Summer Tips

1. Don't leave home without your flip flops! When I went on vacation - I forgot my flip flops at home. (I know, how could I?) So, I thought "I will just buy some". This did not turn out well for me. I did end up buying 2 pairs of flip flops, one for Brennen, and one pair that doesn't fit me. This second pair is now just sitting in my closet looking very sad. But it did make me appreciate my own pair of flip flops. They are SO COMFORTABLE and reliable. I think they LOVE me!

After writing this, I went home (before publishing it) and what did I find.....
Amber wearing the 2nd pair of flip flops! That's great - now they aren't just staring at me. They have someone to love too.

2. SPRAY SUNSCREEN is not meant to be sprayed EVERYWHERE! We recently discovered this on Wednesday when Brennen wanted to go to the pool. I thought ok, he needs sunscreen at least on his face. I grabbed the only sunscreen we had (the spray from an aerosol can kind) and told Brennen - "SHUT YOUR EYES". As they closed, I started spraying his little face. Low and behold no sooner did I stop spraying, he opened his eyes (while the mist was still in the air). He started coughing and getting choked up and then he started hollering because his eyes were on fire. My reply? "I didn't tell you to open your eyes yet". Everyone else's reply? JESSICA! Ok. A little harsh I know but I thought that if he had let the mist settle down for a few seconds it wouldn't have burned. Anyway, not my finest "mom moment". So, the moral of the story: DON'T SRAY THE FACE!

3. When it is 105° outside you should NEVER wash dishes in hot water, next to the crockpot that is turned on (and in the middle of cooking), while cooking lunch on the griddle, in a house with a swamp cooler that seems to be barely working, surrounded by 4 very hyper little children! I could not understand why I was so frickin' HOT! Later thinking about it, I thought to myself, I should put a thermometer in here to see how hot it really is. I decided against it. At least if there is no proof I can try to convince myself that it is not as hot as it seems. Although I am sure it is that hot.

So, this last paragraph will lead into my next post.....MY NEW INTEREST

Officially; Temporarily.....

So, a few weeks ago I wrote a blog titled, "IT'S UNOFFICIAL". Well, it has become Official. I have been promoted at work into the Team Leader position. Although, while signing all of the necessary paperwork, I was told and then reminded repeatedly that, "This is only Temporary", "This is only for a few months", "When this situation is over then this position will no longer be needed", etc..., etc..... This was said on May 2nd as well, "when it was unofficial"; and here we are turning the corner from July. I do know that the future still isn't bright - the whole situation is caught up in a court battle. But I also have hope and some confidence that when it is said and done with I can keep my position or at least find a new one.

I have said it time and time again - I am tired of working direct care. I don't mind supervising those that do work direct care; I don't mind pushing the paperwork that direct care involves; I don't mind teaching people to do direct care; I AM JUST TIRED OF DOING IT. - But after 9 years who can really blame me. So, hopefully this will last for a little bit and then hopefully I will move into a new spot.

In other work related news, I have completed 1 year of employment with Tobosa Developmental Services as of Wednesday, June 19, 2013. So, that was good and I have been rewarded with a $1 an hour raise and 32 PTO hours (instead of 16).

We have been 1 staff short on my team since the end of last month and so, everyone on my team - including myself- have been working major overtime. I am averaging about 62 hours a week. So, I do apologize for my blog being empty for so long - but I am committed to blogging more because......

I hired a girl yesterday and she will start training this weekend - meaning....I will cut my hours back down to about 50 a week. That will be so much better on me (not on my paycheck). But I need to cut back. I am working almost 6 straight graveyards but then having to put in time at the office and in meetings and trainings as well. And I have had the pleasure of having Brennen for the last 2 weeks - so you know I don't sleep much when "MY TEENAGE AGE SON IS BORED"! Ha Ha.

I did take him to see the movie "The Internship" with Owen Wilson and Vince Vaghn. That movie was good. So, at least I got one afternoon of fun instead of sleeping.

Anyway, I have a report to finish before I get off out of here at 8am and go into a training until 10am and then another training until noon. And since I will have been here since 8pm last night I will then go home and eat lunch, see my family for about an hour, and then go to sleep only to return at 8pm tonight- So, have a GREAT FRIDAY and think about me as you lay your head down tonight!

Vacation Hang Over

I was very fortunate to get to go on vacation last week. I worked from Sun - Thursday. At 12am on Thursday I got off work. After putting gas in the car I went home to get Brennen (who had been way too excited). We left Roswell about 1:30am (NM time). Brennen made himself comfortable in the row behind me (of Krusti). With pillow, blanket, and Ipod he settled in quickly. We drove all night. About 8:00am (TX time) I pulled over on the far side of Abilene for a half hour nap at a rest stop. With a quick call to my sister (who got us back on the right track - no thanks to the TOM TOM) we finished our drive. We arrived in Temple, TX about 11:00am (I think). Spent about half an hour meeting Jaxen's sitter, and watching him wake from a nap and then off to bed I went. Brennen (who had slept all night) went with Nik for a while to the office and then lunch and some DISC GOLFING. I woke when my Sister came home for the day.

