Christmas Party at my Sisters

We all had a wonderful time over at my sister, Kitty's, house. I LOVE Christmas over there. To me, I actually have more fun there then at home on Christmas morning! My boys loved it too because my cousin John Felix was there and he LOVES video games as do my boys so they hung out all day talking about gaming. Here they are:

Here is my sister, Kitty, opening up her gift. We all play a game with our gifts. We each bring a present and label it male or female and put it under the tree. Then we draw numbers and go in order. You can either pick a gift under the tree or steal a gift someone else has. A gift can be stolen 3 times before it's "dead" and no one else can take it. We all LOVE this game!

Here is Candy doing her gift.Here is Chuck with a gift he wanted but didn't end up taking home. He ended up taking the MP3 player Joe wanted and Joe grabbed the gift I wanted and I ended up with the desk lamp for Chuck. CJ took a borders gift card. We love to scheme and make sure all 4 of us go home with everything we wanted. The tools ended up being stolen 3 times before we could get them back. There were MANY gift cards this year

Here is Joe with my gift that he ended up with:

The boys gave a concert of Christmas music. They played one together with Joe on the piano and CJ on the violin and then they each did two pieces on the violin. Then I had Joe do a fiddle piece and everyone went crazy! He was doing it from memory so he kind of forgot the last part but everyone loved it anyway. I guess maybe next year we will do a different kind of concert with more lively music instead of the same old boring Christmas music! LOL!!

Chuck did pretty good. We got him there in one piece and the ride didn't bother him too much. But as soon as we got home he crashed on the couch. We all had a wonderful time and it's sad that it's over. It goes by so fast!

Christmas Day!

I told the boys not to even get out of bed till 8am. I finally made it to bed last night at midnight. I woke up with a headache and had it all morning. I am wondering if these are stress headaches as I've had one every day since Chuck got hurt. Anyway, I got up at 8am, but the boys didn't get up till 8:30. I got Chuck up and out to the couch and we unwrapped our gifts.

Joe's main gift was a Sony hand held PSP. I got him some games too. He also got a new pair of shoes, that he needed badly. A new belt, new t-shirt, Steelers calendar, violin case and bow, a gift card to "Game Stop" so he can buy more video games (from his Nana) and some other stuff I can't remember now!

CJ's main gift is a flip camcorder. It records up to an hour and you can put it right onto your computer. He's been wanting a camcorder for a long time. He loved it! It's so small too. He also got all 3 of the "Inkheart" books, which he loves. He got a couple of dragon t-shirts, a dragon calendar, a violin case, a PC game which he's been playing all day, camo pants, camo sleeping pants, muscle shirt for gymnastics, High School Musical movies 1 & 2, a gift card to "Game Stop" so he can buy more video games (from his Nana) and probably some other stuff I can't remember now.

Chuck got a heavy duty 50 ft. electrical cord from CJ, an electric knife sharpener from Joe, a heated massager, underwear, and a new wallet from me. He got a nice blue and red checkered flannel jacket too.

As for me, Joe got me a nice 3 scented candle and a large numbered timer. CJ got me 4 knives and a short heavy duty electrical cord so I can use other things in my kitchen that won't reach the outlet. Chuck got me this really nice clock with a pendulum and it chimes every hour from 6am to 9pm. Of course he didn't know he got me this till I opened it, LOL!! He isn't able to leave the house. I also bought my own Christmas card but he filled the inside himself. This is what he wrote:

You are my angel. I wish I could have helped you so much more this past week. But I couldn't have done a better job. You are the glue that holds this family together. I know that, and now I hope you realize it too. I really appreciate what you do for me, even when I'm not hurt. I could have never done better than you. You are my world. I love my angel, love 4 ever Chuck.

Isn't that just so sweet! Not sure he wanted me to tell the whole world that but I figure what the heck! Just keep it to yourselves, LOL!

Chuck fell asleep right after we opened gifts and got up for something to eat, I made a nice ham dinner, then went back to sleep. He basically still just sleeps all the time but I know his body needs it even though it can be frustrating at times.

The boys are taking showers and then I promised them we'll play cards. They want Chuck to play too but he's so tired all the time I think it will just be us three that play.

So, all and all it was a good Christmas but I must say that I'm glad it's over. I'm looking forward to school starting back up but not looking forward to all the activities after school starting back up. I am wondering how I am going to have Joe in Fairview and CJ in Ashtabula on Tuesday at the same time. SIGH!! CJ has gymnastics and Joe has Jr. Phil. Chuck used to take Joe and I took CJ. I will be gone every evening again and I know Chuck hates that and I do too but at least Joe finishes swimming at the end of January. That will help some, though I like seeing him active. I was hoping swimming went till spring but it doesn't. Jr. Phil ends in the spring. Gymnastics doesn't ever end. I will just have to take each day as it comes.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Eve

Today I made some doughnuts. I haven't in a long time and thought today was a good day for it. So, Joe helped cut them out and we made doughnuts!

Then I through them in the deep fryer. I know, very unhealthy, but it's Christmas!

Here are the finished doughnuts!

And doughnut holes!
Then I moved on to the cinnamons rolls. First you fight with the dough to get it all rolled out.

Then once you finally get it to this point you add butter and then cinnamon and sugar.

Then roll it up!

Then I use dental floss to cut them into 1 inch pieces. I'm thinking next year that I will do 2 inch pieces next time. They just don't rise like I want them too and then end up small and hard when I cook them.

We watch "The Bucket List" earlier in the day and then before bed we watched "A Christmas Story". We did put up the tree after the fist movie. So here is our tree this year.

Chuck's Appointment and Shopping

Man, it's been a week and I am wiped out. We got our pipes unfrozen around 8:15pm. We had no water since 10am. I was so happy to have the water back. It's amazing how much you use it when you no longer have it! I had to melt and boil snow to make dinner! LOL!!

I did all my running yesterday. Chuck had a doctor appointment at 10:45 and it took an hour and 20 minutes to get there. The lobby was FREEZING and I had to sit there for 3 hours!! I was frozen! The appointment went well, we got pictures of his x-rays and I could see all the brakes, screws and the rod. The staples are still in but he got a new soft cast put on. It's a bit smaller and lighter then the last one. The trip really wore him out. He slept most the rest of the day. We go back on the 6th.

I spent one hour at home and then took the boys and did the rest of our shopping. I bought a small tree since we don't even have one up yet. Mine is HUGE and really doesn't fit in our trailer. This one is much nicer and doesn't take HOURS to put up. Walmart was packed and I was so stressed cuz I really didn't know what to get Chuck and the boys wanted to know what to get me. SIGH!! Spent over an hour in the store. Joe got a walmart gift card for $10 from him swim team party and he had it in his hoody jacket pocket and someone stole it. You can see right into his pocket and anyone can reach in and take it. I felt bad but again he shouldn't have had it there. He said it's uncomfortable to have things in his back pocket of his jeans. Well, maybe he'll think twice about it next time. I almost took it from him when he showed it to me when we first got there but I was so stressed over what to get everyone that I just didn't. I know I should listen to that voice inside me!! I have kicked myself every time I ignore it!!!!

