Child Support Info

Well, we finally got confirmation from our lawyer. He sent us the child support info and it is a little more than the minimum he told us to expect. We are not sure if it will be retro from when James left in November or if it will start as soon as the judge signs the order.

We are looking into our other internet and phone options. My cox account with be cancelled soon. I will post what my new e-mail will be as soon as we decide on a provider.

Training over sooner

We found out tonight that this is our last week of training. We go on the floor next Monday! YIKES! I hope I'm ready for this :) No really it will be fine. They have 3 new hire classes going on right now so they needed to get us out on the floor as soon as possible. But that's ok too because that means my raise starts a week sooner than I thought.

Another Prayer Request

Please be in prayer for my grandpa, Bob Johanson. He was taken to the hospital on Friday and is now in a nursing home. He has kind of given up the will to go on. I hope he will make it until this summer when we go out to visit them.

You Think You Know Someone

Have you ever "googled" an old friend or acquaintance just to see if you can find them? Well last night I decided to try to find my ex-husband because he still owes me $3000 from our divorce settlement in 1996 and I was hoping to find him to make him pay up. Boy was I shocked by what the search turned up. The first site I got was a cemetery site in Texas. I was in shock as I sat there and read Dalton Lee Culp, Son of Hilton and Jane, DOB 07/30/1970, DOD 08/31/2002. I couldn't believe it. This made me want to investigate more so for the next hour and a half I searched and searched for an answer as to why he was dead. This was someone I had once loved and cared about. In the back of my mind I thought "Maybe he had been drinking and driving". I was not at all prepared for what I found. Here is the link to the first article I found: http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=copshooting04m&date=20020904&query=Dalton+Culp
Here's one from the next day: http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=copshoot05m&date=20020905&query=Dalton+Culp
And the last one: http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=shooting23n&date=20021023&query=Dalton+Culp
I just can't believe it! He has always been a drinker but he was NEVER violent with me. After the initial shock wore off then I started in on all the what ifs......what if I hadn't divorced him....what if I had gone back to him when he asked me to before I moved out to Nebraska....what if that had been me he had threatened to kill. I am shocked and sad by all this news. I am thankful for my husband now and my little girl. I love them both so much. Last night when I was done searching for all this I just wanted to go upstairs and hold them both. (I didn't though because it was 1:30 in the morning and I didn't want to wake them up ). Rest in Peace Dalton. I hope you are in a better place now.

I passed Platinum!

I finished up my platinum test tonight and had my phone time. I got 100% on my test and did great on my phone calls. I'm so happy! I was really nervous about the test. I can tell you I probably WON'T be picking up Platinum extra hours. They intimidate me too much :)

D Day coming

Well....we knew it would be coming sometime. Our lawyer called today to say they finally got Nancy's income information and child support will be ordered soon. When we do get the order we will be shutting off the high speed internet and going to dial up. I will still have my hotmail and yahoo accounts but will let you know when my cox account is null and void. We will also be getting rid of our cable.

Training

My training is going good so far. We will finish the Platinum training tonight. We started taking the test for it last night but I have 2 questions to finish up and then we have phone time for the rest of the night taking Platinum calls. Platinum members scare me :) They want you to treat them so much different from the "regular" people. We have 2 more weeks of training and then we will be thrown to the wolves LOL. There is a new hire class going on right now and another one starting on Monday so they will probably be on their phone times 2 or3 when we get out on the floor. There are 7 phone times over all for all the new hires. The first one is 2 hours, phone times 2-5 are 5 hours, and phone times 6 and 7 are 8 hours long.

All we have gone over so far is learning the other two desks (Regional and Platinum), we haven't gone into the actual OJT stuff and how to monitor the trainees ect. That will be the next two weeks of our training class.

My friend Alyssa is doing better. For now she is staying with her husband but we will see if she changes her mind again.

Jordan's Picture People pictures

I wish the watermark wasn't right across her face. I got a sheet of wallets of this one

I got this one in a sheet of wallets too

The lady tried hard to get her not to squish her eye up

I got this one in a free 10X13 for her frame on the wall.

Little Miss Attitude

Frustrated

I'm so frustrated with the Picture People right now. They are supposed to upload pictures to their smilestore so you can order more if you want and so you can share them with others. Well I got Jordan's pictures done on Sat. and Sun. they still weren't uploaded so I called them. They said it may be 24 hours before they get loaded. I just checked again today and they are STILL not loaded. I called the store again and all I got was "we will check into it and get back to you. " If I remember right this happened last year when I got her pictures done too. I'm not sure what the problem is with my account.

