New roommates

It's been a while. Very long while.

I chalk it up to laziness and time. I just feel like I have no time. So even though I sit on the couch and read or watch TV, I don't want to take time away to blog.

things have turned topsy turvy in my world.  Dan and I decided to help a friend out. She's been needing some help for some time. We moved her into our house and no sooner was that done then she got sick.

I suppose it's a good thing, as it would have been super harder for her if she had "fallen apart" at her other place.

My hardest time with this new turn of events is her dogs. She has 3 dogs, Stanley, Zoe and Roland.

Stanley cannot stay at my house because he has become old and senile and thinks it's ok to bark at, chase after and attack cats.

We tried to let him live with Lorie, but he just went crazy over her cat. Currently he is staying with one of Charlotte's friends. I feel terrible because he is such a sweet dog, but I can't have him tearing up my house to get to my cats.  (he has scratched up the carpet before trying to get a rabbit. And at Lories he kept trying to take down the baby gate.)

Zoe and Roland live with us. Right now I am sad because they cannot be allowed to roam free around the house. Right now they still want to play with the kitties. (They are not mean or attack the cats. They just want to play wiht the cats.) Plus Roland is a Sh*t.   He is not very trained and will not come when called. He has snuck out the door on a few occasions and Dan and I and Charlotte have had to chase him around the neighborhood.

It's actually been kind of funny now looking back. But at the time it's been pretty damn scary. I really think I can work with him, but I need the energy first. And the space.

Zoe is actually a great dog with the exception that she wants to bark at the kitties if they run away from her. She doesn't roam far and will pretty much come when called (a few calls actually).

I am hoping to get to a point where Charlotte will not have to lock them in her room, but I don't know when that will happen.   In the meantime I am dealing with two dogs. I know Char is sick and needs help, but it's been pretty hard on all 3 of us. Neither Dan nor I have a dog for a very good reason. We are just not ready to commit to a child. Which is basically what a dog is.

My cats are independent. They have a window to go in and out of, Litter boxes, large food dishes and water bowls.  Their only physical requirements of us is to keep those things full or clean.

Dogs require a bit more. They need some serious companionship, a  door man and food delivery service.  It's times like this when I really WISH that our fence was fixed. Then I could just open the door and not worry that Roland will take off.

other things that have been going on:  I had a episode last week where my surgars were so high I almost passed out.  After the ER visit I have been trying extra hard to be good. This morning I was a little woosy, so I loaded up on insulin. I am finally starting to feel better. I'm surprised because I was higher than usual this morning, but not nearly as high as I was that day. hum......

My new goal? To get my act together and get feeling better so I can get my home back together and deal with all the crap.

Had a total metldown, so warning. this is a whiney fest. read at your own risk

I was supposed to go back to work today, but I didn't. I have been w/out my happy pills for a couple of days now, and I guess I didn't realize that this was a problem. Last night as I got ready for bed, I felt the whole world crashing down on me. I suddenly understood what Atlas feels like. Damn the world is heavy. I have had terrible nightmares, people dying on me, or telling me I am a terrible person, or well just not loving me like I thought they would.

I try to hide this mostly because I know that it just causes havoc for Dan. He's a sweet man who is very smart but not socially so. I guess he falls into the guy frame of mind of: "CRAP! how do I fix this?"

It took a long time to stop crying, and I bit of time to get it out. I ran the whole gambit, Everyone hates me, I suck, I can't fake it anymore! I am scared of going on, scared of dying, scared of Dan dying, scared of everyone else I love dying, scared of going back to work. Scared of EVERYTHING!

I cried because Brandy doesn't work with me anymore and  Jill is out on Maternity leave. It's crazy because Brandy has been gone for a year, and it still stings a bit. Jill is only gone for 3 months and I am sad because it feels like it's going to be 3 years. Don't get me wrong, I love my job and I love the people I work with. They are bright, funny, and understand. But I  have a special bond with these two ladies that just goes above the co-worker world.

I cried because Lorie is so far away and Beth is so far the other way. I feel bad because I feel so needy. Stef is right here and I can't even feel good about bugging her, and Charlotte is so far away from me.

