Mercedes’ blog

We have lots of snow today. We've had some all week long but today promises to be a real mess. Later today, after getting a projected foot of snow, we will have freezing rain. Good thing we have plenty of food, snacks, batteries for our radio and toilet paper (you know you can't be in a winter storm without enough toilet paper). So we are ready. This is an unusual type of storm for us in the Pacific Northwest so our infrastructure is not prepared for snow and ice in the amounts they will be coming.
The bright side of all this is all my shopping is done, my hubby is off for two weeks and we have really no need to go anywhere. So I can enjoy the beauty and not worry about things I have to do or where I have to go

Today was our family Christmas party. I host it at my house every year but I think this year will be the last time. I have had it with the family drama. For the past 5 years or so there has been some 'issue' but this year takes the cake.

For the past several years one of my brother in laws have brought my mother and father in law to the party. They were just getting too old to drive at night and come on their own. Last year was the first year we were with out my father in law, he passed away in November that year. So we just had my mother in law and as usual one of my brothers in laws picked her up and brought her. So when my one of the brother in laws came I asked if Randy (his brother) was going to be bringing 'mom'. He said he didn't know. Okay whatever. When my other brother in law, Randy, came my mother in law wasn't with him. So I asked him where was his mom? Wondering if she didn't want to come or what. He said "I don't know", so I looked at my sister in law and asked why my mother in law didn't come. Well, she got really pissy at me and said 'It's your party you should have made some arrangement for her to come'. WTH?! Since when? I told her "Well, she was at your house for Thanksgiving I would have thought someone would have made arrangements to pick her up or would have let us know that we would need to." again she said "It's your party, if you wanted her to come then make the arrangements." Then I told her that picking up my mother in law is something we never had to do because one of them always did. How would we know that is something we needed to do? Or something you needed us to do' Then I walk away. I was really pissed off. Since when do WE have to make sure my mother in law gets here. We've never had to. IF we had known we would have. Everyone was just getting here and this is how the evening started.

Then my other sister in law was complaining that she had to bring the meat and cheese platter (which she has done for years even before I started hosting the party) that I should provide the meat and cheese. Again WTH?! Are you kidding me? Does she not know what I do do for this stupid family party?! I bust my butt. I spend loads of money making sure there is enough to eat. God knows no one else brings anything good. I provide bque little smokies, veggie tray, crackers and dip, Christmas cookies and fudge, the pop and punch. Everyone else brings one item. ONE. There are only 4 other families that come. Each family brings ONE thing. Today, my meat and cheese sister in law didn't even say good bye or Thank you when she left. She just walked past me. GRRRRRRRRRRRRR. I really don't like her. I try to. I pray that some day I can but right now. NOT.

I will not have another family Christmas party. It costs me why too much in so many ways. It is just not worth it any more.

1:​​:​​ What are your middl​e names​?​​
- Mine is Lynn, hubbies is Edward

2:: How long have you been toget​her?​​
- This Friday we will be married 21 years!!! I knew him for a year prior to getting married.

3:: Do you have any child​ren toget​her?​​
- Yes, two. A son and a daughter.

4:​: ​Do you have any pets?​​
- Yes, two golden retrievers

5:: Did you go to the same schoo​l?​​
- Nope. Well, hmmm, kinda? We did go to the same Bible College but different years.

6:: Are you from the same homet​own?​​
- No.

7:: Do you live in the same town now?
- No. Although hubby is a native Oregonian but we don’t live in the same town as where he grew up. I grew up all over the place Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming and California.

8:: Who is the smart​est?​​
- Depends. I am a analytical thinker, hubby not so much. I suppose it really depends on who you ask J

9:: Who is the most sensi​tive?​​
- That would be me.

10:: Where​ is the first​ place​ you went to eat?
- To Carrow’s but we don’t have a Carrow’s anymore L

11:: Do you wear match​ing cloth​es?​
-​ Not at all. I hate matchie matchie couples.

12:: Where​ is the furth​est you have trave​led as a coupl​e?​​
-Down to California. San Diego to be exact.

14:: Who has the crazi​est ex[​​es]​​?​​
-​ Me. I dated some really nut cases. Hubby wasn’t much of a dater.

15:: Who has the worst​ tempe​r?​​
- Again me. Hubby is very low key which really gets to me sometimes. I have to let out steam.

16:: Who does the cooki​ng?​​
-​ Again me. You don’t want my hubby to cook.

17:: Who'​​s more socia​l?​​
- Boy I think you could guess the answer. It is me.

18:: Who is the neat freak​?​​
- Geez, that would also be me. I am the one who does all the cleaning so I am the one who freaks out when someone messes things up.

19:: Who is the most affec​tiona​te?​​
-​ We are about the same.

20:: Who is the most stubb​orn?​​
-​ Me. I can really dig my heels in when I want. No one can change my mind or get me to do what I don’t want to do.

21:: Who hogs the bed?
- That would be hubby. He hasn’t grasped the concept of turning over in place. He turns over to my side and when I turn him back to his side he takes all the blankets with him.