Well, I got everything I needed and got everyone home. I was beat so I just threw everything in the closet to deal with tomorrow. I didn't want to go anywhere on Christmas Eve.

Frozen Pipes

Well, got up this morning to find about 3 feet of snow outside and about 2 degrees out. I also flushed the toilet only to find that the water wasn't re-filling in the tank. I went out into our mudroom and found that the heat tape we have wrapped around the water pipe coming into the trailer from the well, was unplugged. I had forgotten all about it and never plugged in in this year! It's been in the single digits all night long. I plugged it back in and 30 minutes later I heard the toilet fill up.

The boys used the bathroom and around 9:30 I filled water up in the large bowl for Chuck's bath. He still has to be washed in bed. We tried to do it at the sink but he was in so much pain that only lasted 5 minutes and we didn't get to wash his hair. So, anyway, got him all cleaned up and then CJ informed me that there was no water! It's now 10am and the water is frozen again. This time it didn't come back on.

My BIL, Dave, came out and is trying to get our water back on. The turbo heater won't start so we can't heat up the pipes to get them going again. I'll have to leave some water running while it's really cold out.

Chuck has his doctor appointment tomorrow and it's over an hour away. Hopefully he'll do okay and everything will go well. I will keep you posted on him and our pipes!

Swim Team Party

Went to Joe's party tonight. CJ came too because he hasn't been swimming in a long time. We left early so we could stop off at the mall and pick up the gift we needed for the party. We got the boy a gift card for Game Stop.

The food was good. I mostly ate the junk food. CJ ate a ton of junk, at least 10 pieces of fudge! He did have some noodles and meatballs. Joe ran around with his friends and I sat with CJ.

Santa came in and all the kids swarmed all over him for an hour! He is the best looking Santa I have ever seen. His beard and mustache are real so he really does look like Santa!

CJ kept asking when swim time was. After 2 hours someone finally said that it's open swim from 6-9 and CJ could have been swimming the whole time!! I was so mad! Why didn't anyone mention this? They said that after the party there was going to be a fun swim, so I guess open swim was the fun swim. The coach didn't stay for any swimming and most of the kids all went home! I hate how I know nothing of what's going on!!

Update

Things are going well. Chuck is doing good. He is still in pain, as can be expected. What is weird is when he was hit by the train in 2000, he took 1 pain pill when he came home and nothing after that. This time he has been taking them round the clock. I guess this time it's worse. Last time it was just his ankle, this time it's all his lower leg and his ankle. He gets me up to take some and he NEVER takes med's for anything but a REALLY bad headache so I know he's hurting pretty bad. He's been sleeping on and off the whole time we've been home. He lays on the couch all day and in bed all night. I actually have a headache today from watching so much TV. I have it on but I don't sit and watch it all day, but today I sat with him and watched a couple movies. He's sleeping now and I have to run and get the boys from school in about an hour.

Tonight is Joe's Christmas Party for the swim team, I think CJ is going to stay home with Chuck tonight. Tomorrow I'll be gone again and I feel bad. I was gone for over 5 hours last night but he did okay.

They are still looking for a cutter to go into the woods. They have a couple of leads, just need to call around and find someone that is willing and won't cost too much.

Chuck's Accident Cont.

So, Charlie had to be picked up with a front end loader and be carried out of the woods. So there stories were so much alike, it was funny. He got hurt here in Conneaut, says he likes to hunt and fish up here and would love to live here but his wife's family is all down around youngstown.

The second night wasn't that great. We all fell asleep around 10pm and at 1am the awful nurse comes into the room, turns on the light screams "Hey Charlie, Hey Charles, time to get up for your pain medicine." Then she picks Chuck's bad leg up and shoves another pillow under his leg and does the same thing to Charlie. All she did was make them hurt even worse! Then she finds me there and comes over and smacks my legs and starts screaming at me "Hey get up and get out, you can't be here!" Said I would have to leave cuz this isn't a private room and since he has a roommate I would have to leave. That made Charlie mad and said he wanted me to stay that we are all friends and I wasn't going anywhere. That made the nurse mad and with all the commotion the LPN came in and the RN left. Thank God! The LPN said I could stay and she would talk to the RN. We never saw the RN again and I'm glad. They got their med's but the guys where in so much pain and were upset by the whole ordeal that they couldn't sleep so they stayed up talking for over 2 hours. The nurses told them in the morning that they almost came in to tell them to be quiet and go to sleep cuz they were so loud, LOL!! They both don't hear that well. We had the room right across from the nurses station.

Then at 4am this little old lady comes out to the nurses station and starts screaming at the nurses that she should have had her med's at 3am and it's now 4am and why aren't they there yet and why didn't the nurse order them when she told her too, etc. She went on and on and was no mean and nasty and LOUD!! SIGH!! There is NO resting in hospitals!

Then by 6am everyone was coming and going, nurses for med's, blood pressure and temp. people, those that give baths and clean the beds, physical therapy, doctors, just on and on all morning long.

The nice thing is that you can order your own food from a menu and get as much of it as you like so Chuck ordered double so that I could eat too so I didn't have to spend money on the expensive cafeteria food. The food was actually good too.

A little after lunch we found out that both Chuck and Charlie could go home, took over 4 hours to get a set of crutches for Chuck and Charlie had to wait over an hour for a wheel chair ride to his car. I had to walk over to another building to get Chuck's med's that he has to give himself twice a day. He is on shots that he gives himself in the stomach twice a day for blood clots, I guess so he doesn't get any. Just a 28 day prescription the guy told me it was over $1,000.00 for the stuff! I was lucky he had enough there someone didn't pick up theirs so he had enough. I'm glad. I didn't have to pay for that but I did have to pay for the pain med's and there were 2 and each was about $16 so that isn't too bad.

We finally made it home at 5:30 and of course coming into the house a piece of ice gave out and Chuck slipped and hit his bad leg on the stairs. Poor guy, CJ and I helped him up and into the house. We got him on the couch and I gave him 2 pain pills and he slept till 9pm.

He is fine, and basically sleeps on and off all day, I think the pain pills makes him tired. He gets around the house alright on his crutches but he is still in a lot of pain. Once the pain gets less he'll be able to move around more. I don't think he'll be leaving the house till the 28th when we have Christmas at my sisters house. We just have to be sure no one touches or bumps his bad leg.

I have to put up the tree, which is in town and I have to get yet. I guess the boys are going to have to help me with that. Chuck was going to help me with that this weekend. I'm glad that tomorrow is the last day of school, I will do a LOT LESS running around with the boys come Monday. Just CJ will have gymnastics but other than that, I don't have to run anywhere! That will be a very nice break.

Today, I took the boys to school and came right back home and went back to bed. Didn't get up till 9am. I'm still very tired and I feel like I could sleep all day. Tonight is my long night out with the boys. I leave at 3:30 and get home at 8:30. I hope he'll be okay while I'm gone. Then tomorrow night is Joe's Christmas Party at the Y for the swim team and that starts at 6pm. Then on Saturday Joe has a swim meet and they go all day and CJ has caroling from 3-8 and I have to make sure he gets a ride to that. Joe really wants to go too but can't cuz of the swim meet. So, come Sunday I don't think I have to run anywhere and live can slow down a bit.