I feel like a loser and a failure because I can't even fix their problems. ( maybe my testosterone is up.  I have a guy-like fix it obsession).

I feel really frustrated because I don't have the will power to do anything. I went to Stef's tonight to let Lily out, and that seemed to wipe me out. I came home and instead of cleaning my house, or even making a token attempt, I am crying on my computer and to this blog.

did I tell you I called a cleaning service to find out what it would cost to have my house cleaned? The person who came seemed to think it would take 2 people 8 hours to clean. That's 1 bedroom, 1 kitchen, 1 living room, 1 family room and 2 bathrooms.  for $512.00.

I was thinking it would be a couple of hours for 2 people. I was thinking about $150.00.  Five hundred twelve dollars is just a bit above my budget. This frustrates me, because I can't seem to do it myself and Dan can't do it. I don't want family or friends to help, because that's a guilty thing and I would end up doing it myself.  So anyone who knows someone in the SLC area who wants to earn $150.00 dollars for cleaning up a house, let me know.

This has too caused stress. I took a sleeping pill tonight. I need to make sure I sleep and get up and go to work and remember that I am ok.  good night

would rather be blogging about my trip

As soon as we got home from Florida I knew something was off. I was sure it was just me being extra tired, because we were pretty non stop. I kept telling myself I was going to blog about the trip and bore everyone, but I couldn't get up the energy.

as the days went by I felt a bit more tired and a upset with myself that I was going to forget the whole trip before I got it "down on paper".  I was also feeling a bit overwhelmed as my work load increased on it's own, and Jill went out on Maternity leave. I started feeling a bit of stress by the end of my 2nd week back. Thursday night (5/24/12) I was up late with HeartBurn.  Now I know that before I have thought it was heartburn and it wasn't, but I have a rule now. I take HB meds, and if it goes away, we are good.   It did and I went to work on Friday.  but Friday night I was feeling it again. I had plans for Saturday and felt bad enough Saturday morning to cancel them. By Saturday Night I was having a heavy squeeze on my chest and the HB meds weren't touching it. Dan asked if I needed to go to the hospital and all I could think of was that I needed to shower first.

After my shower I got dressed in my most comfiest of clothes and asked my sweet concerned hubby to take me to the ER. We had our Kindles in hand and Dan even grabbed a charger just in case. I feel like such a seasoned vet when it comes to this. I am seriously thinking they should have some sort of frequent patient rewards program. Something like Tylenol for free with every 2 ER visits w/in 3 years.

They took me right back. Oddly enough telling someone you have chest pain seems to get them moving faster than if I said I was bleeding from a cut off limb.  I was whisked to the back of the ER at IMC and hooked up before Dan could get his Kindle going.

I have to be honest and say I wasn't impressed with my ER Dr. very much. I realize of course that his job is not to impress me, and his customer service tone and manners left a lot to be desired. I assumed he read my past file before seeing me, because he made me feel (by tone and attitude, not by words completely) that I was a bad girl and was being sent to the principles office for detention.

The first EKG done was good. Nothing seemed wrong. I was still hurting in my chest, but it was manageable. Hum.... maybe it was just HB after all.  But about 30 minutes into my visit my pain increased like no other. OWIE!   I gritted my teeth and said nothing for as long as I could stand it. The Nurse came back and gave me a GI cocktail. Basically a liquid mix of all HB stuff that could help. I chugged that baby down, made my lips and tongue go numb and continued to have some pain. She stuck a Nitro Pill under my tongue and all it did was give me a blinking headache.  The Doctor came back in, asked me questions and treated me like he was the one doped up. when he walked out of the room I looked at Dan and shrugged my shoulders. He made me feel like I was making everything up.

Finally the EKG guy came back, the Blood Pressure was sky rocketing, and the nurse gave me another Nitro.  The Doctor came back and said they were going to admit me because this time the EKG was bad.

I was admitted to the ICU, Given a drip of Nitro which gave me a tremendous headache and the chest pain dulled to a mild pressure.

