next room visiting with mom. Tomorrow, the girls and I may go see her. The weather is kind of chilly to have the girls out so I have to see how cold it is going to be before I actually take off. If I go right after lunch, I shouldn't have to buy any food while we are in town. My mother is going to be in the hospital until at least Monday, so I may make a few trips to Devils Lake until she gets home. I am just happy that everything went well. I was worried that something was going to happen during surgery, but it didn't. I am pretty sure that she is going to be sore for a while before she is ready to get up and move around. I have already had a talk with Cassidy about Nana's surgery and that Cassidy cannot sit on Nana's lap or run around and be rough, she has to be gentle for a while. I think she understands pretty well. I am going to call her later this evening to see how things are going and let her know the girls and I are thinking about coming to see her tomorrow...if she thinks she is ready for visitors.

I HATE MY CHRISTMAS TREE

Actually, I love Christmas trees. They are beautiful, heart-warming, and nothing says Christmas is more near than the Christmas tree. But this year, my tree really pissed me off.

I have an artificial tree. No, it doesn't smell as good at a real one, but it saves me the hassle of cutting one down, keeping it watered, and finding needles in the carpet until next Christmas. I string the lights on the tree branch by branch as I put the tree together. Midway, the base of the tree broke. It completely split in half. I tied it to my china hutch so it wouldn't fall completely over and called my mom to pick me up another one at Wal-Mart on her way home from work. My mother picked up a metal one for a real tree so it took me 15 minutes to put it together before we could place the tree in the new stand. Things went well after that. I got the tree completely up with all 9 strands of lights on it. The girls helped me put the decorations on it, we watched the Charlie Brown Christmas special on TV and then they went to bed. I was doing homework, when all of a sudden, the lights went out on the tree. It was too late to do anything so I went to bed. The next morning the lights wouldn't work. I checked all the strands and it turned out, after much searching, that a fuse had blown in one of the strings. I replaced the fuse. Almost immediately after plugging the lights back in, they went dark again. I was really ticked at this point. I didn't want to have to go through all the lights again, so I grabbed one of the connecting ends midway up the tree and pulled it into another socket so the strands were split up on a multi-power strip. Out of aggravation, I kicked the power switch on the plug in, not expecting the lights to come back on, but they did, and I have not had a problem yet with the lights. If anything else happens to the tree, it is going to stay as is after it happens because I am DONE messing with it this year. I does look very pretty though. I will have to post a pick of it.

DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION ADDICT

Yesterday, my sister and mother went shopping before they picked up the girls. One of their purchases was Dance Dance Revolution Supernova 2. I had heard of the exciting, wonderfully fun PlayStation 2 game before, but I have never tried it myself. It sounds simple enough. You buy a box containing a PS2 disc that has music and dance moves on it, along with a mat that plugs into the PS2 instead of a controller. You stand on this mat and try to follow the steps that play to the song that you choose. There are different levels; beginner, basic, something I can't remember, and expert. It appears to be easy when you are sitting on the couch, laughing hysterically, and trying not to pee your pants while the person is trying to "dance," but it isn't that easy. I took my shot at Dance Dance today, along with my brother and sister. Their game was quite a bit better than mine since they played it the night before, after the girls went to bed. After about 2 hours of attempting just the beginner moves, I was able to move up to basics. Beyond basics, the moves start to get crazy and my coordination is not that advanced yet. I have to hand it to my brother. He has some pretty mad skills at this game. Nobody is even close enough to try most of the songs on expert. We are still trying to break away from Basics. Unfortunately, I did not have my camera handy for this. I wish I would have had it on me. There would have been some great pictures!! This game is definitely on my Christmas List and if we play it again when we are together for Christmas, you can bet you ass I am posting pics!!

THANKSGIVING

I hope that everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving feast yesterday. The time spent with my family was fun, and had the occasional "odd" moments. My cousin, her husband, and her two daughters came to my parents house to help us celebrate. They are a fun bunch to be around.

My sister and cousin helped mom get the meal together. There was a really funny moment when my cousin got into a groove yelling at her kids while she was working on the mashed potatoes. My mother walked up next to her dumped a crap load of milk into the potatoes. My cousin was ready to chew someones butt, but turned quickly and saw my mom standing there. She apologized quickly because she was going to holler at her. We all laughed about it.
Our meal was accompanied by some Georges Duboeuf Naujolais Nouveau red wine. It is only made once a year, at Thanksgiving. My sister grabbed the last three bottles at a liquor store close to where she lives. The twin cities had already run out of the air shipment of this "must have" wine for the holiday, and the ocean shipment had not come in yet. It was pretty good. After that we basically lounged around and watched football. We would seek out the seasonal sweets and pies when we got hungry...which never happened, but were compelled to eat the stuff anyway.

