The vacation is over....

Well, my vacation time is coming to an end and I am back to work tomorrow. I think that we as a family have finally gotten this setting up and taking down of the camp site down to a pretty good science. Everything went smoothly this year, speaking personally I never had to put myself into "time out" so it was a good week for me. My family was the only one that brought a non family member this year, but we did take a vote and JJ was voted back so it went well having him there. He really got along well with everybody, even taking on the responsibility of taking the kids down to the beach by himself. Some of us got the opportunity to go kayaking this year and it was a good experience, not sure if I would do it again at the same place but I would try it in different places though.

As for the home stuff things are still where they were at the last post. My job seems to be ever changing, I am never sure of the days or the hours that I am working but I do have a job and for that I am grateful. Stacie is doing well and I believe she is starting a new derby league here in the tri-cities. I want to say that they are going to have a home bout (in Hermiston) sometime in September but I will post more about that when I have more information. Jared, well I have nothing to report about him at this time. I haven't seen or heard from him since he left the house respecting his request for no contact. It weighs heavily on my heart but I have to let him do his thing and hope that at some point he will want to re-establish our relationship. Casey really enjoyed the trip to the coast, when he worked his first shift after coming home he was at work for a whole 20 minutes he was wishing he was back at the beach! Shane is still busy both framing and working on his other company, getting things together so it can be a successful venture.

I am wanting some feedback on what the Thanksgiving plans are for this year, I have actually been told that if I wanted to have Thanksgiving off this year that the other secretary will actually work it (this is the first time since I have worked at the hopsital that she has not been the one requesting it off!). If there is anything significant going on then I will take advantage of this offer, if not I do get paid very well for working on a holiday and it falls on my "normal" scheduled day. Like I previously stated, my days are kind of up in the air right now, but it would be what my normal day would be in a perfect schedule. Let me know if a comment and I will make sure that mom is in on whatever anybody knows.

I hope that all is well will all, and will keep all of you updated as things happen in my life, oh the suspense ROFLMAO.

Family Stuff

Wanted to give you all an update on what is going on in my family and life. I am still working at the hospital full time and trying to pick up extra shifts if I can which I do for money, not love. Out of 9 days I worked 7 of them and considering that I work 12 hour shifts I am a very tired person after that!
Shane is still framing and is still working on getting his new business up and running. He works very hard at both of these and hopefully it will pay off after all he is putting into it. He is very fortunate to have a person to work with that can spend all his times and efforts in trying to make this new business a success. I know that I don't always see eye to eye with Tim; however he is so very loyal to Shane and to make this business work that I have nothing bad to say.
Stacie has moved into her own place and continues to work full time at SIGN. She has also made the decision not to skate with the Atomic City Roller Girls any more, too much drama going on with this group on girls, but she is still full steam ahead with derby. She is out of town pretty much every weekend skating with whatever team needs her. So far she has gone to Seattle, Chehalis (sp?), and Spokane, maybe even more that I don't know about. By her doing this I rarely get to see her but she does come over and have lunch on her break seeing how my house is very close to her work so when I am not at work I try to be home to at least get to chat with her a little.
Jared is still working full time at Dairy Queen. Up until last night he was still living at home, but that doesn't mean that I saw him that often. He and one of his friends have been mowing lawns on the side and they always seem to be together. We came to the decision last night that it would be in the best interest of everyone that he moved out but it wasn't a easy decision. My heart is breaking due to the fact that even though he was part of the decision process he has decided it is all my fault and that he no longer has parents. He has now started addressing me by my first name and doesn't want me to talk to him at all. My hope is that one day he will realize that what he thinks is fact is truly not. I just hope that he doesn't stay this angry for too long but only time will tell.
Casey is in his "summer schedule", which means that he stays up until around 4 a.m. and sleeps until noon or one in the afternoon. He is also working at Dairy Queen, but opposite shifts from Jared. He really enjoys being able to make his own money and to be able to buy things on his own.
As for the coast, at this point it looks like Casey and myself are going to be able to make it. The "draft" copy of the schedule is out and I am off for that time. I do have to work four days straight up until the 2nd to make this happen so when we actually get down to the coast I will be the one that has absolutely no energy or drive. Oh well I guess I will have a few days to laze around and read and kick it at the beach:-) I am trying to work at Shane to come with, but it probably won't happen.
We went out on the water yesterday with Shane's parents and our neice Emma and her brother Eli. We also took Tyler because he really wanted to wakeboard by himself but he ended up not going with Shane or even trying by himself, regardless he had a good time on the boat and had fun playing with the other kids. We were out for five and a half hours, much longer than we usually do. The water was awful, choppiest stuff ever. At the end of the day Casey and both felt like we were on the whale watching boat the way the river was swelling it was crazy! Casey took one run on the wakeboard, and Shane and Eli went out together. This was our first attempt at giving wakeboarding a shot with Eli. They got right up but soon crashed and Eli was then done for the day, but I think that we can get him back on the board again! It was a great time just floating and hanging out on the water with my in laws, we don't get much of a chance to spend time with them so we enjoyed it. All of us came home sunburnt, that is those of us that didn't put sunscreen on, but we were all tired and happy.
I think that is all I have to update for now, I hope all of you are doing well and look forward to spending time with you at the coast in a couple of weeks or so.

