gorillakeeper's Xanga

Updating...

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:07:39 GMT

Well it has definitely been awhile and a lot has changed around here.

We are moved in to the new house and have been for over a month now. During the move I was so excited b/c I found the charger cord for my camera. I took a ton of pictures of the house newly painted - well at least primed - several rooms have yet to receive a coat of real paint. Unfortunately, the cable for the camera/computer has vanished.

I will be so glad when all my electronics come with compatible cables so that I don't have all these different cables for different items. My cell isn't the same as Dh's ...the two MP3 cables are different, the cameras each have their own and on and on and on...

So we are living in the new house and doing well. A mother bird has nested in our master bath windo. (There is a tear in the screen) She has hatched one incredibly noisy baby bird. If I can find a camera cable I will see if I can get a picture. The baby bird has no feathers yet and is ALL MOUTH He opens his mouth to yell - probably for mom to return with some food. When he opens that mouth his head just sort of vanishes.

We are making double mortgage payments b/c we haven't sold the other house. It should list later this week. We are just doing a bit more cleaning/repairing. I hope there is some handy man who really loves the neighborhood and wants a deal and a project for this winter....

I go back to work in a couple of weeks and then a week after that the kids go back to school also.

So it is time to start the back to school preparations. Funny but it just seems like yesterday that we finished the school year and started swim team.

The house

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 22:15:15 GMT

I know I have been telling friends and family about our 'new' house...you know the one that is Pottery Barn on Crack...Well I have pictures to back me up....

This is the eat-in wall in the kitchen

Yes that is oragne, yellow, pink and green......The green at the right of the picture (facing the picture) is the start of the cabinets. ......

Yep that is the rest of the kitchen.....

This is the master bedroom-- it is even MORE INTENSE in person.....Gotta love the black accent on the doors....(How did anyone sleep in this room???)

This is my favorite room.......this is the main bath - not the master bath. No shower...

The sinkds in the bathroom....(I hope they don't leak! Because of the main drain being broken we can't turn the water on to the second floor bathrooms)

What room is this? What color is this? This is one corner of ....drum roll please....the formal dining room. This loverly purple room is right off the kitchen.....Looks great after staring at the green and orange, don't you agree?

This is the bedroom my oldest will get - with a paint job of course...

The youngest picked this as her room. It is the only bedroom that is painted a normal bedroom color. Unfortunately it will have to be painted b/c the teen that frequented it used one wall and the doors for writing. (Appropriately my youngest is also a wall writer--- of course that stopped when she turned 4!)

This will be Patrick's room--- again with the paint job....It also might be the darkest room in the house....It is also the smallest bedroom......go figure (Patrick picked it because a smaller room will be easier to clean. That is the mind of a nine-year-old male for you)

This is the den. It is gray -not too bad--- again with the black accents. It too will be painted (note a theme here???)

This is the bow window in the living room and the view out the front of our house. The walls are gold which you can't really tell in the lighting here. This is where our Christmas tree will reside during December. (And I promised that we can have a live tree this year. Since we tossed the artificial one I guess I don't have a real choice)

This is what we found under the carpet in the family room.

And here is the fireplace.

(Sorry it is a bit out of focus).....Only one fireplace, but honestly, it isn't a selling feature we particularly care about. (And it needs to be cleaned and inspected - so isn't really functional at the moment)

Obviously stairs up to the second floor. Again with the green!

I don't have any pictures of the exterior. I wish I did. I ran out of space on my camera and figured I could just link the mls picture ---but they pulled the listing this week. (Guess we can't get out of it now)

I should encourage all of you to post some comments. I would love to read what others think of the place.

The house is about 3 times the size of where we are now - has an extra 1/2 bath (total of 2 1/2 baths) and a laundry on the main floor (yea! not in the unfinished basement). It has four bedrooms --- really five if you count the 'den' - which has a closet.

If we can get the garage doors replaced - we will be able to park BOTH cars inside. NO more storing shit in the garage. All our stuff should have room in the house.

I will also be doing a major declutter along with a garage sale before the move.