I'm glad we got our Christmas shopping mostly all done on Friday night. There might be a few things I will pick up but mostly it's done and I have it all wrapped! When my husband was hit by a train in 2000 that was on Dec. 14th and I had all the Christmas stuff done then too but we had the tree up, this time we don't. He had surgery on his right leg with the same recovery time. This accident was on Dec. 15th. We told him he should just take December off and not do anything around that time of year, LOL!!

We are looking for someone to cut trees down while Chuck is healing so that we can keep working and making some kind of money. I hope we find someone by next week.

Come to find out, his wallet and cash are gone. When I went for his clothes, they were all over this room they keep them in and there was nothing in his jeans pockets. Chuck told them to give the wallet and cash to his brother but they didn't and they are now gone. So, had to get a hold of the bank for new bank cards, I checked and no money has been taken out of either accounts! He has to get a new drivers license once he is up and around, we'll do that. Just sucks to have this happen on top of everything else!

Chuck's Accident

Okay, it' s been a VERY LONG week, my brain is fried and I'm exhausted! But I'm home now and all is good.

On Monday just when I walked in the door from picking the boys up from school Chuck calls me from his cell phone to tell me he broke his leg, he thinks it's a compound break but isn't for sure cuz of all his clothes he has on. Said he called 911 and his brother and that he thinks he'll be going to Ashtabula hospital. I said okay and hung up. I got the boys and left the house. I then called him again to see how he was doing and he told me that he was cutting down trees (he's a logger) and one got hung up on another so he moved on and left it that way to get it later with the skidder. He didn't realize how badly the wind had picked up (said had he known it was that bad they would have called it a day) and apparently it picked that tree up, turned it around, and it came down by him. He caught the end of the tree on the back of his left leg below the knee. He said he could here people coming so he hung up. He was a mile back into the woods so it took a very long time for the EMT's to get to him.

When they did get to him, they strapped him on a back board, and put him on the hood of the skidder and his brother Dave drove the skidder backwards as best he could the mile out of the woods, then he was transferred to the bed of a pick-up truck to get back to the main road where the ambulance was waiting.

Now, I am at the hospital in Ashtabula waiting for him and NOTHING! I waited almost an hour, and I even called other hospitals! NOTHING!! Where was he???? Finally, Dave answered his phone and come to find out, no one in our area can treat him, his leg was that bad so they had to life flight him to Youngstown, an hour away.

Come to find out, it took them an hour to get to him and he had to lay in about 6 inches of cold water while waiting for them. So, because of his hypothermia and compound broken leg they had to fly him to Youngstown.

So, the boys and I followed my inlaws all the way there. I have no extra clothes, we haven't eatin since lunch, I was NOT ready to be gone for a few days! We get to Youngstown and we get to see him for a little bit but then he is rushed off to surgery around 8pm. The doctor comes out at 10:30 to let us know how he's doing. Said he broke his leg in 3 places and broke his ankle too. The shin bone did come out of the skin (NASTY) so we have to be VERY careful of infection but the surgery went really well. They put a rod in his leg and 2 screws in his ankle. We got to see him at midnight when they put him in his room.

My inlaws stayed a few minutes and talked with Chuck and then they left and took the boys with them. My sister in law stayed with them the first night. I didn't plan on leaving the hospital until Chuck did. The first night I ended up on the cold tile floor next to his bed and got about 3 hours sleep but not all together. My hips hurt really bad come morning. His roommate seemed nice enough. He gave me a blanket and some pillows, which was nice. He smoked in the bathroom and coughed a lot though, LOL!! He left the next day.

He did well after his surgery, ate well, got lots of rest and stayed on his pain med's so the pain didn't bother him too bad. He did get out of bed and with a walker walked out of the room and back in and sat down in this nice chair that reclined. I then used this chair to sit in and was very nice to sleep in!

Then Charlie came in the evening to fill the empty bed. He's really nice. It was funny because both of them were named Charles, both were hurt having to do with trees! LOL!! Charlie was building a tree stand by himself and fell and blew out his left heal. He did this the day after Thanksgiving and had to wait for the swelling to go down before he could have surgery.


I'm exhausted, I will finish this on the next post tomorrow.

Good King Wenceslas

This is my mom's favorite song so I thought I would have Joe play it on his violin so she could here him.

Karate Kitty

Okay, now that I know what I'm doing I might go a little video crazy, so bear with me! Here is Little Kitty and Sandy "playing" Sandy knows she isn't allowed to "play" with Little Kitty so I had to set the video camera up and leave the room and pretend I was busy in the kitchen. These "Playing" sessions can go on and on but here is 30 seconds worth!

Joe's Swim Meet

Okay, I feel like a total "Ninny Muggins". I searched for why I can't upload my videos and come to find out I have to "Publish" the movies. I didn't do the last step! LOL!! Okay, so I'm going to try this again. Here is Joe's last swim meet on Dec. 6th in Oberlin OH which was 2 hours from home!

Sandy's Case

Well, I went and signed the papers today, they are settling and I'll get my money back. I'm glad it's finally over! I think my lawyer is too.

I love the videos over on Becky's blog. I have been singing "Hamster on a Piano" for days!! LOVE that one! I also love her sense of humor on the Russian song, LOL!!! I can't seem to upload any videos. I've been trying for days. I use a program to take the videos off my camera and make them into avi's but they won't upload. I spent 2 hours yesterday trying to upload Joe's Concert but it never went. So, I guess until I figure out there will be no videos from me. What a bummer!

Cookie Exchange

Well, yesterday was the cookie exchange at the restaurant. It went well, one person didn't show up and another backed out so I ended up taking 2 dozen of my own home. I was fine with that as I really like these cookies. I brought them home and put them all out on the counter and after dinner we all dug into the cookies. I don't think they will even make it through the week! LOL! I was surprised that some of the cookies were barely a bite, they were so small!! 12 cookies fit into a sandwich bag! I'm not sure if I'll do it again next year though. We shall see.

CJ & Baby Peter

Here is CJ and Baby Peter today. The cat always likes to be on us and I thought this was cute that he wanted to sit on CJ while he practiced his piano. If you are wondering what's on TV that is just the Christmas Music Channel. Looks like "The First Noel" by Elvis! LOL!!

I got all my cookies done today with 2 cookies left over!! Man, that was close because I didn't feel like making yet another batch! So, now I get to eat two cookies! I think we have to put the recipe with these too, so I need to get that done but it's nice to have them all in the freezer for Sunday.

Cookies

I'm in a cookie exchange so I had to get busy making cookies. I have to make 12 dozen!! I'm so TIRED today!! Joe's concert went really well but we all didn't get to bed till after 11pm then I'm up at 5:45am. I'm just dragging today. I didn't even go to SNAP to workout this morning. I dropped the boys off at school and then came straight home. Took a shower, did a load of clothes, did up all the dishes that I hadn't got to yesterday and gave the dog a shower because I let her out and she came in covered in mud, oh joy! Then I baked up one batch of cookies. I still have many more to go! But at least I got something done today. The exchange is on Sunday and I'm busy tonight and Saturday so I have to get these done soon!

