January? Where'd ya go??

Is it really almost over? Holy cow, this month has flown by! Which is great, since that means my next road trip with DH is getting closer! Woohoo!! I can't wait!!! This time, I'll be out with him for two weeks. The plan is.. not to come home at all that weekend in between so we can head out west. He actually picked up a load today that's heading to Wyoming! He had to switch out with another guy though because he has to be in Des Moines for service this weekend.

Things are finally slowing down a bit around here. The retail job has slowed so far down, that I only worked 2 hours this entire week! I'm really wondering if it's even worth it.. I've had a couple of weekends off recently and man.. I have really missed my weekends! DH and I did get away last weekend... just the two of us.. and it was so nice! That was our early Valentine gift to each other :-)

The countdown is on.. 45 more days until my ride-along!!

I REALLY should be sleeping..

... but I just got home from work, scarfed down some leftover Chinese food (what would I do without my mother buying dinner for us??) and I'm wide awake! Which is just great considering that I have to get back in there bright and early to work! UGHH.. so yeah this retail thing.. not so much fun, I tell ya. I keep counting down the days to Christmas but time just doesn't seem to be speeding up. But at least I'm making some money. Although I still haven't started my Christmas shopping! We've had one unexpected bill after another pop up right now which figures, so I will probably be shopping on Christmas Eve this year. Oh wait.. I am sure I will be working that day instead!

As crazy as it is, I did tell my boss that I would agree to stay on after Christmas. I know it's going to slow way down.. which is fine with me LOL.. but before I pursue a full time position somewhere, it will be good to be able to show a consistent, recent work history...even though it's only part-time.. it's something right?

So life right now is pretty crazy. I'm not home much and I've had to rely on my mom for a lot of support with the girls. She is awesome.. I honestly don't know what I'd do without her.

DH is still going full-throttle with training new guys. Freight has picked up just a smigdeon and he's had a few decent weeks. Although he couldn't get a load home this weekend, which is really disappointing since his birthday is Sunday. But seeing that Christmas is on a Thursday this year, I'm really hoping he will get a 3 1/2 day weekend, like how Thanksgiving weekend shaped up for him. That really would be great.

Anyway.. that's about it for me. I figured if I have time to stop in and read blogs, I could at least post something! I'm sure after January, I will be able to blog more often. Right now I'm beginning to wonder if January will ever get here though!

Hanging in there..

Is it December 26th yet?? Ugh.. I am so ready for all these birthdays and holidays to be over with already. I've gotten a few days on the retail job under my belt so far. I have to admit, it is a lot harder than I thought it would be! I think it would have been helpful had I had some sort of retail experience to begin with, but I don't. I feel like a fish out of water... customers yelling at me for not knowing where something is located.. sales goals I can't meet.. yikes. It's kind of scary. I'm glad it's only seasonal work! I know it's going to get worse the closer we get to Christmas though. I just hope the next month and a half flies by quickly!

Meanwhile I've been getting more hours in at school, so that's also been helpful. DH was actually able to work a full week last week... I think he was in the right place at the right time each morning! This week he seems to be off to a good start so far. Here's hoping it's another good week for him!

Look out retail world, here I come!!

It's official! I'm going back to work! I'm taking a position at a toy store. It's just seasonal work but hey, at least it's something that will get us through to the end of the year. At this point, I'm ready to do just about anything to bring in some extra money. DH is suffering through another long week on the road. Luckily he has a load assigment but it took nearly all day to get it. He'll still end up down one load at least for this week.. we'll see how the rest of the week plays out.

I'll still be filling in at school when they need me, so this retail job will be mostly nights and weekends, although I did tell the hiring manager that I have no problems being on call during days that I'm not working at school. I'll be honest.. I hate giving up my weekends since it's the only time I get to spend with DH. Although lately he hasn't even been home much. Plus, he always heads out on Sundays so that's not a total loss. He's cool with it though. He knows we have to make a few sacrifices and that it won't last forever. We'll see how it goes. Wish me luck!!

Jumping back on the wagon!

Man.. I start off doing so well and then it's like I can't even force myself to blog. I think it's mostly due to the funk that I'm trying not to be in. It's rough though. DH hasn't been able to get home much because of freight getting so damn slow. It's unsettling because even though he's gone more, some weeks he's making less because of what he's moving. Who knows how much worse this will get before it gets better. Oh well, like I said.. trying not to let it get to me. The kiddos have done really well through all of this craziness. They are awesome!

In other news, DH is officially training! He's just had his first trainee for one week. So far, it seems to be going pretty well for them... despite not doing much this week! I just hope that he gets home early next Friday. Halloween is DH's favorite time of year. I know he doesn't want to miss taking a devil and sorceress out trick-or-treating!