The Bout is over!

So the bout yesterday was awesome, wish you all could have been there to see it! I was asked by Stacie to work in the "penalty box" so to speak. I got to time all the girls that had penalties so I learned alot more about the sport that Stacie is so passionate about. It was alot of fun and I had the opportunity to meet alot of different people by doing this.
THE ACRG's (a.k.a. The Atomic City Roller Girls) won their first bout since they have started almost two years ago and I was there to witness this! It was so awesome to see the excitement on the faces of these women who go out there several times a week to practice and who have suffered some injuries to participate in this sport. The day was cloudy and rain threatened to come down at any time during the bouts, but once these ladies won their first bout I am not sure if it was their smiles that were beaming or what but the sun broke out right about that time and was shining down on the rink. Now I didn't go to the after party, but I am sure that some of these people that did may still be going at it, and I say party on. You worked so hard and to see it finally pay off is awesome! I believe that the next bout that I go to, I will offer to keep time again. It was fun to get to see the different personalities of the girls on the other teams and I got pretty darn good at it, even when I had three at a time!
Can't wait for the next bout. I think that Stacie said that they are planning on another bout somewhere locally again in August so when I know more I will post about it. You should try to come out of you are free, it is fun and you will get to understand the sport a little bit more;-)

Stacie's first "home" bout

Just wanted to let you all know that Stacie, Atomic City Roller Girls, are having their first home bout this Saturday! It starts at 3:00 and is supposed to be over around 8:00. It is at the outdoor rink at Grange Park, by the library in Kennewick on Union Street. The cost to get in is $10.00 for adults and $5.00 for children and vets. These bouts are a blast to watch, there is no way you can watch without getting into it full boar as I found out after going to my first bout. It is high energy and full of action! If you can come out and support your local derby girls, and my sweet innocent daughter while they skate their booties off.

SSDD

Nothing new to say just wanted to say SSDD.

