Howdy *waves*

Wow, this has been a crazy couple weeks. We have some MAJOR life changes around these parts that i will write about later. I have not gotten to bed before two am for the last 3 weeks. So much in the brain that even the melatonin will not do the job it normally does. Right now it is 2:30, even if i go to bed early i am still awake 2-3 hours later. I need to take a notebook to the other room so i can go and write my thoughts and make the lists that need to be made because this is so huge that i need the lists or i will definitely forget something big(my biggest problem sleeping....thinking i will forget something, i just HAVE to think of everything, no room for errors right now). If i came downstairs then i would really not sleep. Boy; that is a genius idea that just came to me. At least i will be close to my bed, on a awesome bed a few feet away to help me be in sleep mode soon as i am done writing because this is exhausting.

So, it was my birthday 2 weeks ago (35) and my mom came down from BC for it and also to see her dad and her partner's mom who are both getting up there in age.

We were BUSY every day, we had a schedule, i am serious, we had to. We did not have much downtime. We had a bit of a break right after my birthday because she was going camping with her best friend from childhood. She lost her partner in April and it was his birthday the day after mine. She was going to pick my mom up that morning but i told her that was silly, she could go with her after my party, it would give them more time and there was no reason for her to drive another 40 minutes 12 hours later. I am really glad my mom was able to be here for her friend. My mom had just had surgery when he passed away (sudden heart attack) so she could not be here for the funeral and it happened right before we went to Vegas. They had fun camping and were out there all by themselves and it was definitely needed.

I had a great birthday and had my party on the Sunday (7th) which was the actual day of my birthday. I have never had a party on a Sunday before but it was important to me that my husband be there and if i had it Saturday he would only have had time to eat, shower and then have to go to bed........after not getting home till 8:30 or later. I didn't think it would be fair to do that to him. It worked out great and most of the people i invited came anyways as 1/2 were busy on the Saturday. It was important to him too, to be there. He asked what i wanted....i said a cake and a box of hamburgers. He was like seriously, that is all you want for your birthday? I said yup, we both just got new vehicles so i am going to be practical. He bought me hamburger and i had to make my own burgers LOL. They are much tastier though.

The time flew by, i think that was the fastest trip we ever had and she was here for 9 days! I went to the city 3 times (to pick her up, take her back and once for a "psychic") and also to another small city a bit farther away to go visit a couple of her sister's and an aunt. I think i drove 500 km my birthday weekend.

We are pretty funny, her and i get along the way my husband and i do. We have weird relationships. It is hard for me because i am not a baby, i have my own house and my own way of doing things. I was also the one who did the majority of the cooking/cleaning in the house before i was even a teen so i am just used to doing everything. I left home at 17 and haven't really lived with my mom since then. She stayed with me for a couple months when she left her ex partner and then again when she left her ex husband but that was not very long. I don't remember if she tried to be the "mother" in my house those times lol.

My mother has her own way of doing things. She comes into my house with the mindset that she is my mother and does things her way which drives me crazy. I mean yes, she is my mother, but at her house it is her way too. LOL. I have a hard time adjusting to someone turning my house completely upside down, everything is backwards lol. We have completely different styles, and different ways of cooking now. She taught me how to cook but i do things much different than her. She also likes to use a lot of pepper and garlic, neither of which i can handle, but yet grew up with. I love her though, and when ever there is something going on in my life i share it with her, well mostly, i keep 90% of my relationship with my husband to myself (that is for everything and everyone). My mom is also pretty young, she is only 53, so she was also a friend most of the time too. I did have some major resentments i had to get past when i was an adult at not having very good teenage years due to me being the "mother" of the house for many years but we worked past that. I feel that way once in a while now but just barely. We talk on the phone every single week and talk on fb and text in between.

We are trying to enjoy our new vehicles, but some people see that we have two new ones and make the comments that we must be rich........not even close. It bugs my husband more than me. The payments are not crazy and our mortgage is cheaper than everyone i know, and the ones who rent as well. I mean it is dirt cheap for the times and area. My husband works hard, he has also almost completely stopped drinking, has cut back on lots of things to have his truck. He knew he would have to before he bought it, i laid it all out. He wanted it for the last 9 YEARS, that is a long time longing for something. He mourned the one he sold just as long. I made the somewhat joke that he better be the perfect husband (i say somewhat because it was only partially tongue in cheek and partially what i meant) if he was to get it. In all honesty, i think it has made him happier, but he will be happier in the future when he has a bit of play money more lol.

