EDD

B. applied for disability benefits. Did it all on his own including going to the doctor and getting all the paperwork filled out. He told J. that whatever he gets for disability, he will give to me since today is the last day of February and he has yet to pay anything towards his monthly expenses - due on the 1st of every month.

With relief, he was notified that he's been approved and will receive a payment of $344.57! Yeah!

They are sending a debit card with the funds loaded onto the card.

There are instructions for how to transfer those funds to a bank account.

Here's hoping 'cuz he can't pay his parents his insurance contribution, cell phone payment, etc. with a debit card.

We're not that sophisticated.

He returns to work on 3/5. His ankle/foot is much better. He's still not back to running but he is able to get around. We'll see how he does on his feet for his first shift and if it swells up again, he'll go back to the doctor to go back on disability and then get the MRI.

J. is at a work dinner thing so he won't be home until late. I picked up Subway sandwiches for dinner. And also stopped to get Lotto tickets and then milk at the grocery store. There were girl scouts outside and since not a single girl has come to my door to sell me cookies, I bought five boxes ($20 total) from them. And that was after also buying a bag of the stores baked chocolate chip cookies. Those were for H. 'cuz they are his favorite.....chewy and delicious!

I should never go to the store when I'm hungry. Two gallons of milk and $25.50 in cookies. Not a good trip. OH - and a warm loaf of sweet french bread just out of the oven.....

We have a meeting at work tomorrow so I am making cake batter rice krispie treats - a Pinterest recipe!

Pressure

One word: Pinterest.

Have you tried it? Follow anyone? I did. And now I do.

But even worse than that?

People are following me.

I am not creating any new ideas. I look at some of the remarkable things people 'pin' on their boards - things they or others have come up with....and I just marvel.

Tic Tac boxes for ribbon holders. Brilliant! Take toilet paper rolls and slit down the tube and then use it as a 'clip' for wrapping paper. Also brilliant!

It's too much pressure to get emails all day telling me 'so and so is now following you on Pinterst'. Yikes. Too much responsibility for a non-creative type like me.

It is great fun and I've found really clever ideas and great recipes. And a possible solution for our awkward corner pantry dilemma - have the guy install giant lazy suzans on each and every shelf. Use the unused side spaces for other storage but store the bulk of the items on the turntables. It's brilliant and just might be the solution to our 'what in the world can we do to the pantry to make it more usable' question.

Sidenote: we joined Angie's list to help find the businesses that can help us with our house projects. The fence guy was a good choice.

We are also looking to get additional insulation in the garage ceiling. The insulation company we called today tried to convince J. that we most likely had adequate insulation. He is so wrong. Ever watch 'Holmes on Homes'? In virtually every house he visits, homes with rooms over the garage are almost always seriously lacking insulation. Given the other things our builder has taken short cuts with - and given that you can walk through our garage in the summer and feel the AC from above or walk through in the winter and feel the heat from above - we are positive we need more insulation. They 'finished' the garage without doing much (if any) insulating. But the guy didn't want to come out. So now I have to decide. Do I leave a comment - mainly just mentioning that he didn't seem to want to come out as far as Tracy and instead, tried to convince us our insulation was adequate? 'Cuz that's how Angie's List works - the more reviews you get, the more likely a search will result in your business being listed. And then the good/bad reviews create a 'grade' - so others will see how they did. It's another sort of 'pressure' thing....do we leave a so-so comment on the guy who really just didn't want to come out to Tracy?

And in the mean time, we're still looking for someone who can come check the insulation to see if it really is enough. I mean, at the very least, if we were willing to pay for a 'service call' to have it checked out, shouldn't the guy come out?

And my final 'pressure' themed subject is: my sinuses are a mess. I washed my face in the shower this morning and literally can't touch my face without it hurting. My eyes are sore. My teeth hurt. Time for Claritin!

Leap!

Happy Leap Year! Someone retired at the County Office of Education - and I'm sure he retired yesterday 'cuz if you retire on 2/29, you can only celebrate the anniversary of your retirement once every four years!

