Trip Postponed

After careful consideration, I have decided that I will not be making the trip to SoCal in April after all.  I just cannot afford it at this moment.  I have to register my car before the end of the month, which means I also have to have a smog check done on it, too.  That is a mere matter of $18.  (The people of Boise seem to think that is expensive.  I came from Reno where it is at least twice that amount,)  Registration is somewhere around $35 as I recall. BUT, it still has to be done and is enough to through my financial plans for the trip into chaos.

I will probably go this summer, perhaps toward the end before Raven starts school.  It will depend on if I get that job, though.  I haven't been called back yet, which is disappointing, but I am not going to discount it just yet.  I think it took the company I currently work with about a week to call me the first time.

Vile will be disappointed, I think, but that's just tough.  If he really wants to see Raven, he can jump a military flight up here and spend a few days with us.  Yeah.  I think he should do that.  He finally has his uniform, so he is out of excuses.

I work 12 hours today as it is Saturday.  The time change is coming tomorrow.  Goodie.  Bleh.  I don't like the time change.  I think that it is an outdated tradition that really doesn't save a whole lot of money like they say.  It messes with humans' metabolism, so to speak, and frankly I am tired of it.  I suppose that griping about it isn't going to do anything.  Writing my congressmen won't do any good either as I live in a farming state.  I think the farmers like Daylight Saving Time.

It is still too early to plant anything in my garden, but not too early to start seeds in my house.  I just don't have anywhere suitable to put them.  No shelves in any of my windows that get enough light.  I'll have to think about that for a moment.  I also have the minor issue of the big hole under my window in the garden.  Every time it rains, the Faeries get a new swimming pool.  I do have some topsoil that I plan on working into the garden and filling up the hole.  Hopefully it is enough to discontinue the flooding that occurs.

Ah, the garden.  What do I plan on having in it you ask?  A lot of different things, I hope.  I have a garden arch against my window.  In the middle of it I plan on having a butterfly bush that I will train to be a tree.  Up one side of the arch I plan on growing snap peas, and on the other side I will have cherry tomatoes that I will train to grow up the side.  Hush, it will work.  I also plan on having some stalks of corn, some beans, some cucumbers, a bit of squash, lettuce, green onions, some shasta daisies, marigolds, the bearded iris that is already sprouting, and other various herbs... mint, etc.  Raven thinks we have enough room for canteloupe.  We might.  The plot is only about 4 feet by 8 feet or so.  Maybe a little longer.  I've never measured it. We'll see what happens.  There are sure to be pictures soon.  If I don't get everything planted that I want this year, there is always next year, and who knows.  I might be in a house with an even bigger garden area.

Thank you for joining me for my ramblings today.  Please leave your comments, suggestions for further ramblings and whatnot.. I love comments!

Currently, Pandora is playing "Drops of Jupiter (Live) by Train

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All About Raven

Yesterday turned out so wonderfully.  Registration for Raven went really well.  After the paperwork part we went into the gym where they had information booths set up and stations for the kids to do stuff and things.  I found out that they serve breakfast for FREE at the school, even to the afternoon kindergarten class, which is what Raven will more than likely end up doing, especially IF I do get that new job. Kindergarten classes only last for a few hours, apparently.  I thought they were longer than that.  No matter.

The stations were set up to evaluate the kids' abilities, which I am proud to say that Raven aced 3/4 activities.  She could write her name like a champ, knows all her letters, knows how to rhyme.  She had only slight difficulty with her numbers, but I know that she knows them.  I think she was just excited to be in a new place.  The staff kept saying how ready she was for kindergarten.  The sad thing is that she will be almost 6 by the time the school year starts.  Her birthday is in December, so she missed the cut off date this past year.  Oh well.  She'll be ready no matter what.

I got the chance to meet some of the teachers and other staff members.  They were really nice.  I think that this will be a good school for Raven to be in.  She is so excited.

