Play ball!

It's been kind of a crazy couple of days around here. The older 3 kids weren't supposed to be back from their dad's house until tomorrow, but Ex1 had a family emergency and had to go back out of town, and so they came back to me yesterday instead. He called me on his way out of town and said that they had tickets to a baseball game for tonight (the kids had gotten them from school) and since they weren't going to use them, I'd be welcome to them.

Long story short, the older 3 kids went to the game with their aunt and uncle, and I took the younger two and went separately. The Dude had planned to go along, but since we were both dealing with some mild food poisoning, he opted to stay home - it hit him worse than it did me.












This kid can not keep teeth in his head anymore. LOL




Fight! Fight! Fight!





We had a lot of fun, we won 8-2, and we left. The older 3 kids decided that they were going to spend the night with their aunt and uncle, so they came home long enough to grab pajamas and clean clothes and they took off again....I swear I need a revolving door.

In other news throughout the day....we dragged most of the pile of limbs from the backyard to the front yard yesterday so that the trash guys could pick them up today. We didn't get them all moved because I just didn't feel like it - frankly, I felt like crap and didn't even want to do that much of it. But the boys had fun watching them get picked up this morning. We'll drag the rest out front this week so that they'll be gone on the next trash day.



I also stripped the boys' beds this morning....which then turned into a project of patching some holes in the wall. Apparently, many years ago, there used to be a door in this corner of the room that went out onto what we think was a porch but is now my laundry room. Anyway, they didn't do a very good job of covering the hole where the door was, and the drywall was cracked. And little boys just can't leave something like that alone - so they picked at it, especially when the bunk beds were still in that corner. Hopefully, now that it's all filled in, they'll leave it alone. Of course, the threats of being grounded until graduation might help a bit too.









So now, tomorrow....since I wasn't supposed to have all of the kids, and then I was supposed to have all of the kids, and now I'm not going to have all of the kids....I have to catch up on the laundry that I didn't get done before the older 3 came home early (and then left again) and I really need to get the grass cut...and I know that I had some other stuff on my list too, but I forget what that was for some reason....

Yeah. I need that clone.

Adventures in fishing

So today, after being MIA for 3 months, Alex's father finally took him for a visit.

Daniel and I headed over to The Dude's house, and Daniel stayed with The Dude's mother for a few hours while we went fishing. Alone. With no kids.

We took off toward the lake, and decided to try a new fishing spot this time. We found what looked to be a great spot - wide open, no other people in sight, no overhanging limbs - perfect, right?

Yeah. Except for this. And he was very content with his location. We, on the other hand, were not - but we wanted to stay. We tried to scare him with noise .... then tossed a few sticks toward him .... then a few pebbles.

Finally, he got annoyed with us and took off. But just to prove his point, he stayed in the area for quite a while - and just kept swimming back and forth in front of us. After a while, he disappeared and didn't come back.

There were a lot of cranes in the area - there was one that hung out across the water from us for quite a while, but he wouldn't come close enough for me to get a really good picture.

This one was a little bit more cooperative - but not very much.

The weather was a little questionable at first - there was the possibility of getting some pretty severe storms, so we kept one eye on the sky and our ear on the radio until they blew over, and then we settled in for a few hours.

So anyway....it was yet another not-so-good fishing day, but we ended up with a really amusing story that leads up to our biggest catch of the day.

No, his stick was not the biggest catch of the day.

The Dude apparently has a turtle fetish. Or they love him. Whichever way it goes, he couldn't catch anything but turtles today. The first one that he caught was pretty decent-sized, but he got off the line before he got him out of the water and onto dry land, so we didn't get a picture of him.

The second one, however - created all sorts of havoc.

He got hooked right in the foot - actually, just through the skin, so it wasn't a horrible wound for him. The Dude brought him over to me so that I could help to get the hook out, so I laid my pole down on the ground next to my chair. He was holding the line out of the way, while I held on to the turtle and worked on getting the hook out of his foot. At the same time, I noticed that my pole was starting to jump around in the grass.

Really? I get a bite, NOW?!?!?

The hook came out of the turtle's foot and I went to put him down in the grass, and the turtle reached around and bit me on the knuckle - and then ran back to the water (yes, he ran). At about this time, The Dude noticed my pole jumping around in the grass. I grabbed it immediately and then realized that I had another problem.

The Dude: Babe, do your thing! (meaning "reel him in!")

Me: Um, you want to get your hook out of my finger first?