I am so excited....So excited that I am not panicking aobut how the hell we are going to pay for two houses on one income. (For those who didn't hear, my position with the school district ends the first of June. I am currently looking for full-time employment. If you know of any great jobs in the KC area - let me know!)

I sure hope I discover that I like to paint. Even if I like to paint, I am sure by the end of this project I will hate to paint.

Anyone want to volunteer to help paint? Oh we also need to pull up all the carpet.

I will try and get a picture of the outside next time I am in that area.

We bought the house......

Sun, 29 Mar 2009 23:31:57 GMT

For any of you following our family news lately-- we bought a house. Well they accepted our offer so if the financing goes through we will be the proud owners of a 2300+ square foot home......

Like all home purchases there are pluses and minuses.

On the plus side:

HUGE

4 large bedrooms

An eat in kitchen and formal dining room

A living room and family room-Family room had hardwoods (hopefully they are in decent shape)

AND a den!

Two story (which I like)

Laundry on the main floor

Two car garage

Decent sized yard

3 blocks from the elementary school (not the one my kids currently attend)

Much closer to our jobs (but we likely won't move in until about the time my jobis over)

Minuses:

Paint (which I originally posted as 'pain' - which is also true) job. I have been unable to describe the decorating style of the owners' until now ----drum roll please ---- Pottery Barn on Crack. (I will try to get some pictures to prove this point before we paint some boring colors.)

Needs work - as in paint (see previous minus) and carpet

Yard is soggy after the snow

Lost of stairs

No gas dryer hook-up

No appliances other than the dishwasher (we hope it works)

Middle school is in walking distance but across a highway. Same with the high school, but oldest insists she will not be attending there. Go figure we moved to be closer to work and to get her to school with her soccer friends!)

Will post more as we progress.... Tomorrow we work on additional loan application stuff and scheduling the inspection. And I guess interest rates have dropped yet again so we may be getting a really good deal!!!!

If you know anyone looking for a deal on a small house in north OP - ours is going to be available ----- nneds work (but will be painted neutral colors - no 'crack' painting allowed here.)

Catching up or going full circle

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 14:19:33 GMT

Well it appears that I have been really neglectful of my blog. Not without reason; however it appears that reason will soon be gone gone gone........

I will backtrack to bring anyone who is reading this up to speed. Then it will all come to a screeching halt....as that seems to be where I am headed at the moment.

Back in August I started a new job. I went to work with the local school district part time. The job is great. BUT 20 hours a week of paid employment eats into my knitting and computer time.

I was hired as the Career and Technical Education Liaison. It is a job that really matches my interests and education. My prior work experience dove tails nicely into it as well.

Making the switch from higher ed. proved a bit difficult. I stilll tend to think about it as the students as my 'clients'. And there are so many things to consider besides student needs.

For those of you who don't know what I am doing or talking about, Career and Technical Education is the 'work' side of school. The best way I can describe it is the opportunities for students to apply their education to a specific field.

Many of you may be familiar with the 'old' Voc Ed programs---auto shop, home ec and various co-op or learn/earn programs. Well that is part of CATE but CATE is so much more. Most kids now who take these classes go on to college---Our school district has a 'pre-med signature program' that focuses on career prep in the medical field --- advanced nursing, physicians, veterinarians and the likd.......I won't go into any more detail, but it does give you the idea.

I have been knitting and will try and get some pictures up soon. I have been mosly knitting socks. Have been making them for myself and trying toe up. Thanks to Jo Minor I found a heel that I like for the toe up.

I am finally comfortable enough with sock construction that I think I might try my hand at pattern design.

I have way more plans of projects to knit than I do hours to accomplish this. However, that may be about to change....here is the 'screeching halt' portion.

Since I work in education in a state with a deficit (hmmm wonder if there are any states not in financial trouble?) - I knew my job future would be uncertain. Now keep in mind that nothing has been finalized in the state budgets - but they know the school districts will be getting less money than promised this year and even less next year.

It is sort of an algebra equation where there is no way to figure the unknowns.....

Anyway, last week the 'higher ups' had to cut supply budgets 5%, moritorium on travel outside the state and a hiring freeze. We got word of these things over the weekend.

