The Job

My darling Mr. R chose not to accept the job out of Daytona Beach. There were several reasons why. First, they were not truthful about home time. As much as we would love to have Mr. R home on a nightly basis, most trucking companies don't offer that. At the very most, it is home every other day, and most companies will have you out for weeks, if not months at a time. We decided as a couple that we could settle for Mr. R being home on weekends. A weekend...to us...is Saturday and Sunday.
Well, this company...to them...a weekend meant 30 hours. That's it. So Mr. R would have driven into the yard at 6am on Saturday morning, driven to our home, probably come home and sleep since he'd been driving all night, and then leave on Sunday afternoon, after church. Still giving us no family time.
Second, they had a policy of slip-seating. Slip-seating is when a driver doesn't have a designated truck, but simply drives whatever truck is available. If Mr. R was a local driver who didn't have to sleep in the truck, he would have been fine with that. But he was not comfortable with sleeping on the mattress of another person...because really, do we know what this other driver was doing on the mattress? You could possibly be sleeping in someone else's DNA. Ewwwww! Not only that, but most truckers are smokers, and Mr. R is not. He is very sensitive to cigarette smoke and likely would have been sick a lot from having to stay overnight in someone else's smoky truck.
These two reasons led Mr. R to reject that job offer.
Now, Mr. R was contacted by another company. This company seems quite a bit more up front. It is over-the-road, but Mr. R would be limited to the southeast. There are very few tolls in the southeast, so we'd be saving lots of money there. He would actually keep his own truck, so no worries about slip-seating. He would still be his own boss. I like this very much, because he can take a week off whenever he feels like it. This company promises two days off per week, with at least one day being a weekend day. For example, he might be home Friday and Saturday, and have to leave Sunday. Or, he might be home Sunday and Monday, and leave on Tuesday. Or, he could be home both Saturday and Sunday. I was fine with this.
This company also pays a heck of a lot more. Right now, Mr. R gets paid about 98 cents per mile. So if he drives 60 miles per hour, he is making $60 an hour, theoretically. However, if you subtract $5 diesel in a vehicle that only gets 6 miles per gallon, you can see how quickly that drops. This new company is offering Mr. R 156 1/2 cents per mile. It's essentially a 50% raise.
We still have some kinks to work out (thinking about opening a business account for Mr. R at the bank and a line of credit so he doesn't have to carry cash out on the road) and it's still not exactly what we were hoping for, but I think he's going to take the second offer.
I was very blunt when he expressed sorrow over not being able to play drums in the church band. I said, "Honey, you have the kind of job where you are not allowed hobbies. You're never home, and you can't make plans. If it is so important to you to play drums and be home every night, then you need to change careers. Period."
I'm not trying to be mean, but it's truthful. I think anyone who knows a trucker, knows that their life is not really their own.

More About Me

1.What time did you get up this morning? 6am. Ick.

2.Diamonds or pearls? This is one of those questions that mean nothing to me. I don't care.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? I don't remember. I'm not a movie person.

4.What is your favorite TV show? I've always loved Friends, but I'm sort of getting over them.

5.What do you usually have for breakfast? a bagel or scrambled eggs.

6.What is your middle name? Rose

7. What food do you dislike? I don't like mushrooms. They're a fungus! I can't get over that.

8. What is your favorite CD at the moment? My new Michael Buble cd. I listen to it non stop.

9.What kind of car do you drive? 2006 Dodge Magnum

10.Favorite sandwich? roast beef with provolone, lettuce, tomatoes, green peppers, pickles.

11. What characteristic do you despise? two facedness

12. Favorite item of clothing? I don't have one right now. I really don't like my clothes. Oh, wait a sec. I have two wrap shirts, one in red, one in black. But they're for cooler weather. I desperately need to take some time off work and just sew myself some skirts. I'm over pants right now. I need to make myself like 5 skirts and throw out all these old stained sweatpants with paint all over them.

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation,
where would you go? Israel. Without my sweatpants.

14. Are you an organized person? Insanely.

15.Where would you retire to? NYC. Seriously! Old people should not be driving. As a Floridian, I have seen it all. When I get too old to drive safely, I want to ride the subway.

16. What was your most recent memorable birthday? Missy turned 13 yesterday!!! (this didn't have to be my birthday, right?)

17. What are you going to do when you finish this? Make another phone call. Start a load of laundry. Pull out some meat for dinner.

18. Morning person or a night person? Eh, I go either way.

19. What is your shoe size? 9.

20. Pets? 1 dog, 3 full size cats, 3 kittens. Does anyone want a kitten?

21. Any new and exciting news you'd like share? Mr. R did NOT accept the job I posted about earlier. More news on that later.