The Dude: Oh crap! *reaches over and pulls his hook out of my finger*

Me: *proceeds to reel my line in*

And after all of that, what did I end up with?

A carp. Woo. Hoo.

So in about 5 or 6 hours of fishing, we caught a stick, 3 turtles, and a carp. After the third turtle, we called it quits because we had to get back into town and get some stuff done. Again, not the best fishing ever, but it was so nice to be able to just sit back and relax and not worry about the kids and just enjoy each other's company. I struggled with Alex going with his father today, and sitting out there by the water while I processed my emotions really helped me to clear my head.

Hopefully we'll be able to go fishing more this summer, and even take all of the kids out at some point - I would still like to take them all camping before we leave for TMOART:12 just to see how they all do in the tent, but we'll see if we can make that happen or not.

And of course, speaking of TMOART:12, don't forget about the auction on my facebook page to raise some extra money to cover some unexpected expenses leading up to the trips. You know, like the 2 tires that I hadn't planned on buying, but I really need to buy before we leave. Stuff like that. Ugh.

The Dude found Nemo!

The Dude and I took Alex and Daniel fishing today - and as it turned out, this weekend is the one weekend of the year where you don't have to have a fishing license! We haven't bought ours yet, and were planning on getting them today anyway, but instead we saved the money and we'll get them the next time we go.

He ran into an old buddy at the bait shop.

The boys were all into the fishing for about the first 15 minutes. They just can't quite get that whole "you have to sit and be quiet" thing down yet.

They really ended up spending more time playing in the dirt instead.

We got the same fishing spot from when we went camping a few weeks ago, so the scenery was just as beautiful this time as it was before.

Yes, that is a dragonfly. On my knee.

One of my favorite views in the world.

Unfortunately for the allergy sufferers, the cotton from the cottonwood trees was thick - in the air and in the water.

The cotton floating through the air like snow

Cotton on the water and on my line as it came out of the water

So....what did we catch?

Well, I caught a tree limb above our heads - once.
The Dude caught the same branch about 3 times.

As for actual live animals, living in the water - The Dude was the only one who caught anything.

He caught Nemo. (Yes, I know it's not a clownfish.)

And he caught a turtle. By the butt. And I may or may not have whacked The Dude in the face with a stick in our attempts to rescue the turtle.

Definitely not the best day for fishing - but it was worth it!

Trying to wrap my head around this...

Remember the other day when I talked about the house? I've been kind of trying not to think about it a whole lot because I just know that my credit isn't good enough to get the financing for it. But finally, last night, I shot a message to a friend of mine who is in the real estate business - just to pick his brain. We messaged back and forth a bit today, I showed him the listing for the house, and he told me that the first thing that I would have to do would be to get a hold of my credit reports.

Ugh. Really? Do I have to look at those numbers?

So, I sucked it up and I did it.

And I was stunned. In a good way.

Granted, my credit is not stellar. I went through a really rough patch during the separation and divorce from my second husband. I was barely working and wasn't making enough money to pay the bills. I paid my utilities and bought groceries, and there was nothing left over after that. A lot of bills didn't get paid. There just wasn't enough money to do it.

Honestly, I don't think that people realized at the time - and maybe not even now - but we were beyond broke. I didn't know where my next month's rent was going to come from, because I certainly didn't have it. I was in a dead panic, trying to come up with a solution after months of sticking my head in the sand and ignoring what was happening - and then I found out about the survivor benefits that we would receive after my second husband's death. We got the first checks just days before my rent was due, and I was able to pay everything that needed to be paid - plus some - and was finally able to breathe a little bit easier.

Don't get me wrong - getting those benefits still bothers me. The fact that I get money because my ex-husband passed away is something that I don't think that I'll ever get used to. I never wanted it to be like this, but it is what it is - and it allows me to focus on the kids and what they need, and it allows me to be with them rather than working.

Anyway....the credit reports.....

My credit isn't stellar. No doubt about it. There are several things on there that are going to be red flags to any lender - but most, if not all of those things, are from that period in my life. The current stuff is all good. And based on my credit scores, my friend thinks that I might actually be able to get financed to buy this house.

Wait...what????

Me? Buy a house? Seriously??

A year and a half ago, I was on food stamps and days from being homeless. And now, there is a very real possibility that I could buy a house. Even if it's not the house that we want - even if I have to take a few months to clear up a few things on my credit report - I might be able to buy a house.