Homemade Bread Recipe

My sister Kitty wanted the recipe for this sandwich bread I make. She says it looks light and fluffy but really it's a dense bread, not really heavy but dense which is good for sandwiches. The recipe came with the bread machine back in 99, man I need a new bread machine, mine really is falling apart but I just keep hoping it will keep kickin!

This makes a 2 pound loaf of bread

2 Tlbs Sugar or 2 Tlbs Honey instead
4 Cups Bread Flour
2 Tsp Salt
2 Tsp Yeast
1 ½ Cups Milk
2 Tbls Butter

My bread machine is falling apart and you can't put liquid in first because the seals are all rotted away so it leaks. So, I put in the flour and then sugar/honey and salt. I make a hole and put the yeast in that and cover it back up with flour. I put the milk in a glass measuring cup and cut the butter (which I use real butter) into small chunks into the milk and put that into the microwave on very low just to warm the milk and melt the butter. Then I pour this over the flour mixture and set the machine on dough and let it run till it's done.

Then transfer the dough into the bread pan. The size of my bread pan is 13" x 4" x 4". So, maybe because it's a bigger space then the bread machine the bread doesn't turn out so heavy? Not sure.

A couple of folks have told me that Amazon has this pan for a lot less then King Arthur Flour does. Also the bread slicer I use is a West Bend Bread Slicing Guide. I got it at Wal*Mart years ago. I have no idea if they still sell it or not. It folds in half and I'll miss it when it dies. I'm on my second one now. I see they have them on ebay. Here's a picture I got off ebay of it.

The electric knife was a gift from my Mother In Law Christmas of 99. I cut myself pretty bad with a bread knife the first time I made bread and she felt bad and got me the knife. I'm still using the same one and I use it all the time. I'm surprised that it still works! It's great for cutting the bread, it doesn't "Squish" the bread and miss-shape it.

Homemade Bread

I make all my own sandwich bread. Have for years. I do buy hamburger and hotdog buns but I always make my sandwich bread. About 8 years ago or so I bought the coolest bread pan! Here is how I make my bread.

First you do the dough in the bread machine.

I do it on the dough setting. When it's done I then put it in the bread pan. Then you put the lid on the pan.Then I put it in the oven to rise. I set the timer for 2 hours. This took me a while to get it down, because if it rises to much it comes out the end!! So, you check it by moving the lid, if it moves easliy then you need to let it rise more. You want to feel it pull a bit when you try to move the lid. Then you take it out of the oven, pre-heat the oven for 10 minutes and then bake it for 30 minutes. Then when it's done take the lid off and put the loaf of bread on a cooling rack.

I then let it cool down for a while and I trim the hard crust of the edges and then I use an electric knife to slice into slices.

I was making this bread for the party. I was to bring egg salad sandwhiches. Here is what the bread looks like cut up. Looks just like store bought bread! I LOVE this pan!!! It was expensive but worth it! I kind of wish I had 2! But I will live with one, LOL!


And here is all the sandwiches I made. I ended up bringing 2 home, so not bad!

Here is the link to the Bread Pan.

Gram's 90th Birthday!

Tonight we went to the nursing home for Gram's (Chuck's Dad's Mom) 90th birthday party. Here she is at 90 years old!

Thanksgiving

The boys and Chuck went hunting early in the morning so I was home by myself for the morning. I cleaned the house and played on the computer with Christmas music on. Very relaxing! Then around 12:30 we headed over to the in-laws for lunch. Brenda, Lou and the gang didn't come so we decided to go see them after lunch at Bonnie's.

I put all the pictures I could find of Chuck's side of the family on my digital picture frame and took it over there. They all really enjoyed that. Lunch was good, so we all had a good time. Around 3:30 we headed over to Brenda's to see the new baby (Zack)!

Here he is!! Joe is holding him.

He is oh so cute and small!! Mine where never that size, well, not outside of my tummy anyway! He was 7lbs 8oz and mine were 10lbs 5oz and 9lbs 12oz, LOL!!!

Here is Joe holding him.

Here is CJ holding him.

Odds and Ends

The phone company just called and said I had been over billed, I think over a course of time, and that I would be getting a check for $160 in the mail soon. COOL! Something about a double line? No clue, just glad they are actually giving it back. We hate our one and only phone company! I think I'll just use it to pay the phone bill, LOL!!

Met with the lawyer yesterday and he thinks that the APL will just settle for what I'm asking for, which is $350! LOL!! Brett said he is working Pro-Bono so I don't owe him anything. Maybe I'll have it by Christmas? That would be nice! People just can't believe I would sue warm fuzzy animals!! God forbid! LOL! The paper has been running "fluff" articles about the APL that has nothing to do with the case but they are trying to look good for donations since it's the holiday season.

The boys have school today but then they will be off till Tuesday. It will be nice to be able to sleep past 5:45am. They are going hunting in the morning tomorrow and then we are all off to the In-Laws for dinner at 1pm. Brenda had her 6th baby last week so she probably won't be there but I hope Lou and the kids will be. I haven't been over to see the baby yet, I really should get over there. She had him on Saturday night. His name is Zack.

I'm in a cookie exchange this year. I've never been in one before so I thought I'd try it out. I have to make 12 dozen peanut butter blossoms with the kisses in the middle of them. There are 13 of us in all doing the exchange. I'm doing them with the ladies I have lunch with every Tuesday. I hope I actually like the cookies I'll be getting, you never know! We do the exchange on Dec. 7th so I better get to the store and get everything I need and get cracking!

Joe's first concert with the Erie Jr. Phil is on Wed. Dec 3rd at 7:30pm on West 10th street in Erie. I have to get him clothes, black pants, white shirt, black shoes and a tie. Can be any kind of tie. I'll have to take the camcorder and tripod and tape it. The videos I take I can't seem to upload them to YouTube though I have been trying. SIGH!

Thanksgiving Dinner

Today was Thanksgiving Dinner for my side of the family. I had a really good time and I was sad when it was time to go. It went so fast! The meal was great and I love sitting down after the meal and talking with all the ladies. We watched a picture slide show that my Aunt Esther made and we talked about old times (My favorite!) and just had some good laughs. I was extremely stuffed and happy when I went home. Can't wait for Christmas to come and we can do it again at my sister Kitty's house!

Chuck and I both said how much we missed my dad. He's been gone for a year and a half. Chuck usually talks to him the whole time and he said talking with Uncle Terry just isn't the same. At these gatherings is when I usually see my Dad and I really miss him today!

Here are some pictures that I took with my phone. My sister Candy took some of all of us with her camera but she hasn't sent me any yet so that will have to wait.

Here is the left half of the table. I got a picture of everyone but it turned out so fuzzy you couldn't see anything. My phone doesn't take that great of pictures and my camera needs to be professionally cleaned because it has some serious black spots!

Here is Joe. He sat across from me so I got a picture of him. The computer behind him is where the slide show was going on.