The Cardiologist came to see me Sunday Morning. He was NICE. He told me that they would take me to the CATH lab as soon as possible to look me over.  Unfortunately it was a holiday weekend, and I guess everyone else needed the lab before me.  I got passed over 5 times. The last time the CATH team was in my room and got a call about an emergency.  I had nothing to eat for 17 hours. The nurse was nice enough to sneak me crackers and a water at about Hour 17. Finally I got to go down. I was so tired and achey the moment they finally put the pain killers in me I was out like a light.

I had 1 full blockage in my Right Artery closest to my heart and 80% blockage just a bit farther down the same artery.  I actually have several more partially blocked vessels. I'm a walking time bomb. Thanks Mom and Dad! those genetics are GREAT!

I am now at home recovering and while I'm still tired I am getting better. But instead of blogging about Sunny Orlando and my great arm tan, I am blogging about my trip to the hospital. Grrr.

Hopefully in the next few days I will get the trip down for my own purposes.

SnowWhite and six packs a day

Today Lorie and I got a chance to hang out, just us girls. It always amazes me that we don't get to do it nearly often enough, and yet, once we are together it's like we were never apart.

So today's adventure starts with us going out to eat at Olive Garden. I was craving some Chicken Alfredo, and Lorie, who just got braces on her teeth, needed something soft to chew.

We laughed and talked and just enjoyed. Afterwards we were going to go to Color Me Mine and do some painting.  But during our lunch, her son called to let us know that it was Nate's Birthday today and the family was going out to the grave to celebrate. So we decided to meet them there since we were already out that way. We ended up waiting on them for an hour and a half.

It was cold and windy and the balloons the girls wrote on floated away quickly. Riley passed out glazed donuts and I got to hold Carter for a while. He smelled so good. His mommies perfume and baby smell. But of course he sneezed and got snot all over me. What is it with babies and getting their goop on me?

Jori cut the time short because she needed to go to the bathroom, and the cemetery doesn't have facilities.

Lorie and I then went on to color me mine. But when we got there they told us that we would have to be done painting by 5. It was already 3:30, but we thought we could do it. Then.... we noticed that they didn't really have what we thought we would paint and it was taking us some time to even decide what we wanted. So... we left.

Lorie needed a car charger for her phone, and we needed to get Jared some stuff for the Disney World trip. So we went to (sorry Brandy) Wal-Mart.

We walked through and got what we needed and a couple of items we didn't, and got into the check out line. Both Lorie and I bought sunglasses. One for Jared and a pair for me. The checker girl was nice and sweet but didn't say much. Lorie went first and the girl put the sunglasses out on the little check writing table. Lorie looked at her and then took them and put them in her bag.

When it was my turn, the checker put my sunglasses on the table thing, and said: "I just can't bear to put them in the bag." Lorie and I both froze. The girl had the voice of Snow White. SERIOUSLY.
She even giggled as she said that. Just like Snow White. I didn't know how to respond to her comment, so I smiled and said thank you.  And this checker with the high pitched voice just kept talking and telling us to have a great day.

We grabbed our bags and headed towards the exit. Once we got there, we started to laugh. I told Lorie that if I had to work standing next to that girl for longer than 10 minutes I'd have to kill her based on her voice and giggle alone. Then Lorie commented that she was Snow White and even the way she said "I just can't bear to put them in the bag," was a Snow White-ism. So then I said well at least she didn't have a voice like someone who smoked six packs a day. So Lorie being her usual funny self says in a deep voiced attempt to sound like a smoker: "I just can't bear to put them in the bag."  We were almost to the car and I stated laughing so hard I..... yep FARTED. It wasn't a small dainty thing. It was a loud bomb type fart. This made both Lorie and I laugh even harder which caused me to keep on a tooting. There were people all around us. If they couldn't tell what we were laughing at, then they were deaf.

We hopped in the car and took off, laughing about how Snow White would have sounded if she smoked six packs a day.

nothing like feeling dumb, or I love my boss

I usually try not to discuss work in my blog. Mainly for two reasons. 1. because actual work stuff is boring, and 2. No one needs to know about my job.