We ended the night by trying to help my father get his Norton working correctly. While I was helping my father, Jessie was forgot about and Cassie found her in the spare bedroom playing with Auntie's makeup. The night got long, and I got very tired and crabby....so did the girls. We got home around 8:30 which is an hour past the girls bedtime. The girls fell asleep right away after coming home and I did some homework until about 2 a.m.

Today, the husband is coming home. He asked about a week ago if my sister would watch the girls this evening. He wants to go through some of the bills and get a few things paid while he is here, talk, and IF things go well, go out and do something together.

Bottles of the Georges Deboeuf red wine.

Macey, Lynnette, Sherry, Maddison, and Cassie getting the last of the appetizers and some yummy cookie dessert together.

My cousin, Sherry, cutting up the bird.

My cousin's daughters; Maddison and Macey Tandeski. Are cute or what?

Auntie Lynnette and Cassie. Notice the bracelet Cassie is wearing. It belongs to Auntie Lynnette, she let Cassie wear it because Cassie fell in "love" with it.

Here is cousin Macey playing peek-a-boo with Jessie. Jessie was really enjoying the game!

At least Jessie thought she was looking good applying the makeup. Auntie Lynnette was a little less joyous about it.

ROOM AND VERY SICK CHILDREN

Thanks for all of the wonderful comments on the bedroom. Sphincter made me think when she brought up the whole, "drop a guy, get a different hair cut" thing. Well, at least hair grows back...if the room is a disaster in the end, it's going to stay like that for a while!!! I hope it looks as good as I imagine when it is finally completed.

The the help of one of my friends, we finished painting the "mint & chip ice cream" room night. I was concerned at first, because with just two walls painted it scared me. The brown paneling was still contrasting against the green making it look super bright. My friend told me to calm down and wait until it was finished. She was right, and I am totally diggin' the room now. I cannot wait for the tan curtains, white bedding, carpet, and the baby of the room -- the CHANDELIER! I am going to call Darren's cousin and see what he says about some carpet that we got from a couple here in town when the remodeled their living room. There is nothing wrong with the carpet and I am hoping that he can put it in for me. Darren did pick up this carpet to be used in our bedroom anyway and it is a nice color. Might as well use it since that was FREE too!

The girls have been sick. Jessie went to the doctor on Monday and was prescribed some antibiotics. Then Cassie got sick around 4 o'clock after we got home with terrible stomach cramps. She didn't sleep longer than one hour at a time last night and she also started throwing up. Today, I called the clinic and the doctor prescribed medicine for her. I had my friend, Nichole, come over and watch the girls while I ran into Devils Lake quickly to pick up the medicine for Cassie. Cassie is still really sick and continues to have very painful stomach cramps. I hope the medicine takes effect soon. I am just hoping that Jessie doesn't not catch what Cassie has. I also have to run into Devils Lake tomorrow because Darren needs his paycheck deposited into the bank. Ugh! Three trips to town in three days...awful!!! I am going to have to put gas into the car tomorrow before I leave for town. If Cassie doesn't feel better tomorrow, I don't know what I am going to do. Cassie has been trying to get some sleep this afternoon with quick naps between stomach pains, but I don't think she is really getting much sleep.

Closet tucked into the North side of the bedroom. I don't like the doors so I am going to remove them and then hang cloth instead.

This is the west wall that leads out to the living room. Some day I want to remove the the mirror from the top of the small dresser and hang a nice sized flat screen TV on that wall....I will probably be 100 years from now until I am able to afford one, but I really want that luxury in my bedroom. I WISH I could afford the TV that Kevin and April have!

East wall and the bed that will eventually be pure white. I want to get light tan/sandy colored curtains and put down light carpet. Right now it is an awesome shag brown.

South wall. I posted this before in the earlier pictures, only this shot is a different angle.

BEDROOM REMODELING

I started to paint the bedroom today. I know this sounds stupid, but since the whole "divorce/separation" speech was made in that room, mentally it was driving me into a deeper depression. I didn't want to keep remembering what happened in there, good or bad, and the only way I could really over come the mental issue was to change the room. It is going to remain my bedroom for a long time, so what better way to start a change than paint. It took a bit, but after a look in some of my country magazines I started to like soft green colors. My mother just happened to have some green paint left over from when she painted her living room so the remodeling so far has been free. Eventually the room will come together but it will take a while. I want to get a cheap chandalier for the bedroom (I know I have talked about it before,) I would like to get a white puffy comforter...make it look like a hotel getaway type thing. I will post as I keep going on the bedroom.

CLINTON'S WELFARE REFORM ACT MAY HAVE JUST KICKED MY BUTT

So here is the low down on my TANF appointment.

I would be on what is called Diversion Assistance. This provides short-term help to families to assist them in becoming or remaining self-sufficient. Diversion Assistance is provided to families for up to 4 months within a 12 month period, while enabling individuals to clear up problems that might push them further into poverty. I will be required to participate in the Pathways to Work (PTW) program. The goal of the PTW program is to help reduce barriers to employment, prepare for and obtain paid employment.