I got the chance to catch up on my Soldiers' Angels stuff.  I joined a new team, the Ladies of Liberty, and I signed up for three names a month.  That doesn't seem like a whole lot, but I decided on a monthly thing instead of a weekly thing as I am already on the LWT and signed up for three names per week.  I decided that if I had their names for the whole month, I could write them once a week and send a mini care package once during the month.  I caught up on my LWT names as well as the TLC names I picked up.  I often wonder if I am spreading myself too thin.  I will get new LWT names next week.

I have started sending something small in each of my letters that I do write.  I started with clippings of the Sunday Funnies.  Who doesn't want to smile once in a while?  That got to be very expensive, so I decided that I would go to Barnes and Noble and see if they had any comic book books.. I managed to find a three-pack of Garfield comic books.  I've decided to cut the pages and send a few to each of my soldiers. In their letters.  Sacrilege to cut up a book?  Perhaps, but if it brings that many more smiles, then I am all for it.  I've sent Calvin and Hobbs comic books to both of my soldiers with bookmarks.  I haven't heard if they liked them or not.  Hopefully, they did.

I managed to talk to Vile  yesterday about my trip.  He is all for me coming down in April like we had originally planned.  So, I just need to save up a few more bucks before the trip.  I will also get paid while I'm there.  Thank the higher powers for direct deposit!  He is looking forward to me and Raven coming down.  I am looking forward to the vacation.  Although, again this depends on if I get that new job.  I haven't yet gotten a call for an interview, but I am confident that I will get the call soon.  And, if I don't, no big deal.

Some of you have asked for a little more information about my daughter, Raven.  First, I will say that Raven IS her middle name.  She is a beautiful girl who turned 5 this past December.  She is very independent, willful, and sometimes as stubborn as her biodad, Vile.  She walked at 11 months, but she didn't talk until much later.  I had her in speech therapy for about six months, and that seemed to help a great deal.  Even my mother noticed a huge difference when talking to Raven on the phone. Raven is a very active little girl, but she enjoys art very much.  She loves to color, and play with play-doh and use water colors.  This past Christmas, I purchased a 5-in-1 princess easel for her.  She loves it.

She loves animals and has been begging me for an orange cat named Ponytail for many months.  I told her if she could keep her room clean I would consider getting one.  Well, she's kept up her end of the deal really well.  I guess it is time for me to keep my end.  (I'm not so much an animal person.)

Here is a picture that was taken just after her fifth birthday:

Photo by Heidi

Today I am just back to my old schedule.  That means that I'll be working 12 hours tomorrow.  What I wouldn't give for that new job.  No more working 12 hours on the weekend.  No more working weekends period!!

I'm rather screwed this weekend for someone to watch Raven for me.  My weekend sitter is going out of town and my backup is busy with Girl Scouts and stuff.  I'm sure that I'll find someone to help me out soon.  

I hope you enjoyed my ramblings for today.  I'm sure I'll be back soon with more pointless information about the one who is otherwise known as Onyx of DarkLite.

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Vile Ramblings...

If you've been following my blogs for any length of time, you know that I have been planning a trip to Southern California to see Raven's biodad.  I am starting to have second thoughts about going.  Actually, I am having second thoughts about going in April.  I do want to go, but I think that I might have to put it off for a few months.  I should probably save a bit more money, and if I get that new job, that I haven't interviewed for yet. .hehe.. then I will probably need to save some money as my hours will end up being cut down for a while.  Everything is so up in the air about that right now.  We'll see what happens, I guess.

If I get that new job, I won't be able to go to SoCal anyway because I'll be working and won't have any vacation time for another year.  That will rather suck, but I'm willing to go through that again if it means being there for Raven while she's in school.  Her dad will just have to hop one of those military flights and come see us.  Yeah, I don't see why I should have to pay all that money to make the trip when he could simply do that.

I just told my team lead about the fact that I've applied for this other job.  He totally understands my position, and I told him that of course I will give two weeks notice.  I'd HAVE to give it. They need time to train someone.  Of course, when they hired me, they'd been without someone for two months.  I'm not going to wait around, though for them to hire someone if they don't do it in the two week time frame.  But, first thing's first.  I need to get an interview first.  I am doing all I can to make sure that I bring enough mojo so that it happens.  I guess I should go update my resume.  Bah!