Also I like the Rocky and Bullwinkle title, because I couldn't decide which one worked.

This week has been a rough week. I have come into work an hour earlier than my usual time. Normally that wouldn't be so bad, but it's really kicked my butt. I am tired and feeling stressed out and just overall cranky and I am pretty sure I'm not fully functioning on all cylinders. That being said I made a big mistake at work. Not so giant I could lose my job, but since I pride myself on doing my job really good, this boo-boo is quiet the 2 X 4 in the face.

I cannot go into details, but it's really upset me.  I ran directly to my boss and confessed my sins. My flimsy excuse was that it was a mistake, and that while I didn't do what I normally would have done, it started off with a mistake made by another department.

My boss is awesome. She is really good at sticking with you and watching your back. I have to say again. She is the best manager I have EVER had. She is helping me deal with the issue and I am starting to not feel nearly as stupid as I was. Still not an excuse, but I'm getting over it.

And this is why I have no children of my own

This weekend we celebrated Braydons 17th birthday. 17 years old. It makes me feel so ancient. It was just yesterday that I held him for the first time.

I can say that it has been great fun to see him learn and grow through the years. I have enjoyed his unique perspective of the world. But it also has been very difficult for me to relinquish hold on him because his disorder has caused me to treat him as younger than he is, and to want to do things for him.

It has also frustrated by Dan and myself as we sometimes completely flip flop and expect him to be more mature and adult about certain things.

This weekend the boys talked Dan into allowing them to spend the night Saturday. They love to be at our house because.... well it's not their house. HAHAHA

Saturday was a pretty easy day as we went to eat at Godfather's Pizza, and then went to see Wrath of the Titans. Then we went back to our house with Andy, Stef, Lorie, Tony, Dan, myself, and the 3 boys. Immediate dibs was demanded on the two computers (my laptop is off limits).

Dan as always tries to be fair in giving equal time on the computers to each child. Jared is the easiest to deal with as he is so laid back in this attitude. (I know he has a temper, but he's slow to use it).

Lance and Braydon have had a  love hate relationship since Lance came along over 12 years ago. I remember Lance being 2 weeks old and Braydon asking when I would be taking Baby Lance home with me. HAHAHAHA.   They are true brothers in that they take care of each other, but can't stand to let each other do something that the one wants to do.

Saturday was not too bad for me, as Dan usually deals with them. Jared played WII and Lance and Dan played games on 1 computer, Braydon on the other and I on my lap top.

But Sunday was a test in patience and sadly to say all but Jared failed.  half way through the day Dan stomped into our room and said he was done. He wouldn't go downstairs again unless I was there to referee. I don't know the gist of it all, but I guess Lance and Braydon were at each other.

When I went down to see what was happening, I found that Braydon wanted to play the beta for WoW, but it was taking forever to download and was on Dan's computer. Lance wanted to play Dan's computer because he wanted to play a specific game that was only on Dan's computer.

Not knowing that the beta is only on Dan's computer, I made Braydon try to download it to my computer so that Lance could play his game.  The download took FOREVER. Then it wouldn't work. I felt bad but there was nothing we could do.

Unfortunately this was too much for Braydon and he had a melt down of sorts. We calmed him down and got him to play something else. Then Jared got a turn on Dan's computer. Finally about 20 minutes before they were about to leave, Lance was able to log into the WoW beta on Dan's computer.

That is where the fun began........  Lance wouldn't let Braydon play it. He kept telling Braydon no, and Braydon kept saying over and over:  Please let me play, please let me play, please let me play.

This is where my patience ended. I got a bit angry and told them to shut it off, that they were leaving anyway and no one was playing it now. This set off another melt down for Braydon. I felt bad, but I was at the end of my rope. I kicked them all out to Dan's car and he took them home.

I realized that I am a selfish person. Not in the bad sense, but that I like not having to deal with 24/7 arguments, issues and tantrums. I like sending them home when I can't take it anymore. I also feel that since I didn't win the Mega Millions, and cannot afford more computers, perhaps Braydon and Lance can't have sleep overs together at my house anymore.