I didn't get any snow pictures taken yesterday. Some of the snow melted off today but we still have quite a bit. We have a chance of more snow on Wednesday. I get to sleep in a little bit on Wed. because I won't have Parker and Erica. My old neighbor, Bobbi's dad passed away on Sat. and his funeral is on Wednesday. Bobbi really wants me to be there and I don't want to haul 3 kids there with me so I told Jeanne I couldn't watch her kids Wednesday.

That's about it from snowy Nebraska for today.

Snowed In!

I had planned to go to church this morning but we got 6 inches of snow overnight! My first plan for the day now is to get the manual out for the snowblower and get the driveway cleared. Jim worked an extra shift last night so he's been at work all night. He's working his normal 7:30-3:30 shift now and will be home this afternoon but he won't be able to get in the driveway unless I get it clear out. I'm working 3 extra hours tonight so I've got to get my car cleaned off too.

I need to get my bird and squirrel feeders filled too. There's a little squirrel out there now (I have a good view from the window my computer is next to) that is going from feeder to feeder looking for food. I should have refilled them last night.

I got Jordan's pictures done last night at the Picture People. As soon as they get them uploaded to their site I will post a link. They turned out GREAT! Of course I had to control myself and only get the ones I had the coupon for. I got one free 10 X 13 and then I used my portrait club card to get another sheet of wallets free and to get $10 off so I was able to get some Valentine's cards and another sheet of wallets for only $2.09.

Well I've got to quit procrastinating now and trudge out to the garage to get the manual for the snowblower and figure out how to run it. I will post pictures of the snow later today.

Vacation Planned!

Well I've got my vacation request put in at work and so I will definately be going out west this summer. I will be driving and Jordan and my stepdaughter Courtney will be coming with me. I'm hoping Courtney gets her license by then so she can help with the driving. It's going to be a quick trip and I have alot of people to fit in to see. Here is my tentative itenerary:

7/14—Home to Gillette, WY = 658 miles 9 hours and 17 min

7/15—Gillette to dad’s = 755 miles approx 10 hours and 30 min.

7/16—Dad’s during day. Go to Grandma King’s in evening = 175 miles approx. 2 hours 50 min

7/17—Grandma King’s until 5pm drive to Bremerton = 263 miles approx. 4 hours 15 min.

7/18—Seattle—take ferry over to waterfront and Pike Street

7/19—Bremerton

7/20—Drive back to Spokane (stop in Fox Island and see Tammy)= 355 miles approx. 5 hours and 40 min

7/21—Ali's Wedding

7/22—Spokane and Dad’s (visit with Renee)

7/23—Dad’s to Gillette, WY = 755 miles approx 10 hours and 30 min.

7/24—Gillette to home = 658 miles approx 9 hours and 17 min

I hope these dates work for everyone else. If not I will have to do some adjusting, but hey it's several months away so I still have time to make changes.

I have accumulated 3 paid days off so far so I'm hoping to have the other 5 days accumulated by then. I would have had more but I took too much paid time off in Nov. and Dec. :)

Training for new position

My training is going good for the OJT position at Marriott. However it is VERY fast paced. I've asked my trainer for copies of her PowerPoint because I'm a visual learner and I can't get everything written down while she's presenting. There are 3 parts to this training. The first part is learning the Regional Desk. Which are 148 hotels in the Midwest area that we act as the "In House Reservations" for. Normally the training for the regional desk is 2 weeks. We are cramming it into 3 days (see what I mean by fast paced). Thursday we start our Platinum Desk training (the elite of Marriott who stay 75+ night per year). This training is normally 3 weeks we are going to learn it in 7 days. Then the remainder of our training will be the actual OJT training, where we will learn how to give the new associates constructive criticism, grade their monitorings and stuff like that. We have practice sheets and tests to take along the way. We also have to go out with the current OJT's and monitor our own calls and grade them and compare them to what the OJT says. I think I will be fine if I get those copies of the PowerPoint I've asked for. There are 2 people in our class who are already trained for regional desk and one who is already trained platinum so that leaves me and my friend Alyssa in the dark. We will get through it though.

