Four

Four jobs I've had in my life..
1. Preferred Electric (general office)
2. C&W Consultants (general office)
3. My current job (assistant office/general manager)
4.

Four movies I would watch over and over...
1. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
2. Christmas Vacation
3. Billy Madison
4. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

Four places I have lived...
1. Hoffman Estates, IL
2. Elgin, IL
3. Pingree Grove, IL
4.

Four shows I love to watch...
1. ER
2. LOST
3. American Idol
4. 7th Heaven

Four places I have been on vacation...
1. Ocho Rios, Jamaica
2. DisneyWorld
3. Mackinac Island, MI
4. Minnesota (Mall of America)

Four websites I visit daily...
1. PGN
2. Ebay
3. Blogger
4. My friends blogs

Four of my favorite foods...
1. Pierogies
2. Chinese
3. Ice Cream
4. Lemon Meringue Pie

Four places I would rather be right now...
1. DisneyWorld
2. Jamaica
3. Hawaii
4. Anywhere but here!

Four friends I am tagging...
None .... I'll let them decide if they want to participate. :)

Wicked Weekend

The news I received on Friday of my husband being unemployed was tough to digest and by Saturday I was feeling pretty down.

We got out as a family for a little while, heading to the mall to look for a birthday gift for my mom. We stopped in the Disney store with the kids, and they fell in love with these soft, adorable stuffed characters that look like they are wearing pajamas. Since we had returned some of their Christmas gifts, and had used that cash to purchase some things for us at the time, we 'owed' them. They looked adorable cuddling their new friend at bedtime that night. It was rather depressing, though, knowing that the money situation just isn't the same right now. Not that it was great to begin with, but at least we had two incomes.

I managed to do well with the birthday gifts - buying one thing on clearance (something she asked for) with in-store credit I had and another I ordered online and paid with money in my paypal account which was all earned from things I've sold on ebay. Moneywise, we only spent $12 out of pocket. I'll print her birthday card to save even more money.

That night a good friend a few doors down was having a gathering at her house. I wasn't feeling entirely up for it, but figured getting out was probably just what I needed. It was really great to get out of the house, and think about something else for awhile. I enjoyed being amongst friends for the evening, and before we knew it, it was 2am! It was off to bed as Sunday was to be a busy day.

Of course, the kids can't be quiet and let anyone sleep once they're up, so I was up before I wanted to be. This wasn't a bad thing since I had to get ready for the day. I went across the street to meet with the rest of the group, and we all headed out to the train station to get down to the city.

What a terrific time! We saw Wicked, which was just amazing. This was my first broadway show, and I loved it. It truly was a great, great show! Mike kept me up to date on the Bears game (Super Bowl bound, baby!!!!!) by text message to my cell phone, and the game ended as we were sitting in the restaurant waiting to order.

I really managed to "escape" for a little while, and my friends couldn't have been more wonderful. Simple gestures like paying for my train ticket or picking up the cab fare. It truly meant alot to me, as I still came home with money in my wallet that I can deposit back into our checking account to put towards bills.

Now I'm trying to keep a positive outlook, trying not to think about the fact that our income just took a loss of over 50%. Hopefully the job search will go well, and that we'll be a two income family again soon.

2007 isn't looking so great

So much for a new year. If it keeps up the way it has been, this may just be the shittiest year yet.

First Mike's mom. Then worrying about Braeden. Now? Mike is unemployed.

On Tuesday Mike found out that the GM of his store was being fired. This was actually not a surprise; there have been some issues there. So - whatever - didn't think anything of it. I actually thought maybe this was Mike's chance at being promoted to GM. Boy was I wrong. He ends up hearing from someone else that he's going to be fired. He approaches the area manager (whom he's worked with when he was with Sbarro years ago) and asks what's going on. He says "You want to know the truth?" .... and Mike finds out that his last day was going to be tomorrow.

The company says they are "reconstructing" or "remanaging" (Mike couldn't remember what term they used; I don't blame him -- I probably would have zoned out by this point) the entire Chicagoland area. Four managers all got canned (2 from each of 2 stores).

I'm not sure how the bills are going to be paid. And just another reason for me to be depressed.

Let's Get Physical!

Braeden had his 5 year visit and school physical today. He's growing well, passed his vision test, blood tests all came back A-OK. He got 3 shots and handled them so well ..... he was such a BIG boy, and I was so proud! But, when the doctor had him bend over to touch his toes, he examined his spine and I've been thinking lately that it looked a bit weird to me - almost curved. Well, the pediatrician told me to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't complain about back pain. That it doesn't necessarily mean anything, but it could be the signs of scoliosis.

He didn't seem very worried, so I'm trying not to be, but part of me wants to cry. I mean .... what do you mean my little boy is not perfect? I don't want my children to have any sort of health ailment. I've only read a little bit online about scoliosis, and I'm afraid to read further because I know alot of times the world wide web can be a mass of awful information.

So, all in all, he's healthy and he's up to date on vaccinations and all aside from going to the dentist -- he's ready for kindergarten!

The Things Kids Say

As my mom got ready to head into the bathroom to shower, Braeden followed her in. She shooed him away and told him he was supposed to be in his bedroom.

He says, "Why....you don't want me to see a naked old lady?"

Ha!

Under the Weather

Over the weekend I started coming down with a cold. Yesterday I was truly miserable with a hard, dry cough. I started taking some cold medicine with an expectorant, and it's already started to loosen things up a bit. I'm still feeling pretty run down and tired, though. It's amazing how draining even a simple cold can be.

Tonight I've got a bad headache to go along with the coughing and the aches and pains. With each cough it feels as if my head is going to split right open.

So I'm retiring to the bed for the evening.

Saying Goodbye

Yesterday was rough. By the time we got home, I was completely drained. I came down with a cold this weekend, so that added to the fact that I was mentally dealing with the loss of Mike's mom....well, it took every ounce of energy right out of my body.

I'm glad that day is over. Walking into the funeral home, I had this sudden, overwhelming urge to turn and run. It was like a mini panic attack, and I felt like I was going to hurl at the same time. It's like it hit me -- we lost a PARENT.

Not a great-grandparent, or a grandparent, or a great aunt or uncle .... it was a P A R E N T. It made me think about my folks, and just how torn up I'll be when I lose them. God, I pray that doesn't happen for a long, long time.

But it's tough. His mom was 48. My mother is just weeks from turning 58. Everyone says, "Oh, they're not old!" ..... Well, no, they aren't, really. But when you just attended the funeral services for your husband's mother that didn't reach her fiftieth birthday yet, it's a bit harder to digest. Since my folks hit 55, I've cringed at every birthday that they've gotten closer to 60.

It's depressing to think about, and moreso depressing to sit here and blog about it. Someone, slap me!!!

(sigh)

I was just laying out my son's clothes for tomorrow, and was feeling rather depressed about the whole thing. In just 3 months time I've laid out his dress pants, shirt and tie twice. I hope I don't have to do this again anytime soon.

So many losses, so little time

Mike's mom passed away yesterday. His cell phone rang just before 6:30 in the morning, and he groggily answered. He didn't need to say a word .... I just knew what the phone call was about.

We spent the morning and afternoon and in Kenosha helping to make the arrangements. The services will be Sunday afternoon.

It's amazing how long she held on and fought. We got the news that she broke her neck almost 3 weeks ago. She was just 48 years old.

I'm haivng a hard time coming to terms that my husband - who won't be 30 until April - already lost his mother.

He's really had a lot of losses within his family. His grandmother passed away in September 2004. Just this past October, he lost his grandfather. And now, his mother. Of course, we lost my grams in October 2005 as well.

It really does suck getting older.