I love my Tuesdays and Thursdays! Somewhere along the line I decided to take those days off and the price of gas has cemented that. And I've even been able to take a few Fridays too. So I do a few hours from home and two 8 hour days (which almost kills me)in the office. Today in between loads of laundry and work emails, I caught a nap, read a book and found a few cool Internet sites. I'm already a fan of tiphero.com which led me to FaveCrafts.com and TipNut.com

Ara is painstakingly dethatching the yard with a thatching rake. He has the front yard done and halfway done with the back yard. We're on 1/3 of an acre, I think. And then we'll do another round of weed killer and hopefully the yard will bounce back. He's in some fantasy land thinking that this is raising his metabolism and that he'll have rippling muscles by the time summer hits.

Last weekend I found a $20 on the ground at Dairy Queen after chanting for three days in a row that 'money come easily and frequently'. So now I'm a believer in The Secret. lol. Trying to get Ara on board to chant with me. haha. We watched the video on netflix and I checked out the website, made a bulletin board with everything I want to attract my way---like a new car, roller blades, etc. Ara thinks I'm a nut, I think I'm overboard trying to counteract his pessimism.

I started the crochet along project hosted by redheart yarn. I only have two of the squares done, and they're already done and starting a knit along project now. It took me forever to choose my colors and the you tube videos help out tons. This is my first Afghan. If I could keep track of my camera I would post a pic. maybe later.

I also discovered the trick to getting Ara to take/pick up Cole from drivers ed....if I slam down a beer with dinner Ara won't let me drive...tee hee. I still have a mini coronary every time I get in the car with that boy. We don't call him Zippy for nothing.

And the drama continues...
me and my snarky mouth told Jake he was never driving any of our cars again. Over the weekend he spent the night at Matt's, but when Ara and I drove past the place where his girlfriend is staying our truck was parked there. So I jumped to conclusions that he stayed the night there, and not at Matt's. He insists that he stayed at Matt's and went there for breakfast. That's when I got snarky and told him if he thought he was old enough to play house he could get his own damn car. So on Tuesday he bought a car. He got a 1999 Ford Escort Sedan, red, badly dented, mismatched tires, cracked windshield, and expired inspection. So today, I helped him get set up with auto insurance. Since the car is titled in his name, he can't be on our policy anymore. Lucky him got a great deal on a side shoot policy from ours. He qualified for preferred rates since that's what we have and he has been on ours for 3 years with no accidents. Glass Masters is coming tomorrow to replace the windshield, and I scheduled an appointment for new tires and inspection. He pays for the glass, I'll treat him to new tires. I even picked up some new wiper blades at walmart today.
Cole was home today. His back is in knots and he's been on the heating pad all day. He seriously needs to be in a bubble this year. He hasn't made one full week of school since the mono episode. His junior year is a hot mess.
And I had no cavities at the dentist today. I got three gold stars from the hygienist, and raced straight to walmart and loaded up on candy.

March Madness

March Madness has hit our home, and I don't mean basketball.
Jake veered off the road and side swiped either a very overgrown bush or a tree badly in need of pruning. So the cube is officially damaged goods. The whole passenger side is scratched to high heaven and the column along the windshield is badly dented. No injuries. Only cosmetic damage and no other cars involved. First wreck out of the way!
On a good note, Cole did his orientation today at Dream Catchers (therapeutic horse riding). In spite of his swearing and calling us every name in the book on the way, I think he's going to like it. He'll be a side walker for riders with special needs. He looked like he was having fun in the ring today. Next weekend he attends a horse grooming and tack class and then he's good to go.
Ara and I are still doing our P90X workouts. We usually skip Sat. workout, but I'm okay with that--I'm not signing up for a fitness contest any time soon. My goal is to be able to do at least one pull-up, just one. I sucked at the arm hang and pull ups in the dreaded middle school fitness test every year so that's on my bucket list.
Andrea and Jake have a sneaky streak and keeping up with them is going to be the death of me. I did get word that Jake is planning on moving out at the end of summer. Not revealing sources. I told him I knew, his eyes almost popped out of his head. It will surprise me if it materializes. Also his bank card got hijacked and over $150 was made in purchases before we realized it--Ara was on top if it luckily, because Jake was clueless. We made him call the bank and report it and take courtesy pay off his checking account so no money goes to it from savings. After the wreck, I told him that his dad would be transferring money every week to his savings from his paychecks. Jake can't remember his online user-name and password and the one time he went to the bank to make a transfer he did it the wrong way and caused several overdraft fees. Definitely don't think he's ready to live on his own. And he recently told me that when he went to take a shower that he literally gagged because he smelled so bad. I seriously don't know why he's like this because I think I raised him better than this. You can tell a 18 yo to shower until you're blue in the face, but in the end his own smell gags him. And what kind of gf would put up with the stink. Hoping he gets his head out of his ass soon. This is not what I envisioned for him at all. And that my friends is one of the hardest things about parenting....letting go.
And by the way, I am airing out his room today...thankfully its in the 60's here.