22:: Who wakes​ up earli​er?​​
-​ Hubby. He has to be at work at 4:30 a.m. I don’t have to be at work until 10:00 a.m.

23:: Where​ did you two meet?​​
- At church singing in the choir.

24:: Was it love at first​ sight​?​​
-​ Not really. He seemed too old and I assumed he was married so I didn’t give him a second thought. Same goes for hubby he just thought I was nice but nothing beyond that.

25:: How did you spend​ your 1st year anniv​ersar​y?​​
- We went back to the restaurant were we ate after our Wedding. The restaurant was Steamers.

26:: Who has the bigge​r famil​y?​​
- Definitely my husband. My family consists of my mom, brother, a couple of cousins and a couple of Uncles. Hubbies family is huge!

27:: Do you give/​​get flowe​rs often​?​​
- Yes. I am very lucky to have a hubby that is thoughtful.

This prayer was prayed by Joe Wright a Pastor at Central Christian Church in Witchita. I think it is powerful.
'Heavenly Father, We come before You today to ask Your Forgiveness and seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, ''Woe to those who call evil good,'' but that's exactly what we have done. We have lost our Spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values. We confess that; we have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it pluralism; We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism; We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle; We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery; We have neglected the needy and called it self preservation; We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare; We have killed our unborn and called it choice; We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable; We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem; We have abused power and called it political savvy; We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition; We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression; We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, O God, and know our hearts today; try us and see if there be some wicked way in us; cleanse us from every sin and set us free.. Amen!'

Okay well we don't  celebrate 'halloween', we don't give out candy. Never have never will. What we do is have a family night. Order pizza, I buy big bags of candy and a lot of pop. We also rent a movie. This year we rented 'When a stranger calls'.  I like a good suspense but this one wasn't a 'good' one. It was just alright. The kids loved it so it was all good.
I spent the earlier part of the day putting together a new entertainment cabinet for our LCD flat panel. We've had the TV almost a year and have it sitting on an old side board cabinet. It made the TV up too high to enjoy while sitting on the couch or the floor. Naturally, we don't buy 'high' end furniture so that means I had to put the console together. It was fairly easy with one, no make that two, exceptions. The big one was the manufacture miss labeled the shelves!!!! I put it together per the instructions but at nearly the end point the end sections would not fit right. I sat there staring at the directions, re-reading, looking over the parts that I had put together, scratching my head cause I followed the instructions to the tee. Then it dawned on me the center shelves were small the end shelves were a bit bigger...now if the center shelves were on the outside were the end shelves were than maybe the end sections will fit. I had to take the whole thing apart and start over switching the shelves around. Now it was time for the end sections viola!!!! It fit!!!!!! Yippee, geez it only took me an hour or more to figure it out and another hour to take apart and reassemble. The other problem I had was they give you 'starter' holes for screws to go into. Well these 'starter' holes are dimples in the wood and this is real wood not fiber board. Grrrrr again I had to try to work smarter and not harder. So I got a nail and hammer and made a real start hole that the screws can fit into and grab the wood.
Here is the new console:

console002sm.jpg

It is simple but looks really nice.

Here is the old one:

console003sm.jpg

It was my inlaws and was passed down to us, well sort of, we had to buy it if we wanted it. Anyway, I am thinking of asking the family if anyone of them want it. It is taking way too much space.
Anyway after I finished I transferred all the components and tv to the new console and everything looks so nice!!! Everything will look even better once we get our new furniture in 2 weeks.
That is how I spent halloween. Today I am paying for it. I am so sore. I did everything by myself hubby was at work and the kids whinned too much to help. Kids grrrrr.
Today I am going to be a couch potato and recover from my day yesterday.

I was really looking forward to this weekend. It was my first 3 day weekend of the school year and promised to be a good one. NOT :(
Friday was a statewide in service day at school, it was one I was not required to work so yippee a day off. I planned on steam cleaning our carpets (I do this every 6 months) to get ready for new furniture in the near future. Friday was also the day we were suppose to close on our refi and get the money for the furniture. Well we didn't close :( We are suppose to on Monday or Tuesday, the loan docs. are at escrow. So that shot down our plans for Saturday...furniture shopping. I didn't want to shop for furniture until I had money in pocket. Oh well that's okay. Instead of shopping for furniture I took girlchild shopping for a new white shirt for her choir performance on Tues. talk about frustration. Girlchild couldn't not find what she was had in mind, when she did find something she liked it was not in her size. We finally found something she was happy with and went to the check out line. I next in line, had my item on the counter, the customer service guy looked at me and smiled, I proceeded to stand there for a while as I looked for my debit card while standing and waiting. The cashier was done with the person in front of me so I moved my item on the counter closer to him so he can scan it. He then looked at me and informed me that he is closed and to go to the next register! What?! I've been standing there for a while, he couldn't have mentioned that when I arrived? I even said so to him. Not in an angery way, I just stated the fact. I said exactly "Really?, I've been standing here at your register for several minutes and you couldn't have told me before now?" Then I turned to go to the next register where they already had 3 people ahead of me.grrrrr for cryin out loud I only had one item, he could'nt have checked me thru'? He had no sign or anything to indicate he was closing. Anyway, girlchild thought I was being mean. Fine that is her opinion but I wasn't being mean, just asked a resonable question. We went on home after that, the rest of the day was the usual Saturday of piles and piles of laundry. After the laundry I planned on coloring my hair. Way too much grey coming in. I usually color every 6 months or so. I use the same color and brand of color each time so I wouldn't look like I dye my hair cause my hair always looks the same. Guess what my hair turned out DARKER than usual!!!!!!!! I hate it! I don't know why it turned out so different. Now everyone can tell I colored my hair. I am not sure what to do about it now but I hate looking in the mirror. To top off the weekend I did the most bone headed thing ever. I was making popcorn the old fashioned way, on the stove top (my electric popper died) when to popcorn was done I for some reason moved the hot pot onto the counter. I have no idea where my head was maybe side tracked by my ugly hair I don't know. Anyway you can guess what happened, yup I scorched my counter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am just sick about it. I have never never ever done that before. I have always moved hot pots to another space on the stove. I have no idea what came over me. Well now my ugly hair now has company in my ugly counter top.
Not the weekend I was looking forward too.