However Jared is welcome whenever. He's sweet, mellow and says things to me like:  Denise, I'm so glad you are my aunt.   Who could say no to someone as cute as that?

some people's children

Dan and I met up tonight at Applebee's in Taylorsville. We were greeted nicely and sat in very nice booth.  Our server was very pleasant and the atmosphere was nice. UNTIL...... the woman behind us spoke. She was loud, brash and annoying. I ignored her the best I could, but honestly she was sitting kitty corner to us and up high and just seemed bent on everyone hearing her.

She was complaining about her daughters boyfriend calling her a controlling B*tch. She seemed so upset by that, and was telling her companions all about it. She said that she asked her daughter if she thought that it was right for him to call her that, and did her daughter really want to be with someone who would call her mom names?

I sympathized with her a bit and then went on to enjoy my appetizer.  But soon after the drama followed.

Now I have to be fair and say that I do not know 100% of the story. I can only relate what I heard, but that what I heard pissed me off.

We had gotten our entrees and was quietly eating them when I noticed that the female manage was at the woman's table. She left somewhat briskly and I didn't think too much about it, until I heard the woman go off. She was upset because she felt the manager's attitude towards her situation was rude and impolite. The woman complained to her companions about how the manager had a very poor attitude towards the issue and kept rudely offering her ice for her hand.

At this point B*tch woman had my attention.I listened in as she continued to belittle the manager. A few other people stopped by her table and she complained to them.  She demanded to fill out an incident report and was very put out that it took the manager so long to bring her the paperwork.

She and her companions started to get very belligerent and loud to everyone who came to their table to see what they could do to help.

The gist of the story I got was:  They ordered a sampler appetizer with Artichoke dip and Mozzarella sticks. The B picked up a mozzarella stick and it broke off dropping into the dip. The dip them splashed on her hand and  it was HOT. According to her, she had no where to wipe it as she didn't have any silverware or napkins on the table. so she shook her hand to get it off and the spot began to blister. (at this point I decided that she's one of those special McDonald's people who have to be told the coffee is hot.)

Some how I think the server wasn't very sympathetic and so when they asked for the manager she wasn't either. Normally I would be on the patrons' side, but not this time. If you get splashed with something hot, lick it off, wipe off on  the table, the chair, your pants. Something. and get over your self.

The B asked for the manager's manager and was very put out when there wasn't one. The poor manager kept coming back. She offered ice to the woman for her hand, brought her the paperwork she asked for, kept trying to calm this woman down.

The B even said to one of the male staff who approached her: "I'm normally a calm person and don't want to be a B*tch, but that manager's attitude just made me upset".  All I could think was: "yeah right". I almost wouldn't have put it past her to do this on purpose just to make a scene.

This went on for most of our dinner and started getting my blood boiling. The Manager came by our table to ask how things were and we told her it was all wonderful. Dan started picking up on the attitude and my feelings just about the time we asked for our check. As we waited for the check to come back, the woman stared at the area where the staff come in and out from the back, and said very loudly: " don't roll your eyes at me woman".

Her and her companions then launched into the male staff person again and demanded to speak to the Manager's manager right then. They yelled that the manager didn't even ask what happened. this did cause me to pause, as the story as I understood it could have been different.  Maybe their server did something wrong?  But then they just kept going on and on until the male staff member said that they would let some other guy handle it.

By now we had our check and I was feeling so upset on the staff's behalf that I said pretty loudly myself: Let's get out of here before the drama queens get started.

I almost launched into the B and her friends. There may have been a problem, and maybe the staff didn't handle it as well as they could have, but that woman didn't give them a chance either. And she went out of her way to ruin the other person's time just because she was unhappy. 

Dan says he's going back tomorrow to tell the manager we thought she was wonderful. I am curious to know if the restaurant comped their meals. Some how I am sure that was in their list of demands too.

The hundred dollar cat strikes back

It seems that every year since we got Argo and Meela, we have had to take Argo to the vet for something other than regular shots. The first year I think we had them like 2 months when we noticed he had a large lump on his neck. It was a puss pocket. He got into a fight and was bite and it scabbed over creating a giant zit like creature.

