school, and Big news

I got a B on my last Spanish assignment.
I got a 79% on my last Personal Finance Exam
I just took my Theatre history midterm on Tuesday, so i should have that grade tomorrow.

I have to write a paper for Sociology of Religion class where I visit a temple/church of another faith for a worship service and then compare it to my own religion. I think I'll feel most comfortable visiting a synagogue, so I think we'll do that this weekend, if possible. Do synagogue's have broadcasts of their services too? like a Christian mega church does? I wish.

I am supposed to do 10 community service hours for my Intro to Communication class. I think they are asking way too much of us for a freshman level class. The majority of time in class is spent on this group speech/project. We aren't learning much besides teamwork. My team heard from North Texas AIDS Services that we could get out ten hours helping them prepare for a banquet and then help some more the night of the banquet. I've contacted the volunteer coordinator many times and her emails just leave me confused. She said in an email that we could help from "8-12". I wrote back to ask which days and if she means from 8am-Midnight or 8pm-Midnight or 8am-Noon. She replied, "Saturday, and wear black church clothes." What about the time?!?!?! I don't want to wait on campus at 8am if no one will be there. If we are only helping the night of the banquet, then how were we supposed to get 10 hours?!?! I forwarded my emails to our Communications class TA. I have a B in the class so far, maybe an A, so I think I'll still pass the class with no problem. But I worry for the girls in my team who are close to failing the class (from test grades). This lack of volunteer hours could make them fail.

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Important:
At work Regina has dropped many hints that I would be around after Halloween. Then today Rick, in front of Regina, asked me what my future plans are. I said that after I graduate, we plan to move away (to FL). Rick asked me, hypothetically if I worked for them for the entire "winter, spring and summer", would I be inclined to hold off on that move until November 2008, so I'd be fully trained and available for the 2008 Halloween rush?
I said, currently Jim has no time obligations outside of his paper route. I said that if I was working enough to maintain our living expenses in Denton, after my graduation that summer, then my family should be able to stay in Denton until that November.
I made it clear that I "can't speak now for what decisions we will make a year from now", but that we'd be inclined to let me earn that extra money before moving away. Heck, maybe I'd make enough to start paying people back for these student loans.

Then tonight at Regina's church Fall Festival, She introduced me to her friends as "Liss, who is replacing Amy." Sounds like I have a job for a while. :)

p.s. Jimmy is trying to fix a hard drive for my boss.

Happy Hallelujah

Around 7pm my hubby and kiddos showed up at work to check in and see how long I'd be cleaning up the store after the store closed. Jimmy already had the kids in their costumes and ready to go. When they popped into the store, I barely noticed them and then they disappeared into the Krogers since I looked busy.
Regina and Rick said that I could go ahead and leave work early, to take the kids out for Happy Hallelujah. Regina said that the other staff folks could clean up, since I usually help cover their jobs. Regina was also leaving early to go to her church's Fall Festival. We were invited, so that's where my family went too. They had a bounce house, some hot dogs & nachos, indoor games for little kids and some craft projects.

[This black pirate hat was getting tossed out at work since it has a hole in it. I saved it and bought a purple feather to plug the hole. Since the rest of Elaine's costumes was made of scraps from other projects, it only cost me $2 for the feather plume.]
[Allan outgrew this sweat shirt's sleeves las fall and he outgrew the length for these green PJ bottoms early this Spring. So I just had to cut the top and bottoms with scissors to make them look more like peter pan. I bought the hat for $6 at work. So all together I spent $8 on costumes for 2 kids. Not bad at all. ]



Regina's church had fall-themed crafts. Elaine decorated a little purse with her name and a face. This church's fall fest ended at 8pm, so we only were there for about 40 minutes. Elaine wanted to do more stuff, so we took her to another church's fall festival. It was at an even smaller church. They had lots of tossing games, that both kids enjoyed. We only stayed about 20 minutes, if that. Jim didn't want the kids to get too much candy, so we headed on home. Jimmy heated up a late dinner of Chicken wraps while the kids watched 'Peter pan'.

That spot wasn't on his shirt at the beginning of the night. :o)




(Looks almost like me in 1998-99. Back in my black lipstick, white face, dark clothing phase.)