Sorry about not blogging much lately. I really haven't had much to say and quite frankly I don't have much to say now either.
School is going well. We have a bunch of great kids. Probably the best group of 6th graders since I've been working at the school. I started my reading class this week. Since the kids are so compliant and easy going we are covering a lot of material each day. Last year it was very much the opposite. I spent most of my time policing the kids and little time with the reading. I was beginning to wonder if I was cut out for this kind of thing. Funny how different groups of kids and personalities make you question your career and sanity.
We've recently made a big change in churches. It was a really hard decision. Girl child and I were just not happy in our old church. The people were nice and friendly but I sure didn't really connect with people there. Girl child got frustrated with the lack of other girls in the Youth group her age and with those who were younger being so 'clickish'. Hubby was very very involved in the church and boychild had a few 'friends'. The transition was much harder on them. I really love the church we are at now and have already connected with many of the women there. Girlchild likes the new Youth group a lot, boychild is NOT adjusting well but he will and is doing better. Hubby is loving the new church too so it is all good. The only thing now is people in the old church are now finding out that we 'left' and are trying to find out why. I don't want to say that girlchild and I just didn't like it there so we are trying to be diplomatic about it.
In other news...we are refinancing our mortgage. Crazy isn't it? With all that is going on in the financial world and all. BUT it is because things went nuts that refinancing will work for us. We are consolidating our first and second mortgage AND paying off our credit card. By doing that we will SAVE $350 a month!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND be 'debt' free, not including the house of course but that is a necessary debt unlike credit cards. We will now be able to build our savings account and not rely on credit cards to fix whatever breaks. Man it feels so good to get this fresh start. I feel like I can breath again.
Outside of that life goes on. I wake up, go to work, come home, go to bed and start all over again. That is why I haven't blogged much nothing really to say. I guess it is time to do some MeMe's or Question of the days. That way you all wont go too long without hearing from me :)

My daughter was going thru' and old photo cd looking at pictures from when she was little. She stumbled on a picture of my self and her dad from 21 years ago. I don't remember scanning it and saving it on cd but I must have. I am glad I did because I don't think we have the actual picture any more :( Anyway, I thought I would share it with you all.
Here we are young and anticipating our up coming Marriage:

engagement-1.jpg

Geez, at that time I thought I was really fat and obsessed over fitting in my wedding dress. How stupid. I want that body back! Twenty one years and two children have not been kind :( But I must say I think I am much healther now despite extra weight. I was a couch potato then, now I work out daily and probably can beat my old self in a marathon today Twenty one years ago I probably couldn't even get out of my own way.
Man, that picture seems like yesterday and a million years ago at the same time.

Today was a loooooong day. I didn't sleep last night so I was very tired. It was really really hot, in the 90's, so it made me feel even more tired. I got swarmed by bees at school when I was out with the kids, fortunately, I didn't get stung. I had to correct 30 math timed tests. It was a grid of 169 multiplication facts which seemed to take forever. My house was a mess from the weekend so when I got home I couldn't take a nap, I had to clean house. I have just been feeling out of sink all day.
After cleaning house I went to get my mail and guess what I found!?! A package from our dear Laurie!!!!!! How fun! It was like Christmas. It really made my day. Laurie picked out such fun stuff with a little note attached to each thing. She sent a key chain with a Koala picture on it. The note said 'Because you love these guys', yup she is so right. I have a huge collection of Koala things and would you believe it not ONE key chain with a Koala? Another thing was a photo album book 'For the photos of your kids you love so much', a postcard and sea shell from Lauries hometown, sticky note pad with a chalkboard & chalk picture 'because you teach and work with children', a golden retriever magnet and address book 'In honor of your golden, we have something in common', and a plaque with The Weaver poem on it and a W.W.J.D air freshner with the note 'Because you're a spirital person'. It was all so perfect and the timing couldn't have been better! Thank you, Laurie! I loved every bit of what you sent!

Here's a photo of my goody bag.

goodybag.jpg