He scratched at it and it popped leaving blood and puss and a foul smell.  Off to the vet we go. $100.00 later we are home with a grumpy cat who has a funny shaved spot and a bottle of anti-biotics.

The following year I noticed a hard something over his eye.  It looked a little swollen but with all that hair it was hard to tell. I thought the hard pokey something was a sticker from the yard, and so I pulled on it. Oops! Blood, puss and smell came out. Off to the Vet again.

Home we go with a grumpy eyebrow-less cat and a bottle of anti- biotics. AND $100.00 less in the pocket.

Fast forward to Last Night. I am scratching him behind his ears when I notice something hard. I caught it under my fingernail, and low and behold....... yep you guessed it!

Blood, puss, and smell. 

This time since it was behind his ear and not near his eyes or mouth, Dan and I held him down and poured 1/2 a bottle of peroxide on it. OMG! did it ever bubble. I don't think I have ever seen that happen before. He was a good sport about it for about 3 minutes. But then he was done with us. I don't know if you have ever fought with a 20 pound cat, but I will say this is one time I'm glad he only has back claws.

Tonight we will do the peroxide again. If it doesn't look better by tomorrow, we'll be off for our $100.00 vet visit.

We are getting closer to Christmas being over

So I got all the Christmas decorations down. Finally. But the tree itself is still up. I need Dan's help for that and while he is totally willing to help, I just haven't been up to doing it. However..... Before this weekend is over, it will be done.



We haven't found the missing totes. I was able to get pretty much everything into the other totes we have except for the Christmas balls. I will have to decide what to do with those breakable items.



Once again the house has become a mess. Well really the kitchen. This last weekend Lance was out to stay and he and Dan cleaned the basement up pretty darn good. The Living room will get taken care of as soon as the tree is down, but the kitchen is the bane of existence.



I'm really a bit miffed about the whole phosphates removed from the washer detergent. I know that the environment is important, but I'm wasting a ton of water washing my dishes before washing my dishes.



I have yet to find a truly good dishwasher soap that will CLEAN my dishes. I'm not even talking my usual just toss it in the dishwasher dirty dishes, but the ones I rinse before I wash. I was using Finish and I've used Cascade. But it's just not the same. *sigh* I don't have enough room to hand wash everything. I've even been washing stuff 2 or 3 times in the dishwasher. So all the dishes are piled on the counter and Dan has been hand washing anything we need to use right then. I suppose that's a great idea. I mean we could just only use two of everything and hand wash them every night. (yeah right).



I need to get the Kitchen cleaned, so I can move all the kitchen stuff in my Spare room back to the kitchen. For the Christmas party Dan and I moved everything that was on the counter tops into the spare room to make room for all the food. Just like the tree still up, we've never moved it back. I'm thinking that maybe I should just toss it. I mean if it's been in that room for 2.5 months, it means we don't really need it. Right?



I read an article in CNN confessions of a declutter-er. I was almost appalled at her attitude at clutter. But then, I started thinking about it. Maybe I should have this woman come to my house. I bet I wouldn't need a 3 bedroom, 1 family room, 1 car garage after she was done. LOL. an I bet my Christmas tree would go down......

The Case of the Missing Christmas Totes

I know, I know. It's almost Mid March and I still have Christmas up in my house. But... this time it's not just because we are lazy.

Every year we go through this because no one uses the Living room.We walk right past it every day and every night, and never really see that Christmas stuff is still up.  I try to get it down before Valentines day, but I'm usually a week behind. However this year I am way behind as a mystery has come a foot.

We (I) have several totes that hold all my Christmas stuff. At least 6 and now possibly 7 (18) gallon totes. I have them numbered so that we can keep track. But this year, two totes have taken off to unknown places.

And they of course are the totes that have the boxes to my very breakable tree ornaments. Dan and I have searched the house high, (LOL) and low and no totes.