Snowy Sunday

It's snowing here in Nebraska! My birds and squirrels are busy eatting all the food today. I spent a while today helping my mom set up a blog for herself on blogger. I need to quit being lazy and get my vacuuming done. Before too long I will need to go clean off the decks. Jim will snow blow the driveway when he gets home. Jordan is dying to go outside and play but it is just too cold. She can play while we clean up the snow later. That should be enough of the cold for her.

Pretty lazy Saturday

I had a pretty lazy day. Slept in until 8:00. Showered and then cleaned house for a few hours. Went grocery shopping around noon and picked up some sand for Jim's truck because it snowed again and his truck does not do well in snow. Jim went to bed around 2:00 because he is working a double shift tonight. I worked on some scrapbook pages this afternoon and played with Jordan some. I made Baked Potato soup for dinner and then made some chocolate chip cookies too. I have alot of chips left over from the cookies and candies I didn't get made at Christmas time. Jordan and I rented Ice Age Melt Down on pay per view and had a nice time eatting popcorn and watching that. I've been getting PBS shows on the Freezone on payper view and recording them for Jordan.

That's about it from snowy Nebraska

Update on Jim

We found out yesterday that all of Jim's blood tests came back negative except the Human Parvo Virus. So as soon as he gets over that he should be feeling alot better.

I ended up taking last night off for a personal day because I am just getting too drained. Even with staying home I didn't get to bed until 10:00 but I guess that's 2 hours more sleep than what I was getting. I'm still debating on picking up extra hours for tonight.

Update on Jim's dr. appt

Jim went into the dr. today only to find out he has to go back in on Friday so they can run some more blood tests. The dr. said there was something suspicious in his bloodwork. They put him on prednisone today too. He is still feeling really lousy. Hopefully this will clear up soon.

I won't be working extra hours on Sat. after all because Jim is scheduled for overtime Sat. night 11pm-7am Sun and I don't want to pawn Jordan off on anyone again. Guess I'll wait for another weekend to pick up extra time.

3 day weekend

I get a 3 day weekend from Marriott. Since I start training for the OJT desk on Mon. and Marriotts weeks run Sat.-Fri. I get Sat. and Sun. off and I have Fri. off on the world wide desk that I'm on now. I will probably pick up extra hours though. Especially since they are offering another $1 per hour incentive for hours between 11 pm and 4 am. I will probably pick up Sat. late night hours.

I'm taking Parker and Erica to a dr. appt. tomorrow morning after I drop Jordan off at school. They both have somthing going on . Erica has been coughing and is extremely fussy. Parker probably has another sinus infection. Jeanne will give me gas money for taking them to the dr. It's clear across town so I probably wouldn't do it if she wasn't giving me gas money.

Mom and I are trying to plan another scrapbook weekend in Des Moines at the Residence Inn by Marriott. We had a great time there in Nov. when we went. Jordan keeps asking me when we can go back to the hotel.

Off to bed now.

Woof! Woof!--Not really

Jim's dr. office called back today with the test results from his last round of blood work. He has been sick for over a month now. Was diagnosed with a kidney infection after Christmas, took his round of antibiotics for that, but still hasn't been well. He went to a dr. of internal medicinelast week and found out today that he has the Human Parvo Virus. No it's not related to the one cats and dogs get. It's related to the Fifth's Disease that kids can get. Makes your joints and muscles sore (he already has arthritis so this is just making it worse). He has to go in on Wed. to see the dr. Hopefully once this clears up he will be back on his feet again.

Pretty uneventful day

Not really much to report for today. Took Jordan to Sunday School this morning, then worked in the nursery during church service, came home, ate lunch, cleaned Jordan's room and my scrapbook room, made dinner and went to work for 6 hours. :)

I stopped at Barnes and Noble and used a little more of my Christmas money that I still have stashed to buy a new book (Chicken Soup for the Mother of a Preschooler's Soul) and a road atlas because all the ones at work that we are supposed to share have all disappeared. I will just keep this one in my bag so I have one when a guest calls and says "I'm headed down Interstate XYZ or I need a room somewhere between Here and There." I really wish Marriott would put a search option in our information to put in the interstate numbers.

Gotta get to bed now. It's after midnight and I have to get up early enough to take a shower before Parker and Erica get here.

All caught up

I'm all caught up with all my house work now. I worked on it for a couple of hours this morning. I got my grocery shopping done too. I'm totally beat now and I still have to work 8 1/2 hours tonight. UGGH. It has warmed up here now and most of the snow has melted away. Jordan is dying to ride her new bike she got for Christmas but we are waiting for Jim to adjust it for her.