I had such a great time with my family. While we were there we got some great family time; we ran lots of errands; got some one on one time with Jaxen; got to know the "Temple Family"; and got to celebrate Jaxen's first birthday.

We didn't do a lot but managed to stay steadily busy. I really enjoyed just visiting. I wish I could do this about once a month but that is a pretty far way to go that often.

I didn't take nearly enough pictures while I was gone but here are a few I managed to capture:

Here is Jaxen playing the water one afternoon

Carla and Jaxen during his Birthday Party

Mamaw and Carla on Sunday afternoon

Jaxen with his new tricycle

Brennen left with Mamaw on Sunday afternoon. He went to stay a week with her. They were gonna do a little work and then play a little at a water park and go visit with Aunt Kay and Kim. I now he will have a good time. I on the other hand, left Temple on Monday morning. Drove home and then napped. I went to work that night.....so now you can see why I have a hangover. But I loved every minute of it.

The Beginning of Summer

I haven't really had a chance to Blog in quite a while. Sorry. Anyway, I guess sometime over the weekend I caught a sinus infection. I am treating it with over the counter stuff but if it is still present by Monday I will be going to the doctor for antibiotics.....I can't afford to be sick too long - I have a nephew to go see!

Last week we started off summer with a bang. I picked up Brennen on Thursday (which was the last day of school). He had his grade report in hand. He did not have the best grades but they were high enough that he gets to go to Texas with me. *Phew* I was really hoping he wouldn't make me prove how serious I was about him NOT going!

We started the afternoon off wishing Liah a happy 6th birthday. That evening we watched Jack Reacher. It was pretty good. I don't think Brennen REALLY enjoyed it. He watched it and said it was good - but not really his cup of tea.

On Friday we went to an awards ceremony in Hagerman for Zeta and Nakomus. Let me just say.......I am glad we had the FLEX. We took Amber, Gladys, Brennen, Dorian, Shawnna, Zeta, Nakomus, Kyli, Liah, and Myself. Who else can say that they could fit everyone in their vehicle? I have pictures to prove it:
(Liah is between Brennen and Amber...she is too short to see; and of course, Gladys and Myself are in the front seat). I knew this car would come in hand.



Before the ceremony started, we had time to play at the tiny park that Hagerman has to offer. Here are some pictures.



Amber and Gladys


Kyli teaching her little sister how to swing by herself


Gladys and Brennen taking a stroll around the track


And of course it wouldn't be complete without Brennen climbing on something!





After the awards ceremony we traveled to Artesia. Amber attended a meeting at work and then Gladys, Amber, Brennen and I went to see the FAST and the FURIOUS 6. It was good. I really don't like when the special features take over a movie and that was the case here. Even Brennen commented that he didn't enjoy the fight scenes because the camera switched back and forth too quickly. Overall it was a good movie but I wish is wasn't so.....advanced.

We returned home that evening and I made Chicken Spaghetti. It went over ok but nothing special.

Saturday, Brennen got up early and did some yard work both for our house and Gladys's house. Then he spent the rest of the day rearranging his bedroom. He was one tired puppy come the evening. I got called into work Saturday night - BUMMER!

Sunday, I made Brennen pancakes and then we spent the whole morning playing video games TOGETHER. The afternoon was taken up by me napping from my night at work.

Overall, it was a good kick off to the SUMMER. We can't wait for 1 more week before we get to go to TEMPLE.

It's UNOFFICIAL

For the past 21 days I have doing the job of my Supervisor. My supervisor is no longer my supervisor. This has been true since May 2. I was asked..."for the next two weeks" can you please look after things and kinda fill in this position. And I have. It is supervising 2 "clients" and 5 staff. It is a lot of paperwork and what not......I learned over the last two weekends that it is a lot of weekend on-call stuff too.

This has kept me pretty busy. I did get off of work this weekend - but believe me - I was on the phone so much I shoulda just been at work. There was supposed to be a meeting last week to determine the fate of this situation. But guess what - meeting was cancelled and it was stated that it would be rescheduled some time before the middle of July. So, is it wrong of me to be asking the question - "Are we going to make this official or what?" A lot of paperwork I have to turn in involving several different departments at work don't want to accept it because it has to have a supervisor signature. I was told to sign them. Then they want a lot of explanation as to why "so and so" isn't the supervisor anymore and who is now. I say a lot of "I am not sure" and "unofficially" and "HOW?". I am not to proud to ask questions when I need to learn something - but people are not so forth coming with the needed information when there is no "official" word. I can't really blame them. But at the same time it makes it hard on me - the "unofficial supervisor".