Just wanted to keep you (as if anybody really reads this) up to date on some happenings with us. I have gone back to working my three days a week for twleve hour shifts. My hours are from seven a.m. until seven thirty p.m. I don't have "set days" that I am scheduled; however I usually work Thursday, Friday, Saturday three weeks out of the month. The other week I work Wednesday through Friday. I am not sure if that is how things are going to stay because the last secretary that was hired may be going to work some hours in a different unit, but who knows at this point. This obviously means that I didn't get the job that I had interviewed for, but all the people that I work with are seriously happy to see that I am still with them. I guess I should be happy that I have made their jobs easier,errr better?
Casey got a job at Dairy Queen and he will be working with Jared. Actually Jared works there full time on the day shift, but he will probably be the one training Casey seeing how they are talking about making him a "crew leader". Casey already had a health card so he is one step ahead of the game. He thought he had a job with his friend JJ working for JJ's uncle's resturant that he opened but it seems like he was just kind of used to help get the resturant cleaned up and ready to open. This guy told him that he still has a job, but he has to wait until business picks up. We suggested that he keep applying to different places because he is driving and Mommy is getting tired of filling up the Expedition for his little monkey butt.
Jared is back home and has adopted a totally new attitude. He is keeping his room clean and is paying rent! He isn't around too much, but he is around alot more than he was before our big blow out. Life is good at home.
Stacie is doing well. She had the chance to go to Canada for a derby bout last weekend and that was a good experience for them. It wasn't easy, there were alot of inconsitancies with the calls that were being made, or not being made, by the refs. While she was gone we got to have the puppies all weekend as Jon was working (he works out of town). I enjoyed having them at the house and spoiled them buying them toys and what not. They were a bit unsetteled because they missed their "parents" and couldn't figure out why they had not come back to get them. Neither of them ate very much the whole three days and that made me sad. I think that if they could talk they would have said "this is a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live here!". My dogs got even more neurotic than they already were, and my cat never stopped growling unless we locked her up in our room to give her a break. The puppies are not aggressive with her at all and she has never had a problem with our dogs, but there is just something about "different dogs" to her.
I am going to try and be a supportive aunt today and finally make it to some soccer games. It is sunny and beautiful out so this seems like the day to do it!

Guess what today is??? I know most of you are thinking that it is my wedding anniversary, which it is in fact, but today is the day that I finally took down my Christmas tree. Just when my family thought it would stay up until this coming Christmas....... All it took was for my husband to forget about the fact that it was our anniversary. Now most of you are thinking that no big deal men forget this date all the time right???? Consider that this is the only thing that my husband actually celebrates and then it kinda becomes a sore subject for me. Kinda like if your spouse didn't get you anything for your birthday or Christmas combined. I knew that all it would take was for me to get super pissed off about something and I would go like a woman possessed and take the tree down and it finally happened. To think I turned down going out to dinner with the girls because I have never been let down by my husband on this one day of the year. Now I am at home whining and sulking thinking about what leftovers we will be eating because I had no intention of making dinner. I am done complaining, for now, and I will now make an attempt to put on a somewhat smiley face and go upstairs to make the rest of my family happy.

Isaac Matthew Schoonover

I just wanted to congratulate Shaylee and Chad on the birth of their new son Isaac. He was born last night, 3/24/09, at 11:42 weighing in at 8.11 pounds and measuring 20 1/2 inches long. It was kind of a slow night at work so my lead nurse let me spend about 2 1/2 hours with them during my shift while she labored and when her doctor came in he looked suprised to see me there. I explained the relation and he was so excited about it, it was kind of cute. We happened to have a couple of his patients in the unit that I work in so he came down to see them a bit later and I got to harass him about having somewhere to be and something better to do. I was just getting ready to clock out for the night and my mother in law called and said "Dr. O said it is coming so you need to get up here". I grabbed my purse and sweater and got up there as quick as I could. Now let me tell you, I wasn't invited to be there for the birth and I would never infiltrate myself into a situation like that so I just waited outside the door. I was putting my head by the door and all I could hear was 6 people in the room laughing, I was thinking what???? I thought somebody was having a baby, where are all the moans and the pushing sounds. Then Dr. O says "where is she, I thought you called her". I opened the door and my mother in law was standing behind the curtain and I said are you waiting for me and everybody started laughing and saying YES! Then I got the suprise of my life when Dr. O said come in and watch, I said I would wait behind the curtain with my mother in law and he asked Shaylee if we could come in and she said sure she didn't care as long as we didn't mind seeing everything. We whipped around the curtain and there Shaylee was with the head all the way out with the doctor just holding it there, they were seriously waiting for me to get there. I felt bad for her and hope that she forgives me at some point for the wait! Dr. O had the biggest smile on his face and asked if we had ever seen a birth and I said actually the last birth I saw was 5 years ago today. My mother in law had never seen an actual birth and the look on her face was priceless. Isaac seems to be a very laid back kid so far, nothing seemed to bother him like the poke for the vitamin K or checking his sugar levels. He never really started to put up a fuss until they gave him to his Mom. It was like he wanted her to know how much he had gone through and just wanted to complain about it a little. I left around 12:15 to go home and excitedely tell Shane about his new nephew. Oh by the way the gender of the baby was unknown so that was so cool have that suprise seeing how it seems like everybody these days finds out the sex before the birth. Seeing how they already had one boy and one girl they decided to wait until the birth. Shaylee was so cute after the birth when she said that she knew it was a boy and was excited but she was also kind of looking forward to a girl because of all the clothes that she could buy. Once again a huge thank you to Chad and Shaylee for allowing me to be there for this special time in their life, and to Dr. O for holding the show for me to be there!