I found out that I start my training for my new position a week from Monday. It will be 4 weeks of training and then I will be out on the floor as an On the Job Trainer training new people on the phones.

That's about it from here for now.

My foot is better

My foot is much better today. I hurt all night long though. I tried to get off work early but we were too busy so I had to work my whole shift. Each time I would get up from my desk to walk around it hurt soooo bad. I tried sleeping in Jim's recliner last night so I could keep it elevated but after and hour of not getting comfortable I gave up and went to sleep in Jordan's room. (She was upstairs with Jim). I'm a stomach sleeper so trying to lay back in a recliner to sleep just wasn't working. When I woke up this morning I could tell it was much better. It's still swollen some and still hurts but nothing like yesterday. I'm sure by Sat. or Sun. it will be completely healed.

I finished my daycare scrapbook album!!!! Yeah! I've been working on it since about September I think. I have to go to Hobby Lobby tomorrow to get some extender posts though because I can't fit all the pages in the album. I'm so happy that it's finally finished.

Well it's 12:30 now and 5:30 comes way to soon so I better get to sleep.

I failed!

I failed to complete my cleaning for today. I got Jordan's room clean. Here are the after pictures:
However I did not get the vacuuming done, BUT I do have a good excuse. I was coming down the stairs with my laundry and I somehow twisted my foot and landed right on the top of my left foot. Let me tell you when 200+ pounds lands on one area it HURTS! It hurt so bad I couldn't breath. I heard cracking as I came down on it. I don't think it's broke though. Just bruised and very sore. My baby girl was a real trouper. She got me my cell phone to call Jim and got me an ice pack to put on it. She even brought me a pillow and blanket out of her room. After about 10 minutes I was able to crawl to the couch to get it elevated. I layed there and rested it for almost an hour. Had to take the ice off after a short time though because I think the ice was hurting more than the pain from the fall. It really hurts to walk. If it's still this sore tomorrow I may go in and get it checked out. For tonight though I need to go to bed. Got off work late and now need to get a little sleep before Parker and Erica get here at 6 am.

How???

How does a 4 1/2 year olds room get this bad? It's going to take me hours to clean it today.

No Sleep

How can children go on such little sleep? I have gotten used to only getting 5-6 hours of sleep a night but last night I only had around 3. I got off at 9:30 because we were on holiday schedule for new years day. I couldn't sleep when I got home though so I worked on some scrapbook pages for a while and finally laid down on the couch at midnight. I watched TV for a little bit and fell asleep sometime after 12:30 only to be awakened at 3:45 by my daughter. She climbed up on the couch with me and then proceeded to crawl and lay all over me for the next hour. I finally got mad and told her to go in her own room or on the floor. She went in her room and played with her littlest petshop toys for a while and then came back out to the livingroom to bug me again. I finally gave up at 5:30 and got up to unload the dishwasher and pack Jim's lunch. Parker and Erica were late today because it was Kevin's day off, I could have actually slept in if it weren't for Jordan. I did get an hour nap this afternoon while everyone took their naps. Even Jordan fell asleep for a while. I guess she was tuckered out too. It's now midnight and I need to get to sleep so I can be up at 5:30 again for Parker and Erica to arrive at 6:00.

I have done good with sticking to my cleaning schedule for the last 2 days. I did cheat a little today and didn't actually mop the kitchen floor. Just swept it and cleaned the counters and microwave good.

Been busy working on scrapbook pages too. I'm almost done with my daycare album. I'm hoping to be done by this weekend with it. It's going to be a very thick album when I get it done.

First big snow

We got our first snow for the season yesterday. It started snowing around 9 am and didn't quit until around 3:30pm. They are saying the official count is 3 inches but I think there is more than that out there. The wind really blew so there are little snow drifts all over. Jim was able to play with the new toy his mom got us for Christmas--a snow blower! I had the job of shoveling off the decks. I did the back deck twice. I shoveled it once around 2:00 yesterday and then had to do it again after the snow stopped. Jordan had a great time playing in the snow. She was very mad when we made her come in to warm up last night. The birds and squirrels are thankful I put out fresh food yesterday for them.

Happy New Year!

I have 2 New Year's resolutions this year. The first is to keep my house more clean (UGGH! I hate cleaning) and the second is to keep in better contact with friends. I thought this would be a good way to keep in contact. I hope everyone will have some time through out the week to check in on this blog and see what's going on in Laura's Little Corner of the World.