This is Douglas the Snowman that is ontop of my nephew (Lynn's) car. It has been there for over 40 miles and hasn't gotten knocked off, LOL!! It was cute so I thought I'd catch a picture of it

I took this picture off my sisters blog since she hasn't emailed me any of those pictures yet here is everyone! (I just got them in my inbox, thanks!!)

CJ's Deer

On Saturday morning CJ got up early to go deer hunting. Before the sun was even out they headed out to the deer stands. It was youth weekend and if your 16 and under you can hunt Saturday and Sunday. CJ and Chuck came back around 9am frozen and no deer. I had to head out to Joe's swim meet but CJ and Chuck went back out around 2:30 and after being in the deer stand for about 45 minutes CJ got a button buck. Here is the picture:

Yet Another Snow Day!

Yup, woke up at 5:20 and I checked to see if the school was closed and it wasn't listed so I figured we were good to go. The alarm went off at 5:45 and I opened the front door and Holy Cow! There must have been about 2 feet of snow piled up by the front door and everywhere else! So, I checked the computer again and this time a ton of schools were listed. So, I went back to bed. I didn't get up till 8am.

Read Heather's Blog (Muddy Boots) and saw all the baking she was doing and thought I would do some too. I made coffee cake for breakfast. When it was done I hollered to CJ if he wanted a piece of cake for breakfast! LOL!! He said SURE and came running! It was good but I put it in a smaller cake dish then I should have and that made it VERY tall. Next time I will go with a 9 X 13 pan.

Then I baked up a loaf of bread since we finished off the bread with meatball subs for lunch. After lunch I made a batch of peanut butter cookies and a batch of peanut butter chocolate chips cookies. Joe doesn't like chocolate so I always make some without the chips.

Chuck didn't work today, too much snow, so he and the boys and the neighbor boy put together a couple deer stands, sited in the guns and are getting ready for youth season for deer that starts tomorrow. CJ is going out in the morning. Joe has a swim meet. Then on Sunday Joe might go in the morning but he has play practice at church at 10am and right after church we have Thanksgiving dinner at my aunt's so that shoots Sunday for hunting and it's only this weekend that just the kids go.

The boys aren't quiet into hunting the way my husband is. My husband is a die hard hunting fan, the boys, not so much. This bothers Chuck a lot cuz he wants them to love it as much as he does. Maybe some day they will. I think right now they are just lazy teenagers! They do like to hunt, but they don't like to do what it takes TO hunt! LOL! Like right now the neighbor boy is helping Chuck put the stands together while Joe is taking a nap and CJ i s on the couch watching! ARG!! Sometimes my kids are SO SO SO SO SO lazy!!!!

Letter to the Editor

Why is my life always spinning with drama? My lawyer called me to inform me that there was a letter to my story so I went out and got a copy. He is writing up a response. Of course this wasn't online so I had to type it all out! LOL!! Here is the letter in today's paper:

Lawsuit Hurts Volunteers

Re Rozalski's APL dog Sandy that had to be spayed after she adopted it:

I felt that Ms Rozalski is spitting in the faces of so many of us volunteers who have put in-literally-hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of hours at the APL for free. What has Ms Rozalski done for the community lately? She's suing it, that what! The Astabula APL is the only APL in the biggest and poorest county in Ohio and has operated on a shoe-string budget for ages. How's about we counter-sue her for the grief and annoyance she brings to so many volunteers with whom I've spoken about this frivolous case?

No one disagrees that the APL should reimburse her for her vet bill for spaying, which I'm sure they agreed to do. But to sue this desperately needed organization and vet who has done so many spays and neuters it'd make your head spin? I am confident that hundreds, if not thousands, of satisfied patrons would beg to differ with Ms Rozalski and her lawyer's charge that the APL may be intentionally defrauding the public. Absurd! And Pathetic.

Well, thanks for the great kick-off to the Holiday season, when the usually generous public helps out in a big way with donations, gifts that help carry the shelter through the next few months of budgeting.

Char Rao
Astabula

Nice huh? LOL!! She has no idea that the APL refused to speak with me, I called numbers of times and even went there and they just plain refused to see me! I even wrote a letter along with my vet bill asking for ONLY the $155 for the spay. NOTHING!!! ah well, what can you do! She assumes wrong if she thinks the APL was offering me my money for the spay. They offered me NOTHING! I wonder what Brett will write in return? Can't wait to see it!

Well, that's my drama for today. It seems to follow me! My life would be boring without it I guess!

My Radio

Ah, I must complain about my radio!! I have been listening to XM Radio Channel 17 for 4 years now and I have always LOVED it! It's country music from the 80's and 90's with NO commercials, NO real live people talking, with only station identification here and there but mostly just solid music. LOVE IT!! Then comes last Tuesday!! I FLIPPED OUT on the way to dropping the boys off at school.

There was a PERSON talking on my radio!!! They were saying what the songs were and making stupid jokes, I was mad!! I was going on and on about it all the way to school and I complained to the girls at the gym too. I found out that Sirius has merged with XM radio so my station is now Sirius 61/XM 17. Music is the same, there are still no commercials but there are people on there yapping and thinking they are funny!! I'm so upset!!!! ARG!!!!

I don't know if I'll ever get over it either! :( LOL!!! Just ask the boys, they will tell you all about my fit about the radio. My family has heard all about it all week long! LOL!!

On a good note, the Christmas Channels have started already! So, now I can listen to Christmas music 24/7!! Yeah for me!!!

Snow Day!!

So, we got hammered with snow last night. I was at the Y with Joe all day for a swim meet and I had to drive 20-25 miles an hour all the way home. Took over an hour!!! I was glad to get home though.

Got up this morning at 5:45am and let the dog out and checked the computer and smiled! Snow Day! I climbed right back into bed until 8am! The boys woke up around 7:30 all scared thinking I slept in and they were late for school! They were happy to spend the day on their computers.

I did make them get off at lunch, to eat and play their music. I pulled the Christmas music out and they were happy about that. Joe played "Good King Weceslas" and that made him think of Nana and he asked me when she was coming because it's almost Christmas and that is when we see her. He was sad to hear that she couldn't come this year but he understood why. They love ya Mom and miss you!

If I ever figure out YouTube I will have Joe play that song on his violin and put it up on my blog. I get all the way to saving videos on my computer but I can't seem to figure out how to get them to upload to YouTube. Very frustrating!

So, I think I'm going to just stay home all day and Chuck calls, he forgot his keys to the skidder so I had to run them into Ashtabula. Then I THOUGHT Joe had a swim team practice at 3pm but come to find out when I got there that it was canceled for Monday!! The coach doesn't have me on his email list so I was clueless. I ran all the way in there for NOTHING!! ARG!!! That is a 25 minute drive one way!! I would have much rather stayed home on my computer! LOL!

Front Page

Last night, Mark Todd, the man writing the article for the paper, came by last night around 6pm and took my picture along with Sandy. She did really well and sat next to me on the couch for over 5 minutes with a stranger taking our picture. She LOVES new people and is usually all over them, LOL!