Life, as I live it

Work, work, work it seems like that is all that I do. I don't want to complain too much seeing how there are alot of people out there in the world that would love to have a job so I do at least appreciate the fact that I am employed. I do wish that my work environment was better though. I am interviewing for a different position within the hospital tomorrow, not so much a truly different position it has the same job title, just a job with different responsibilities and in a unit that I have never worked for before. I have worked in an outpatient observation unit for the last four years but this job is within the OR. This past year and a half has been very difficult for me due mainly to the manager that I work under and I think that I have had my fill. It would take me forever to explain all the frustration and pain that she has caused me, and I don't really want to get into all of that anyway. Sufice it to say that it is "time for a change" to steal a line from the President. If I get this position my new hours will be Monday through Friday from 10:30 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. I really didn't want to have change my job because for the most part I really enjoy my job and the nurses that I work with and I have been doing it for four years, but my sanity is at stake here. I am not thinking that this interview is a shoe in for the position, but everybody at work thinks to seem that is just a formality. I just don't want to get my hopes up too high and then feel let down if it doesn't happen. If I don't get this job then I still have the same one that I have been doing, but my hours will change to 7:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. three days a week (and those 3 days are not the same ones from week to week).
I would love to say that Shane is still busy with work, but he doesn't have anything going right now. He is really trying to get his new business venture up and running so this down time is enabling him to put some time and effort into making something happen. He may actually be in Seattle for most of this week to meet with different prospective individuals about hooking up some business. I can't really go too much into what all this entails, but there are many different directions in which he can go.
Casey just got his first job and will start work this week. His best friend JJ has an uncle that bought the resturant inside the bowling alley in Pasco and that is where he will be working. He will be a dishwasher, and a bus boy there. He is going to take his food handlers permit class this week through school so he will be set there! He is very excited and is already talking about how he is going to pay for his car insurance (which is our rule), and all the rest of his money he is going to save, RIGHT. Isn't that what they always say? Life is fill with great intentions, but he has pretty much been a focused person so maybe he will actually do as he is saying.
I have to get going, I am blogging at work and I have a couple of patients that I need to be getting ready for!

Work Update

Just wanted to let everybody know that my upcoming change in schedule isn't going to happen. My manager called me today and asked me to stay on the same schedule for at least the next four weeks and it wasn't like I was being given too much of an option. I am just getting so frustrated with all this crap. At first it was my choice to switch to the five days a week, hour shifts. This change wasn't easy after working for over three years for twelve hour days only three days a week, but I thought it would be an O.K. change. Now the unit that I work in is having changes made to the responsibilities that we have so the need for me to work from 3 p.m until 11 p.m. wasn't going to be necessary. So I was in a state of shock today when I recieved a phone call, on my cell phone, (I will get back to that) saying that we as secretaries need to stay on our "current" schedules for at least the next four weeks. The point about the cell phone is this.......I specifically do not have my cell phone number available for work to call me on because I like to have at least a little bit of privacy in my life, but my manager coudln't reach me on my home phone so she asked somebody that I consider a "friend" at work for my cell number and she just freely gave her the number. I have had to change my cell number before once due to work getting the number and abusing it, they refused to call my home phone as soon as they found out my cell number. So I am at a crossroads as what to do with my number now. I would seriously like to confront the person that gave my number out and make sure she knows that I am not happy at all with the fact that she didn't even think to ask me before she gave my number out, but she is seriously bi-polar and I certainly don't want to be the one to put her in one of her "MOODS" because everybody at work would be kinda upset with me. The other part of me would just like to change my number again and not give this "friend" the new number. But maybe I should just wait to see if it gets abused again. It is so easy to change the number, and it doesn't cost a thing, but getting the new number to everybody is kind of a pain!

