This weekend has been nice so far!  My boss went on vacation beginning on Friday-which meant that it was a nice and relaxing day at work, and that leads in to the weekend, which is a nice feeling.

Friday night my parents came into town.  I went to the store before they got here and got a few things that I didn't have on hand to make chef salads with.  That was good because it was a light supper and healthy...they didn't get here until around 7:45pm, so it was better than eating something really heavy right before bedtime.

This morning we were all up again at 4:30, because my son had an early morning football game, and we had to be there at 6:30 in the morning.  It turned into quite a mess because about 30 minutes before start time, it was discovered that he left his blue game socks under his cousin's bed when we went to Casa Grande last weekend.  SO...a quick trip to Walmart to buy a new pair, then his dad had to make a mad dash back to his house because a jersey and a mouth piece had been left behind on that end.  Yikes!  It all worked out in the end though, and he played in the game, and came out happy because he made his first ever tackle in an actual game. Good for him!!!

Afterwards we came back to the house and everybody took a nap.  I was really thankful for that because I didn't sleep good the night before-the cat kept meowing for some reason and waking me up.  She didn't seem to need anything...she was just being a crybaby.

I just finished a good, although disturbing book, called Hush Little Baby.  It was actually a true crime novel, a case study, on a case where a woman kidnapped a pregnant woman, strangled her unconscious, and then used a car key to perform a c-section and remove her baby from her.  Then she tried to play off like that baby was her own, and then when no one bought that story, she said that a surrogate mother had given it to her.  They finally sentenced her to 30 years in prison....she got off without the death penalty because she used a mental issue type of defense.  Not insanity, but other mental issues...including multiple personality disorder.  Very strange case.  I like reading those books, but they are very heavy on my mind, so they aren't really relaxing and tend to give me weird dreams...so now to balance that out I will read some lighter things for a bit.

Actually, I did read another short story today-by Jack London.  My dad gave me a book that he picked up at a yard sale...it had 36 Jack London stories, and then 4 actual novels by him.  I'm going to read it and then return it to him, because he said it is something he would also like to read and then keep.  It will probably take me awhile to read it all ,because I don't plan to read it all straight through from front to back-I'll intersperse it with other things. 

I feel that pralines n' cream ice cream is calling my name right now.....

Last night I tried out a new recipe and I was very happy with the results!  It was for Dutch Apple Bread.  It was really good and I was glad to use up one of the apples that was deteriorating in my fruit drawer.  The bread is nice and moist, and the crumb topping finished it off really well.  The recipe is a keeper.

I got an unexpected lunch invite today from a friend from church.  We met at Fuddruckers and visited and had lunch.  She brought her teenaged son and his friend, but they wanted to watch the football game so they sat at their own table.  She also brought her 4 year old daughter along, so she sat with us and wandered back and forth between the video game area and our table.  We sat right next to the games so we could keep an eye on her the whole time.  It was good to get out and I really enjoy talking to that lady.  This was the first time we have done anything like that...before we have just chatted at church and gone to birthday parties for our kids, and things like that.  This was a nice change of pace.

I am completely dreading going back to work tomorrow.  I haven't said much about that place lately, but it is just going from bad to worse.  I am very unhappy there right now, and I know at least 5 other people who feel the same way.  It just isn't worth it anymore....    I continue to feel guilty for saying that when I know there are so many people who have been looking and looking and are unable to find a job..but it is pretty bad there.  I'm keeping my eyes/ears open for other opportunities, and we'll see what happens.  It is pretty bad when going to work in the morning literally makes you feel nauseated and sick to your stomach.  .  Trying to keep my head up though...something will give sooner or later. 

Enjoying my book-almost done with it.  It is an easy read=a murder mystery.  I don't recall reading a Stuart Woods book before, although it is very possible that I have and have just forgotten.  So many lovely books in the world, it is hard for me to keep track.

Saturday morning my son's football team had their second game.  They didn't win, but I think my son enjoyed himself more at this one than he did at the first one.  He got to play a lot, and he did a good job.  There has turned out to be quite of a bit of pee wee football drama, and politics with the parents, etc., but overall I guess it is a good learning experience for him, and for me!  I have made friends with one mom and I hope that after the football season is over that we can still stay in touch.  She is very down to earth and I like visiting with her a lot. 

After the game, we headed down to my sister's and spent the night with her.  The kids got to play together and everyone got along.  My mom was there too, and it was nice to hang out.  I commented to my mom that I am really glad I had a boy-my niece is so dramatic and everything is so much bigger of a deal with her than it is with the boys.  I don't really know how I would do with that-God gave me what I needed!  My mom said that she feels my niece is extra moody and dramatic for her age, but then again it has been 20 years since we were at that age, so maybe she has just forgotten.  I was never a really dramatic child, but my sister went through that spell pretty good, so it must be that my niece gets it from her. 

