CLEANING, MOVIES, & ANNULMENT

My mom had the girls Friday night since Darren wasn't able to pick up the girls over the weekend due to snow and bad roads. I wanted to get my house cleaned up and my friend Brandi wanted to do a movie night. I told Brandi if she helped me clean, we could watch movies over here. Brandi got the shaft of the deal when she offered to clean the toy room and the girls' bedroom while I cleaned the kitchen and living room. The toy room looked like what was left after the Battle of Okinawa and the bedroom resembled the bombing of Hiroshima.

It didn't take too long to get the house in order and we were ready to watch movies. Brandi brought over Changling, Quarantine, and Twilight. Changling and Twilight were very good. Quarantine was okay but I expected better. During Quarantine, the horses had gotten out of the fence and my big sorrel mare came up to the house and starred through the living room window. Brandi was in the recliner chair next to the window. She happened to look over her shoulder and got a look at the horse. She screamed and her butt came 3 feet off the recliner. I thought her reaction was hilarious, but she wasn't as impressed. We had to pause the movie so that I could go out and put the horses back in the pasture.

Yesterday I decided to call up the neighbors and invite them over for supper. I had two chickens in the oven and had a bunch of potatoes peeled. I left messages telling the neighbors to let me know if the couldn't make it. Around 2 o'clock Randy Silliman called and said he and Brenda wouldn't be making it over because they decided to take their son out for an early birthday supper. Bob and Nancy Silliman never called so I thought they would be coming over but they never showed up. The only one that did show was my father. I was a bit disappointed, but hey, it happens. I send a bunch of chicken home with my dad since there was no way the girls and I could eat two chickens ourselves. Maybe the next time around there will be a better attendance.

I haven't gotten my annulment for the Catholic church taken care of yet. I started thinking about it the other day and decided it is time to take care of it. I spoke to my mom and she is going to get the forms and stuff I need. My mom is concerned because we have a really staunch, old time priest and thinks he will stop offering me communion when he finds out I'm divorced and will not offer it to me until the annulment is complete. There is also a fee for the annulment. I don't know who came up with a fee for an annulment. They should be shot. Honestly, is it necessary to make someone pay for a document saying that it is okay to remarry inside the Catholic church, otherwise your divorce is not noticed by the church and you cannot remarry inside the church until then?!?! The annulment I am okay with, it's the fee that irks me. I think it's just another way for the church to pad their pockets a little deeper. Hey, it's perfectly fine with me to remarry in a grassy field of wildflowers instead of a church....in fact, I would prefer it, but whatcha going to do about it. It's better to deal with it than make a big stink about it. Gripping will not fix anything anyway.

VENTING

Yesterday my mom, I, and the girls went to Minot and did some shopping. We stopped and picked up my mom's aunt, and then went to the mall so I could get some good Wrangler jeans at RCC and a new Stephen King book at Barnes & Noble. The girls were upset because there isn't a pet store in the Minot mall anymore, so we had to make a special trip to a pet store a few blocks from the mall so that the girls could see animals. I thought they were going to try to come home with all sorts of pets, but they didn't. I was surprised. After the mall, we headed over to the Super Wal-Mart to pick up some standard stuff. I also got a DVD player for the flat screen TV in my bedroom. Now I can watch my western shows in bed.

Jessie has been a handful lately. She is digging into everything. She gets into my fridge and just helps herself to everything in there. She climbs up the cupboards and pulls out all the fruit snacks, cereal, and cookies. She is constantly digging in my make-up, and just recently discovered extreme enjoyment in putting cat litter in the bathtub. All my floors are just awfully nasty and she even got my white comforter in my bedroom full of crap. I swear the little girl should have been born a boy.

I need to do some fencing. My mom's black/white blanket appaloosa colt, Oreo, has gotten into the habit of stomping down the fence and walking over it when it gets low enough. I have to tighten the snot out of the fence, then I am going to surprise the bastard by running an electric line across the top. After being buzzed by the fence a few times, I am sure Oreo will stop stepping on it.