On a totally different note, Jared turned 19 yesterday and it wouldn't look too good if I didn't say anything about it seeing how I talked about Stacie and Casey's birthdays. It isn't like I overlooked it, it just doesn't seem like he is a true part of this family any more seeing he is seldom at home. He didn't want a cake, and he wouldn't have been home if I got one anyway so I guess it just saved me time and money not to make or buy one for him. I love him none the less!!

I have to run, decisions have to be made and all. Love to all!

He's Legal

That's right, Casey is on the road and driving! Watch out!!!! Stay off the curbs!! He has to be the happiest of any of my kids to this point by getting his license!

Casey is 16

I am not the best at keeping everybody up to date on things, but I try. Today my baby is 16, another milestone reached! I have to say that he is probably the most excited of all of my kids about getting his driver's license. He has already taken and passed his written exam, and he is scheduled to take his driving test this Wednesday. I found out today that it may snow tomorrow, so I am hoping that if it does that it all melts before his test because that would kind of suck. I am not sure if they are any easier on kids if they test on snow versus dry roads, but I would hope so. Let's all just pray that the roads are bare and dry O.K.?
I think that we are getting very close to having Jared move out. He rarely spends any time at home and it seems like both boys are constantly at each others throats when they are around each other so I am thinking that it is time. He has a place to go, and he has the possibility of moving to Florida with one of his friends families in a couple of months. I just don't know if we can make it another couple of months to see if that pans itself out. It is just one of those things that has to happen at some time, and it is better for it to happen while there is still a good relationship with all parties involved.
Stacie and Jon are doing great, it is such a good feeling to know that your child is in a commited relationship with a person that loves them and treats them like you want them to be treated, you know like royalty! They are both not afraid to speak their minds, but not in a way that is hurtful. I think they have great communication with each other and are obviously in love so what more could I want for her? Their puppies are growing and are doing so well with their obedience training that Stacie and Jon do with them, I guess all those dog whisperer shows are paying off. They are kind of looking into moving closer to where Stacie works, but I am not sure when that move will happen.
Shane and I are staying busy at work. My last post updated you on my change of hours and days at work, and now I hate to say it but my hours are going to change back. I will once again be working three twelve hour shifts from 0900-2130 starting May 8th. I am tired of being so nice and switching back and forth, but I don't think this will come up again for quite some time so I am not going to complain too much about it. I am looking forward to going back to what I have done for the last four years because it is my comfort zone and I am pretty confident in my job. I will catch up with you all later!

Notes of Interest

So today is the day that I gave birth for the first time, happy birthday Stacie I LOVE YOU! I can remember it all just like it was yesterday. The decision to have a child was not mine, but I was blessed with the opportunity to have children and I am truly blessed by being given that gift. I know that I have not always been the best mom in the world, but I have tried the best that I could. Life is too short to not be grateful for all the memories that we make with those that we love. So to ALL my entire family, thank you for all that you have done for me and for loving me with all my warts and faults! My love for you all sometimes overwhelms me and I am not the best at expressing this to you so here it is in writing.

On another note, I haven't told you yet, but Stacie's first home bout (Roller Derby) is this weekend and it is in Hermiston. Kind of funny that Hermiston would be where their home bout would be, but that is where they have the rink and also where they practice. I want to say that it cost around (or less than) $15.00 to get in. I know that tickets can be purchased on line somehow for around ten bucks and that they have said that they would have tickets at the door.

Stacie's boyfriend is having surgery this Wednesday in Portland so if you could all keep him in your prayers for a speedy recovery and as little pain as possible or anything else that you would like to add in there like guidance of the surgeons hands etc..... His procedure is a day surgery so it isn't what one would consider "major", but I know that any surgery is major especially when you consider that he has never gone under the knife before.