So, today we are on the front page of the paper!! I bought 3, LOL!! This morning Joe has violin/piano lesson in Erie so we are out of the house by 8:30 and by 9am people were calling the house. 1 left a nasty message and Chuck picked it up and gave the woman what for. She can't believe I would go after such a good cause like the APL and try to "get rich" off them!! Ya right!! I just wanted my $155!! Good grief!! Even the lawyer knew I was having a hard time with this case because they do a good service! Another lady called and said I was doing a good thing saying she had a problem with them and one of her cats.

Here is the article, there was no picture online to go with it:

LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST APL
By MARK TODD - Staff Writer - mtodd@starbeacon.comStar Beacon

November 14, 2008 11:33 pm— CONNEAUT — A Monroe Township woman is suing the Ashtabula County Animal Protective League and a northern Ohio veterinarian after discovering the dog she obtained from the shelter was not spayed, as billed.

When obtained early this year, the dog had stitches on her stomach, which indicated surgery had been performed. Months later, the owner was surprised to learn from a second veterinarian the animal had not been spayed.

“To say that everyone was floored is an understatement,” the plaintiff, Marsha Rozalski, 7024 Richardson Road, said in a statement.

Rozalski filed a lawsuit last week in Ashtabula County Common Pleas Court against the APL and Dr. Joy Hudson, who performed the alleged procedure on behalf of the APL, according to the complaint.

Rozalski obtained the dog, then 2 months old, at the end of January, according to the lawsuit.

The APL told Rozalski the same day of the adoption that the animal had been “altered.” Documents provided to Rozalski said the procedure had been done by Hudson and an APL staff member, according to the lawsuit.

The dog’s fur had been shaved, and the “skin had been incised and sutured in the area of her abdomen, which plaintiff reasonably understood to indicate that (the) dog had recently been spayed,” according to the complaint.

In September, Sandy the dog — a Labrador mix — began discharging blood, prompting a trip to a local veterinarian who informed Rozalski the animal was in heat. However, the reaction could have been caused by a portion of ovary left behind during the spaying, and the decision was made to perform surgery to retrieve any remaining pieces of ovary.

When the procedure was done Sept. 25, the veterinarian discovered the ovaries were intact and the dog had not been spayed, according to the lawsuit.

Rozalski claims the defendants “willfully and knowingly, and with intent to defraud their potential customers or clients, misrepresented the medical status of the dog.” In addition, the APL and Hudson “acted with gross negligence” in the matter, according to the complaint.

Rozalski is seeking compensation for the dog’s medical bills, “annoyance and inconvenience, punitive or exemplary damages” and attorney fees, according to the lawsuit.

The case has been assigned to Judge Ronald Vettel.A call was placed to the APL shelter on Green Road in Kingsville Township, seeking comment. The request would be passed along to the APL board, said someone who identified himself as a supervisor. Hudson reportedly works at a clinic in North Royalton, but when the business was contacted, a receptionist said Hudson no longer works there. She could not be reached for comment.

Rozalski is represented by Conneaut attorney Brett Joseph.

“If this is simple negligence, there’s cause for concern,” Joseph said. “If it’s a case of fraud or if intentional, my concern is much greater.”


Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.

Update On Me

Okay, so I'm just fine today. My shoulder doesn't hurt and my knees quit hurting too. I didn't work out today cuz number one, CJ is sick at home and 2 Chuck got pulled over yesterday for speeding and his plates expired in August!! Dang, it's hard to keep track of everything cuz some of the vehicles are in the company's name so they all fall on different months. This one was due in August on my birthday. All vehicles are registered in my name and the company's. This one isn't, not sure why so it fell on my birthday. I probably got a renewal reminder in the mail but I really don't remember. So, he got slammed with 2 tickets. Oh well, maybe he should slow down, LOL!! I should talk! :) So, I renewed them for 2 years like I did mine and we are good till 2010.

Home Sick

Well, last night CJ was feeling much better. He even went to gymnastics and had a big supper. I thought all was well, WRONG!! Come 3am his up barfing and has a terrible migraine. So, I've been up for a LONG time! He finally feel asleep on the couch and I got up him at 6am to see if he was better and I could send him to school. He stood up and lost it again. So, he's home in bed. He tried some crackers but threw them up too. So, it's not just a headache that is causing him to be sick. I hope he feels somewhat better by tonight. It's the spaghetti dinner and their Basket Ball outing with the youth group. I don't mind taking his dinner home for later, I know he wants to hang out with his friends (the dinner is at their old school). I know he really wants to play BB too, so let's hope by then he's feeling better.

I fell

Okay, I feel so stupid. Every morning I drop the boys off at school and then I go to SNAP Fitness. For some reason, I didn't pick my foot up all the way for the step up to the door and I fell and slammed my shoulder into the side of the building. I get up and go in, thinking everyone saw me, there were 3 people on treadmills there, but no one did. I could barely move my arm, but I got on the treadmill and could only do 13 minutes and went home. My shoulder still hurts. I usually do 45 minutes. The girls are going to think I just decided to stay home and not workout today, LOL! At least I didn't break anything, but I think I'm going to be sore for a while.

Sickness

The boys have been sick all week long. CJ more then Joe. They both have head colds, but CJ is just miserable. He's had headaches all week long, he's exhausted, his whole body hurts, he can't breathe. Joe has a stuffy nose. LOL! CJ hasn't gone anywhere but school all week. He even missed gymnastics, which he never does. He might not go again tonight.

The school called me yesterday because his study hall teacher made him go to the nurse. They will only give out Tylenol so I told her forget it, that doesn't touch his headaches. She told me that she would send a paper home with CJ to fill out and I could bring in a brand new, unopened box of Motrin and then she can give it to the boys when they need some.

I do hope he starts feeling better soon. Friday they have a basketball outing with the youth group and I bought spaghetti dinner tickets for Friday from their old school. I LOVE spaghetti dinners!!! LOL!!

Sandy in the Snow

I got a picture of Sandy freaking out in the snow this morning. We got hammered with at least 6 inches of snow here. A bit further south and NOTHING! I barely made it to the boys school, couldn't go more then 30 miles an hour the whole way and could barely see. I got a picture of her running around in circles in the snow.

Weekend Stuff

This weekend wasn't too bad. I took Joe to his swim meet in Madison yesterday. This time I wasn't stuck there for 6 hours on hard bleachers, I only had to sit there for 4, LOL!! He did alright. I video taped it so I will have to learn how to get them up on YouTube and put them on here. I have yet to figure that out.

He said his googles kept coming off and it was very hard to swim with them full of water. This means they have worn out already, so time for me to get a new pair. I want to get a really good pair but I have no idea what a good pair is! I'll have to look around for one.

Today, all I did was go to Church this morning and all afternoon I sat on the computer and watched TV. Joe went to a friends house and CJ was sick all night so he stayed home from Church today. He had the runs! LOL!! I think it was from the 4 tacos loaded with hot sauce that he had last night!! He's been fine all afternoon so no problem going to school tomorrow.

Tomorrow I'm meeting a lady (Linda) for lunch. Actually, I'm going with Chuck and his brother Dave (who works for Chuck). This lady is building a big saw for Chuck for sawing up lathing boards, I think anyway. She really seems to like me and when Chuck told her I was selling books on half.com she offered to GIVE me all her books in her attic that where her fathers. Now, she's gotta be in her 50's or 60's so these books are old and are non-fiction books, which sell great on half.com. I can't believe she is just giving them to me!! That is just so nice!! I'll have to make sure and give her something really nice besides our business! LOL! She did mention that she is looking for the "Cotton Patch Bible" so I will look around and maybe get that for her for Christmas.