Speaking of Halloween, a local moning radio show holds a contest every year to take a tour through Waverly Hills Sanatorium. And every year, when I hear the broadcast, I always wish I was there! So this year, I finally remembered to enter the contest. It was an online scavenger hunt that kept me up most of the night trying to figure out.. but I had to solve all the puzzles to even enter the drawing. Believe it or not.. I won!!! I can't believe it!! I gave my other ticket to one of my best friends who is just as crazy as I am LOL. We have to be there by 6am Friday morning. I have a feeling I won't get much sleep the night before! But it will definitely be a Halloween to remember!

I need a distraction..

I'm sitting here, on edge, with my teeth throbbing from the pain of my new retainers. I've been wearing them for all of 6 hours and already, I'm wondering how I made it through braces 16 years ago. I knew it was going to hurt. And I remembered to stock up on Advil before today. But my God. I didn't think they had gotten out of alignment THIS bad. If the pain isn't enough, my girls have been relentless...making fun of me when I attempt to speak. They're convinced I sound like Bessie Higgenbottom from the Mighty B. I don't guess they'll be taking me seriously anytime soon. I know it's going to get worse before it starts feeling better. Tomorrow is going to be a bear. I may just have Catawba for breakfast..

Pictures..

Here are some pictures from around town after the wind storm last Sunday. Things are slowly getting back to normal around here. The girls went back to school on Wednesday since their school did have power, but most schools stayed closed all week. DH didn't make it home early, and still isn't sure how long he'll be able to stay once he does get home, but you know at this point, his priority is just to spend some time with his girls. They have done really well up until a few days ago... they've started moping around and fighting more with each other. The trees, fence, and roof on the shed can just wait a little while.. those kiddos need some quality time with their dad.

What a weekend..

Just one more complaint about Hurricane Ike. Apparently hurricane force winds could exist here in the Ohio Valley... who knew that could happen??

Sunday was a hell of a day.. pretty much everyone had some kind of damage in our area.. mostly tree limbs or shingles ripped off roofs. I did lose a good chunk of my tree that landed partially on my car. Luckily, it only did minor damage. I had some help today clearing up all that mess. We do have our power back on, though so many people still are without power. A friend of mine who just lives across the street in the next neighborhood was told they won't have power at least until Thursday. I don't know how we got so lucky, but I am just glad we're back up and running. DH put in a request to get home a day or two early this week, and possibly stay longer than Sunday. We have more trees we'll need to take down, and it's going to be hard on him to try and get everything done on Saturday alone. So hopefully he'll be able to get home sooner.

We drove around yesterday and today.. I've got some amazing pics that I'll have to post later on. I hope everyone else fared pretty well!

It's official!

DH is now a trainer! He went through his training today and apparently that went well, though he said it was not much different from his new-hire orientation. But, that's over with.. now he just waits to get a trainee!

The girls have done great this weekend. They were off school yesterday for conferences, so I scheduled those early in the morning.. which went great.. afterward, the three of us went out for breakfast. That was a nice change of pace! When we got home, we did a couple of projects which kept everyone occupied. Today was pretty much a lazy day. We mostly lounged around and stayed indoors since it was so ridiculously hot and humid outside today. This time of year, I am ready for cooler temps.. not this hazy, muggy weather!

That's about it for us right now.. hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Havin' a Party!

I love my kids to death, but there are some days when I swear I could just eat up their cuteness!

Yesterday, when I picked them up from school, one of them was already bellyaching over when she'd see her daddy again.

Twin B: "Mom, is tomorrow Friday?"

Me: "No sweetie, tomorrow is Wednesday."

Twin B: "When's daddy coming home? Will he be home tomorrow?"

Me: "No, he won't get home before Friday."

Twin B: "Awwwww man! I wish it was Friday already!" Followed by deep sighing.

So I thought that would be a good time to break it to them that their dad's training is coming up.. not this weekend, but next weekend, and that means we won't see him at all next weekend. I cringed a little.. fully prepared for more bellyaching, but surprisingly enough, they did not complain! Instead, they came up with an idea..

Twin A: "Daddy's training to be a trainer, right?"

Me: "Yep!"

Twin B: "So that means daddy will be training new guys?"

Me: "Yep, that's what it means."

Twin A looks over at Twin B and says "Our dad is really smart. We should have a party."

Me: "A party? What kind of party?"

Twin A: "A surprise party, mom! We need to celebrate daddy and his training!"

Twin B: "We'll definitely need a cake."

Twin A: "And ice cream."

Twin B: "Maybe balloons too. Mom, can you do all this when we're at school Friday?"

Me: "Uhhhh...." (How can I tell them no at this point?? See what I mean about cuteness?)

Twin A: "Please mommy? Pretty pretty please???"

Me: "Well.. can I think about it?"

Twin B: "Pleeeease mommy?? We don't want to invite anyone. Just us. And we'll even help clean the house before daddy gets home."

Well, that settles it then. Looks like it's party time this Friday!