I have been a little mad, upset, angry, and sad the last couple of weeks. One of the last times that Darren brought the girls back from Minot he told me he is getting married to the woman he left me for. I know I shouldn't care. We are divorced and it's time for both of us to move on and do our own things, but it still hurts.....A LOT. I guess I was always hoping that he would get his head out of his ass and come home, but now I know that he will never come back. I got really upset today when the girls and I met him in Devils Lake so he could see them before we went swimming. He had this ugly hickey on his neck that looked like a bruise. I didn't say anything to him, but I got so mad by just seeing that, that I had to walk away or I was going to loose it in front of everyone. I don't understand why all of this still makes me so upset. I wish that he would just fall off the face of the earth. I don't want to here about how his life is going on and I am trying to survive with the girls in a hick town where I am the only person of my age. However, I choose to live here because of my horses and I like the people, but, because of the girls, he will always be in my life so I have to learn how to adjust to everything he does. I guess I have to learn how to move on myself.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SIS!

Yesterday afternoon the girls and I went to do some quick grocery shopping in Rugby because we are supposed to get some icky weather starting this evening through Wednesday. After we got done shopping, I took the girls over to the Pizza Hut for supper.

My mom may take the girls this evening for me and keep them overnight so I can finish up my house, do laundry, and enjoy an evening of peace. I just may to go bed early after everything is taken care of. Daylight savings is really messing with me.

I need to shout out to my sister in Minneapolis. Today is her 36th birthday. I am sure she and her friends have something fun planned for tonight. Getting up for work tomorrow is going to be terrible. Also, a word to the wise, careful how much you consume. The older you get, the longer it takes to recover. I have been learning this myself.

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend and got something constructive accomplished. Peace out cub scouts!

SAME STUFF, DIFFERENT DAY

My butt has really been dragging the last couple of days. The girls and Eris really started to run me down the last two days of Eris's stay. I am still cleaning up stuff and getting things back into their proper order. Darren wasn't able to take the girls this weekend for me. I guess everyone is sick at his house. I don't blame him for not wanting them. Taking care of sick kids isn't fun. However, I did get a pleasant surprise.

Yesterday around 6 o'clock, Brandi called me. She had arranged babysitters for both of us so we could have a well deserved girls night out. She arrived at my house a half hour later with her niece, Kayla. I gave Kayla instructions for the girls normal bedtime routine and then Brandi and I headed out the door to the movie theater in Devils Lake. Brandi took me to see The Watchmen. I thought the movie was okay. It started out really slow and boring and then it started to get good about the last 20 minutes of the movie. If anyone is thinking about seeing this show, I would suggest renting it instead of spending the $7 at a show hall. We headed back to Leeds right after the show and stopped at KJ's Bar. It was packed with people celebrating a bachelor/bachelorette party. Brandi and I knew a lot of people there, and before we knew it, it was closing time. Then we headed home.

Today Brandi and I took all the kids swimming at The School For The Deaf again. The kids all played and swam together very well. After swimming we got supper at McDonald's for the kids. I really want to keep doing this with the girls. They have so much fun their.

I was able to find hay from a man that lives North of Leeds. The hay is old so I will have to get a pitchfork and remove the outside wrap from the bales and then pitch the better hay underneath into the bale feeder. I have also started to grain the horses pretty heavily. The more grain they eat, the less hay they will go through. I am going to have to sit down this summer and do some serious planning for next winter. I do not want to get stuck in this position again.

I am proud of myself. Tonight I installed a wireless router so that I could run my home computer and my laptop on the internet at the same time. I got everything working correctly on the first go. I have never done anything computer techy....so YAY ME!

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The girls and I have enjoyed our time with Eris. They have spent a lot of time playing and watching movies. Yesterday evening I was able to catch a little break. My mom watched the girls and put them to bed while I was at a city council meeting. Rainy and Jason should be out here on Thursday evening to pick her up. I am thinking of getting a hold of my girls' daddy to see if he would care to have them this weekend so I can catch a little break. It would be nice to sit in a quiet house and relax for a couple of days after this past week.

I still have to get my car into the mechanic shop to be worked on. I think I am going to try calling Cenex here in York to see if they can work on the car for me. That way I do not have to take it all the way to Leeds and hopefully they can get it done in a day. I also won't have to worry about needing a vehicle, since they are right in town, they may be able to come over and just pick it up. That would be perfect.

They hay search is still on. I am sure we will find some eventually. I have been a little worried about not finding hay since I heard that people have been selling their livestock because they don't have enough hay to feed them. However, I am a very optimistic person (sometimes too optimistic for my own good) and I am sure something will come along.