Boys And School

Tonight Chuck went to the parent teacher conference at the boys school. I had to run the boys to gymnastics and swimming and I had a meeting at the church at 6:30 so I couldn't go. I guess the boys are doing really well and all the teachers really like them.

Chuck said that someone stole all the dry erase markers from the English teachers room and she told all her classes how upset she was that someone had taken them and that who ever did she would leave her door unlocked during a certain time the next day and she expects them to be returned. Well, I guess CJ came into her room before school started and said he felt bad that her markers were stolen and he brought his set from home for her. Said he never uses them and that she could have them. How sweat is that!! I never even knew he did that! BTW, the markers showed up in her desk later that day. But CJ really wanted her to have them so he asked if they could be a spare set for her room. LOL!!

Joe's English teacher said that he's very smart and gets most of the jokes she tells that usually goes over everyone else's head. That's Joe for you though, the jokester! Joe's music teacher said he is VERY talented and is the glue to the whole bass section. The only problem the teacher has with him is getting him to STOP playing! LOL!! He very impressed that he only has to tell Joe something once and he really gets it.

So, over all they are doing well. Report cards came out and Joe got all A's and has a 4.0 and CJ got 2 B's and the rest A's. I don't remember his grade point average, 3.6 or something like that. They both made honor roll. CJ would have gotten an A in History but his binder check's were low. He has a very hard time focusing and being organized, so I need to help him with this. If it weren't for that he would have had an A and that made him very depressed so the teacher helped him get it all organized and printed out what he needed and where for his binder.

Both need to improve on there book reports by doing EXACTLY what it's asking for and putting a little more effort into them. But, other than that, they are doing very well.

Update

Okay, my sister Candy has informed me via email that I haven't updated my blog is SIX DAYS, God forbid, LOL!!!!

Well, sometimes my life is just boring! What can I say. I'm not all drama you know!

Well, today gas here is $1.99, can you believe it, they have dusted off there 1! I didn't even know they kept those 1's! LOL!! It's nice to fill my tank and not even get to $50! I used to get $50 and not even fill it up. This gas station only let's you get $50 on your debit card at a time. Amazing!

Yesterday, I grabbed the mail on my way to get the boys from school. I get there and I usually wait about 30 or so minutes. I like getting there early. Anyway, there is something for me to my old address on Mill Street in a big square envelope with just a PO box for a return address. I was going to toss it, since I'm assuming it's junk mail. I open it since I'm bored and a bit curious. To my amazement, it's from Google and it's a check for $309.88!!!! Wow, and I was going to throw it away!! LOL!!! Now, I have NO CLUE where this money came from. It says AdSense, which are those clickable adds I have on my blogs and websites. Now I make about $100 a YEAR with those. I checked my account and it says I have $41 made so far. They only cut checks if you have $100 in your account. Now, how did I get $309.88??? Plus, I have had the correct address on my AdSense account for months. So, I emailed google to see why I got this check, we'll see what they say. I cashed it anyway of course LOL!!

Other than that, I have been running the boys here and there every evening. I take Joe Swimming on Monday from 4-5, on Tuesday Joe has Jr. Phil from 5-6:15 and CJ has gymnastics from 6:30-8:30. Chuck usually takes Joe and I take CJ. On Wed. CJ has music lessons 2:30-3:30 and Joe has jazz/pep band practice from 2:30-4:00. Then they go to Youth Group from 6:30-9:00. On Thursday CJ has gymnastics from 4-6 and Joe has swimming from 7-8. Joe has to come with us because both are in Ashtabula, so we are gone from 3:30 to 8:30 on Thursday nights! On Friday Joe has swimming from 6-7. And on Saturday mornings Joe has music lessons in Erie from 9:15-10:15 and every other Saturday he has a swim meets (which last at LEAST 6 hours). He has one this Saturday and it's about 45 minutes away! So, that is how my life goes right now. It's peaceful till I have to pick them up from school and then it's just crazy!

On Monday morning I met with Sandy's lawyer and he has decided to just go after the APL and he is getting the licensing board involved and looking into the Dr. that supposedly gave Sandy the first spay. He filled on Monday and the paper will run the story some time next week. I will keep you updated on that as things happen.

It Snowed!!

Just thought I'd share a picture of my back deck. It snowed today big fat flakes. I loved it!! I dug through my CD's and put on "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow" LOL!!!! The dog thought I was nuts! I even went out and shoveled the walkway!

Wooden Nickel Buffalo Farm

We went to the wooden nickel today and man we were all VERY disappointed!! I spent about $60 on all of us there and it just makes me sick to think about it!! It's a buffalo farm that has a gift shop/restaurant/ and corn maze. We were all very excited about going and eating real buffalo. We all order cheeseburgers and then come to find out fries are only on the platter so we all go with a platter. It was $3 more for a "bit" of fries!! UGH!! Chuck wanted Cider, nope, they were all out. The platter comes with fries OR soup and CJ and Chuck ordered the pepper souWe get our drinks and sit down for a VERY LONG time!! I have a TV blaring in my ears cuz it's 2 feet behind me. The place was rather full and only men where cooking and serving. They messed up just about everyones order and had to re-fill quiet a few. There was a dog roaming around begging for food from everyone. Nudging them and being quiet annoying! Then the guy comes out to tell Chuck and CJ that they were out of soup. They were both upset but went with fries. When our food FINALLY came out the cheeseburgers where served on HOT DOG BUNS!!!!! He said they ran out of hamburger buns. Probably on all those orders they had to re-do!!! ARG!!!! Non of us got full, I've had better burgers at a fast food joint for a buck. The fries were home made and actually quiet good, but I make the same at home all the time, LOL! So, I said maybe it will be better once we get out to the corn maze.

This is our first corn maze ever! We have always wanted to go to one and so this was our first one. BOO HISS!! The corn was about waist high or smaller. There were a few that might have been as tall as me. It was very thin and you could see the whole field by just standing there!! So, we made the best of it by finding boxes with stickers to fill our paper so we knew we went through the whole thing. I told CJ while we were in the maze, thank God we are going to WalMart when we are done, at least we know we'll have fun there! LOL!

Here is the amazing corn maze!

Here is Joe getting the stickers out of the little house to put on our paper. There are 16 of them in all.

Here is CJ getting another sticker for the paper. Notice how you CAN NOT get lost in this field of corn!

Here are the bison in the field.

Dinner Out

Last night we took the boys out to eat at Texas Roadhouse. They have big barrels of peanuts where you walk in and also small buckets at your table. We all sit around and eat a bunch of peanuts before our dinner gets there. The boys eat got a 24oz steak and CJ ate ALL of his and Joe ate about half because he had a swim meet the following day. He told the waiter that he could eat the whole thing, and usually he can, but we remembered he had a meet half way through the meal so I hid the other half under the table so the waiter thought he ate the whole thing and shook his hand and everything! It was so funny!