**Me as Little Red Riding Hood**














**Angel as a Pirate, Katie as a Flapper, and Jessica as Han Solo**


















***Is this Creepy to anyone else???***

Photos and Updates

WORK UPDATE:
Last Monday Rick and Regina took Amy and I to dinner for pizza after work, then we all returned to the shop and worked until 1:15am. We had to pull accessories from the back of the store and match them to costumes that were reserved already for this week. It was good to sit and get to chat with my bosses at dinner and get to know them outside of work.
I've worked every day this week and will work every day til the 31st at least.

*one of my coworkers hamming it up*

We have to/get to wear costumes at work 3 days this week. Tonight was day one. I wore a 1900-1920's Swimsuit and did old age makeup.












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'FRANK THE BUNNY' UPDATE:
Late Wednesday night I completed Micah's Halloween costume. I don't have the cash to mail it to him and haven't received the $ from him for mailing/supplies. I haven't checked the mail yet from today (Friday) so I hope the check is sitting in my mailbox. I could have Jim overnight the costume to Micah in Kentucky tomorrow or Monday. It's running out of time.
I'm proud though... I sewed in my first zipper with a sewing machine. I made the mask and it sits evenly on a head. It all looks pretty cool.

*Me in the costume*

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HEALTH UPDATE:
Jim went to bed at 9:30 tonight. He had a bad backache. Jim has an appointment at 2pm with a chiropractor on Monday. We gotta figure who is babysitting the kids for an hour or so. Inevitably, I'll be at work.
Elaine had a tummy ache tonight. She doesn't have many sinus symptoms anymore, so the tummy ache was unexpected. She put herself to bed a little early.
Allan had a fever this morning and wet my bed. But he was fine the rest of the day.
I still have a runny nose and some sinus pressure off and on.
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FAMILY NEWS:
My dad was in North Texas early this week for a job training thing. He had to share a hotel room with a co-worker in Ft.Worth. Wednesday Dad fetched my family and then me from work and we went out for dinner at a Chinese Buffet. I ate lots of sushi. :) Allan kept calling him "Mommy", like he does with everyone he likes. And whenever Dad got up to get some food at dinner, Allan yelled "Mommy come back!! Where are you?!!"




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SCHOOL NEWS:
I did early registration this week for a class that I MUST take in the Spring to graduate as planned next summer. It's Theatrical Senior Seminar (aka Sr. Colloquium). So I am registered for that one and ready to go. I'll take Spanish 4 online at Midland College in the Spring. And I'll take Statistics online, maybe through Midland or maybe through NCTC. That'll take care of my math requirement at UNT.

A New Van

The kids and their Godfather, Steven

While I was working yesterday (Saturday) Steven drove the kids and Jimmy around to find a replacement Van for our Windstar. Jimmy bought a White '96 Mercury Villager with 125,000 miles. It needed a headlight replaced, so Steven fixed it for us before he left. He also picked me up from work, so Jimmy could nap. Jim was on his feet way too long and was in real need of his pain meds.
The van was a company vehicle and had all it's maintenance records in it's glove box. 3 of the tires are new. I like that the outside is white to reflect light, but the inside is tan to hide dirt. That's always necessary with a toddler.

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At work yesterday I heard that I am the only employee who is consistently on time. That was reassuring.
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I heard that the weather is about to become wet and COLD! It's going from a low of 70, to a low of 40 early this week. I'm up for the cold weather. It can be stuffy at work, so the cool weather will be refreshing.
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My dad called today. He's in Ft.Worth for a work training thing until Wednesday. After I get off of work on Wednesday, he's gonna come see my family.

everyone is sick

The day after I realized that I am sick (not just allergies) then Allan's sniffles progressed into tossing his cookies. The sinus drip messed with his stomach. He's been sick off and on since Wednesday.
And as of this afternoon, Elaine is also sick with sniffles and has tossed her cookies 4 times so far (the night is young).
Poor Jimmy; He did his paper route last night and only got 3 hours of sleep between the job and his aches. And now he had to deal with two sick kiddos all day. By the way, today was the day Elaine skipped due to the field trip to the pumpkin patch, so she was already home when she started getting really sick. Jim took his pain meds once last night and then not again until I got off of work tonight. He's taking it easy now that I'm home to help with the kiddos.

I'm sick, but I seem to be managing. I worked from 9:30-7pm on Monday, 9:30-6pm Wednesday, 4pm-7pm on Thursday and 9:30 -6pm tonight. I'm working all day tomorrow too. My female boss and I get along really well. She reminds me of my "big Sister" Pamela. When I was about to leave work at 6pm, as scheduled, Regina hugged my neck and said that she hates when I'm not at work. I told her that was such a nice compliment.