He has recently started driving it all the time and so far is able to afford it on his own without incurring credit card debt or anything. His major loan is finished in December so he only has 2 full months to go until then. If you want something bad enough and have the means then why wait??? Life passes by so fast and i don't want to be that person who waited for something they never got. I have seen it happen to many, that is also why i like to travel. I love my husband's truck the most though, it is fully loaded while mine is bare bones, but hey, at least i have a good reliable one, right? I have been really working on the seeing the silver lining in things and i am doing pretty good with it. Self-reflection is hard.

As for my car, i pay 50-60 more bi weekly than i did before because we split the payment on the blazer but it is 20$ cheaper bi weekly than the blazer was overall and the fuel is definitely cheaper. My car is great on gas and not expensive to fill. People also do not see how hard i work either. I got a second job so i can afford this car. This is the first time i am doing it completely on my own and it feels great. I work 7 days a week now, and some weekdays i get to come home for supper then go do another 3+ hours at the rink. It is hard on me, i have a hard time standing and being on my feet (the 6 hour Saturdays are a killer on my back, i can not move for a full day after, seriously and that is with medication) but i like the job and it is what i need to do right now to get what i want.

I still do not have 80 hour bi weekly's combined but i tell ya, this is exhausting. Today we had to go shopping and give the dog a haircut after work (which is a huge job in itself), i did not stop until 9:30 pm, i got off at 4, and we didn't eat until 9. I am still going strong though. Let's see how i do after tribal days at the end of February where i will be working 10-12 hour days with 1000+ people in the building LOL.

This last week at my day job has been very stressful. I have been without a functional computer since July 23rd when mine crashed while my boss was at Sea on his sailboat without cellphone signal and his son who is in the navy was at Sea as well lol. I could not print anything and if i stopped using the computer it had to be hard booted after 2 minutes, i had no start menu and nothing worked except my gate and my main program, and that was just barely, but hey, it still worked but that was the way it was daily........for 6 full weeks. I now have a computer, but that will be a post on it's own it is now so long lol.

The one woman quit at the other location, she was no good anyways, but she did payroll. The bosses son is back from his Navy training right now and waiting to get posted so he has been in at that office some days re training the girl there because when i went out there it was very apparent she was doing major things wrong, i pointed out a couple things i could not let slide and she got a bit offended. I told her that it was NOT her fault, i know she was not trained properly ( i tried to stress that and so did my boss) but she still took it personal that i said something to him......for a week or two, but not anymore. I did not push, but i wouldn't be any kind of manager if i let it go and she was not pleased about that. I will not compromise my integrity for anyone, any longer. My boss really likes me, he knows that he can go weeks on end without having to contact me because i have things under control. He boosts my confidence every time i talk to him.

I gave her the chance to listen to me first and she did not want to so i didn't have much of a choice. I am on the management team and she is not and i don't think that was clear to her, she probably thought i was just an employee as well which was part of why she would be upset but she is doing better and i am glad because she is a nice lady. I always try to talk to the person first, but you can't make them listen/understand if they do not want to. I also have that problem with the teens at my 2nd job but the boss there today told me that i am allowed to correct them as needed. It is not something i enjoy, but i am VERY much customer service oriented and a bit sticky for the rules. I am polite with them though, so that helps.

So anyways, Michael did payroll last week and i had more in the bank than i expected. I thought maybe he had made a mistake on my taxes or something and i had no pay stub to show what was going on. He has a lot on his plate right now and forgot to print it. He finally sent it today......and i got a raise, a substantial one. They quietly raised my pay by $1 without telling me, i asked for 5 more hours a week on Friday (after payday) without even knowing about that. If i get the extra hours then that will be $200 more a month between the two. Add that to the couple hundred i am already adding and i will be doing good. I have not found i have had to scrimp too much yet but i have adjusted my spending, just by a bit though, questioning things as if i really need them, and that is never a bad thing. That totally made my day.

I have two more posts in drafts, one about work and one about my son/gram. They are both big posts, i will post them soon, if anyone is interested. If there is lack of interest i might finish them but keep them in drafts. I thought the vehicles post would get some comments and while it had lots of hits there were very few comments and i do not want to feel disappointed like that, especially with my major news that ties into these posts (no, not pregnant but it is just as significant). I like people, i like to talk to people, and i like discussions. Talking to myself or blogging to myself is not so fun. There have been a few anons lately, which i am ok with,but it would be nice if you used nicknames if you do not want to use your names so that i am not so confused when responding lol. I don't know if you are followers who are afraid of using your normal handles (i can handle it, i promise) or if you are completely new people around here, either way let's have some love!

Now that i know i can post pics from my phone i might do a post or two of just pics, bear, my nails, my birthday (i had 3 cakes this year!!! all of them were different and on different days and i only bought 1!) just for a fun post.

How are you guys doing???