We tore apart the garage (where they should have been), Dan tromped through the back yard to the shed to see if he put them there. I looked all through the craft room and spare room, and we both searched the laundry room and family room. Those suckers are GONE!

So Christmas still sits in my living room waiting to be put away. I suppose I should just try to wrap up my ornaments and hope the totes come home soon.

If any one has seen two dark blue totes, with X-MAS written in bad writing on the sides and top, please call me. I need them back so that I can get Christmas up again in 9 months.

It's offical. We are going to DISNEY WORLD!

It's the 2nd happiest place on earth. Disney Land being the official 1st.

I have longed to go to Disney World. Dreamed of it. Desired it. and always thought it would be a no go. Thanks to the loving husband I have, we are going.

We decided to take Jadon with us, and I called Beth to ask her if we could.  They took a day to think about it as it would mean taking him out of school for an official 7 days. He's a good student, which is why I felt comfortable, but it is 7th grade, and that can be tough on a kid to miss.

He had to do a contract with his parents that he would be very good, and he had to work with his teachers to maybe do as much homework as possible while we are there. This poses a small problem for me, as I want him to get the most out of this trip and I still feel I need to schedule homework time. But then again, it will not destroy any of us, if we leave the parks a little early or even take a short break to go back to the hotel.

So once they said yes I booked the airline tickets. they are non-refundable. So it's official. Disney World here we come!

I then bought the park tickets. 5 days of DW and 1 day at Universal Orlando Islands of Adventure. (Harry Potter Park).

These theme parks make some MONEY!  It was $302.00 per person for 5 days at Disney World.  and $87.00 for 1 day at Universal. And we are staying at a Disney World hotel. Here's the break down:
Park Tickets for 4: $1528.00
Hotel: $925.00
Air Fare: $1807.00
Rental Car: $200.00
Scooter for me: $180.00
estimated food: $1200.00
Grand total not including souvenirs: $5840.00

The park tickets just came yesterday. They were shipped FAST! 

Disney World here we come?

We had Jared stay with us this weekend. The boys each get a birthday weekend at my house, where they get to play the computers and game systems and spend time with me and Dan and without their brothers. They don't have to share anything, get to pick where they eat for dinner or breakfast at least 1 day, and basically we try to spoil them.

Jared's birthday weekend got to be this weekend. It was supposed to have been in January, but the guy's older brothers talked him into asking if they could come. It just didn't seem fair, so I think the new rule is: Birthday weekends are for the Birthday boy only.  All boys weekends will be done at different times.

It's been nice to have Jared. He is getting so big and smart. It's been really hard for me not to treat him like a little boy. We sat down and watched videos of Disney World and Harry Potter at Universal and he's as excited as I am. Can't wait to go.

I am of course worried about this trip. I hope I'm not the party pooper of the group but I just worry I will get so tired I will slow the guys down. We are going to rent me a scooter for our stay. Disney is pretty darn friendly with the scooters and most rides even let you scooter in the lines. I like that. Of course it would be nice to get in front of the line, but really.... It's not fair. I have spent plenty of time in the lines and I don't want to cheat those who stand in line.

I bought a book on my kindle called the Unofficial Guide to Disney World 2012. It was 800 pages long. I read through it (skipped stuff that was not pertinent to our trip).  My only complaint besides the length... was the small, tiny and mostly unhelpful guide for people with mobility issues. It had some great stuff for people using wheelchairs, but nothing really on people using ECV, or Electric Convenience Vehicles. Disney does offer a map for people who will use one of these and or wheelchair. But I really want to know what to do. I guess I will be the book's guinea pig and then write to them after the trip so they can add at least 4 more pages to their book.

Dan and I are debating right now about bringing a 4th person. Although taking Lance would be ideal, I have to say no. 1- he already got to go to Disney Land, and 2- He's a pain in the hind end sometimes, especially when he doesn't get his way. 
I am actually focusing on taking Jadon. He's 13, big for his age, and I'm hoping he can be responsible. Dan is having a hard time with this, as Jadon's attitude sometimes leaves something to be desired. I know he's a great kid, but he's so.... so..... what's the word?  Sassy? Rude?  really it's hard to say.