On Thursday, I had a meeting with my academic adviser to get the registration password for one of my last classes. I'm going to register soon for the Spring semester to make sure I get into the classes I need.
Since I had the meeting with my adviser immediately following my theatre history class, my classmate Chris drove me to work following the adviser meeting. He saved Jimmy from driving out to UNT in the middle of the day, just to drive me 2 miles to work . Between Chris giving me a ride, Trisha watching Allan the on Tuesday and all the nice emails I've received, it's nice to see how many people care about my family following the wreck.

We've had a rental car since Tuesday, paid for by the other driver's insurance. The claims adjuster said our Van was "totaled". He paid Jimmy for our van. The insurance company estimated it at over standard Kelly Bluebook Value for the Windstar, so Jim took that offer. They paid Jim back for the new carseats. They paid for the 11 months we haven't used on the Windstar's recent registration and inspection. They also paid Jim back for when we filled his pain med prescription. The books aren't closed on his medical bills, in case he is still hurting in the future. He has up to two years to wrap up his medical stuff from the wreck with her insurance company.
We have to turn in the rental car tomorrow. So Jim and the kids have to find a replacement van while I'm at work tomorrow. I think Steven is coming up to Denton, to meet with Jim and the boys are gonna put their heads together to find the replacement van.

Update after the wreck

Today Jimmy woke up super achy. He wasn't in any more pain than last night, but just felt achy all over. He's dealing with bad headaches. It turns out that the other driver got a ticket for 'failure to yield' so it's cut and dry with her insurance company that she was at fault. Her insurance has been very nice working with us. Jim's been on the phone with them off and on all day.
Her insurance is paying for us to get a rental car until everything is settled with our Van. From phone discussions, it sounds like the insurance claims adjuster is just gonna call our Van totaled. He hasn't made it out to see the van in person yet.
They've already suggested that we go purchase new car seats and that we will be repaid for that purchase. Evidently car seats are not safe for use after they've been in a wreck. So my hubby is picking up the rental car with a friend, and going to wal-mart to get car seats.

Trisha has offered to babysit Allan all day tomorrow, while Jim and the claims adjuster meet to settle the amount we will be paid for the car. Nothing worse in an important meeting than a 2 year old. Jim's taking the very recent inspection information with him to the meeting and the stuff from the mechanic that fixed the car, to prove that the van was in good condition at the time of the wreck.

With the rental car, it doesn't seem like I'll have to miss any more
school or work. It's been raining here, so the bike wasn't gonna help.
Now to get caught up on everything I was supposed to be doing last
night when the world flipped upside down. Thanks for all the prayers and support.
Jim's not gonna settle the medical part with the other driver's insurance for a little time, in case more symptoms show up.

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Jill's boss wants me to do a drawing of his family. Jill told her boss that I'd charge $250 and he agreed and is super excited about the project. I told them that I could start it after October 31st.

I think I need to change the size of my drawings since the paper I use comes in awkward sizes. I could go larger or smaller. Frames don't come in this size, unless they are custom. I need to check out what standard frame sizes are.
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I thought I had allergies kicking in, but looks like it is some real sinus mess. Jimmy got me boxes of tissues, OJ, cough drops, daytime and night time medicine, green tea, honey and ice cream. We're taking care of each other.
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I forgot to tell yall that I was right to feel good about that Communication Exam last Thursday. I got a 92!! :)

p.s. I'll get to pick up 3 extra hours at work on Thursday. They are letting me come in after class, to cover for a girl who is going out of town.

My Family's Car Wreck

Jimmy and the kids were in a car wreck tonight on their way to pick me up at work. Everyone walked away from the wreck, from both cars. Jimmy was on a busy road (Sherman Drive) and a girl drove straight through a stop sign from a side street. Her car hit smack in the middle of my family's van, on the side opposite from our children. (We keep both our kids on the right side of the van, for easy unloading). I was close to the location, so I got off work and grabbed the kids, while Jimmy left for the hospital in an ambulance. His neck, shoulder and back hurts. One of my coworkers drove the kids and I home to the trailer.
An hour later Jimmy's brother and a family friend came over. Our friend stayed with the kids, so Dave and I could go check on Jimmy at the hospital. He had X-rays and everything looked okay. (The nurse wants him to see a doc some time about his high blood pressure). They prescribed him three types of pain meds. They said that he wont really feel all the pain until tomorrow. I expect to be taking care of Jimmy tomorrow (Tuesday), so I've emailed my professors. I plan to go to work like normal on Wednesday. The docs said it's hard to say whether Jim will be back to himself or not this week. So much prayers are needed.