22. What did you want to be when you were little? an astronaut.

23. How old are you today? 33

24. What is your favorite flower? I love hibiscus, gardenias, roses, jasmine. Florida has such beautiful flowers!

25. What day on the calendar are you looking forward to? My 14th wedding anniversary is next week.

26. What are you listening to right now? Mr. R mowing the grass.

27. What was the last thing you ate? a bagel and three cups of coffee.

28. Do you wish on stars? no

29. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? red, but thats my favorite color.

30. How is the weather right now? sunny and hot.

31. Last person you spoke to on the phone? some lady at an insurance company

32. Favorite soft drink? pepsi

33. Favorite restaurant? La Hacienda in Orange City. The best Mexican food ever.

34. Hair color? Dark Brown

35. What was your favorite toy as a child? Hot Wheels cars

36. Summer or Winter? winter, but we don't get much of one here.

37.What is in your trunk right now? two bags of clothes to donate to Goodwill, a first aid kit, Tiger's saxophone stand.

38. Chocolate or Vanilla? vanilla

39. Coffee or tea? coffee!!! Hellooooooo?!?!?!

40. When was the last time you cried? I almost did last night, the kids ticked me off so bad. But that was yesterday, no need to keep thinking about it.

41. What is under your bed? Rubbermaid boxes with kid's art projects. And my dust bunny collection.

42. What did you do last night? cleaned house, did dishes, yelled at children.

43. What are you afraid of? crazy drivers.

44. Salty or sweet? salty

45. Favorite day of the week? everday

46. Do you make friends easily? I used to, but I've become pretty guarded in my old age, lol.

I'm Surrounded by Babies!!!

I am currently friends with 5 women who are pregnant. 3 of them are having girls, the other two don't know yet.
This is killing me, peeps. Five baby showers I get to attend, five babies to buy gifts for, five babies I get to play with, but zero babies are mine. :(
I know I don't understand infertility, but I think I understand part of the anguish behind it now. I'm happy for all my friends (Debbie, Nicola, Gloria, Sarah A and Renee) but I'm kinda jealous, too.
I'll hang in there.

Oh, I Forgot About the Hair

Three posts in one day. Dang, that's gotta be a record.
Ok, the hair thing. I've worked for my hospital for over seven years, and in that time, I've had short hair, red hair, long hair, black hair, curly hair, brown hair, bangs, layers, highlights, and all-one-length hair. The only thing I haven't done is shave it, or go blonde.
Anyway, for the past two years, I have not cut my hair except for bangs (don't let me do it, peeps. It always gets in my eyes, and then I get sties. Oh hey, that rhymed!) Every time I come in to the office, this lovely woman I work with, Eva, (she is in the FH picture I posted back in April or May) must run over to play with it. She is astounded at how fast it grows. I think that is probably why I don't mind experimenting, because if I don't like it, I will have long hair again in less than 6 months. It's not a biggie to me.
Mr. R adores my hair. It is thick, naturally a very dark brown, and extremely heavy. I always think back on Jo in "Little Women", where she is considered not the most attractive woman, but "her hair was her only beauty." I feel that way about my hair quite a bit. I may not be thin, or pretty, but dang I have a great head of hair.
Anyway, I am posting a picture of my hair, but I took this about....4 or 5 months ago. It's quite a bit longer than this now. I'm aiming for waist length! I'm thinking I may hit waist length by February of 2009. I'll keep measuring.

Just a note...in this picture, no, I did not straighten my hair. That is the natural hair texture. That is also my natural hair color. I have little grays up at the crown but the rest is dark brown. I do dye my hair dark brown so that the grays don't show. But I only do the roots. And yes, I should have cleaned the mirror first! And for my New Yorkers, that is a Metro pass on my medicine cabinet. I heart NY!

Just Random Silliness

Outside My Window... It looks hot out there. Icky poo. I'm glad I'm inside.

I am thinking... about how lovely it will be when Mr. R is home every weekend.

I am thankful for... 13 beautiful years as a mama.

From the kitchen... It needs desperately to be cleaned. As soon as I clock out, my apron is going on and I am getting to work!

I am wearing... Faded brown cords with a few white paint splotches, Missy's flip flops because I can't find mine, and a purple scoop neck tee.

I am creating... Mexican food for dinner tonight.

I am going... to finish my college computer assignment tonight so I don't have to bother with the computer this weekend.