Everything else is going well.  I have no complaints for once.  Tomorrow is the day we register Raven for kindygarden.  I am so ecstatic about that.  It isn't until the afternoon.  I guess I am looking forward to going school clothes shopping for her.  That's the most fun.  Shopping for clothes for Raven.  She looks good in just about anything.  She isn't overweight at all.  She has the body I had when I was her age.  I didn't gain any weight until I hit puberty, and I am hoping that I can instill some healthy eating habits for Raven before she hits that age.  But, I digress...

There are some changes coming, I can feel it in the wind.

*****

And, as if by some cosmic power, Raven's dad called.  We'll just call him Vile, as that is what he calls himself these days.  So, Vile and I talked for a little while about the trip and he really does want us to come down.  He wants to wait, though, until he gets a bit of dental work done.  I guess he's really let his teeth go all to hell, but he's had bad teeth since I've known him.  I don't blame him at all for wanting to wait for that.  He thinks that I'll still be able to come down in April, but I might have to put it off for a week or so.  No big deal.  As it turns out, my lead's birthday is that first week in April sometime.  I know he will want to take it off, so I can wait and postpone my trip until later.  

I still don't know all the details, but I am sure that I will be blabbing about them as they come up.

Thanks for reading my ramblings.  Sorry no pictures this time, but I am at work, and I am pretty sure that I have to get something done before I leave tonight.


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Work, Needles and School

Good morning faithful readers!  I am glad to be here this morning.  Let the Ramblings begin......

Yesterday was a little bit ethereal for me.  The morning started off raining, then suddenly went to snowing, and it snowed for the better part of the day, BUT, it didn't really stick and by the afternoon, the snow turned to sleet.  I hope that my bearded iris that sprouted survives that.  It should be fine.  It is still the only living thing in the garden right now and I am looking forward to planting everything else.

In the morning I took Raven to the clinic to get her shots for school.  I thought that she might need two, three at the most.  Including the flu vaccination, her poor body got stuck three times in each arm.  For those that can't multiply, that's six shots altogether.  The first one she just kind of said, "Ow", but then she either realized that it actually hurt or she was just milking the moment because the tears started to fall and she quietly screeched after each remaining stab.  I really can't blame her.  I am part of the population that cannot stand to be stabbed.  I will say that she bruised really easily.  Perhaps she is not eating enough bananas.

After the clinic, I stopped by the school to pick up the registration packet.  It wasn't as bad as I thought it might be.  Just the standard questions.  I'll have to bring her birth certificate and her shot records and proof or residency, things like that.  I think I know where here birth certificate is.  Hmm.. I'll have to find that today.

She was such a good girl that I took her to Raedean's.  If you ever visit Boise, you simply must eat there.  They have the largest, tastiest cinnamon rolls, the best sausage and bacon, and their French Toast is pretty good, too!  Raven ate hardly anything, which again, I don't really blame her for, but she did have two glasses of apple juice and the orange slices from her plate and mine.

I wasn't feeling too well, so I let my letter writing duties fall by the wayside for a day.  The night before, though, I hand wrote 12 letters to a team of marines.  It doesn't become clear how very boring one's life is until you try to write to a bunch of marines that you don't know.  It was hard coming up with different aspects of myself to write about.  But, if they put their letters together, they will pretty much come up with my life story.  How sad is that. LOL!  I also put a care package together for them which I will send off on Thursday.  I sent out St. Patty's cards to two of my adopted soldiers and one is going out on Thursday for the TVW adopted soldier.  A friend took the card by for everyone to sign it.  Hopefully they do.

On Sunday I went to coffee with the TVW and spent most of my time cutting out Sunday Funnies for various soldiers' letters.  I figure that they would appreciate a little humor in their lives.  We also sent out 15 post cards.  One of the young ladies (8 years old) was having a great time writing some of my past LWT names.  Of course I kept the addresses secure as per my agreement with SA.  But, I wasn't going to deny her the chance to show her appreciation for the troops.