Our van was towed. The Axle looks bent, since the front wheel is tilted outward. The girl who hit our van does have insurance (heard from the police).

Car that hit Jim and the kids:

You can see both cars in this one, especially if you click to make the picture larger :



Her bumper was on the ground almost under our van. I found her license plate at the front end of our van too.

Jim's blog and stuff

Tonight when Jimmy picked me up from work he had already made dinner. It was a home made chicken pot pie, more salad, and jello with sliced bananas. He had to look up a recipe for the crust, but made up the rest off the top of his head. I told Jimmy that he needs to start blogging about his recipes that he's creating. It'd be a good way for him to get feedback from other cooks in the family and Jimmy could brag about how creative he can be. :)

The Moo sent me another surprise care package. This one was FOUR packages of glue sticks. She knows me so well! I can never have enough glue sticks.

Elaine got in BIG trouble today. I was at work when it happened, but I hear that Allan was laying on the floor and Elaine intentionally kicked him in the stomach 4 times!!! Jim spanked her at the time. And when I heard about it, I added that she can't play Tetris for a month.

The costume for Micah is close to completion. I tinker on the costume when I'm unwinding after work, before homework. Late last night I sewed together the arms and the paws that are attached to the arms. There is a slit at the inner wrist, so Micah could take his hand out of the paw to eat or whatever.
I still have to sew down the white decorative belly, add the zipper and sew the hoodie. I might add a fluffy tail.

Things are looking up.

Jimmy told me that he slept a lot today (Thursday) while I was in class, so he could do his paper route late tonight. But before his paper route, he made home made spaghetti noodles and some tomato sauce with spinach and meat. We had more parfaits too. *Yummy* Then Jimmy had the idea to take the kids out to the big park, so we loaded up and headed out. (the camera batteries weren't charged, sorry). I think Jim seems happier since he's started cooking more regularly. He isn't even complaining about doing dishes!! He's just been handling them for the last 4 days or so. The boy was bleaching down the counter top without me asking him too! What a change!! :)

Earlier today, I had a major Exam in my communication class AND a quiz in personal finance class. I feel really good about both, especially the communication Exam. I feel like I focussed my studying Wednesday night on the right parts of the chapters. I'll let yall know when I know the grades when I get them.

Tomorrow (Friday) I'm working in the afternoon until close.

First 8 hour Day at Work

Wednesday went super well. I demonstrated for a customer how to do some face painting with glitter and barrier spray (like on my cheek in the photo - Popular for dancers and cheerleaders). I looked up, and Rick was over my shoulder listening to my demonstration and smiling. I'd have to guess that he was glad that I can explain some of the application processes for makeup.

One of the girls I work with is like a sponge soaking up information. Tell her something once and she knows it forever! I felt bad that she seemed to know more than me and we were hired at the same time. Then I heard that the girl has worked all but one day since our initial meeting at the shop. This girl isn't in school this semester, so she works at the shop daily. That made me feel better about her knowing more than me. She's had more time to absorb. On Wednesday I had only worked 20-something hours so far. There's a lot to learn and it takes time.

My feet didn't hurt at the end of the day like they did on my 7 hour day last week. Changing shoes really made a difference. When Jimmy picked me up and took me home, the house was cleaner and dinner was almost made. I just chilled out and Jim finished whipping up dinner. He had gone to Krogers with the kids just to make me a nice meal. I asked if we were celebrating my first full day at work and he said that he just thought that I'd like a little something to show he loves me. *awww*

Jimmy made blackened chicken flat bread wraps with Ranch. He also made a spinach salad with raspberries and sliced almonds with Raspberry vinegarette salad dressing. For dessert he whipped together cream cheese and cool whip to make this creamy whipped topping that he served over fruit and crumbled graham crackers, like a parfait.

Saturday Night through Tuesday

First things first, my brother is FINALLY back home in Houston, as of Monday!!! He hasn't seen much of my mom that I know of. I gave Mark's new cell # to my Dad, so they could touch base.

Elaine said her tummy wasn't happy and then threw up late Saturday night. But after that she was fine and went to church like normal in the morning.

Sunday Jimmy made a lasagna from scratch and I made stuffed artichokes! Yummy!!

