Thanksgiving day is over and now my kids are with their dad. It is always so strange to be home all by myself. They've been going with their dad for quite a few years but never on a regular basis, so being alone isn't something I do often.

Today, before their dad came to get them, the kids and I raked leaves. It was such a nice day out too. I just can't get over how many leaves I have in my yard. I really should get rid of a few trees, but they provide a ton of shade for the house in the summer. But the yard looks really nice now.

Yesterday my brother, his dog, and some friends of ours and their kids came over for dinner. We had a really nice dinner of turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, rolls, and corn. Renee brought dessert, tons & tons of pie- yummy pies. We had a good time, and after dinner we all sat and watched Grey's.

I'm going to go find something to do now. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

They're fixing my truck!!!!! I am so happy! I almost started crying yesterday when they told me they might not be able to fix it. The damage is $350 shy of totalling the truck. Needless to say, I am getting a brush guard for it as soon as I can. I think that would have saved a few parts and reduced the damage by about $1500. But on a good note, everything visible on the front of the truck will be new and shiny. New hood, grill, bumper, left fender, headlight assembly, fog lights, raditor, reserve tank- all new!

But until the truck is done I will be driving the loaner vehicle, a teeny tiny Dodge Neon. I really don't like driving a vehicle that I am taller than. The roof comes up to my boobs. I almost have to fold myself in half just to get into it. But it is good on gas. I just put in $16 and got 3/4 of a tank today! I wasn't going to fill it cuz I have to return it with half a tank & I didn't know if I would still have the loaner tomorrow. I do need to go get some things out of my truck though, like my sunglasses.

I was looking on ebay though when I thought I would have to find a new vehicle. I found an 02 Chevy Tahoe, loaded- currently at $1,300. A bit higher on miles but in excellent condition. Now I don't have to worry about it.

Okay, I've got to get back to work. I will be having a 4 day weekend! Everyone have a Great Thanksgiving, that is a lot to be thankful for in the world yet.

Friday night was supposed to be Girls Night In at my house at 7pm. I usually get home just before 6 and that would have given me time to make the "jello" and get stuff set up. But no. I just had to do this to my truck.
I was so mad! I had just crested a hill, doing around 55, and I suddenly saw a streak of brown. I slammed on my brakes, causing a 55 pound bag of dog food to come flying from the very back of my truck and smashing into the back of my seat, which my seatbelt had me firmly secured too. I then see butt and a hoove up in the air leaving my line of vision as the deer is airborn. As I come to a complete stop I look to my left and I see that butt again, only this time it is somersaulting into the ditch. I thought I saw the lower leg (no longer attached) rolling down the bank too. I get out of my truck as the steam is pouring out from under the hood. I don't even want to look. I was so mad, at the deer. I love my truck. That damn deer injured my truck! I was so mad! I jump out of the truck, my keys in one hand, the cell in the other with 911 already in the process of being dialed. Let me tell ya, it took over an hour for the sheriff's duputy to get there. By that time it was dark and cold. The guy driving behind me had stopped too. He had to go into the oncoming traffic lane to avoid hitting me. He saw the deer (it's entire body) hoover over my truck as it was launched towards the ditch. I told ya I was doing about 55, had barely braked when I hit it. The very help man & I went & picked up pieces of my grill out of the road so other cars wouldn't get damaged too. I look over in the ditch and the damn deer was GONE! I couldn't believe it. I couldn't find the hoove that I thought I saw too. I even asked the guy "this is where it would be, isn't? This is where I hit it, right?" He said it was. We figured the deer bound up over the hill on the side of the road and died in the orchard. I couldn't go looking for it cause I had to get my truck to the bottom of the hill so no one would hit it. I was so nervous moving my truck down that hill. There was no anti-freeze in it anymore. My poor baby bleeds green. Once I had the truck parked in a safe spot, I had decided not to go looking for the deer cuz with my luck the sheriff would show up while I was gone looking. One of my girlfriends that was coming over for Girls Night jumped in her car to come get me when I called to tell her I was going to be late. Another friend was coming from Grand Rapids and was also going to come pick me up. Let me tell ya, my friends Rock! Another gentleman stopped while I was waiting and went to look for the deer. I don't think he found it. I was going to have someone take me back to the scene on Saturday but the deer wouldn't be any good by that time. The gall bladder would have been damaged in the accident and the meat would be bile soaked by then. I was very mad that the damn deer damaged my truck and couldn't pay for it by taking up space in my freezer! I think I made about 15 calls while waiting for the sheriff. I called my brother first, after 911. He got me the number for the body shop I wanted to use. Hansen Collision- they rock too, if you ever need any work done to your vehicle, call Hansen. They towed my truck for me too. This whole thing is going to cost me about $165. $100 comprehensive deductible, $110 for towing (insurance covers $50 of it) and about $5.40 for the loaner car. I have to pay sales tax of 90 cents per day and they said it prolly be the 29th before I get my vehicle back. I will be so sad if they total my truck. It's worth about 9k, I owe just under 5k so if it were totaled I would get a check for about 4k. I could get another vehicle with that amount, but not another durango and I love my durango. Have I mentioned, I love my durango!