I am reading... the Windows 2007 technical guide, which is an excellent cure for insomnia. Zzzzzzzzz.

I am hoping... that we don't have termites. Seriously. Little buggies in my bathroom are wigging me out.

I am hearing... baby kittens meowing, and Bucket laughing.

Around the house... it's a mess. I am dying to clock out and clean but I can't. Waaaaah!

One of my favorite things... my wedding ring. I am not a jewelry person, but I adore my cheap $40 Sears wedding ring. I would never ever upgrade.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: getting a gift certificate and maybe an iPod for Missy's birthday, planning her little party next Friday night, taking the kids fishing, and possibly grilling some steaks this weekend!

Birthdays and Dreams

My beautiful daughter Missy will be turning 13 on Tuesday. 13. I'm going to have a teenager.
I am both thrilled and scared by this fact. Technically, she will be an adult in 5 years. This makes me laugh, because this is a girl who still is nervous about calling her own grandparents, will make a terrific dinner but "forget" to put a single ingredient away, take her dog for a walk and forget to bring her cell phone, and use 20 towels a week and then wonder where all the towels are. However, she is grown up in so many ways. She adores animals and loves to take care of them. She is game to babysit Bucket, his disability doesn't phase her. She invites her friends over for dinner when she knows their families don't have enough money for groceries that week. She is quiet and shy, but boisterous with people she knows well. I just simply adore her.
Mr. R came home unexpectedly last night (shame on him for scaring me by walking in the door while I was not ready!) and it was so nice lying in bed with him. As I got up and made coffee this morning, he asked me to bring him a cup. As I sat next to him with a steaming mug of joe, he said, "I had the cutest dream." Now, Mr. R doesn't generally tell me he has cute dreams. I said, "You? What did you dream about?" And he said, "We had the cutest little baby girl. She looked like Missy, but had black hair and blue eyes. And she was wearing a little pink dress and had a bowl haircut." I thought, awwwww. I'd love to have another baby girl with him. Mr. R was never scared to change diapers (although he certainly snuck off when he knew there was a bad one to attend to!) or give a bottle, or kiss "owwies". He gave baths, and burped them until they threw up down his back. He would help them get dressed, and read them stories, and color with them. I mean, when I talk about what an amazing father Mr. R has been, I get a little teary.

Department Meetings and Birthdays

Yesterday was a couple of things. First of all, I'd like to say "Happy 31st Birthday!" to my sister, also known as Aunt Kelly on this blog. Yesterday was also the day I had to drive into work for a department meeting. I don't know why this happens, but every single time I drive in, it rains. And I absolutely hate driving in the rain. Plus, I had to leave the boys at home alone for a few hours so I could go to the meeting.
You would think that my bosses in management, in their wisdom (!!!) would think, 'our reps are not working on accounts, so lets make these department meetings short, sweet, and relevant.' You would think, right? Hahaha, if you think that way, then you're not qualified to be in management.
I showed up about 15 minutes early, said hello to everyone, cracked a few jokes, answered hair questions again (I'll explain that later) and then moved to the conference room. This is where I learned that our department meeting would be about hurricane preparedness. I inwardly groaned, as there was no reason for me to be here. Let me explain why.
As I'm sure you may have figured, hospitals do not close when hurricanes hit. And I live in Florida. I work for one of the busiest hospitals in the state. Nurses, doctors, janitors, and cafeteria people still have to show up for work during hurricanes. Now, my department (financial services) is responsible for providing child care to these other people, so that the hospital can still run smoothly, at a time when most daycare centers shut down. It's brilliant. It's needed. Unfortunately, I am exempt from this process due to Bucket.
During the crazy hurricane season of 2004, I was called to give child care services at the main hospital in Orlando. I begged my boss to let me out of it. I knew Bucket would not do well there. He was 6 years old at the time, had just gotten out of diapers, was still not completely verbal, and terrified of crowds. I was told that if I didn't show up for childcare services, I would be fired. So I packed up all three kids, and drove an hour south to work. Right before a hurricane. I was there for less than two hours when one of the management staff came to me and asked me to leave. It appears that Bucket was so distraught, he was in a corner banging his head on the floor and biting his own arms. Biting my own tongue, thinking, "I TOLD YOU SO!!!", I signed out, grabbed all three kids, and ran to the parking garage, and drove home in the beginning squalls of the hurricane. It was awful. The kids were crying because the weather was so bad, I was pissed because I knew Bucket couldn't handle the pressure, and I was wasting gas too.
Wisely, that winter, they put someone (possibly a mom, since this makes sense) in charge of hurricane preparedness. And they decided that some people needed to be exempt from childcare due to other family commitments or medical issues. I had to fill out paperwork, and attach a letter from Bucket's physician stating that Bucket does indeed have autism and I don't just make stuff up to avoid childcare. I am now exempt for life (or until Bucket improves/moves out) from childcare. I don't mind doing it, but Bucket needed me more.
So imagine my dismay when I drive about an hour to attend a meeting dealing with a subject that I am exempt from! I pulled my manager aside and said, "You know I'm exempt from childcare during hurricanes, right?" and he said: "You may be exempt from childcare, but you're not exempt from meetings."
Brilliant! So I sat there for two hours listening to them discuss how the childcare would work.
At least I was able to turn in some receipts for payment (I pay for my own printer ink, turn in receipts and get reimbursed) pick up some paper, and I got a roll of tape. Oooooooh.

