Back to school?

So, I'm thinking about going back to school.... Probably doing the whole online course thing. Yeah, me and the internet, always a good combination!

So, besides Liberty University (where my boss is taking classes) anyone else have any suggestions for schools? It was just my luck that the ONE university I contacted just happened to be a non-denominational Christian university. Not that that's a bad thing..... but well, you know.

I'd LOVE to be able to follow through with the midwifery thing, but at this stage in my life, it looks like early childhood education/program administration is going to be my best bet. *sigh* and yet another dream goes down the toilet. But maybe, one day, I'll be able to get back on that horse. :)

Nothing else going on here.

The leaves

We decided to go see the mountains today. We took the top off the car and headed out towards Clemson/Walhalla. Jody and I went exploring a really cool unfinished railroad tunnel that was started pre-Civil War but was never completed. (DUH!) We then took a look at the falls at the park, BEAUTIFUL! Thought about hiking all the way down to the bottom of the falls, but SOMEONE says I'm not real graceful and he's not strong enough to lug me back to the top... hummm.... We'll see about that. :) I actually think my knees are thanking me for NOT going down there. We were just about a week too early for full colors. :( but it was a beautiful day and we got our fill of vitamin D and fresh air. I actually got a sunburn on my face. WOW!

Drama!

So, it's been a LONG week at the lil ol' daycare. We had a new person start on Monday, and that was cool. Downside? She's never worked in daycare before, is young, and isn't very authorative. *sigh* She has a 2 year old, and unfortunantly, can't "control" her to begin with. She's been stuck in the 2 year old room, so needless to say, I think she feels a wee bit overwhelmed. *sigh*

I walk into work on Thursday and was told some horrible news. MissJ works with me and happens to be lil'J's mom. She's young, and was in a very bad relationship with the babydaddy since she was 16. They have 2 kids together, lilJ has a big sister that is 6. Anyway, for whatever reason, (we never got the full story!) babydaddy has been in jail for the past 3 months. All sorts of things have come out of this separation, but number one on the list is that babydaddy abused MissJ. She was FREE of this man, working on moving on, meeting new people (yes, kinda soon, but working on it). Babydaddy gets out of jail and MissJ keeps telling us that she doesn't want him back. He did her wrong... He would take her paycheck and instead of paying bills (like he told her he was doing!!) he'd spend it on something else. He left her with well over $600 worth of electric bills to pay when he went to jail. She swore she was DONE.

He get's out, and puts on the charm... She is resisting it, but then the man that she was "seeing" had some kind of melt down. Of course babydaddy is being super supportive, blah blah blah. So Wendsday night babydaddy finds out that MissJ was seeing someone earlier on in his incarceration and FLIPS! He starts banging on her door at 12am and forces his way into her home. He beats her for well over an hour and a half, while her kids are watching. She winds up in the hospital, he runs from the police. We find out that her daughter watched the whole thing, and that lilJ (he's 11 months old) got hit a few times during the beating.

We've heard that he fractured her jaw in a few places, her eye is still bleeding and if the swelling in her eye/face doesn't go down by tomorrow, she has to get it drained. So, not only is she facing MAJOR hospital bills, until the bruises fade, she can't come into work. It seems harsh, but how do you explain them to the kids/parents?


Child protective services stepped in and placed a restraining order on babydaddy. But that's only for the kids. We weren't too afraid that babydaddy would get out of jail once they caught him. BUT the last I heard from MissJ is that they were releasing babydaddy, perhaps he made bail?



I understand battered woman syndrome. I know how hard it is to get out of a bad situation.... but heres the deal.... she was OUT. she was FREE. I want to be supportive of her, but how do you do that without enabling her to continue in a very very VERY bad relationship? I'm afraid that she'll keep going back.

Not much else going on..... I needed to vent. *sigh*

Priceless.....

Every time I see this commercial, it brings a smile to my face. What can I say? The reason it does though, is pretty benign. I see the little boy in the khaki pants, and he reminds me of my nephew, Benjamin. I know Ben isn't this big yet, but soon! :) Can anyone else see it?

Idaho Barbies.... Enjoy

Mattel recently announced the release of limited-edition Barbie Dolls for the Idaho market:

' Sun Valley Barbie'
She comes with an assortment of Kate Spade Handbags,
a Lexus SUV, a long-haired foreign dog named Honey
and a million dollar home.
Available with or without tummy tuck and face lift.
Workaholic Ken sold only in conjunction
with the augmented version.







'Eagle Barbie'
The modern day homemaker Barbie is available with Ford Windstar minivan
and matching gym outfit. She gets lost easily and has no full-time occupation.
Traffic jamming cell phone sold separately.





'Garden City Barbie'
This recently paroled Barbie comes with a 9mm handgun,
a Ray Lewis knife, a Chevy with dark tinted windows, and a meth lab kit.
This model is only available after dark
and must be paid for in cash (preferably small, untraceable bills)
unless you are a cop, then we don't know what you are talking about.






'Boise Foot Hills Barbie'
This yuppie Barbie comes with your choice of BMW convertible or Hummer H3.
Included are her own Starbucks cup, credit card and country club membership.
Also available for this set are Shallow Ken and Private School Skipper.
You won't be able to afford any of them.











'Inkom Barbie'
This pale model comes dressed in her own Wrangler jeans two sizes too small,
a NASCAR t-shirt and Tweety Bird tattoo on her shoulder.
She has a six-pack of Bud light and a Hank Williams Jr. CD set
She can spit over 5 feet and kick mullet-haired Ken's butt when she is drunk.
Purchase her pickup truck separately and get a confederate flag bumper sticker
absolutely free.