Monday our staff meeting was canceled b/c the staff was too busy to meet. Now I should also mention that last week I was given a number of 'deadlines' for project --- deadlines moved up by over a month. I was suspicious at the time. Yesterday I got an email from the boss asking myself and another worker to readjust our work hours to attend a meeting at 1 on Thurs.

Now usually my boss would tell me the content of a meeting - so that I would know what to bring/prepare. This note indicates none of that. (Oh and if she were scheduling a meeting she wouldn't demand that I 'flex' my schedule.)

I am reasonably sure that this meeting is going to be the giving of some sort of bad news--- pay cut, hours reduction, position elimination, lay off or some equally depressing item.

Guess when I go in today I am going to need to submit my milage report pronto. Hopefully my boss will approve it - since I don't think I will be able to find a lawyer to help me sue over 25 miles or so at .50 a mile.

Now I am trying to stay focused on the job at hand. I have four hours to work today - flexed hours to accommodate the district. I am conducting training for some teachers tonight. Well this afernoon.

It means I will need to miss my regular knit night..which I consider a great sacrifice on my part.

Funny, but I should have known when they say that they want you to work 4 hours a day but that you also can 'flex' your time -- that their idea of flexing is to accommodate their schedule and not yours.

So, soon I may be knitting more, typing more and eating less (not that that is a bad thing) ---oh and doing fun things like filing for unemployment (which I might not be eligible for anyway) looking for another job, trying to figure out my insurance coverage, deciding what to do with my daughter's school (we transferred her next year to be closer to my work!)

I am not going to leave this blog on a 'down' moment. Since I don't go into work until 2 today, I will have time this morning to knit a bit. (I am guessing under the circumstance my hubby will forgive me for not cleaning house all morning.....not like it won't be waiting when I have more free time)

I am currently knitting a pair of socks with Honey of a Hurricane pattern. One of my knitter friends designed the pattern and I am really thrilled with how it is knitting up. WIth a little luck I will have the things done today and maybe some pictures up tomorrow.

CRAZY LADY......

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 18:37:42 GMT

I decided to blog this so that I could post to several places and send people here if they want to read the whole saga.

I have a group of moms that sort of hang out at the pool together. Our kids play pretty well together and for a while some of the girls went to school together. One of the moms XXX has begun to get to everyone. She has always been high drama. This past summer the drama really escalated.

The events all sort of stack on one another making it really hard to give a big overview w/out writing a book. Let me just say that XXX has to be the center of every conversation. And she is very confrontational with people, including pool staff when she thinks she or her kids have been slighted or mistreated. She also has a tendency to 'misrepresent' the truth. She will take a little 'piece' and put her own spin on it depending on her audience.

For some reason over the past week she has decided that one of the other moms. "K" is mad at her. "K" is not mad - just needed a break and was trying to distance herself.

XXX had a birthday party at the pool for her daughter and that is where the real escalation took place. When K's daughter arrived XXX pulled her away from her friends to speak with her in 'private'. According to K. her daughter was asked 'Why does your mom hate me?'. When this information got back to 'K' she was livid with XXX. She couldn't believe the woman would involve a child in this BS.

Last night K called XXX and asked about the incident.XXX told her that it was the other way around and that K's daughter is the one who approached her. (Since I saw XXX approach the girl when she arrived, I know it isn't what happened)

Anyway, there was a HUGE blowup as K completely lost it. She gave the woman like 3 chances to pony up to the truth. All K wanted was assurance that the other mom would NOT approach her daughter in the future.

K called me after this happened b/c she was sure that XXX would call me. And sure enough about 30 minutes later my phone rang. I was not in the mood to get involved so I ignored the phone. (It was 8:30 and my kids were getting ready for bed too.) About 15 minutes later she called back. I didn't get up then . Although Dh and I did discuss what we would do if she continued to call. The next time I got up I checked messages. The first message was the standard 'give me a call'.