If I need assistance beyond the first 4-month period, I then will have to reapply for Transition Assistance. This promotes job retention by providing an extended period of cash assistance to qualified TANF households. TANF households with earnings from employment exceeding the allowable standard of need for their household size may remain eligible for TANF up to 6 month. Transition Assistance provides a safety net of financial support during this six-month period to assist households in attaining self-sufficiency; thereby eliminating the need for future government benefits.

I have an interview setup on Tuesday at 3 p.m. to meet with Job Service about my employability. I was warned by my social service worker that JOBS doesn't like "higher education" opposed to employability. In fact, they don't even promote higher education. JOBS wants people working, so she doesn't know exactly what they are going to do in my situation. Isn't the purpose of getting a college education is to better ones self??? This is a problem because I cannot be expected to pay daycare, gas for a 30+ mile trip, all my bills, focus on a full-time college schedule, and pay my student loans once they kick in with a full-time minimum wage job. I have also come so far with my college that I am not going to throw it away just to work a minimum wage job just to get TANF. I am only six months away from graduation! I don't want to cut back on my college courses either because the more I extend them out, the more money I am going to end up taking out per semester.

So.....I am expecting issues to arise at my JOBS appointment. I am not sure if jumping through all the hoops are worth the TANF.

TANF APPOINTMENT TODAY

In about an hour I leave for my Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) appointment. I am not too comfortable about it. I have a bunch of mixed emotions right now. I am sad, disappointed, a little scared, I feel like I have let people down, yet I am also hopeful. I was hoping that Darren and I would have fixed things before it ever got to this point. I never wanted to file TANF against Darren and I feel bad that he will have to pay back all of the money that TANF gives me, but if I do not do this I won't be able to pay bills. I need to take care of my girls and this is the only option that I have right now. I qualify for all the other social service programs so I don't think TANF will be a problem to get, but I have been worried because I don't know what I am going to do if my TANF application was denied.

VERY BUSY

I had to take the girls back to the doctor on Tuesday. Jessie's cough was getting worse, she had finished her antibiotic, and now Cassidy has the same darn cough. I wasn't able to see our original doctor. The person we say gave Jessie a shot to help calm the cough and prescribed a cough syrup for Cassidy as needed.

Today I had to get to Devils Lake right away after the mail came. I needed to take Darren's paycheck, deposit it, then take some cash and had to go and make a Western Union payment for him that needed to be at its destination before 3 p.m. After I got the Western Union payment made, I got the girls lunch, I went and paid the Ottertail bill, and then we went and did our grocery shopping. I had a bunch of groceries to get, including my WIC. It was quite the task with two little girls with a bunch of energy. I don't know how, but we made it through that trip.

Friday I have my TANF appointment in Minnewaukan with my social service worker to receive child support. I couldn't find a babysitter for this meeting either so the girls will be going with me to this appointment too. I am just praying that they do not act up during the appointment. I am not sure how long the appointment is going to be and I am not sure how long it takes before you get TANF. They know I need it really bad, so I am hoping that it doesn't take too long to get.

This weekend is kind of up in the air. I remember someone asking me what I was doing on Saturday. I cannot remember who it was or what the tentative plans may have been. If it was any of you, please remind me what it was we were talking about. My brain has been on overload for such a long time that I actually can hear it cracking like ice when someone asks me a question. That cannot be good, or can it?

OZZY ANGERED BY ND SHERIFF'S STING

I read this today on MSN News, and since I have a number of friends that attended this concert (and I wanted to go,) I thought I would share this with everyone who may have missed it.

The Associated Press

FARGO, N.D. -- Ozzy Osbourne wants an apology from the Cass County sheriff for staging a sting operation in the rocker's name without his permission.

Osbourne claims his reputation was tarnished when Sheriff Paul Laney invited 500 people with outstanding warrants to a phony party at a Fargo nightclub before the rocker's concert with Rob Zombie at a nearby arena. More than 30 showed up and were arrested.

"Instead of holding a press conference to pat himself on the back, Sheriff Laney should be apologizing to me for using my name in connection with these arrests," Osbourne said in a statement.

"It is insulting to me and to my audience and it shows how lazy this particular sheriff is when it comes to doing his job," Osbourne said.

Laney said Friday that it's his job to arrest people with outstanding warrants.
"We meant no disrespect toward Mr. Osbourne or his show," Laney said. "What we did was a very creative law enforcement technique to lure individuals who had active criminal warrants to come to us."

He said mentioning Osbourne's name in the invitations was no different than a bar advertising a Super Bowl party by mentioning the teams playing in the game.

Laney said Monday's sting was done to let the community know his office was doing its best to serve about 3,000 outstanding warrants it must deal with.

"They get very creative in how they abscond from the law," the sheriff said of the wanted individuals. "We just got real creative in how we reeled them in," Laney said.
Not everyone is taking the sting personally, Laney said.

"Three people called to say, 'I got one of those letters. "Since you're being so creative, I'm turning myself in. Give me a court date,'" Laney said.