And we're in!

We moved in the house back in March. Well, halfway moved in. Lots of problems with the house, leaks, siding missing, etc. But most of that has been resolved. Made my first mortgage payment Tuesday! Got a new car too, that Intrepid was just too much trouble to deal with so I traded it in.

Both boys are in karate now. Jacob took first place in his first tournament Sun May 2nd, and Ryan took 2nd place in the white belt division. 2 more weeks and they have their belt test for yellow belt. I hope Ryan is invited to take the belt test, he needs a little more work to perfect his technique but overall he is doing good.

The new scout troop we're in is doing well also. We need 2 more boys to be a fully chartered and recognized troop, and we're working on that. We lost a lot of boys at recharter due to various reasons, now we're just working on getting that charter back. Ryan is just one step away from getting First Class scout, and Jacob is still a Cub Scout with one year to go before crossing over to Boy Scouts. All Ryan has to do is complete his BSA swimmer test and he's good to go for First Class!

I have a new romantic interest in my life, sortof. :) We talk on the phone a lot, and email constantly, but we haven't gotten the chance to meet face to face. I feel like I've known him forever, but we're taking things slow and seeing how they end up. I'm definitely not rushing into anything ever again. But I definitely miss companionship and intimacy!

Going to Vegas again in August for Sony Online Entertainment's Fan Faire! I've been a Guide with the Everquest game for almost 3 years now, and a Senior Guide for almost 2 of that 3. I'm so excited about seeing old and new friends again! Next year, we're planning on making a huge family vacation with my mom, my brother and sister in law, and their kids, and my kids, and going to Disney World. We'll have to rent a van or huge SUV to fit all of us in! My mom even mentioned renting an RV but I think that might be more trouble than it's worth!

Well I'm at work, been with Cloud 10 for a year as of April 19th and still am happy with the job. Amazing I've held out this long! I see myself with this company for a very long time.

I guess that's it for now!

Getting closer...

It seems like a decade ago that I wrote "We got it! We got it!" meaning the house. We have been through SO many paperwork hoops and such that we're both ready to just be done with the whole thing. A few days ago, I was put in touch with the title company, who will handle the deed and title for the land, and had to fill out a questionnaire, because my dad's "estate" was not probated, it just automatically went to my mom. Legally, that's not good enough for them, it has to be in her name in order for her to deed it to us. I filled out the questionnaire and sent them a copy of the death certificate, and the lady said that's all she needed to get the paperwork drawn up.

I can't file my taxes until the 15th (this Saturday) so I can have the money to pay the guy to move the house. Can't move the house until we close on the new one. There are times when I feel so overwhelmed. The idea of packing again...ugh. Thank God for Bruce or I'd never make it. He's the roommate I met on USM. It's been almost a year since he moved in, and it's been...interesting... We've had our share of ups and downs and hard times, but still we remain like brother and sister. Sometimes we just need to get away from this house and have some breathing room separately.

I'm still working my at-home job with Cloud 10. I love the job, but there are days it drives me nuts. I got moved out of the New Jersey region and into the "Beltway" region which covers Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia and occasionally DC. Virginia and WV folks are simply the sweetest people on earth to talk to. They just don't get riled up at all, and if they do, it's easy enough to calm them back down. Maryland folks, particularly Baltimore, on the other hand, make me miss the New Jersey region. After 9 hours of being screamed at, it takes me 2 hours to calm down enough to fall asleep. We're allegedly getting more reps for that region, but I haven't seen it yet. The days where the calls are non-stop are the ones that wear me down the most. But I have a great supervisor I can vent to! I switched teams about a month or so ago, and I was hesitant to leave my old team, but I'm so glad I did now! I absolutely love my supervisor! If I have to switch from her, I just might quit! Seriously!

Well, I've lost 65 pounds, and have 40 more to go. I donated a lot of my clothes to Goodwill because they were just way too big for me. Now I have a much smaller selection of clothes, but I'm not buying any more until I reach my goal weight. Santa Bruce bought me a Wii for Christmas, and as soon as we get the new house set up, I'm setting up the Wii and getting myself a Wii Fit to work out with. Just diet alone is not going to drop the remaining 40 lbs. Time to get active!

Ryan has been slowly mainstreamed back into half a day at the regular campus. He goes for 3 classes, then spends the rest of the day at the special school. In a couple more weeks they're going to add another class, and keep doing that every 3 weeks until he's fully mainstreamed. So far I've been pleased with his progress, and he seems much happier. No meltdowns, nothing other than standard sibling stuff.

I suppose it's time for me to go to bed now, or at least attempt to get some sleep. I'm yawning like mad, but I know as soon as I fall into bed I'll be awake for 2 hours trying to go to sleep. Yay me.

Have a great week yall!

Boredom....