Saturday night, Giggles and I ended up taking Hot Momma out. She filed this week for divorce. Dirty Dog isn't with the bar slut anymore but he wants to end the marriage anyways. Hot Momma still wants to try to work things out, but he doesn't so she filed. She also hired herself a personal trainer on Saturday. She figures by summer she will be biniki ready and wants to make Dirty Dog think "Damn, why didn't I want to work things out?" Dirty Dog had the kids that weekend. He doesn't have a place to live yet, so he was a their house with the kids and she left for the weekend. Seeing how I am usually the driver and I had no wheels, we visited the bar that is within walking distance to my house. Giggles drove us to the bar, but we did end up walking home. There is a staircase in our route that has like 114 steps to it and the surface is a grate. Let me tell you, it isn't easy to walk up those stairs in 3 inch heeled boots. Hot Momma had on stillitos too, her heels kept getting stuck in the grates. I did find out a little interesting piece of info though while we were out. My x's cousin and cousin's wife are the djs at this bar. Apparently last weekend, when it was the x's weekend w/ our kids, he took his gf bowling with his brother & brother's wife. (guess my oldest was the sitter of my siblings and her cousins.)

Sorry for the interuption. I have to go meet someone for lunch. I promise I will finish as soon as I get back. I will just edit this post.

Okay, I'm back now. Yummy lunch w/ the Hansen Collision Goddess (marketing rep that visits me at my office)

Back to the story. Anyway. One of the x's aunts and some of her adult children were at this same bowling alley. She knew that the x & I are not together (but she loves me!) and she also knew why (said gf that he was with that night). She marched up to him and asked him "what the hell do you think you are doing?" He then tells her, get this now- are you ready?, that he broke up with me because I had asked his brother (different one than the one he was bowling with) and wife to have a threesome! The wife in question would be Giggles. She & I are close, she is like my best friend in this state (my altime best friend lives in OK now), but we are not that close! I would NEVER ask anyone for a threesome. I don't share. That is why I have an x cuz I don't share! Granted without my knowledge I did share with half of the county at one point. Surprisingly I didn't get as mad as I should have, I actually found it a bit funny. I did ask one of the cousins "Please tell me your mom didn't believe that?" The reply "No, we laughed our as#es off! (insert X's name here) is a habitual liar. I had someone come up to me once and asked me if I knew him. This guy used to work him, he said if X tells you a story you cut it in half, cut it in half again and then believe about 1/4 of that!" It's pretty bad when your own family doesn't believe what you say. Maybe it didn't make me all that mad because I knew it was false and so did anyone else that matters. Giggle's hubby got pretty mad though, he wanted X's cell number so he could yell at him.