On the way out CJ stops at the big barrel of peanuts out by the front door where there are at least 20 people waiting for a table and opens his pockets wide on his hoody and starts shoveling in the peanuts!! OH MY GOSH!!!! He did this with BOTH pockets!! Then just walks out!! I was DYING!!! He didn't realize that everyone was watching him. In the truck he told us that he forgot to put some in his pockets at the table and saw the big barrel and just thought he'd fill up on the way out!!! He didn't realize that people were watching him till he turned around to leave, LOL!!!

And they think us parents are embarrassing!!!

Full Size Violins

Yesterday we went to see a guy that collects violins. He has well over 36 of them in his house. Mr. Lyon (the boys violin teacher) sent us to him because they are all in wonderful shape and for good prices. Here is the table he had set up for the boys to choose from. They started with the cheapest and went around the table to the most expensive.

Were you see Joe standing back there is where it started at the cheapest. See the two at the end of the table on the right? Those are the two they choose. I told them to choose from that side of the table as the ones on the other side are $2K and up.

They have needed full size violins for a year probably. I just never had the money to upgrade. I didn't want to get them student violins again. They have been playing long enough that I wanted really good sounding violins for them. Now, since they are used and from a collector they don't come with bows or cases. So, I still need to get those. He said that what ever your violin costs you want your bow to cost half that much. YIKES!! I may not get that good of bows for them yet. But I won't get the $30 ones either. Some where in the middle I think will be fine for now.

What was really nice is Lance (the violin guy) gave us the violins to try out and see if we really want them for a couple of weeks! He even gave us cases to use and gave Joe a bow. CJ has a full size bow already that I bought him some time ago since his died. We'll have Mr. Lyon look them over and have the boys play on them for a while and then we will decide. Can't do that with any music store or catalog!

Joe feel in love with his violin as soon as he walked up to the table! LOL!! It has a dude on the scroll and Joe just thinks that is so cool. He also loved the way it sounds. Here is the scroll.

Dentist

I went to the dentist again today. I got two more fillings done so only 5 more to go! Get this though, after Mike drilled out the cavities, a lady came in to fill them up. I fell asleep!!!! I must have been really tired. I woke myself up by snoring!! LOL!!! I wonder how long I was out and snoring? I have NEVER fell asleep in the dentist chair with my mouth wide open and all before. Now that I'm back home all I want to do is lay in bed and watch a movie. I feel like doing nothing today!!

Good news is gas is $2.59 a gallon bad news is this morning it was 25 degrees out!! LOL!!

Pulled Over

We were late leaving the house this morning, so I was in a rush. Right by the school I guess I was doing 42 in a school zone of 20. Oops! I saw the cop there in the parking lot. First one I saw there this year, and of course I was speeding. He let me drop the boys off and then I guess he thought I was going to turn right but I went left so I saw him turn around and come for me so I just pulled over. I gave him all my info and he said, running a little late today? I laughed and said, "Yeah, a little." When he came back he told me my plates expired yesterday!!!! GOOD GRIEF!!! He said, "Can you get them renew today or tomorrow?" I said, "Sure, no problem." He said, "Good, thanks." and walked away?!?!?!?! Okay, I guess I wasn't getting a ticket for anything??? YEAH!!!!! I could have gotten slammed! I wonder if he knew the last name? I have gotten off before because the cops all seem to know the family. Well, what ever the reason, I'm glad I didn't get a ticket! Yes, I will be slowing down from now on.

I did get my plates renewed and I got them renewed for 2 years! I had no idea you could do that. My friend Elizabeth told me about that while I was there waiting for them to call my number. So, I'm good till 2010! Thanks Elizabeth!!!

Lawyer for Sandy

Well, I met with the lawyer today about Sandy and how she had all her parts even though she was "Spayed". I also saw while I was there that they did the "surgery" at 9:32am of 1-28-08. I picked her up at 10am of the same day!!!!! How can they do surgery on these puppies and then just hand them over like that??? The lawyer wasn't happy about that one either. He wanted to take them right to court but I asked him to send a letter and see if they will respond to him.

I sent a certified letter and they signed it on the 6th and I have heard NOTHING from them. I also emailed the newspaper and let them know all about it, LOL!! We'll see if I hear anything back! If Bret doesn't hear back from them, then it's off to court for us and we'll sue them for court costs, the surgery and some other stuff he wanted to throw in, LOL! He was shocked at my story to say the least. Now, I'm not mentioning the part that she had a hernia taken care of during the surgery. If that isn't listed anywhere then it just looks really bad about them opening her up for nothing. LOL!

I'll let you know how it goes!

Private School Woes

Yesterday I got a bill from the private school we had the boys enrolled in. CJ went for half a day and Joe went for 2 days. They are saying that we have to pay the FULL YEARS tuition anyway. It states, and they highlighted this part, that any student that withdraws during the academic year will still be liable for the full years tuition!!! Good Grief!!!! We did everything we could to keep the boys there. Chuck was talking with the public school system over a week before school started and the only time the super could meet with him was the day the private school started. What a crock!! I am NOT paying it!! They can take their $15 a month late charge and shove it up their butts! I'm not paying ANY OF IT!! We will go talk with them but I bet they don't give a hoot and they'll say we owe it. Tough crap, they aren't seeing a dime! ARG!!!!!! It was stressful enough to have to put them in public school. I was a mess that week and now to throw this on top of it! NICE!!

Strep Throat

Well, Joe woke up really sick today. I had to run him into the ER so we could get him on medicine today. Doctor said he could go to school tomorrow but for today he isn't going anywhere. We had a full day planned too. We might have to run into Erie tomorrow afternoon right after school. Not sure as Joe has swim practice but he still might not feel very well. I was looking forward too eating lunch out, taking in a movie, shopping, LOL!!

The boys need new boots and warm coats. There is also a guy in Erie that Howard Lyon, the boys violin teacher, told us about that collects violins and we could probably get a really nice full size ones for cheap, at least cheaper than buying new. We were going to this guys house at 2pm today, but I had to reschedule that too. Joe really was looking forward to that. They have needed a bigger violin for about a year now, just haven't had the funds to get them. We'll see if we have enough time tomorrow to stop by and see him.

So, here is to our day stuck at home and watching football on TV all day, yee haw!

Finland Juicer

I took CJ over to his friends house last night and his friends mom had me come in and check out the juicer she had for doing grapes. It was the coolest thing I have ever seen!! Here is a picture of it.

You put the grapes in the middle part and a little bit of water at the bottom and just place it on the stove and they cook down and the juice comes out the tube!! She has one she borrowed from a friend and of course she tells me about this the day I finish up my grapes!! ARG!! LOL!! I wanted to get one and she said her friend got it for $20 off the Internet so I check and can only find them for $200. Just my luck! I will keep my eyes open for one for next year.

My friend Sue has grapes on her property and she said that in March she will give me cuttings off hers so I can plant them here and I'll have my own grapes. That will be cool!

My jelly set up really good and it turned out awesome! I could have made more but I stopped at 3 batches. Next year I will probably do more as I don't think what I have will last a year but I don't want to run out and buy more grapes.