Aside from that, I got a lead on a very promising new job.  The schedule is a little wonky, but truly it would be perfect and pretty much solve my issue of how I'm going to handle working AND having Raven in school.  I'd work at night, pretty much, but I'd be able to be there to take her to school AND pick her up. I would just need to find someone to watch her in the afternoon/evening and be there to put her to bed.  That might be a little bit harder to do, but I have a friend who lives in my complex who might be willing to help me, if I get the job.  Hopefully I will get an interview at least.  It took me three hours to fill out the online application because they wanted ten years of work history and if there was a gap, they wanted to know why.  AND, I have had so many jobs in the last ten years that I actually forgot one of the main jobs I had while I was pregnant with Raven.  LOL.... It was a pain to say the least, but a pain that I hope will actually prove to pay off.

This job has really good benefits.  Medical and sick leave, and it's a casual environment and I could listen to my mp3 player if I wanted.  I wouldn't even mind the monotony of the work.  At least I wouldn't have to deal with cranky supervisors who act like children when they don't get what they want or get caught doing something they shouldn't be doing, or advisors who like to think they get away with murder on the call floor when in fact we see everything thing do.  I'm tired of being a glorified babysitter who gets as much respect as a substitute teacher.  Wish me luck!

I'm not sure if there is anything else that is newsworthy of my ramblings today.  I'm thinking that I will just do my work in silence today.  The coworker that I'm working with doesn't talk a whole lot, and when he does it is usually about WoW, which is something that I'm not really into.  He's a nice enough guy, but we don't have much to talk about.

Have a most wonderfilled day, and remember, "It can't rain all the time....."

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I Just Wanna Break Stuff!

Someone please help me!  I feel like I am about ready to break something.  I have the feeling that I am losing control of my control.

I don't know if it is because I overworked and underappreciated, or if it is because I have been suppressing angry feelings I didn't even know I had or what the deal is.  The last time I felt like this I ended up going to the batting cages and envisioning and ex's face on the ball.  I didn't miss a single ball that day.

Please, someone help!!


Ok, pitiful cry for help over.  I think I just need to take the next two days off.  Oh, I DO have them off.  Perhaps I will find something else to channel my aggression out on.

One night stand anyone?  hahaha....

My Very First Award... The Stylish Blogger

Wow, this is an honor!  I hope I do this right.  I was given this most awesome award by Aya_sama at A Series of Moments I believe she mentioned something about my layout and background.  hehe, I rather liked it, too!

"Rules! We've got some rules around here...!" (Extra credit for the one who tells me where that quote comes from!)

• Thank the person who gave me the award, and link to them.
• List 7 things about me.
• Pass the award on to 15 newly discovered bloggers I think deserve it.
• Contact them, and tell them about the award.

Let's see:  7 Things about me that you can't already get from my other pages over to the right.....

1.  I love to go hiking.  I haven't gone hiking since I moved to Boise.  When I lived in Lake Tahoe, I went hiking all the time.  It was the guy I was with at that time who got me the most interested in hiking. I haven't had the chance to go hiking in Boise yet, but I think I just haven't found the right motivation.  There are no snakes in Lake Tahoe due to elevation, but here they run rampant.

2.  I am a HUGE fan of horror movies of all types.  Cheesy, scary, old, new, black and white, color, it doesn't matter.  Bela Lugosi is one of my favorite old time actors. hmm.. I really should add him to my list of favorites over there on the right-hand side.  

3.  I never lie.  There is absolutely NO filter between brain to mouth, so if you don't want to hear the truth, don't ask me.

4.  I used to be a DJ, private party bartender, club and live band promoter, and comedy evening hostess.  All those at the same time, too.  Man, those were the best three years of my life.

5. Anyone who has followed me for a while has heard me write about Raven.  She is my youngest daughter.  What you might not know is that I have a son and another daughter, both older, both living elsewhere.  That doesn't mean I love them any less.  My son will be known as Eagle, and my older daughter will be known as Nightingale if I ever write about them.

6.  I am a hardcore fan of singing karaoke.  I used to go singing 6 nights a week.  That was before kids. I sing songs usually sung by males because my voice is a low alto. 