This is all so surreal to me. Never in a million years did I ever think that I would be in a position to do anything like this again. And it's really hard for me to even think about at this point - I mean, even after we looked at the house and talked about it, I didn't really think about it too much other than "yeah, that would be nice" because I didn't think it could happen. And now, I'm starting to realize that it can happen. Granted, it still might not work out, but there's a very real possibility that it will.

So, say some prayers, send some happy thoughts, cross your fingers, and maybe this will happen for us.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

On another note, I had mentioned the other day that I was going to auction off some quilts (or maybe that was last night?)....anyway, if you're interested, take a look HERE.... There you'll see photos and instructions on how to bid. Even if you don't have a facebook account, you should be able to see the pictures - and if you aren't on facebook but still want to place a bid, please contact me and we can work it out! Thanks!

A little bit of fundraising - with a twist

So as you all know, we've been planning TMOART:2012 for several months.

However, our plans keep changing. The biggest change of plans came in the form of my class reunion being cancelled. Yes, cancelled. One of the two major reasons for even doing this trip, gone. *sigh* But, we're not letting it stop us. We're just changing our intended route so that we can do a few more things along the way....or, sort of along the way.

But along with changes of plans comes changes in the budget. I had planned to stay at my parents' house for a few days, but that is not possible for many reasons this time around. So, we're going to camp at a beautiful lake/park about 25 miles away - which adds more money to the budget that we need to make this trip happen. Since the class reunion isn't happening, we might go see some friends who we haven't planned on seeing - so although we can stay with them, it's going to take some extra gas to get there.

Right now, we actually have just over $1100 set aside, and we could probably do the first part of the trip on that amount (I have more money coming in while we're on the road) so I'm not terribly stressed about it right now - except that it seems like more and more expenses keep creeping in to surprise me. I know that we have to get 2 new tires on the van before we go, and there are a few other little odds and ends that need to be done.

So here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to have a little online auction with some of the stuff that I've made. I'm going to start out today with 3 quilts that I have that are completed, and I might add more items along the way. The auction is going to be on my facebook page - if you don't have a facebook account, you can contact me directly to place a bid (and you can do that by emailing me at non-stopmom@hotmail.com) - but you should still be able to see the pictures even if you're not on facebook.

I will be posting the pictures of the quilts (and anything else that I add to the auction) in a separate album - I haven't gotten that far yet today, but I hope to do that sometime tonight, or tomorrow morning at the latest. So keep your eye out and see if there's something that you like!

Long day

So I spent the day helping my friend pack up all of her belongings so that she could move on to bigger and better things. It was a long day - I forgot that she lived in a second floor apartment, so at this point, my entire body hurts from running up and down the stairs. But, we got it all loaded up, and got her car on the trailer so that I could send her on her way again. *sniff*

We had to keep moving faster and faster as the day progressed because there was some nasty weather rolling in to the area. And of course, it started to pour down rain just as we started loading the car onto the trailer. At least we're not girly-girls, or it wouldn't have gotten done.

Wait....this is supposed to attach to what???

I got out of there about 5 minutes before the hail hit, and managed to avoid any severe weather until we got back to The Dude's house. At that point, the wind and rain started. But, we were hungry, so we took his mom and went out to eat. The storm was pretty bad - there were downed branches everywhere and trash cans littering the streets but we got there, ate, and went back to his house - and then found out that there was actually a funnel cloud about a mile from us as we were going into the restaurant. And we didn't see it. But, in our defense, we were hungry.

And now....I'm exhausted. My futon is screaming my name.

Got wood?

Sorry. I could't resist that one! *snicker*

Anyway, the boys and I got up early this morning to prepare for my friend to arrive at 8am with his chainsaw. He cut, I stacked, we raked, and we were done in about 2-3 hours.

First, some pictures from yesterday ...

And then what we accomplished today ....

All in all, not a bad haul for a couple of days of hard work - we have enough firewood to last us for a while, so now we just have to find the time to go camping and use some of it! I still have to get rid of the big brush pile, but that will take a while. I have to cut it up and bundle it, and the city will take it with the trash collection. I'm not too worried about it at this point, other than the fact that it's really ugly. I'll start working on that in my spare time over the next few days. Ha.

So tomorrow's plan is to go help a friend pack up her belongings to move, and then hopefully get some pictures of my finished quilts that I'm hoping to sell before our road trip. We need a little bit more money before we go, so I'm thinking that getting rid of those would be a good place to start - maybe I'll get at least enough money to get the new tires that we need to get before we go. Too many details going through my mind right now....ugh.

But for now, I'm going to go try to get some sleep - tomorrow is going to be (yet another) long day!