This morning we woke up and my mom made breakfast (nobody makes biscuits and gravy like your mom!) and then went into town and did some shopping and some looking around, and then when my sister had to go to work we went back home.  My son and I left shortly after that and came home.  Now I am working on laundry and my son has done some of his homework and reading.  I'm thinking I'll rent a movie later if he wants to, and have a relaxing evening.  I'm looking forward to sleeping in for one more day and NOT having to be at work. 

Happy Labor Day to everyone!

Yesterday I ate lunch at Subway, and I got to thinking.....it seems like people/companies are just never satisfied.  Subway is a sub sandwich shop.  It was created for the purpose of having sandwiches.  Then they added soup.  That I can see, because a lot of people like to have soup with their sandwiches.  Then they added salads.  I suppose that is passable...all the ingredients are right there, so why not use them for salads if someone didn't want bread.  NOW they have added breakfast items.  Egg sandwiches and things like that.  I don't think it fits with the sub sandwich theme, but I assume they wanted to get some income during those hours rather than leaving the building closed up until lunchtime.  Now they can expand and have some income during the breakfast crowd.  BUT this weekend I noticed that they are offering a pizza.  A pizza that they cook in 90 seconds on some sort of flat bread.  If you ask me, that is just pushing it too far.  Why can't they leave a good thing alone, and serve what they started out to serve, and what they specialize in?   I just don't get it. 

We just finished up dinner.  I tried a new recipe tonight.  Herbed Chicken and Rice.  It was alright, but kind of plain when you take into account all the spices that go into it.  I figured it would have a lot more flavor than it did.  It had chicken, rice, carrots, onions, and a bunch of spices.  It is good and we'll eat the leftovers for sure, but it isn't GREAT, and I am sure I probably won't make it again. 

I also made a cake from scratch today-just a yellow cake.  It looks and tastes like cornbread!  It is good, don't get me wrong.  I think it would taste good with some whipped cream and strawberries on top.  I am going to go rent a movie later and maybe I'll get those things while I'm out to add to the cake.

My son' football team had their first scrimmage this week.  His team is pretty terrible!  It is so funny watching them play and learn. They are doing their best but this is their first year so they all get confused and run around frantically with no real purpose.  It is very cute to watch it.  Anyway-there has already been arguing amongst the coaches and some of the parents.  Some of the parents got in the coach's faces about the favoritism that they show for their own kids that are on the team.  The coaches really do favor their own kids, and they clearly knew they had done wrong because they actually came out and apologized for it and they have put a better rotation into place.  I have to give them credit for not even trying to deny what they had been doing.  Anyway, that aside, it is fun watching the kids and I think it is really good for my son to learn to work as a team and to put some effort into the activity that he chose.

I think I'm going to go get a Saturday night movie!  Hope everyone's weekend is off to a good start!

I am so relieved!  Today I finished my math class!  I didn't do very well on it-but since it is my worst subject....I'm not complaining!  I had to get 60% on the midterm and the final to even pass the class at all, and then there were 11 chapter tests that were worth 100 points each.  I ended up with a final score of 77%, which is a C.  I have never had a grade that low in my life, but like I said...I'll take it!  I got an 82 on the midterm and a 70 on the final exam.  It was REALLY HARD!  I am surprised I even got a 70.  When I hit the submit button on my computer at the testing center, I was afraid to even look because I thought I failed.  When I saw 70, I was relieved.  Now-I can move on to another class, AND have more time to take care of other things since I won't be staring at a math book every free second!

I allowed myself to have a lazy day today as a treat for finishing up the class.  I did a few loads of laundry, but that was pretty much it.  Otherwise I played games on the computer, started a new book, and just relaxed.  It was wonderful. 

The cat is finally starting to do a bit better now-I have had to take her back to the vet once more, and also call in for a second round of some more potent medication.  I just can't wait until another 2 weeks go by, because then I can get her fixed.  They wont' fix her until her kittens have been off her for 3 weeks, and so far only one has gone by.  She is super aggressive since she is in heat.  I have had to separate her from my (fixed) male cat, because he has no interest in her, but she chases him around frantically and shrieks and tries to attack him.  He growls and hisses and makes a run for it.  It was just getting out of hand.  So now he is in my bedroom/bathroom and she is in the rest of the house.  At night, I put her in the spare bathroom to sleep and then he gets to come out and have the run of the house for the night.  It is a mess, but it seems to be helping until I can get her fixed. Now the only bad thing is that when I go in the bedroom she tries really hard to sneak in between my legs, and when that fails she gets REALLY mad at me and sometimes she tries to scratch me or get me on the leg or something.  She is aptly named, Trouble. 