I will also be starting a 2nd job. I will be waitressing at a bar every other weekend Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. They want me to start this wednesday, the biggest bar night of the year! Atleast I will make the money I need to pay for the damage to my truck, and I will make it all in one night! It's really hard raising 3 kids on just my income. I receive zero in child support (I think I might have said that before), so I found that in order for me to pay my bills and keep my kids feed, clothed and in school functions I had to get a 2nd job.

So I hope everyone's weekend was less eventful then mine, or at least no one else played chicken with a deer!

I haven't been updating here like I should be, I've been busy with work and playing with myspace. Shame on me, I know.

Hot Momma has had a bad week or so. Dirty Dog (her husband) has left her. He has been having an affair (no surprise to me) and has decided to leave his wife & 3 kids to be with this nasty bar chick. He spends a lot of time at the bar, more than I actually knew, like 5 nights a week he can be found at the bar. Just on my personal experience, no married man should be in the bar that often unless he is cheating. But hey, that's just my personal experience talking. Anyway, Dirty Dog's belongs somehow found their way out onto the yard and somehow, Hot Momma just isn't quite sure how this happened, but just somehow the halloween pumpkins ended up smashed on top of his stuff. I thought that was pretty easy on him. When my X cheated on me the first time, all of his stuff ended up in garbage bags and his Polo Cologne broke and was soaked up with his clothing. It was pretty stinky! I almost included the baby's pooy diaper in with his stuff, as I was changing the baby at the time I found out. & my X didn't even have the balls to tell me, the mistress' cousin told me, atleast Dirty Dog had the balls to tell Hot Momma herself. Someday Dirty Dog is going to get it in the end. The nasty bar chick is going to realize that he doesn't have as much money as everyone thinks he does and will toss him to the curb. Cuz that is what all nasty bar chicks do. In my opinion.

So wish Hot Momma well. She has a tough road ahead of her. I really feel for her kids, this kind of thing can really mess with a child's innocence. 2 of her kids are the same age as my 2 of my kids and they are in the same classes together, so atleast they have someone to talk to that has been in the same situation as they have, if they decide to talk.

Having a teenaged daughter is going to be the death of me. I will be the first to admit that I was by no means a prefect daughter, but I don't remember giving my mom this much attitude when I was 13. My parents set the rules and I followed them. No dating until I was 16. & then I didn't even have my first real date until I was almost 17, 5 days shy of my 17th birthday. Granted I should have dated more then cuz that first real date, I ended up marrying him. No make-up until I was 16. I didn't even sneak make up to school to put it on there. My mom didn't wear much make up, so I never really had that "hey you need to wear make up every day to be beautiful" atmostphere around me as a child. My mom was beautiful without any make up on and she was told that daily by my dad, so I grew up thinking that I didn't need it either. I still don't wear much make up now. My make up supplies consist of eye shadow, mascara, 1 eye liner pencil and some lip gloss. That's it. That's all it's ever been. So tell me why does my 13 year old think she needs to wear make up? Yeah she has some acne, she inherited her dad's skin type- poor baby! But wearing make up will only make it worse.

She has also discovered boys. All of her girlfriends have boyfriends. One would think that at 13 it would be harmless to allow her to have a boyfriend. It's not like they are going to go out on a date or anything, just stolen kisses inbetween classes and holding hands, right? At 13, I didn't know anyone my age that had already had sex. My daughter knows a girl in her grade that has had sex already! What is this world coming too?! Some of my girlfriends started having sex our freshman year. That is too young. At the time we all thought we were pretty grown up, after all we were freshman. But now that my baby girl is getting close to that age, no. I will transfer her to an all girls school if I have too. Maybe I'll send her to live with her Uncle David for a while. He can straighten her out for me.

She needs to realize that I am telling her what she can and cannot do is for her own good, not just because I am mean. Sometimes I do feel like a hypocrite. She wants to wear some of the same things that I wear. How can I tell her she can't have a thong when I am standing there in mine telling her no? I didn't get my first thong until after I had her. I was 20, she's 13. Big difference! At 13 I wore whatever my mom bought me. I had no real choice in the matter. Atleast she gets to pick out her own undercloths. Okay, enough about my daughters underware.

