The Joys of Being Me!

The divoce was finalized today.  We went to court.  Stood up, said we couldn't stay married anymore, and it's over.  At least this part. Now all I have to do is start waiting on child support.  Let's just say, I'm not holding my breath after the last year.

Anyway.  We also got moved into our new house.  We love it.  Steven has pleanty of room to run around and Jayson loves to watch him.  He's getting so close to moving!! Sometimes he can scoot backwards, but hasn't quite figured out how to do it on purpose yet.  

Both boys are getting so big.  Steven has started pointing to words and asking me what they are.  I'm going to have to start teaching him letter sounds.  He is so ready to read.  

Jayson never stops making noise.  Usually laughing and babbeling with the occasional scream if we aren't paying enough attention to him :)

Well, the papers are almost here.  I guess I'd better get back to work.  One day I'll have internet at home again. 

 Moving day is here.  My friends from Fulton should be here sometime between now and Noon and we have today and tomorrow to get all of the big stuff moved.  I think we'll be able to move almost everything in that time.  Even the weather is cooperating.  It's supposed to be in the 70's today and the high 60's tomorrow.  There is supposed to be rain tomorrow, but not till late afternoon.  I can't wait to get into my new house and get everything set up. '

I keep asking Steven how he feels about moving.  I don't think he quite understands what happening though.  I did have him help me pack his room last night.  I want to wait to make sure I know where we're sleeping tonight before we move his stuff though.  I never know which one of his hundreds of stuffed animials will have the privelage of sleeping with him at night :)

Got to finish my work so I can leave!! 

While growing up and in College, I never thought I would be thankful for family.  We weren't very close, and I'm still not very close to my own family.  I am trying more with my mother though because of the kids.  When I married, though, I discovered that families can be close and it's a good thing.  When Josh and I got married, I became part of his family.  They adoped me right away and have treated me as another daughter, sister, niece, etc ever since.  Even once Josh moved out and we started having serious problems getting along, his family has been there for me.  They aren't strictly taking my side or anything, but they are there to help with the kids or to listen to me rant if I need it.

That brings me to this weekend.  I start moving into my house this weekend.  My plans for Saturday are to go to the new house and clean and take pictures.  I wasn't sure what I was going to do with the boys though.  Steven will be ok running around and "helping".  But Jayson, not so much.  He has reached a stage where he wants someone with him at all times to entertain.  And he is very loud about making sure you know that.  Luckilly they have a cousin in the 6th grade that is absolutely baby crazy.  She is going to come over Friday night and spend the weekend with us.  She's going to entertain Steven Friday and Saturday night and watch Jayson while we're working on Saturday and Sunday.  What a great girl!!  She practically begged her mom to do it when I asked if she would be interested.  

Now, though, I have to figure out what we're going to eat :)  Haven't been to the store yet, payday and all. 

Working in an office full of women on Valentines day is a very depressing experience.  Especially if you know you will be one of the few who will not be receiving anything.  It's not that I'm so materialistic as to think that getting flowers or a card etc is important to my well being.  But, it would be nice to know that someone was thinking of me.  

Ah, well.  Enough of the self pity.

Almost everything is set for the move now.  All I have to do is find out how much propane is in the tank and who the local providers are.  Hopefully no one will have a minimum order over $100.  If they do, we may just have to live in one room with space heaters for a while.  But by mid March, maybe the weather will stop this cold blast stuff and it will stay over 40 or 50 for more than a few hours.

 I went and looked at a couple of houses this weekend.  I found one that I think will work very well for the boys and me.  It has 3 bedrooms and lots of room.  It makes me nervous to move right now, but I'm afraid that if I let the house go, it won't be there when I'm finally ready to move.  It's a fairly old house, but looks like it's in really good shape.  Past tenants have done several upgrades.  It has an almost new electric water heater and enough space for a washer, dryer and dishwasher.

Even better, it has a small basement we can go in if it storms.  I've missed having a basement.  Growing up in Kansas has made me very nervous when storms come around.

I'm going to start moving in on March 1.  That keeps me from having to pay rent at 2 houses in March.  

Poor Jayson has developed a head cold.  His nose is running off his face and he's really congested.  He's having a hard time sleeping in his bed because I can't elevate the head of it.  He's also having problems eating.  He's only been eating about 6oz at a time before he finally gives up.  I'm sure he'll get over it soon.  We've been passing this darn cold around all winter!

All for now!!

 

Ok, so I got my car and the van is at a shop to have a new belt put on.  I'm repairing it that much to make sure I didn't completely destroy it.  Then we'll sell it for as much as we can get out of it.  I'll probably have to split the money I make with my ex, but at this point I just want rid of it.

I was driving the car to work today and noticed that it had a pretty bad shimmy and pulled to the right.  I figured that I had a bad tire.  

I did.  Only, it had 4 bad tires.  Luckily they only cost $60 each.  And now I know that part is safe for a while.

But there may be a good development on the housing front.  Sometimes working for the paper can be an advantage.  I was proofing the classified ads and saw a 3 bedroom house in Mendon advertised.  So I called them.  They were a little shocked that I had already seen the ad, but they only want $250/month for it.  

Yippee!!!   

I drove by it on my way home last night and the outside looks good.  I'm going with my father-in-law to look at the inside on Saturday morning.  Hopefully the inside is good as well.

Time to go home!! Talk next week.

So my morning started out well.  The p.o.s. van I've been driving (the one my ex won't sign the title on) gave out on me today.  Here's how it all went.