Boredom is setting in, I've been on the phones for an hour and no calls. I know it'll be back to back here in a couple of hours, so I'm enjoying the peace while I can. I'm currently debating whether or not I have time to rip off my headset, dash to pee, and get back before a call comes in. My luck, probably not. And I don't want to waste my precious break time. I save that for when the call flow is heavy LOL

I really do like my job. Seriously. This is like THE job to have. Sitting at home, just listening to customers whine and bitch about their internet. Having a smoke, having some wine. Just kickin back and relaxing. Sometimes I can't believe I get paid to do this. And of course I worry that the project I'm on is gonna come to a screeching halt one day. But with the current call volume the way it is, and predicted to get higher by winter, I doubt it. There are some agents that have been on this project for 2 years. So it doesn't look like it's going anywhere anytime soon.

I *think* we're going either Monday or Tuesday to look at homes. Depends on how fast they get the analysis of my land value thing back. I hope it's soon so we can get the ball rolling on this. I'm super high over it all.

Ok time's up I guess. Just wanted to pop in. It's chilly here but sunny. Supposed to be a tad warmer over the weekend but not much, and still chilly at night. Time to get some propane for the tank I guess, but I keep forgetting to call! Doh me.

Ok, I can't take it anymore. Break/pee time. Adios for now and vaya con Dios.

We got it! We got it!

Today's date was hovering over me like a rain cloud. I could barely sleep last night, wondering what today would portend. Today was the day we would get "the call." The call that would change our lives. The call that would tell us whether we got approved for a new house or not.

10 a.m. No phone call. 11 a.m. I called and left a message. 12:37pm, she called. I answered the phone with a hitch in my breath and fevered prayer to God. She sounded happy when she said Hello. Good sign. Then I heard the magical words "You're approved!"

But there was a catch. We weren't approved for a brand new home, the one we'd painstakingly chosen flooring and wallcovering for. We'd been approved for a repo. Neither Bruce nor myself realized there was another option besides approval or denial. The repos are all in great shape, like brand new, and we can even use our first-time home buyer's credit as a downpayment.

So now all we have to do is get the property tax info from my mom, to determine the value of the land, and we're set. We may not even NEED a downpayment, but I'd like to use the tax credit to do one anyway to lower the cost of the monthly payments.

I'm definitely in a manic, but cautious manic, phase, if you can call it that. By the end of the year, we'll be in our own home! I'm absolutely THRILLED! I give all the glory to God for His mercy and grace in allowing us a break, a chance to better ourselves finally!

Updates as we go, and pictures to follow when we finally select our new home!

So I'm sitting here at work...

I'm bored out of my mind. The calls are slow, and we'll probably get sent home early again. Hard to do overtime when they're sending you home early!
I have to say, this work at home gig is pretty cool. Sit in my jammies, not shower for a few days if I don't want to, no makeup, no fancy clothes, and talk to customers. Overtime if I want it, more cash in my pockets. What's not to like?

Heh. Too easy of a question. Through my own independent studies, I have concluded that New Jerseyians are born and bred to be rude. No offense to any of my Jersey readers out there, but that queue/area is the most dreaded one to be put into. Everyone groans when they're put in that queue. We bribe supervisors to get us out of it. Everyone that calls in is a screaming psycho and it's our fault that their internet has not worked for two weeks yet they decide to wait until 1 a.m. to call it in, and want a tech out the very next morning. Not happening, folks.

Now to be fair, it's not just Jersey. We get a few other crazies from other areas too. But there ain't nothing like Jersey. Do us all a favor and cut us some slack. We're sitting in our pj's, sipping tea or hot chocolate, or if it's a bad night, a bottle of Grey Goose is on the desk. We do care about getting your service restored. We don't care for your potty mouths and telling us we don't know what we're doing. If you know it all, then fix it yourself! Why bug me when I'm reading my Kindle?

I can't mention the company's name I work for, or the client we contract for, because I'm not so stupid as to get fired over it. I really do love my job. But sometimes in the customer service industry, you just gotta let it out sometimes.

Back to the phones, looks like playtime is over. Where's my Grey Goose?

Just...Wow....

I've been here since 2004. 5 years. I didn't realize I'd been blogging that long. I don't think anyone reads my blogs anymore but that's ok. I like to come back for sentimentality sake. I'm heartbroken that ALL of my private diary I had saved on my hard drive was obliterated a month ago as the hard drive died a slow and painful death. Normally they can get the information off the drive by mounting it on their server, but the drive wouldn't respond. Period. It was cold dead. Which means I lost pictures and documents from about 2007 onwards. Highly treasured photos at that. Maybe it's for the best that my kids don't read all that garbage I used to write about George. Entries upon entries of disgust, contempt, borderline hate. Maybe it is better to just put it all behind me and let them have what little memory of him they have left. Jake has no memory of him hardly at all, and Ry remembers very little. The memories will fade as they get older, I'm certain.

So what am I up to now? Well, the degree proved to be a waste of time, at least at this present point in my life. Due to legal ramifications that I won't go into, I can't get a job in that field. But God has seen fit to lead me to a much more satisfying and rewarding job. I have worked with Cloud 10 since April 19th of this year. I am an At Home Professional. I log into their Virtual Private Network, so it's a workstation of sorts on my computer, and I take Customer Service calls from my computer. Pretty good money for having a job where I can still be here with the kids, smoke at my desk, have no commute, and not have to buy a new wardrobe!