The second call was where she crossed the line for the final time with me. Now I am not directly quoting b/c I can't stand to listen to the message again. She said, I heard you and K were talking about how much you all spent on A's (her daughter) birthday present and that you all just came to the party b/c of her. If you will call me and tell me how much you spent, I will pay you for it. If not, tomorrow I will bring the present back to your house.

First off, I never talked with ANYONE about 'how much' I spent on the present. (And to be really honest, I have never spent so little on a present - but it was a super great clearance item)

I am so upset that that she would even consider making her kid return a present for ANY reason.

And of course we came to the party b/c of A - it was her b-day party! Um isn't that what they are about?

The more I think about it, the more I think she was just trying to get me to call her. I am not playing this game. It has been too long since I have been in high school. And I didn't like those high school games when I was a high schooler.

Thank goodness the pools close next week and I probably won't run into her again until next summer.

Well, unless she comes over today to return the present.

Hi Ho....Hi Ho It's off to work......

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:58:53 GMT

Well all, it has finally happened. I managed to not only apply for a series of jobs and sit through two interviews---I have now accepted a part-time position with the kids' local school district.

It has been an interesting couple of weeks and I have learned a lot....

First of all, staying out of the work force 10 years is easy....getting back in ...not so.....

Education field references are hard to find during early August. None of them are sitting at their desks waiting for phone calls from my potential employers.

Some previous employers have horrible referencing ability. Case in point, my last employer told not ONE but TWO district personnel that they "had no record' of my ever working at the college. Turns out they don't have records of ANYONE working there prior to 2000. Now you would think when I had contacted the HR director a year ago, she would have mentioned this fact. Well, she also didn't bother to mention when she agreed to be a reference that her assistant wouldn't let any calls get through to her.

The internet is a wonderful resource for tracking down former bosses and co-workers. In a last ditch effort to convince the employers that I didn't lie about working at a small, private college in Ohio I ended up trying to locate a number of former co-workers.

And the final big lesson I learned is to never count someone out. In the final hours of my job search I needed to get a reference from a former supervisor. The first one I found was my last boss--- the last person I would think would be a good reference for me. She responded very quickly to my emails, called my now employer immediately and emailed me to let me know that she was sure I would be getting an offer that afternoon. And true to her word - by 3:30 I had an offer.......I am so glad I took the chance!

Now I have to get TB tested and have a physical (I am not looking when they weigh me). I am hoping to start on Monday........

Oh the job? Career and Technology Education Liaison. It is a 20 hour a week part time position. I will work 4 hours a day. Not sure how I will set the day up - but I think it will be up to me.......

No Handlebars, No Handlebars

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 01:20:45 GMT

I think this is a fitting title...

Last Friday- no it was Thursday.....I had the pleasure of dealing with air conditioning crap. Tuesday night the unit froze up. Wednesday afternoon hubby and I had a brief conversation about it. It ended with his threatening to just call someone to fix it and my suggesting that he talk to the neighbor man first. The lovely neighbor has added freon to the unit for the last couple of summers - saving us hundreds I am sure....

So, Wed. the neighbor came over...added some freon and then my hubby arranged to buy him another tank of freon. Now what this really means is hubby called his BIL who is a heating and cooling guy. As luck would have it (I won't say whether that luck is good or bad) his wife was coming to town for other A/C bits and could get us a tank.....After I got over the shock of the $200 price tag (and a gentle reminder that any visit from a local repairman who was not a kindly neighbor would cost a whole lot more!) I learned that I would be the one meeting my sil somewhere in the metro to exchange said $200 for a tank of freon....

Did I also mention that I had been cleaning the house like mad in anticipation of my parents pending visit for the weekend ?(OH my brother was coming too--- he reads my blog so I better be sure and mention this since he was the primary driver too.)

Hubby gives me directions to the meeting place. And then the next morning I was to await 'the call'...When the call came --- it was after 11 and it was one of my other sils (I have 10 of them - I think). She said they were waiting for me. Unfortunately I had no clue where they were waiting as it wasn't where my hubby told me we were meeting. I told my sil that and she hung up to call him. A few minutes later he called to tell me that htey were lost but would be meeting me at the org. location. He then proceded to give my alternative directions to said location. This is not a good thing as it confuses me.