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It Looks Like My Husband Has a New Job!

Wow. The Lord is so good, peeps. It looks like Mr. R managed to score a very good job in this crazy economy! It is not a done deal yet, but Mr. R's current company is aware that he is looking for another job, which is a bit scary. They can cut him off at any time if they wanted to be cruel. This new job is located in Daytona Beach, about 30 minutes northeast of where we live. Unfortunately, it is not local driving - yet. It seems that Mr. R would be driving between Daytona Beach and Winston-Salem, NC, which is the main headquarters for this company. So he would be gone every other day, instead of weeks at a time. Although we were initially aiming for Mr. R to be home every single night, we figured this was an excellent compromise for our particular situation. Also, the promise of a regular weekly paycheck (instead of the sporadic windfalls we get about once a month now) in an amount that was higher than we expected sealed the deal. In fact, the average weekly pay for this company was about $200 per week higher than the minimum standard we had set for him. So overall, we are happy with this deal. I'm also particularly happy because I'm the one who mentioned this company to him, and suggested that he drive to Daytona to fill out an application. So YAY, my interfering finally worked out! HOORAY!!!!!
Let's see, what else is going on. Nana is coming over to pick up Missy this morning, they are going to the beach. That means I will just have boys today. Tiger has his saxophone lesson today at 4pm. I have a department meeting at the hospital at 10am tomorrow and just realized Missy won't be home to babysit the boys. Oh well, Tiger is big enough now to watch himself and Bucket. It is kind of nice when they get old enough to care for themselves for a few hours.
Oh, and we rescued three feral kittens over the weekend. They are about 4 weeks old and cute as can be. Mean as heck though!


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New Desk, Ordered!

Oh, what a load off my shoulders. My desk has been ordered. I got such an awesome desk. The funny thing is, I have been researching desk options for months, and once I got to the store, I saw them and hated them. So I found something completely different! Instead of a huge L-shaped desk, I got separate pieces, in case we ever move and I don't have a corner for my desk. I got one very large "writing desk", it is 5 feet long and about 3 feet wide. It is probably twice as big as what I have now. Then, I skipped the hutch, because I tend to collect clutter in the one I have now. Besides, my desk has a keyboard drawer, and then four other storage drawers, whereas right now I only have two drawers. So I won't need to keep extra supplies in the hutch.
I also bought a very, very nice filing cabinet. The top portion of the cabinet locks so that is where I will probably keep my FH stuff. The bottom cabinet will have our family paperwork. The filing cabinet matches the desk. Then I also purchased a 6 foot tall bookcase, also matching the desk. This will be where I house my coding books, college books, CPU, shredder and my paper. I'm thinking I'll put my 4-in-1 on top of the filing cabinet.
Unfortunately, the stuff I ordered is out of stock, and won't be available until August 7, and then once it comes in, they will call me to make a delivery appointment. I'm actually ok with this delay, because it gives me time to move all of Mr. R's junk out of the area I plan to move into. Right now, we have paint cans, tools, and extra wood flooring stored there. I also have the opportunity to paint the wall if I choose, and put up the baseboards. All in all, I am super happy about this development. I am hoping I will be set up in my new office by September, maybe Labor Day weekend I will put it all together. Once I get a new camera (mine broke! Boooooo!) I will take before and after shots and post them so you can see my old yucky desk, the breakfast nook area I'm moving into, and the completed office.


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It Came! It Finally Came!

My check came yesterday. And Missy got her tooth pulled out, no issues at all. PLUS Mr. R is home so we can do desk shopping later. Ain't life wonderful?
It's going to be crazy busy for me today, because I was out half a day on Friday, and all day Monday. That's why I'm posting this at the ungodly hour of 6:06am. I'm up to get the computer set up and my coffee brewing so I can put in about 10-12 hours today.