And herein, my friends, lies my reason for posting today. I have applied for a Supervisor position with the company. This would require me to move to the Denver, CO area. The kids are excited about the possible move. My mother is less than thrilled, to put it politely. However, this would be the fresh start that we so desperately need in our lives. I thought I would never live anywhere else but Texas, but I am praying desperately that I am accepted for this position. We are told to have faith when we pray, and I'm clinging with fingertips to that faith. I tend to get down on myself when I get my hopes up for something great, and sometimes I wonder if that's why God doesn't always answer my prayers the way I would so like Him to do, is because I didn't have faith and trust Him. This time, while I am worrying about it to some degree, I am also putting my absolute faith and trust in Him to do what's best for us. I have asked everyone I know to pray for me as well, that I get this position. So if you're reading this, I'm asking you too.

School starts Monday, Jake is going into 4th grade (his last year at elementary) and Ryan is going to 7th grade. Ry is still in the Community School for at least 3 weeks until school "settles in" and then we will meet to discuss his maturity over the summer and whether or not he should be allowed to move back to the regular campus. I dislike the meetings with the school, as I always leave there feeling unhappy and dissatisfied. This time, I have armor with me who will not back down. Back in March, I asked a friend from USM to share my place, and help each other out through some really financially difficult times we were both having. He's been a great mentor for the kids, even through they sometimes frustrate him like mad, and he's been a good companion for me. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, romantic afoot, and never will be. He is like the older sibling I never had. So, since he has an interest in Ryan's welfare and well-being, he will attend the meeting at the school with me, and we won't leave until we get him back into regular school. If they refuse, I'm going to legal aid and take it to court. If the court decides in the school's favor, I will take him out completely and homeschool him. I could rant and rave for hours about the things I dislike about this school, but I won't bore you with the details. I hate it, Ryan hates it. And I'm doing an injustice to my son to allow him to be forced to stay there.

I'll close...just keep me in prayer and I will update when I know more...

My Crazy December...

December didn't start off so well. My dad passed away the 6th of this month, quite suddenly. Well, sorta. He was diagnosed with single cell carcinoma of the lung (lung cancer) 2 years ago this past November. They gave him a year to live. 2 years later, and he was doing ok. We'd noticed a general decline in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, he was sleeping more, taking more pain pills, etc. The Friday after Thanksgiving, my brother called my mother and told her she needed to get home and get Daddy to the emergency room, as something wasn't quite right. He declined rapidly and only lasted a little over a week.

Life is different without my daddy. I think of half a dozen things I need to ask him every day. From advice on bb guns, to car advice, to general chit chat I always enjoyed with him. I was too numb, too shocked when it first happened, but reality has begun to set in. My daddy is gone, and I feel a bit more colder in the world.

On top of this was the usual stress about Christmas. On a site I frequent (wwww.unsolvedmysteries.com, I'm author ID 63201), I'd posted about how my kids were going to have a bare Christmas, but we'd pull through, somehow. I really didn't post expecting anyone to respond with offers of gifts, but boy oh boy did my USM family come through! Long story short, my boys had the BEST Christmas they've ever had. We still haven't made it through all the toys they've receieved. It was most definitely a Christmas miracle.

Saturday, the 27th, was the 3rd anniversary of my husband's death. I didn't shed a tear. The pain is still there, but it's just a dull throb now. I never thought the day would come where I could think about him without crying, but it has. I'm still angry at him for a lot of unsolved things, but I know I can do nothing about it.

I had a rather interesting morning today. I can't go into too many details, as the person this is about, has a blog and I think reads mine too. However, I will say that her and her family were on my heart and mind this morning when I woke up. I don't know why, in particular, I wasn't dreaming about them, and hadn't been thinking of them when I went to bed. So I stumbled out of bed and headed for my computer for my morning smoke.

I kid you not, as clear as day I heard a voice tell me to move on what was in my heart. I do believe it was the voice of God. I've heard God speak in my heart before, but never with such force and clarity like He did today. I literally heard the words in my ears. I even looked around to make sure no one had come into my house and was speaking. I moved on what He told me to move on, and so far it has come to fruition. I take no personal claim in this, this was solely God's work. He has a purpose for everything, amazing grace!

I am a bit nervous, though. I applied for a work-at-home job, legitimate companies. One is more strict than the other about background and credit checks. So I'm going with the one that's a little less strict. I have a phone interview scheduled with the Human Resources department for Wednesday. If I get this job, I will have to travel an hour each way every day for 6 weeks before I can work from home (that's the training period.) Perfect attendance is required to be able to be hired. I pray for the gas money needed to get me back and forth (if I'm hired), it's only for 6 weeks and then I get to stay at home. Please pray for me, I need all the help I can get!

So that's December in a nutshell. One heck of a rollercoaster ride. May 2009 hold much brighter hope and light than 2008!