I began to follow his directions- telling myself over and over- "do not get on 670" as he so carefully had instructed me. ALL was going well until I hit a detour which told me I need to get on to 670. GREAT. I am convinced if I go on this road all hell will break lose - or I will be terminally lost in a cloverleaf somewhere in greaty Kansas City. I call hubby who tells me to go ahead and follow the detour. He then stays on the line to make sure I don't end up spending the weekend lost in a cloverleaf.

I get one block from the meeting point and get read to hang up with hubby when he informs me he has a call coming in from his sister. He comes back on the line as the light changes - and informs me that my sil is lost again. She isn't where she is to meet me but rather somewhere else. AND now I need to go where she is b/c she had gone farther North.

Okay, now I have driven 40 miles and am clearly not happy. Hubby can't explaiin to me how his sister got lost.....

I realize none of this is his fault - but I am fed up.Here I am driving around when I could be at home enjoying the functioning A/C.

I finally meet up with my sil. Exchange money for freon. And as I am heading out I tell her...."Gee it is too bad you husband didn't let you borrow his GPS"....

Her reply: "Oh I have it right here!"

So tell me how do you get lost not once but twice w/in 10 miles WITH GPS?
(BTW the drive home took 15 minutes and was under 20 miiles)

Every now and then....

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 19:11:03 GMT

you just have to take a stand. Today was my day. Also known as, how I threw a minor fit in Marshalls.

The kids and I decided to go check out the swimwear selection at Marshalls.

Both the girls found suits they liked but I wasn't sure the size was right. Patrick found one he liked, but this mom didn't like the price.

After the girls made their selections I told them we needed to try them on to be sure. We got to the fitting room and the girls went in....

AND THEN...

The woman at the 'gate' said "I am sorry ma'am but he can't go back there" as she pointed in my son's direction. Now I know that my girls probably would have been okay trying on the suits alone...BUT I knew they were likely to just tell me they fit w/out coming out to show me. AND there was NO WAY I was leaving my 8 year old out in the store alone while I went in with the girls.

I called the girls back out and didn't let them try their clothing on. We left the store w/out making any purchases.

The girls were quite mad-- and I was a bit frustrated that I was put in that spot. There really should be a way for a parent to have all their kids together...Don't they have a family fitting room for these situations? I think they should have. What if it had been my son wanting to try something on? I mean if he can't go back with the girls- I surely couldn't go back w/ my son. And I am also assuming the female employee couldn't go back there either----So what do single parents do? Do they just let kids go in alone and hope nothing bad happens? Do they just buy stuff and return it if it doesn't fit?

I definitely think I like the fitting rooms at Burlington Coat Factory better. They are central to the store...and They didn't have a problem with me going in with all three of my kids-- into one closet sized fitting room.

If fitting rooms are in a hallway -- and each room has a door that closes, why can't kids be back there? I can understand women not wanting to be seen undressing in front of a boy- but there really isn't any way for that to happen if they are IN a fitting room. (And I really don't want my son seeing random women in various states of undress either.)

Hmmmm I think I may email the Marshalls and suggest at 'unisex -family fitting room'....

Don't want to be committed ...or lessons I have learned over and over....

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 20:41:13 GMT

It seems there are some life lessons or recurrent themes. I hope that this time around I have actually acquired whatever knowledge I needed and that I don't have to keep repeating the learning.....

Back when I was in college I had a boyfriend (well actually at various times I had different boyfriends) who had a very interesting comment to make early on in our relationship. He told me he didn't want to be committed but he didn't want to see anybody else. At the time I pondered this and then promptly ignored it. I mean I was deeply and completely in love. I had no illusions that we would marry, have kids and live happily ever after. I did, however believe that we loved each other and would be together for some length - if not forever.......

Silly me! Some two and a half years later (he would likely say 2 years and that is fine too...I mean once it is over it really doesn't matter any more - unless you want to whine about the wasted time and energy) I learned what he meant.....

His little statement meant that when he found something better he didn't want to field guilty about moving on to the new person.