I think the hardest part is - what do I have to the means to do? Can I do this and that or do I need "YOU" to do it for me since I don't really have any authority. It is pretty frustrating. Can you tell? So, I sent an email this morning with the question in it - "are we going to make this official".

So, this is what I have been doing lately. I am also planning my vacation! I am getting so excited! I will be busy a lot between now and then - but I am hanging strong. Hope everyone has a good week.

My Crazy Son

Brennen and I had such a great day on Friday. He has this new thing....he just wants to yell in the general direction of people just to see what their reaction is. Of course, I do not let him do this. But just this one day, I don't know what got into me. When I picked him up from his dad's house, Brennen asked me if we could spend the day just him and I. Of course I said yes. So, it was drizzling a very little bit. After the drizzle (like 3 whole minutes) was over we had our windows down. He was showing me this new really annoying noise that he had been making. It was like a whoop and well, I am not sure - just some weird annoying loud noise. We happen to be sitting in the parking lot of the Roswell Daily Record checking out the newspaper for movie times. When he was showing me this noise the person getting into the car next to us just turned around and starred at us. This triggered my giggle box.

We then went to Dollar Tree and again as I was getting back into our vehicle Brennen made this noise - of course someone turned around to stare at us. He wasn't at this point doing it for any other reason except to make me giggle (which it did). I am guessing I was just in a silly mood too. His must have been contagious. But after that person stopped to stare I laughed even harder. Then it hit. Brennen's face lit up and he asked, "Mom, can we make 5 laps around the Rib Crib and then just drive off?" Of course I said no and this light dimmed on his face. Then that silliness just hit me. So, we drove in a circle (a slow circle because I believe parking lots are one of the most dangerous places ever) around the Rib Crib. The parking lot was almost empty. And then we drove around it a second time. As we ended our second lap I noticed 2 employees standing outback smoking. And then our 3rd lap started and ended leading into the 4th lap. By this time Brennen and I are just looking forward to getting to the back of the building where these two employees have began to just stare at us. Neither one of us can control our giggling at this point. As we make our final lap I look at my son and he is just beaming. I am reminded that he doesn't have anyone else to do this silly stuff with. This is one of the small things I can do WITH him to make his day. I know that for the rest of the weekend he is going to think about this and giggle. I love the sound of his giggle. You would think at age 13 he wouldn't giggle - but let me assure you - there was enough giggling just today to last a long time!

After our laps we decided we were hungry and went to Pizza Hut. On the way of course, with the windows down Brennen kept making this new noise. Many people including ones in other vehicles, ones at bus stops, and even some in parking lots just turned to stare as we passed. After eating we both seemed to calm down. Maybe because I would not allow him to make his noise inside Pizza Hut and the pizza took a while to come out. But whatever the reason we calmed. After dinner we went to the Yogurt Bar in the mall. I had always seen these on television but had never actually been to one. It was cool. They have frozen yogurt (about 6 different flavors). You fill the bowl yourself and then top it with your choice of toppings. They have nuts, candy, cookie dough, marshmallows, sprinkles, and fruit (kiwi, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, pineapple, etc). Then you pay for it by the ounce. Pretty cool. We enjoyed it.


Then our day was complete. I returned Brennen to his dad's house and came to work - YUCK! But I sit and giggle as I type this. I am glad I took time to be silly with my crazy son.

Fun Day

Since I worked everyday last week (including Mother's Day) we (Amber, Gladys, and I) decided to make Thursday a fun day. I got off of work Thursday morning and slept a little. This was the one night I had off this week so I only wanted to sleep a little so I could sleep that night. Anyway, after Amber got out of Jury duty about noon, I got up and dressed. We started our day by going to Galaxy 8 and watching "OZ the Great and Powerful". It was a GOOD movie. It was visually stunning. So beautiful - I loved it.

We made it out of the movie in time to make a quick stop at Wal-Mart and then off to Hagerman. Zeta and Nakomus had their end of school program tonight. Here are a few pictures I managed to capture:

all of us walking into the school


Zeta and Nakomus talking before the program


Amber and Dorian cutting up while we wait


Kyli, Liah, and I wasting time before the program


Nakomus and Zyler (the girls' brother) were in the 1st act. They sang 3 songs ABC's, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, Old McDonald and then finished with the chicken dance (which I caught on video).

Then came act 2 in which Zeta played the xylophone bells. The played 2 short songs (also caught on video).

After the program we headed back to town and grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed to Icon Cinema and watched Iron Man 3. It was GOOD! The end got ruined for me because I got a call from work. Yup! No one showed up for the shift. Guess what that meant - I had to go to work. UGH! Oh well. So, finished the movie and ran home. Caught about a 3 hour nap. Then I was at work by 2am. So, hope everyone had a happy weekend. I was working!