I touched base on Monday with AIDS Services of North Texas and got my team for communication class all set up to volunteer setting up a fundraising banquet. There will be a silent auction too. So we'll work setting up tables, putting out table clothes, pricing items for the auction, etc. Sounds like familiar territory from helping with silent auctions and the chili cookoff at church. The banquet isn't until the first week of November and our deadline for hours is in October. I talked our TA into an extension on that deadline with no point penalty. :)
Today my team divided up which part of the group speech each of us will write and deliver. I'm gonna be in charge of researching how AIDS is transmitted and why college students are at risk. I have to have my entire outline (90% of my part of the speech, in sentence-form) turned in a week from today. So I'm gonna continue pulling research for that from journal articles.

I received an A for my 'Antigone' analysis paper for Theatre History class. Doctor Harris took 3 weeks to grade our papers. I would have had an A+, but I cited page numbers instead of line numbers for the quotes from the play. We have a midterm at the end of the month that I need to study for.

Last night after work and some AIDS research online, I started sewing Micah's 'Frank the Bunny' costume. He only ended up spending $12 on fabric, bias tape and the zipper, since I had a coupon and found stuff on sale. The body is made. I need to add the white furry belly which is just pinned in place so far, sew the arms & attached hands, and sew the hood that will cover the back of Micah's head and fasten under his chin.
I used Bias tape on the edges to make it more comfortable.

UNT has a play opening this week. It runs this weekend and next. I get one free ticket to the play, since I'm a theatre student. But odds are I wont get to go. After I work, I am too tired to do much besides read or sit at the computer. Tomorrow is my first full 8 hour day working at the shop. Mental note: I need to pack a lunch.

I had a funny morning. I dropped Elaine at class and Mrs. Wallace called me over. She said that she was wrong about the pumpkin patch. She said that over the weekend she went to the 'Pumpkin Express' website and saw "picture after picture of Eeek". I said, no problem and that we'll just keep her home, and everything will be okay.

Today when I got home from school, Jimmy had wiped kitchen counters, done dishes, swept and wiped up the stove top. Elaine was cleaning her room, so I offered to pitch in. We ended up moving their bunkbed to a different wall today. It was pulled out, so we could vacuum all the way under it. And it looked better on this other wall. I'll take a pic during the daytime. Elaine is asleep. Speaking of which, Allan took a 5 hour nap from when I got home from school until 8:30pm. So he's wide awake, playing with toy cars and watching 101 Dalmatians.

Progress

This is for Micah's Happy Hallelujah festivities in Kentucky. He's mailing me cash to make the costume this week. All that's left to do on the mask is to get the elastic strap attached to the back.
This one is after I painted the teeth.
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Dave has a late hockey thing tonight in Frisco, so he's gonna crash here.

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I'm finishing the diaper bag for Trisha's friend tonight. So I can give it to them at church tomorrow.
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I can't volunteer on my normal day at church, since I'll have to work that weekend.
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So far, I know that I'm working Monday and Wednesday at the shop. The rest of the schedule hasn't been planned yet.
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I was gonna go to North Texas AIDS Services today to fetch information and do any paperwork that is necessary to volunteer there for school. Then I found out they aren't open at all on weekends. That means when I can volunteer, it will have to be on weekdays. It will be interesting to get 10 hours of volunteer work completed this month.
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Jim made spagetti from scratch tonight. They tasted like egg noodles. Not bad at all. I think next time, when he plans to cut them thinner, they will be even better.
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My Susie doll was ruined today. Elaine pulled it out from under the bed. I guess she must have gotten stuck on something... her face ripped wide open. :( I've had her for as long as I can recall. This is a pic of Susie, in the good ole days before her face was ripped open.

Confirmation of Suspicions

Jimmy did his paper route from 2am-?am. So I got up and walked Elaine to class. Mrs. Wallace pulled me aside and asked if Elaine is allowed to go to the pumpkin patch. I said that my husband and I would take her to one near our church that is very careful about not having any witches, ghosts, spirits or un-dead. Mrs. Wallace sent me to the website for the pumpkin patch that Elaine's class will be visiting. She said, "This one doesn't have any of that either! I really want her to have fun and go with her class." I told Mrs. Wallace that I would look at the website, but that Elaine wouldn't be in school the day of the field trip.

Here are pics from The Pumpkin Express (Argyle, TX), where Elaine's class is going (click on them, if you'd like a larger view):

I spy a witch.

I spy ghosts (along the train path all the kids pass).

I spy ghosts.

I spy un-dead.