I Cleaned It Anyway

I cleaned my desk this morning. I couldn't take it anymore. It's bad when Bucket asks me why the desk is messy. If a 10 year old boy thinks something is messy, it's generally tornado-stricken. So I am now typing on my clean desk, with the drawers stacked neatly around me because they no longer fit in the drawer areas. Because it's all busted.
Let's see, I've done two loads of laundry this morning, cleaned my bathroom, did one load of dishes, cleaned my desk, paid the bills, and shredded some paperwork. I took my lunch break, then decided to hop online to see if anyone e-mailed me. I like getting e-mails!
The check from Herzing still didn't come! Although I am grateful that no bills came in the mail today. Just some junk mail from a guy in Orlando "wishing to purchase our home at full price" and something from Office Depot. Shred shred shred. So there will be no desk shopping this weekend. *pouts*
I have a few more things to accomplish today. Finish the laundry, sweep the floors, pick up Missy from her friend Stephanie's house. I may go to Blockbuster to get the Guitar Hero Aerosmith game for Missy (I pre-ordered it and then forgot I did that, duhhhh) and I need to run to Publix for milk, cereal, and the like. The chore I am most dreading...cleaning the kids bathroom. Missy is not a slob, but those boys...really, how hard is it to aim? I'd love to pee standing up but biology does not permit. Their bathroom is gross and smells worse. And it's the bathroom that our guests use, so I'm kind of OCD about it. So after I'm done with all my other chores, I will do that one last. Then take a very, very long hot shower to destroy whatever boy cooties I might pick up.

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3 Day Weekend, Ya'll

I'm telling you, there is nothing like kicking back on a Friday afternoon, clocked out early, knowing that you don't have to sit down again until Tuesday morning. It's BLISS I tell you. Pure bliss!
I have Monday off because Missy has a dental cleaning, but she is also getting one of her gnarly baby teeth pulled. She is thrilled because it is right in front of her adult teeth and makes her smile look sort of weird. She gets this from me, as most of my baby teeth had to be pulled out. It's like God used cement on my jaws. I actually like my teeth very much. They are mostly straight, not too gappy, I've only had one cavity in 33 years, and still fairly white, considering my obsessive coffee addiction. I'd love to get them whitened but I'm too cheap to pay $250 for it.
So far, Mr. R has not had one single phone call regarding any of the applications we did for a local jobs. It's quite discouraging. Considering he has so many years of experience, has all his endorsements, no tickets, no DUI's, a clean background and credit check, NOT ONE SINGLE COMPANY HAS CALLED HIM BACK. It makes me want to scream! It has a lot to do with the fact that once he gets a local job, he will probably sell his semi truck, which will pay for the reversal. Yes, I'm still on that. Yes, I'm not giving up. I know four pregnant people right now, that's four baby showers I have to go, and not one is for me! I have issues with this, people. Big issues!



Herzing (the online college I'm attending) told me on Monday that my check would be in the mail for the overage on the student loans. Today is Friday and still no check. I am really hoping it is in my mailbox tomorrow. Mr. R will be home again probably Tuesday night and I want him to come shopping with me for my new desk. I know I keep posting about how much I hate my desk, but that is because I sit at this thing at least 40 hours per week and I can't avoid being at it. I'm not even cleaning it anymore. I just make sure there is no food on it, and the rest of it can rot.
Speaking of rot...I am addicted to internet furniture sales. And I also got a Bed Bath Beyond flyer in the mail today. This flyer is like porn to me. I flip through the pages salivating and breathing heavily. I looooove Bed Bath Beyond. It's just wrong how much I want the flyers to be in my mailbox. And this one came with a $10 coupon too...oh my word. Could I BE any happier?
Wow, this post was sort of all over the place, but I haven't posted in four days and felt like I had a lot to say.

Bits and Pieces

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Let's see. Bucket turned 10 yesterday. He is a big boy now, at least that is what I was told. He had a nice birthday.
I'm on a college break for the July 4th holiday, and start up again on July 14th. My next class is Computer Applications, and I already ordered my book so there is no nonsense about not having a book, like last time.
Other than that, things are pretty quiet around here. I unfortunately have a family history of some depression, and I've been experiencing that nagging sense of sadness lately. So in order to stave that off, I thought I'd concentrate on other things besides me. Which leaves YOU...I want to pray for you. Is there anything I can pray for you specifically? Not only will it bless YOU, but it will keep my mind off my troubles.