7.  I was born in Reno, NV.  A dusty, dirty, fun town that I miss very much on certain days.  Like the days that hold Hot August Nights, Street Vibrations, The Hot Air Balloon Races, The Air Races, The Chili Cookoff, The Italian Festival, Kite Flying Day.. just to name a few.

Now, let's see. Who to give this award to that doesn't already have it.  That's a tough one.  I don't follow a whole lot of blogs that DON'T already have this award.  

This is Me.... Or Something Like That

A Whole Mess of Things

My Hopeless Generation

Hmm.. that only appears to be three... sorry.  Sue me.

Thanks again for the award!  It is an honor.

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Sickness and Pintos

As promised in a previous comment, here is what happened after I started feeling better.  This week has gone to Hell quickly.

Yesterday Raven wasn't feeling so well.  I gave her some cough syrup in hopes that she would be ok, but at 3:30 I got a call from her daycare saying that I had to come get her.  This is the main reason I hate being a single parent.  When she gets sick, there is no one else to get her, and I end up losing hours at work to take care of it. So, the plan was to take off for two hours, come back at 5:30 and send her with my coworker who usually watches her on Friday nights to Saturday nights for me. We got home and I laid her on the couch.  We watched some Spongebob, but she was really out of it. Her eyes glassy, her skin hot to the touch.  I tried to talk her into a lukewarm bath, but she wasn't going to have any of it.

I brought her back to work with me and she hung out in my office for a little while until the sitter ended her shift.  She was so lethargic, and she looked so helpless.  I couldn't stand that I wasn't going to be able to be there to help her.  She's in great hands, though, and I am confident that she will be fine.

I don't know if that was food-related or not.  She went with me to Olive Garden that day, but only had a nice sized bowl of spaghetti.  No seafood, so her illness might just be a coincidence.

So, due to my sickness and her illness I have miss a grand total of a full day's work.  I think I'll still be ok, but I won't have as much to save for my April trip.  I'll probably still be able to go, but I've had to dip into the money that I was saving for unexpected expenses and whatnot.  The good thing is that it doesn't look like I'll have to pay for a hotel while I'm there.  Or parking.  That's a good thing.  I wouldn't be able to make this trip otherwise.

For now, it is Saturday, and I am working my 12 hour shift (no OT), and hoping I make it through.  I feel a lot better than I did a few days ago, but I didn't sleep very well last night.  That neighbor doesn't know the meaning of a good night's sleep methinks.  I wondered if he might be one of the WoWcrackers, but if that were the case, I wouldn't hear him moving hardly at all!  He'd be at his computer getting his fix.  But he walks around so much you'd think that he were constantly exercising or something.  I don't know.  I shall have to talk to him and find out.

I'm looking forward to my April trip.  I haven't seen Raven's biofreak since she turned 3 (she's 5 now), and even though we get along fine, I hope it won't be too awkward for anyone involved.  He's so outgoing, and I'm so not.  I think it was something that partially damaged our relationship in the first place.  I had, and to some extent still have, an inferiority complex, and I have a very hard time being in a crowd.  Other people scare me, and I know that he is going to want me to meet the people he works with and his friends and such.  He is taking me to Das Bunker while I'm there, which I can't wait for, but again, I am freaked out by this idea.  It would be like taking a Pinto to a Rolls Royce museum.

Even still, I am still going to be happy to see him.  I'm not the one who left, and even though he did the leaving two months after Raven was born, I have forgiven him, mostly.  I am not one who can hold a grudge for very long.  Life is simply too short.  I have thought about the possibility of moving down there.  I even went so far as to look up the job market and apartments, and all I can say is, Holy Hell! How does anyone survive in Southern California these days?  Oh, I've tried to talk him into moving to boring ol' Boise, but he's happy there.  Making all sorts of new and important friends and whatnot, and I guess that working at one of the most awesome magic theaters doesn't help my cause, either.. LOL...

It's ok, though.  A visit will be more than enough for me.  Then I can get back to my boring old life here at home.