New Semester

The new semester for Cole and Andi has started. I'm ready for Spring Break already. I looked up plane tickets and boo-hooed at the cost. I even looked up a spring trip to Massanutten resort, but Ara shot that down too.
I'm looking forward to a day off from work tomorrow. Andi has her follow-up eye exam with her contacts and then we'll hit target for school supplies for her new classes and have her back in school by 12:15. Also my frydaddy is on sale so I am getting that bad boy! Jake already plans to fry oreos.
A week ago I got a deal on an Amazon gift card. $10 for a $20 gift card. So today I ordered a nook case, silicon skin for my nook, and screen protectors. It should arrive just in time for Valentine's Day, ;) since I doubt if my less than celebratory hubby will do anything.

I HATE

I passionately hate littering. How hard is it to toss something in a trash container. Even if one isn't available immediately, one is not too far off in this disposable society. Today I was looking out my front window and saw Jake's girlfriend toss her cigarette out her car window. I already chewed him out three days ago, that the street in front of my house is full of cigarette butts and now I know why. She came in and fixed macaroni and cheese---another sore point---she eats a ton---more than my three kids combined---she needs to eat at her own damn house---but I am letting that slip and handed them a trash bag to clean the street up and then I am telling them they can't hang out here.

I also hate Ara being sick. All the previous week he's been in a fog and acting confused and finally by the end of the week he is sick. And GRUMPY. so much so that Andi and I left him and went out to dinner by ourselves on Friday night rather that get barraged with obscenities. He can't hear anything and keeps saying 'huh', well not saying but hollering. He better not lose his hearing when he gets old because I don't know if I can handle that. He's not good at picking up body language so verbal is all I got with him.....

GF Rant

Well I bit the bullet and let my inner grouch show today. Earlier this week, I found out that my son's gf was over when I wasn't home. (and no I'm not saying who). I am struggling to find something, anything to like about this girl. Today, I am working from home and she shows up at 11:00 (hope I didn't give away which son, now). They had their smokes (another grievance) and then came inside to watch TV...I'm trying to do my actual paid work at the kitchen table and they're gonna watch movies! I told them I didn't want them hanging out here so they made plans to leave and then started to walk upstairs! IDIOTS. What part of don't hang out here do you not understand. So I called him back in to the kitchen, and told him he knew he was not allowed to have girls in his bedroom. He gave me the duh look so I also added that I don't want her in my house at all. She stomped out at he slumped out to her car and sped off. I am really tired of the sneaky rule breaking. It's not that I don't want him to have a gf, I would just prefer he have one that inspires him to be a better person. Since dating her his bank account and goals have dwindled. I want to see major improvement. Most of the time, I try to be encouraging and supportive, but today I don't have the energy. gray skies go away.

Goodreads

I've just signed up with the largest social network for readers in the world, Goodreads. I am
trying to learn the ropes with navigating the site and get my bookshelves all lined up. Today I am working on Books I've read to or with the kids. I'm sure they don't remember me sitting in the doorway of their rooms while they were tucked in their warm beds and reading every night when we lived in Clarksville, but I remember. And then I read with Andi after the boys hit middle school.
Anyway, I need more friends on Goodreads, if you decide to sign up, please friend me so we can share good reads. I've already read 4 books and am on my 5th and 6th this month.
http://www.goodreads.com/

Thanks Robyn for leading me to this! :)