'Ketchum Barbie'
This collagen injected, rhino plastic Barbie wears a leopard print outfit and
drinks cosmopolitans while entertaining friends.
Percocet prescription available as well as newly built high rise condo.







'Buhl Barbie'
This tobacco-chewing, brassy-haired Barbie has a pair of her
own high-heeled sandals with one broken heel from the time
she chased beer-gutted Ken out of Mountain Home Barbie's house.
Her ensemble includes low-rise acid-washed jeans, fake fingernails,
and a see-through halter-top. Also available with a mobile home.








' Boise East End Barbie'
This doll is made of actual tofu. She has long straight brown hair,
arch-less feet, hairy armpits, no makeup and Birkenstocks with white socks.
She prefers that you call her Willow. She does not want or need a Ken doll,
but if you purchase two Boise East End Barbies and the optional Subaru wagon,
you get a rainbow flag bumper sticker for free.





'Mountain Home Barbie'
This Barbie now comes with a stroller and 2 infant dolls.
Optional accessories include a GED and bus pass.
White boy Gangsta Ken and his 1979 Caddy were available,
but are now very difficult to find since the addition of the infant.






' Idaho Falls Barbie'
She's perfect in every way, mainly due to the
high levels of antidepressants in her system.
We don't know where Ken is because he's always at church meetings.




*** I wish I could claim ownership of this, but received this in an email and had to share!****

Sillyness

1. 99 percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name.
2. Deja Moo: The feeling that you've heard this bull before.
3. The 2 most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.
4. Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.
5. If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.
6. Vital papers will demonstrate their vitality by moving from where you left them to where you can't find them.
7. Always remember to pillage BEFORE you burn.
8. The trouble with doing something right the first time is that nobody appreciates how difficult it was.
9. It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.
10. Eagles may soar, but weasels aren't sucked into jet engines.
11. If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.
12. Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
13. For every action, there is an equal and opposite criticism.
14. Success always occurs in private, and failure in full view.
15. To succeed in politics, it is often necessary to rise above your principles.
16. Two wrongs are only the beginning.
17. The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up.
18. A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
19. If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you've never tried before.
20. Change is inevitable....except from vending machines.
21. Don't sweat petty things....or pet sweaty things.
22. Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now.
23. Two wrongs do not make a right, but three rights make a left.

He's so cool.

Ok. So Jody has this "thing" about unpainted toes. Not that he's ever complained about MINE, but we'll be out in public and he'll see some poor unwitting soul wearing sandals and unpainted nails... ahhh the comments. He's been telling me that he'd be HAPPY to paint my nails for me, but for some reason, that never seems to happen.. until today.

I had a BAD DAY. It started out with holding BabyS on my hip as I was getting stuff out of the dryer.... BANG!!! she hits her head on the dryer. She ended up with a NICE goose egg right smack dab in the middle of her forehead. Made me feel so very bad. I was crying as I called her mom and told her. Mom seemed cool about it, but man, I keep trying to rethink what happened, and all I can think is that it wasn't that important to try and get her blanket out of the dryer so she could take her nap. My stomach still turns when I know that she was in my arms when she got hurt.

A new baby started today. :) He's a sweetheart. 4 months old, 18 pounds already. OH MY GOODNESS, he's a chunk. Had another parent inquire about a place in the infant room. That would be a total of 5 in my room, with 2 in the "waddler" room. Crazy, huh?

So, MissR has been trying to bite all her "friends", and trying to deal with that, well, let me just say, my brain was feeling rather numb. I sent Jody a text, telling him I wanted a back rub when I got home.. he offered to do this instead....












Cool, huh? He chose the color and everything... It felt nice to be pampered. :) But I'm hoping for the backrub... I'm sooo hard to please. :) ha ha!

Sunday drive

Not much going on here. Jody and I drove up to Asheboro, NC yesterday. He wants to do a 5speed conversion on his car, and there was a boy with the motor he needed that was willing to swap for a turbo kit. We were going to just meet in Charlotte, which is about the halfway point. The young man called at some point Saturday, after he realized he doesn't have a truck and had no way to transport said motor.

I called Danielle to see if she wanted to take a trip with us, but she was at the RenFest with Adam, George and her ex boyfriend, Brandon.

Needless to say, we were pretty sad about that. Asheboro is about 4 hours from our house, but it was a GLORIOUS day, and I was so happy that we had a chance to just go. The young man offered to pay for our gas, to make up for having to go the whole way. It seems like he had a pretty amazing living situation. It looked like there were probably 4 generations of family living in the house, with an apartment over the 2nd detached garage. I think he had his wife/girlfriend (not sure if they were married or not!) with their little girl, his parents, and at least ONE grandparent living there. How amazing would that be, to have everyone live together? Of course, the house looked HUGE, and there was what looked like a nice sized apartment also.

We stuck the motor in the back of the wagon, hung out and talked for a few minutes, and headed back. I got a phone call from Kelly saying she had seen my beautiful daughter at the fest. Since we were going to be driving pretty much right past the old neighborhood, I called Danielle to see if she'd be around. Hey, it was ONLY 830ish. =) We were in luck.. she was home and "willing" to see us. :) YEAH!

We had a nice visit. I love my girl. Miss her terribly. We kept telling her that the door is open, and that we would LOVE LOVE LOVE to have her back. Hopefully, one day.. she will.

Ok, so that was boring. :) thanks for reading.