Fast forward to the present day. NO don't worry, my family and marriage are fine. It is my dd's soccer world that fell victim to the "I don't want to be committed" syndrome.

Last year my dd started to play premier soccer -- she tired out for three teams and got offers from two. One of those teams gave us an ultimatum...decide in one hour......We ended uip committing to that team and spendinga LOT of money to keep her playing. Needless to say we were quick to learn that the commitment was a one-way street.

It is obvious to me that they wanted her around until they found something better. When we learned that her coach was going from 2 to 1 team we became concerned about her place with the team - but never got a straight answer from them.

We decided to try out for the two teams where she had offers the previous year- which meant she would be trying out for the club she currently plays for and another local club where I really liked the coach.

She got her first offer the night after first try outs. We asked for 24 hours to wait for a call from my dd's current club. Dh was really committed to being loyal to them. I, on the other hand, was less than loyal. In fact if it had been up to me we would have been done with them at that point.

Dd did go attend the second day of tryouts. At the first day of tryouts she spoke to her coach, who encouraged us to come back out. (The two teams would be three though he would only be coaching one of them)

NEVER once did he suggest that we try out anywhere else or suggest my dd might be happier playing a different position. NEVER did he indicate that they really weren't looking at her for the team. (The coach of the team that made us an offer encourages his players to go to tryouts elsewhere - and asks the girls who try out for him how the other try outs have gone)

At the seond day of tryouts the players were told that offers would be going out.

Now we had pretty much determined that Dd wasn't going to get a spot. But you would think we would get a courtesty call ---"we're sorry we dont' have a spot but we appreciate your involvement this year" or something along those lines.

And of course I probably sound really bitter, but I know that had we decided we didn't want to play for them during the year we would have been told that we had made a 'committment' or that we should be 'loyal'..

I suppose there still is the off chance that she will get a call or an offer. They have one more tryout scheduled and I know that other clubs are still holding tryouts so some girls may be delaying accepting. Needless to say, I know what our answer will be if we get an offer.

Oh and in the good soccer news...the team we accepted with will actually be two teams that will ultimately combine into one team (either spring or fall). My dd will be rostered so that she can play on both teams.....ANd as of this afternoon she will be the only goalie. I hope she is up for it....that means two games every weekend!!!!

(Oh the pressure....I may need to get a defibrillator for my own heart.)

As her new coach says "tyouts are called the silly season" ...AND I must agree with him completely......

Bilingual ....

Sat, 24 May 2008 00:42:04 GMT

Monday night my oldest was at her goal keeper clinic. The youngest and I both needed to use the restroom. The soccer fields belong to the junior high and so we trotted across the parking lot to see if we could get into the building. Usually there are a bunch of the girls from swim team waiitng for rides that will let us in, but no such luck. So we hurried to the front door. The custodian was taking down the flag and went back in the building. Thankfully the door didn't lock behind him.

Upon entering the building, I looked at him, pointed to my dd and said 'potty emergency'. I could immediately tell by the look on his fact that he didn't understand. Without giving it much thought I summoned up the one sentence that I predeicted so many years ago in Spanish I would be the only thing I would remember ....Donde es el bano? (sorry I am too lazy to switch to the Spanish keys.) I was amazed with how easily those words flowed from my lips. Normally I am reluctant to use my somewhat weak Spanish skills - unless I know the person fairly well. (The bilingual boy in my dd's kindergarten class refuses to asnwer me when I speak Spanish to him- but maybe his parents have told him to only use English at school.) The custodian looked at me and asked "banos" ...'Si, banos.'

Oh my goodness I suddenly remembered one crucial thing.....As he began to tell me where the bathrooms were I had NO CLUE what he was telling me.....Thanks to a gesture or two I figured out that he must have said ...down the hall and to the right. Anyway, we found the bathroom.......

And I said a quick prayer of thanks up to my high school Spanish teacher.

I really was only half joking in his class when I said that was the only phrase I was likely to remember and use....

Well, I can also tell you that your feet stink...But I figure 'them's fightin' words' so I keep them to myself. (I wouldn't know what insult was shot back at me unless they told me that my feet stink more!"