With 4 years between my girls, I will have to repeat this all over again, 4 years from now. With Beanie though, it might be sooner. She's a girly-girl where Gomer is more of a tomboy. UGhh. Why didn't I have all boys?!

Now it's time for a recap of my weekend.

Friday around 2 I left work (early) to go home to get Gomer & meet Giggles & Blondie. My kids' gma was picking up the younger 2 for the night and my brother was picking up the dog. We were to be in Frankenmuth by 6, it's just over a 2 hour drive (without a detour) and we left my place at quarter to 4. We had decided just to shoot across M46 to Saginaw and then take I75 South to Birch Run. Our hotel was in Birch Run and the girls were staying there while Giggles & I went to my work CSR dinner. Somewhere along M46 we hit a detour and we finally arrived at the hotel about 6:15. We made it to the dinner at 6:45, we missed most of the cocktail hour but made it for the dinner. So I only ended up with 2 free drinks instead of more, but that's good cuz I was driving. After the dinner portion we played a game and our table won. We got $15 gift cards to Bath & Body (which we both have used already). After the dinner and games were over, we headed back to the hotel. Gomer only called me once, I was impressed.

Saturday morning we hit the hotels free breakfast and then head to the Outlet Meca, aka Birch Run Prime Outlet. We shopped from 9:30 til almost 4. Let me tell you, Gomer does not understand the concept of clearance shopping. Most everything she wanted me to buy her was full price. I went there to shop for christmas & birthday presents, not to buy her stuff that I could buy at the mall in GR for the same price. I spent less then $10 on myself and got 2 new shirts and a bunch of lotions from Bath & Body. Lil'Man got a new shirt & a pair of camo pants from Aeropostale, and 2 new shirts from Children's Place. Beanie got a new denium skirt, and a shirt or 2 from the Children's Place and then last night I picked her up another shirt from Meijer. I also got her some stuff from Claires, got me some stuff at Claires too.

Saturday night, after we finally got home, I was to meet up with Hot Momma, it was to be girls night out. I had already picked up the kids from gma's and still had to take Giggles & Blondie home but pick up her little boy on the way to their house & still had to pick up the dog before GNO was to start. GNO was to start around 7, it started around 9 almost 9:30 & I still hadn't picked up the dog. She stayed another night at my brother's. I was the DD for the night, which I am perfectly fine with- I can have fun sober & it's cheaper that way too. We did a little bar hopping, visited 4 local watering holes (local can still mean in 4 different cities right?) We started in White Cloud and then headed south from there to Casnovia, hitting both towns inbetween. We closed the bar at Cas. As we are pulling out of the parking lot, both Giggles & Hot Momma exclaim that they should have used the bathroom before we left. We took back roads, so there are all kinds of apple orchards along the way. I told them I would pull over from them but let me get a little bit down the road to a more secluded area. They got all excited. I can't believe that a 31 year old & a 35 year old had never peed in an orchard before, or cooned apples either. All the way home after that they kept saying how they couldn't wait to get home to tell their husbands that they peed in an orchard and stole apples. They were too funny! Once back in the vehicle and back on the road, we drove past a dirt road that I just had to point out that I had sex on that road while he was driving and the car was still moving(that is not an easy thing to do in a coupe that is also a stick shift!). So that started a whole new topic of strange places that we had had sex in. Hot Momma got all sappy on us on the way home about her hubby, told us all of the hard times they had gone throught (I would not have made it through what they have!) and how great he is. (on a side note, I have seen some of the stuff he does that she doesn't know about and I really hope he changes and becomes more of the great guy she believes him to be, what I will not tell her what I know cuz I've been in that place before and sometimes it is just better to not know.)

Sunday the kids & I went to church and then picked up the dog. She was so happy to see us. She was running all over the yard and then ran right into my niece, knocking her to the ground. She broke her fall on the pavement with her elbow, the one she broke last winter. Luckily she was just a bit sore and not broken!