What if I don't want to come back?



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Poisoned I Say!!!

I'm back after a full day of who knows what.  Two nights ago I woke up and vomited stuff that I can only describe as coming from deeper than my stomach and by the time I was done, there was nothing left.  I was aching and shaking and I couldn't sleep because the upstairs neighbor walked around all night, literally, I was waking up every ten minutes to the sound of "squeak squeak" of the ceiling.

I woke up that next morning, exhausted, aching, and hungry and contemplating calling off from work, but knowing that I have to be there because there are only three of us in the department.

I got Raven up and ready for school.  I barely remember doing that.  I had made her lunch the night before, thankfully, and off we went.  I didn't even bring my lunch that I had made for myself because after one bit of breakfast, I knew I wasn't going to be keeping anything down.

I dropped Raven off at daycare and one of the owners asked me if I had registered Raven for school yet. I haven't even had the chance to think about it.  I only know that she won't be going to any of the schools that are around her daycare.

When I got to work, I decided that I wasn't going to make it, so I texted the third coworker to cover for me.  He lives out in Nampa, so it wasn't going to take him a while to get there.  I spent an hour and a half in agony.  I was so thankful when he got there.

I left, and decided to go to the school that I knew Raven would be going to this year.  I am so glad I did. I found out that Registration is this coming Thursday.  Holy heck!!  I can pick up the registration packet on Monday and fill it out, then on Thursday I would need to find a way to get there from 3-5pm to go through orientation and stuff.  I think I'll be able to do that.  I just need to coordinate with my work, perhaps try to get a day traded.  Either way, I will get that worked out. 

Then, I went home and passed out for five hours.  After that I picked up Raven, and everything after that is a little fuzzy, but I know that I put a movie on for Raven and asked her to put herself to sleep.  She's pretty good at that.  I went to sleep around 8pm.

I woke up at some point last night when I finally heard Raven crying for her dad.  I hate when she does that, but she'd been crying a while due to nightmares.  I don't think I"ll be putting on the Secret of NIMH anytime again soon.  I got her back to sleep only to find that she came into my room just before my alarm went off at 8am.   So, pretty  much 12 hours of sleep, aided by Tylenol PM.  It's amazing what 1,000mg and 17 hours of sleep can do.

I managed to keep my breakfast down and as of right now I feel pretty darn good.  I brought my lunch that I was going to take yesterday, but I'm not sure if I'm going to eat it or not.  I am not sure what it was that made me so very ill, but I don't want to take chances.  We'll see how hungry I am at that point though.  I can't have nothing.

I would like to mention one thing, though:

Stay away from the seafood alfredo at Olive Garden.  I have a feeling that might have been my demise.

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A Wee Bit of Wednesdays

I doubt I will be doing this again, but here is it... I guess that linky thing that so many people keep talking about.  If I didn't do it right, so be it....




{one} do you wear holey jeans? if so, do you buy them that way?I did when I was younger, but I really don't see the point in spending a ton of money on something that I can do for to my jeans for free.
{two} do you get a full 8 hours of sleep per night?It depends on the night.
{three} what’s your favorite way to eat an oreo?With my mouth.
{four} do you wear shoes in your house?Not all the time.
{five} who would you call first if you won the lottery?My brother.  I think I owe him some money.
{six} have you ever been in a food fight?No.
{seven} do you snore?Loudly according to various past boyfriends.
{eight} do you know how fast you type?77wmp 100% accuracy.
{nine} can you do a headstand (without using a wall)?not anymore.
{ten} how do you like your popcorn?Movie-theatre butter, light salt

McDonalds, really?

 I had told her that we had a play date with a friend, but I didn't tell her where we were going. Wide-eyed, full of expectation, my daughter and I pull up to the Golden Arches. She about jumped through her chair.  We don't go there very often because of how bad their food is (healthwise), and as any of you have been following my blogs know, I have been trying to watch my weight.

We go in and Raven's friend is already there.  We'll call her ... Sparrow, for the sake of this blog.  Raven and Sparrow run off to play in the towering monstrosity that is the McD's playground.  Sparrow's mother and I talked about all sorts of things, as mothers do, when all of a sudden we hear the loudest screech...