I feel a little guilty because he's my cousin's son and of my blood, but I haven't spent enough time with him before. I spend way more time with Lorie's boys, and this makes me feel bad. but I do have to remember that it's not all my fault either. Jadon hasn't really wanted to spend any time with Dan and I. I don't know if it's because he doesn't like us, or because he is just super shy..... (part of the reason I think he hides behind is rude and abrasive demeanor.)

Taking him would even out the numbers and I hope make it fun for all. We'll see. I have a plan and did something I would normally NEVER do. I had Dan apply for a Disney VISA Card.  Since we get discounts, that is what we will use to pay for the trip, and then when the trip is done, we will pay it off.
Hopefully this won't backfire on me. LOL

some of my life so far

It's been a while since I blogged. I have been feeling down and out and well.... not very blogger friendly. I lost a dear friend at Christmas time, and I think it has effected me more than I thought. I have found that my laziness has increased almost 10 fold since that night.  I know that some of it is truly physical, but I have to wonder exactly how much is mental. He died of a massive heart attack 3 weeks shy of his 42nd birthday.

He smoked and drank and I know didn't have a good lifestyle, but I don't either. I don't smoke nor do I drink to excess, but how close is this for me? Once again it has brought back my sense of mortality and I find myself worried about what it will be like to die. I worry that Dan will wake up one morning to find I have died peacefully in my sleep, or that he will come home and find me dead on the floor.

I am concerned with how he will handle this happening to me, not to mention my family and friends. I worry that I will live too long, and will have to work until I die just to make sure that Dan has enough money to give me a simple but proper burial. I have decided that I do want to be buried next to my dad. I would like Dan to be buried over me, if they will do that at that cemetery.

I worry about my kitties..... who will take care of them if something happens and Dan and I go at the same time? Sigh, it's a lot to keep thinking of.

I have been planning our trip to DisneyWorld. I would love for Bill and Beth to come with us, but I know they cannot afford it. Beth thinks that they might, if we could hold off until August. But I am afraid if we don't do it now, we won't. I've been planning it for the first full week in May. Me, Dan and Jared. We'll see how that goes. I have a feeling that this will be our last big amusement park trip. I have such a hard time getting around, and Dan is no spring chicken anymore.

Lance called me when he heard that Jared was getting to go to the World, rather than the Land. He was a bit upset.  I did truly feel bad, but I have to stand my ground. He got to go on a trip with us, and that is that.

When I said that DWorld was just like DLand, he did tell me it wasn't. When I said: "how do you know?" he told be he knew because he looked it up. I have to remember those little boys are growing up and getting smarter all the time.

Dan of course is not nearly as excited as I am. I have found that I am once again obsessing with the whole trip. I have bought books on my kindle that offer advise and such on how to travel around DWorld. I even read an 800 page book about it. (never again!)

I got a bonus from work that will help with the cost as this has to come out of my house fund money. But I think it will be worth it. I need to have my taxes done and hope that there will be enough of a return to help as well.

I am looking forward to a bit of time off from work. This vacation will come and go and just before Jill goes out on maternity leave. I am going to greatly miss her while she is out. I am sad she can't be a stay at home mom for her sake, but I have to admit for my sake I am glad she has to come back.

It's almost time to leave work. I am excited to go home and just be with Dan.

Darn Keys!

So I was actually going to be mostly on time for work today. Maybe only 5 to 10 minutes late. But disaster struck!
I couldn't find my keys. I looked high, I looked low. I knew I had them yesterday because I couldn't get in my house without them. I usually put them in my jacket pocket and that way I ALWAYS know right where they are. But this morning when I put my hands in my pocket to get them out as I was going to walk out the door, they weren't there. I scrambled all over and started getting really worried.
I probably looked around for almost 20 minutes when my phone suddenly rang. It was Dan. He sheepishly told me that somehow my keys ended up in his pants pocket.

Apparently I must have put them on the table or planter box and Dan must have thought they were his. He picked them up and left for work.
Good thing I had my valet key. but I was now late to work.