I went out to start the van and it made it's lovely starting noises.  Extremely loud squeal etc.  It's been making these noises for a while and I knew it was the fan belt.  I was just hoping it would last me until I could get the title on the other vehicle I found.  Well, after a while, it stopped making the horrendous noise.  Also not unusual.  

I got the kids strapped in and we were on our way.  I noticed the steering seemed a little stiff and the defroster didn't seem to be working like it should.  I just thought it was because of the snow and went on my way.  After I got on the highway, I saw the battery light come on.  About this time I realized I was probably in trouble.  But I only have a 20 mile drive so I thought that maybe if I crossed my fingers and hoped really hard I would make it to the babysitters. 

It didn't work that way.

After I left Marceline, the lights got significantly dimmer and the wipers began moving very slowly.  I got about halfway between Marceline and Brookfield and suddenly every time I stepped on the gas, the car actually slowed down. 

Ok, who designs a car so that if one belt goes out EVERYTHING stops working.  I mean, shouldn't they be independent systems?! 

Luckily, Jessica was already at work and she was able to come out and rescue us.  So we all got where we needed to go today.

So now I'm trying to get ahold of the people I'm buying a car from to see if I can get it today.  Unfortunately, they're not at work and not answering their home phone.  Argh!!

I think my mother-in-law can pick the boys and me up tonight, but I'm not sure how I'll get back to work tomorrow.  A significant disadvantage to living in the middle of nowhere.

I am really proud of my boys.  Jayson was warm and content so he just looked at us and smiled.  Steven was a little nervous, but he didn't panic.  Instead he told me that we needed to call his friend tow truck.  I said I would love to, but his friend tow truck is expensive, so we needed to try something else first.  When Jessica got there, he told her that a deer got in the car and made it have problems (background:  The last time he was in a car on the side of the road was when his dad hit a deer).  

Hopefully the day will get better from here.

Ok, so today is one of those days it really sucks to be a single parent. The forcast for today is for rain changing to ice and then anywhere from 3 to 12 inches of snow. I have to decide if I need to leave work early to get the kids home before the really bad stuff hits. Of course if we do get tons of snow, I won't be able to get to work tomorrow. So not only do I have to worry about the safty of driving today, I also have to worry about losing a day and a half pay.

To make things even better, I am the circulation manager of a newspaper. Luckilly we only publish 3 times a week. Tomorrow is a paper day. If I get snowed in, there won't be any one here who knows how to get the paper out to our subscribers. I think I'm going to do as much ahead of time as I can. Then if I can't come in, I should be able to walk someone through the steps over the phone.

Darn Weather!!

These are my boys.  Jayson (on the left) was 3 months in this pic and Steven was just about 3.  See that cheesy grin Steven has.  He is an absolute goof when the camera's on.  Actually, he's a goof most of the time, when he's not being a little devil.  Somewhere he's picked up this habit of yelling "I hate you!!" and running off to his room.  The first time he did it, I just stared at him with my mouth hanging open.  Now I just send him to a corner for a while.  He always says sorry after he's been out of attention for a while, but I really wish I could get him to stop.

How exactly do you teach a three year old appropriate ways to let out his frustration.  Half the time he can't even tell me why he's so mad.  Poor kid, he's had a lot of changes since March.  I know that's got to be part of it.  Plus, he's three and very strong willed.  It's not good when we both think we should be boss. 

Jayson is a great smiler.  He is the most laid back baby I've ever met.  I'm sooooo glad.  I don't think I could handle a high maintenance baby as well as a three year old.  As long as he's kept fed, and he can see either me or his brother, Jayson is perfectly content.  He's ticklish too.  I love to make him laugh.

That's enough gushing for now.  I, unfortunately, have to get back to work.

 

Ok, so I know when I started this journal I said I'd keep rants about my ex to a minimum.  But somehow he just can't seem to stop pissing me off.  Any one who doesn't know me and is reading this is coming into the middle of the story.  Maybe sometime I'll post the history.  Any way here's the newest installment.

I got my tax return, and it was WAY more than I was expecting.  This meant that I could save money to move as well as start looking for a vehicle.  Since my mother-in-law wanted the kids overnight last night (Friday), I asked if it would be ok with her if I went car shopping today.  She had no problem with it.  She picked up the boys from the babysitter and I stayed late at work.  When I got to her house to tell the boys goodnight, their father was there with his girlfriend and her two younger children.  I thought, "Good, I can get him to sign the title to the van so I can use it to trade in tomorrow."  Boy was I wrong.

He had been doing something around the farm when I got there.  So when he walked in, I got this utter look of contempt.  I waited a while to see what kind of mood he was in.  The signs weren't good, but I asked anyway.  I said, "If you would please sign this, I will leave."  I thought that way he could have time with the boys without me there.  Instead of answering, he grimaced and hid his face in his girlfriend.  I continued to wait until they left.  

After they had gone, my mother-in-law told me that he didn't want to sign the title because I hadn't signed the divorce papers.  Now here's my take on that.  He filed first, the forms he filed listed incorrect information and had several things I did not agree with.  I got a lawyer and responded.  At that point he could have signed my response and we could have been done.  But, there were things he didn't like.  We are currently negotiating through the lawyers.  I have no problems with that.  But I personally think he's being petty and trying to be controlling.  

If I happen to find a car today, I'll just have to try to get it without a trade in.  I've decided that if I have 2 cars for a while, I just get to sell the van later and keep the money.  

I'm sure there's no one out there really interested in reading all of this pettiness, but anyone who would like to give advise is welcome!!