Coming from the teenagers who decided they were going to act like children and climb on the equipment.


Now, I really don't like to be a killjoy.  I am all for kids of all ages having fun and acting like imbeciles whenever.  After all, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.  But, McDonald's?  Really?  You have NO other place to act like a screaming heathen than in an enclosed structure that resonates and reverberates loudly?  You can't find a nice park?  The mall for goodness sake?  You MUST climb on equipment that is not made for your big body?  You MUST show off how inconsiderate you are by blowing by toddlers and little kids? Seriously..........

Of course I made my disdain shown because I really have a hard time keeping my mouth shut.  And as rude teenagers that most teens are these days when they want to be rebellious, they talked about me behind my back when they thought I wasn't listening or couldn't hear.  I also made my opinion vocal about that as well.  Sparrow and Raven weren't even behaving that badly. And Sparrow is only almost 4.

Then their mothers show up...... and I could totally see where they get it from.

Now, I know there might be a few teens that read this, and I know that you are probably thinking that I am just a selfish adult, but really, and I KNOW you've heard this one before.... when you finally have kids, you will understand....

But, until then, teenagers, please continue to show the world how immature you really are.  You all want to be treated like adults, then for goodness sake... ACT LIKE IT!  I also know that there are a lot of really great teens out there, and for that, I applaud your upbringing.

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Now that I'm done ranting about McD's, I can talk about the rest of my weekend.

I ended up going to the Dollar Tree and I am always surprised when I go there.  They have some of the cutest things, and yesterday I found some awesome stuff for my garden.  I found a few plant hangers, one of which I will hang a birdfeeder and the other which I will hang a butterfly wind chime that says "Believe".  I also got a few other things to stick in the dirt.. decorations.  I'm sure I'll post pictures when all is said and done.

I also got stuff to fill the rest of the care packages for my soldiers.  I found more Easter stuff for the Easter boxes and things like sunflower seeds, raisin, etc for the regular boxes.  Don't think I'm always so cheap when it comes to things for the boxes for my soldiers.  I'm not.  But, as I said, sometimes the Dollar Store surprises me with the really neat stuff they have.

I sent out a lot of letters this week.  Lots of cards, lots of love.  Raven colored a few pictures for our heroes as well.  What I really need is a printer, but I am not going to get one until I get my PC back from my friend who did in fact determine that it is the power supply that went out on it.  I won't get that back until she fixes it and I can pay her the money for doing so.  That won't be until I get my next check which won't be until the 7th.  Bah, I really need a printer!  But, I am not going to pay the $40 extra to get one that will be compatible with OS 10.4 which is what my Mac at home is.  And now, I'm not just going to get a new mac and the one I have really isn't upgradeable.  I'm not worried about it.  I'll get my PC back and all will be well with the world.  I rant about needing a printer because my hand starts to hurt after the first two handwritten letters.  I also think my letters to them would be longer in the long run, too.

So far, Raven's room has been as clean as it was when we last cleaned it for two weeks or so now.  Or is that one week.  Time simply flies for me and I really lose track of the days and whatnot.  It is already March. I think that if Raven can keep her room clean until we get back from our trip to SoCal, then I will go ahead and get her that cat she's been wanting.  It might be nice to have a cat again.  I do get tired of animals quickly, which I why I haven't had one in a while other than Neelix.  He's easy, though.  Just clean his cage, feed him, play with him every so often.  Attempt not getting bitten, and we're all set.  I suppose a cat is even easier than that.  Feed it, water it, clean its litter box and make sure you pet it daily. Yeah. That might be nice.

I'm at work today, then off tomorrow.  I'll have a new name for the Letter Writing Team tomorrow, so more letters going out.  I think I'll find a paper and clip the comics again.  That seems to be nice, but since no one has written me back, I don't really know for sure.  I can only hope that what I send will be just what they need to help them get through their day.

Anyway, I'll close by saying, "Thanks for reading!"  You've all been great!


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