Elephants

A quick post to break my weekend only posting mode. And a shout out and thanks to my cousin S. who emailed me this morning to tell me she enjoys reading my blog. You made my day! Week! Month!

It's just past 6AM and I am throwing caution to the wind and not rushing! No meetings today - unheard of. So a nice day of plodding through all the stuff that requires plodding.

I borrowed Like Water for Elephants from the Kindle lending library and am now rushing to read it - postponing the 3rd Hunger Games book for awhile. Everyone says Elephants is an awesome read - and I agree. But it's also making me uncomfortable. Animal cruelty makes me sad. In any form. Even in a great story. So I read it and just feel 'sick' all the time - and have to say I'm not enjoying it much. I'm about 1/2 way through and it's all I can do to keep going....I hope the ending makes the torture worth it.

B. is heading up to MEPS again Thursday. His appeal was approved....so we'll see what that means and what will happen next. He said if they offer him a Ranger contract, he's going to sign it that day. So we wait. It's never as 'easy' or 'clear' as he implies so I am sort of cautious about getting all excited about something that may not happen. On a good note, his ankle is much better and he returns to work Monday.

H. is looking and looking for a job - went to a warehouse in town and applied. Took two tests to 'qualify' for applying (actually filling out an application for employment) and then was able to apply - but still, he waits. Poor kid is scrubbing the tile grout in the family room with bleach to earn money. It's tough work but he does an hour or two a day for some pocket money.

Cleaning ladies come today! Yeah!

We started getting a delivery every other week of farm-fresh organic produce. Last night, I sauteed leeks and kale in a little butter. Season salt and garlic. It was yummy. Also steamed fresh broccoli and a pink cauliflower. Tonight we're steaming beets and turnips - from Winco, not the farm. More veggies in our diet is a good thing. Only problem is: I appear to have tossed the list of items in the farm box and there are two 'root' looking things that I have no idea what they are nor how to prepare them. I think we'll peel them, chunk them and steam them. Hard to go wrong with steam. I hope.

I spent all day yesterday feeling like it was Tuesday. After two Mondays in a row off, it was hard to accept that I was actually going to have to work a Monday. It was a long, long day.

Today should be better -

Cat in the Box

This is Klink sleeping in his 'box'. The box is a shoe box lid - left on the floor when J. got new shoes a few months back. Klink started sitting it in - first just sitting on his haunches and then curling up in the lid.

I brought home a copier paper box lid from work thinking he'd like a bigger space.

He didn't. This is his favorite place to curl up and sleep lately. Guess the box lid provides just enough resistance to help him curl up and get warm and snuggly all by himself.

And yes, he is huge. 15 pounds at least. He's ginormous. And as sweet as he can be.

Except when he's peeing on the floor. Then I want to kill him.

But I won't. His green eyes are beautiful and bright and he adores us all...including Chloe. He is an extraordinary cat. The Cat in the Box.

Squeeze

Observations on life....

Why is there never a sale on Farmville cash when I need Farmville cash? I don't mind paying for the game currencies on Zynga - but I always, ALWAYS buy it when it's on sale. FV hasn't had a sale in forever....and I am out. Argh!

Last night, we went to the new Squeeze Inn that just opened. I have a picture on my cell phone of the absolutely magnificent Squeeze Burger with Cheese. The cheese is a 'cheese skirt' and they are famous for it. Ever accidentally spill grated cheese on a griddle and let it cook into a scrumptious melted cheese 'coin'? I used to call them 'skittles' - and they didn't happen often 'cuz who would ever think of grilling cheese? Just cheese? But that's what the cheese skirt is on this burger - a giant 'skirt' of cheese that extends well past the bun to form a skirt around the burger. I savored every bite of that crispy, melted cheese and then finally got to the burger - just as delicious! It was yummy!! A nice treat - definitely not something I could eat every day. So..I have a picture but I've emailed it to myself and to J. several times and it isn't coming through our emails. Darn it! 'cuz a description via words doesn't do it justice.