I am still waiting to find out about the final decision about the Expedition whether they are going to total it or not, we should find out some time later this afternoon. I hope that they will just fix it, because Shane is sure that they will screw us over if they make the decision to actually total it. My little "fender bender" that I got into is going to cost over two thousand dollars for repair so after we pay our deductible the price is as such that our rates will increase because we will lose our 3 year without accidents deal that we have always had. Oh well, nobody was seriously injured in either collision so that is what I will have to focus on.

If I haven't told any of you yet, I have just started working five eight hour shifts instead of my three twelve hour shifts. My new schedule is Sunday through Thursday from 3:00 - 11:30, and that is P.M. I am excited about this change, because had I stayed in the 3 12 hour shifts I would have to move from 9-9, to 6-6. This means a loss of close to three dollars an hour for shift differential. So not only do I keep that differential, I am getting 40 hours a week versus 36. Those of you that know me know that I am a night owl anyway, so this should work out well for me.

That is all I have for now, it is 2:15 and I work in 45 minutes so I gotta run!

New Year

Well Christmas and New Year's have now come and gone so I ask, why is my tree still up? It is one of the hardest things to do in my eyes. At my house it is tradition that I put the tree up and fluff it all out and get it ready to be decorated, then my kids do the decorating. Now that they have jobs, and lives, it was difficult to find the time for all of us to get together to get the darn thing decorated. I was at the point of doing it myself, but I think that my kids caught on and worked out the time for us to get this done. Now the whole responsibility of taking down all the ornaments and taking the tree down falls on my head. I don't want you to think that I am just lazy, I was working up to the New Year, and I have had flu like symptoms for the last 3 days. It was pretty embarassing to be sitting in my hair dressers chair and having to run to the bathroom in her shop so I could puke. It was at the point in my color that there was no way I could leave so she had to finish. Now if any of you know me you know that I love to get my hair done, and I have such a strong relationship with my stylist that it really sucked to be there and not want to talk to her. I only hope that she knows exactly how sick I really was and that if I knew that I was going to toss my cookies I would have re-scheduled. At least I didn't wet myself while blowing chunks, and for that I am grateful. I ventured out yesterday, after three days of vomiting, to get Casey his bus pass for the month seeing how he didn't get it at school. On my trek out I decided I would slide into the back of this nice woman's 4-Runner just for fun. Don't you hate it when the car that you slide into has a hitch on the back? It causes such a nice hole in the bumper! The weird thing is that the night before I dreamed that I was driving and I kept almost sliding into cars, but I just opened my window and pushed them away so in my dream it never really happened. Maybe now if I go outside it will all have been a dream, no such luck! When I finally made it back in my car and was on my way home I got a call from Jared telling me to go back the the previous intersection because he was just hit by somebody that ran a red light, mind you he was in my Expedition. Now he wasn't so lucky because the Expy had to be towed due to the fact that it couldn't be driven. The little Camry that hit him was quite a bit worse for the wear though. The 88 year old man and his wife seemed to be physically o.k. but the paramedics ended up taking her to the ER because she said she was having chest pain. I was just glad that it wasn't anything seriously related to the accident, even though this old man ran the light at Catskill and G-Way. After living here for almost 5 years I have always been upset with the number of people that run that light and I am constantly making comments about it. I have actually even seen a school bus or two run it. I know that it isn't always convinient to stop while traveling 35 MPH down G-Way, but darn it when a light is red it means STOP I don't really care how fast you were going. This is why they make you take tests, both written and driving and let's not forget the vision one, to get your drivers license. At 88 years old maybe it is time to hang up your license. I have ranted long enough, just wanted to keep you all up to date on all the fun in our lives that you are missing. Oh P.S. Stacie has now gotten a very reliable vehicle, she has a Jeep Liberty a 2004 I think, maybe a 2003. It is wonderful to know that she has a vehicle that isn't going to break down, and that should last her for a long time!