Sunday afternoon we cleaned up the house, stopped to get a birthday present and then went back to my brother's. From there we went to GR to Chuck E Cheese for a birthday party for a 5 year old girl that isn't my niece but still calls me her Aunt. Instead of the 8 of us going in 2 different vehicles, we all just climbed into my Durango to go to the party. After the party we stopped at Meijer and tried to stop at a home improvement store but they were already closed. We got home with some time to spare before Desperate Housewives came on.

Oh, while at Meijer (niece needed snow boots) I picked up some conditioner, or at least I thought it was conditioner. I go to use it this morning after washing my hair, only to discover I was washing my hair again! What a way to start my morning. I am now completely out of conditioner & will need to get some tonight. So now my hair smells like a Mixed Berry Smoothie with a twist of lime.

So that was my busy weeekend, I could have written it better but I'm not feeling all that creative right now.

When did candy bars get so pricey? Granted it's been a while since my last purchase,but seriously. 85 cents for a regular sized candy bar? Seriously. I was expecting somewhere between 50 & 60 cents, but 85 cents? Seriously! Too me, that alone is enough reason to not purchase any more. I do believe that I was overcharged and the sales woman was overcharging everyone to support her crack habit. Or else she figured anyone coming into the gas station at 1am buying beer & a candy bar needs to be overcharged. I didn't buy the beer, one of my gf's did. It was Girls Night Out.

I will fill in more on that later. It involves peeing in an apple orchard and ending up with a truck full of apples.

Right now I have to get my kids out the door for a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. I love playing Skeet Ball so secretly I'm trying to get them out the door so I can play!

My morning was no where near as productive as yours was Jenn. Before I left the house all I did (outside of the normal routine) was measure my kids. Beanie is 52", she gets to ride the big rides now! Lil'Man is 4'11.5" (don't forget the all important 1/2 inch there!). Gomer is 5'7". SAME HEIGHT AS I AM! How did that happen? She will soon be taller, she is no where near being done growing, she needs to grow into her big ol' feet yet. I also measured myself. I have a wingspan that is the same as my height and my inseam is 31". Guess I am mostly legs & arms! And no, the wingspan does not include the inches up and down the twins, I just measured across them.

Last night was the sports banquet for Beanie & Lil'Man. In years past they have always gotten trophies so Lil'Man was really looking forward to the banquet. He was all "Mom, by the end of tonight I will have 4 trophies!" Beanie was looking forward to her first one too. Well, they did get disappointed. Atleast Lil'Man was visibly disappointed. The football players got footballs with the name of the league and the year printed on it. The Cheerleaders got a cheap plastic megaphone (50cents each through bulk order) with a sticker slapped on the side with the name of the team and the year. Beanie's is already cracked. Lil'Man had a small melt down after the banquet. I had to take him by the arm and drag him out of the hall. It wasn't pretty. He really needs to learn how to deal with disappointment in a more managable way. Keeping mad and exploding, hitting people or things is the way his Dad deals with stuff so he thinks he can too. This year has been better. This has only been the second time he has exploded so far this school year. But picture this, I'm wearing a denium skirt, knee high black boots pulling my almost 11 year old son by the arm- he is fighting me the entire way- my feet are slipping and sliding on the tile floor. What fun! He was just overloaded. Too much sugar, too much excitement, too many people and to top it all off too disappointed about not getting a real trophy. & I can't get him to buy into the whole trophy football thing. I told him I could get him a tee and we could display it with his other trophies. I even offered to have it bronzed so it would look like a trophy. No luck. Maybe I'll just go to the trophy store myself & get him one. Or would that be just encouraging his bad behavior when he is disappointed?

Ok Jenn, I'm glad you and your dh are doing it but as long as I'm not getting any I really don't wanna hear that you've been gettin some! Just call me jealous or green with envy! Cuz I don't care what people say- batteries are just not the same!