Yesterday, J. and I did our annual torture session of finalizing our taxes. Entering our donated 'items' onto the It'sDeductible site and then importing it into our tax software. We finally finished and viola! This year, what we owe to the feds, we are getting back from the state! So for the first time in YEARS, we are breaking even! It's a miracle. I'm so excited!! We're still going to wait until April to file - and will triple/quadruple check before we submit. But boy, what a relief!

I culled out the pantry a bit today and thought to myself 'I could save us the expense of having this redone if I would just take a half hour every week to cull/tidy/organize and inventory what's there'. So that's my 'new' goal - keep it tidy and organized and not over-full and then perhaps we won't spend $2-3K to have it ripped out and redone? We'll see.

I am heading to my office for a couple of hours - not too many meetings this week but there are parts of a major report that are better done in quiet and solitude with no interruptions - so that's what I plan to do.

It's another absolutely gorgeous day outside. Watched two doves on the fence this morning 'grooming' each other. Sweetest things. Heard them cooing to each other...also sweet. Spring is so close....

Only on Weekends

I'm becoming a blogger who only posts on weekends - which implies that there is no 'life' happening here between M-F. Sort-of-kind-of true given that the stuff happening during the week is work related...there are shitloads of crap happening M-F but as they most decidedly ARE work related and I dare not write about them, that leaves slim pickings during the week. I come home each evening tamping down all the 'stuff' that simmers through my day and attempt to regroup enough to have some semblance of decent sleep. Sleep being my one 'must have' thing in life. Well, sleep and coffee. And Starbucks. And possibly Castleville. OK - I am apparently more high-need than I like to admit.

The other stuff happening M-F that relates to the two young adult males living here is just the usual run-of-the-mill stuff. At a work lunch yesterday, one of my co-workers shared that she can't ever imagine not wanting to spend every waking minute with her children. She has two adorable blond boys - ages 3 and just turned 1 - and she is pained to be apart from them every day while she's at work. She simply wants to 'immerse' herself in them 24/7 and can't imagine ever feeling any other way. Just not possible, she said. And all the parents of teens piped up and said 'oh, just give it about 10-13 years and see where you're at with that'. She said 'I will miss them so much' and I said 'I want to miss mine. I'm looking forward to missing them. Let the missing them begin ASAP'. She can't relate - yet. But someday, she will. The great circle of life and all that. It isn't about loving them - I adore and love my kids with every ounce of my being. But my rational self doesn't actually like one of them too much these days - and the other one is a joy most of the time....but he's far from self supporting. They both are....and that pains me. Both in my wallet and in my heart. Boys....they just take a long time to mature.

There are so many things happening at work that when my boss and I go to lunch, we have taken to making a list of the things we are going to fret about and the things we aren't. The state's budget crisis is making our district budget a nightmare and it's been hard for me to cope with. Not that the last five years have been any kind of cake walk on the budget front - the economic crisis started shortly after I started my job in 2007 - but we are at a very different place after weathering five years of drastically reduced revenue. It stresses me out a fair amount....so it helps to prioritize what to focus the stress on, actually - instead of just stressing about every little thing. It will all resolve - one way or another - and while it's certainly hard for us now, I take sad comfort in realizing that as hard as it is for us, there are other districts in our county and state that are far more perilously on the brink than we have ever been - or hopefully ever will be. It's just sad times for education - and remember that the people who will suffer the most are kids. We continue to focus every effort on preserving what we have for the students we serve - but boy, howdy - that's getting really, really challenging. Scary times in our state.

It's a beautiful, sunny Saturday. H. is upstairs cleaning! His room is spotless and he's now vacuuming the upstairs. Next he will come downstairs and scrub the tile grout with bleach. He's earning money to go with friends to Bass Pro Shop and maybe the movies. I don't know what there is to do at Bass Pro Shop but apparently, it's a happening place 'cuz B. frequently goes there with his friends, too. B. is in Marysville visiting a friend and is expected home today sometime. Never know his schedule. Oh well.

I am heading out to run errands soon. And plan to do some gardening. Our bulbs are already up six inches or so - it's so warm these days. Spring appears to be early....