Today is the first day of practice for my son's football team.  It is through Pop Warner.  He is feeling very excited...and I am feel pretty uneasy about the whole thing.  I thought that at the of 7, football was supposed to be fun.  These kids aren't in the NFL, they are supposed to be learning and having a good time.  Then on Friday, I was sent an email by the coach saying that these kids are practicing EVERY SINGLE weekday from 6 to 8pm at night.  I was dumbfounded.  I haven't said anything yet because I suppose I need to give it a fair chance and see how it actually progresses....but is this normal?  Is this really what a kids football team is supposed to be like, or did I just get some kind of overenthusiastic coach?  I don't know what to make of it.  I guess I just have to see how it goes.

My life has become one long algebra problem!     

The kiddo started his swimming lessons today.  He is a good swimmer, but I figured it is better to be safe than sorry.  So he is taking two weeks worth.  The last five minutes or so got rained out today.  I was ok with that because the last 5 minutes they just spend kind of messing around and I was ready to come home. 

One little kitty died=so now there are three.  I don't know what happened to the other one...it lived for 3 weeks and did really well up until about 3 or 4 days before it died, and then it just started looking slightly deformed up in the shoulder area, and the little eyes were out of proportion with the rest of the head, etc.  Something wasn't right.  I suppose it could have been anything-an injury during the coyote attack, an effect from the medication the mom had, or just that it was sickly as it grew.  I don't know...we buried it in the back yard. Poor little thing.  It is amazing how something so pure and perfect looking on the outside can be sick inside and die.  I guess the same principle applies to people who have cancer or who have some disease that is from the inside out.  It is very sad.

My mom's birthday was last weekend so my sister and I went and spent the weekend with her.  She loves going to casinos and playing the penny and nickle slots, so we went with her to Laughlin and had a good time.  We haven't all 3 gone anywhere like that in years.  I came home completely exhausted, but relaxed....it was good.

Better go hit the books again!

Wow!  It has been such a busy few weeks, I am just now getting the chance to update here!

In my last post, I put down that there were two kittens born.  When I returned from our long weekend with my parents, there were two MORE!!!  The kitty had a total of four babies!  They all four look different.  One is white (I think will end up being gray), one is orange, one is black & white, and the other is more speckled like the mama cat.  They are cute and all did very well.

We had a good time in California on our little vacation.  We spent two days at the beach, and had a good time playing in the sand and water.  We also visited Venice Beach, which was new for my son and myself.  It was fun seeing all the different vendors, and there sure are some very different and interesting people there.  Never a lack for things to see, for sure!

Seaworld was a good experience too, although  I don't think I'll ever go back there.  It was incredibly crowded, although it IS summer, so I'm sure it isn't always that bad.  We got to see a really cool dolphin show, the Shamu show, and then my son got to feed the sealions.  We went on a few rides , and looked at some exhibits.  There were lots of things that we didn't get to see, but we got to be somewhat overwhelmed by the heat and the crowds, so we gave up and skipped out early on part of it.

Last week at work, we moved our entire office from one building into our brand new building. There were some nights when I worked until 8:30 at night, helping to prepare things for the move, and then actually moving.  It was crazy hot, so that didn't help-but we got it all done! Starting tomorrow we will be at the new location and are hoping for a smooth transition. 

This 4th of July weekend, my son was with his dad.  I missed having him with me, but I watched the fireworks at the lake with T, and some friends.  We camped there for 3 nights. It was fun, although the temperatures were insane, 115 I believe was the high where we were, although some parts of Mesa recorded temps of 121.  It was too hot and at one point AC unit in the camper stopped working, and then we were sure a bunch of miserable people!  Thank goodness it started back up after a few hours, so we just went into someone else's camper during that time.

This morning when I got home and tried to start my car, NOTHING happened.  The battery had gone completely dead over the weekend.  T took me to Walmart and I had to buy a new one.  The old one lasted a little over two years, which is pretty typical for Arizona.

This afternoon I logged onto my college course, which starts tomorrow. Silly me, I am somewhat nervous, because I just figured out today that I signed myself up for the 8 week accelerated course rather than the normal semester.  Yikes!  Math is my worst subject and look what I've done!  Oh well, too late to back out now, so I am just going to go for it and hope and pray for the best.  I am thinking I can do it, but it'll just mean spending even more time than usual studying for the tests.  I hope it isn't that much harder than the regular Algebra class was (this is the next level up) and that I can handle it ok.  I wouldn't be at all concerned if it were an English, or science class of some sort...but math? YUCK!!!  Wish me luck! 

I hope that everyone has had a safe and happy 4th of July weekend!

Before I leave town...I have to post that last night the babies were born!!!!!!   Two beautiful little kitties      One is speckled black/orange like mama, and the other one is white.  Interesting combo.  The white one is pretty small, but seems healthy!!!  Yay!!!!!!