still waiting....Seems the 7 minute tour of my house must have been so exciting for our appraiser...he's yet to submit an appraisal...like there was that much to see?? Apparently, it's a 7 minute tour, a 1/2 hour to write the report and a week to make me crazed. I actually am holding up okay...I'm still a little nervous...but nothing to be done about it. I have been fighting off whatever it is going around the school (had a 2 year old in my office with a fever of 104.2) and I feel like a deflating balloon. To top it all off, "Aunt Flo" is early...just tuck me in bed for the weekend and don't wake me til Monday please...and then call me in sick...LOL.

The children in my class have Spring Fever something awful. They just want to play and go outside and ignore me lately. 6 weeks and counting. I will say the Kinders have really caught onto the concept of subtraction quickly...we're about a week ahead. Next week I'm going to combine addition with subtraction and see how they do going back and forth between the two. Then onto time for 2 weeks...simple measurement for a week and 2 weeks on money. The last week is reserved for fun, cleaning and general goofing off. We take down the room, the kids bring bathing suits and we head outdoors and wash out chairs, some of our toys and shaving cream the tables and desks...shaving cream cleans EVERYTHING off....paint, dried glue, eraser marks...even crayon. I just love shaving cream days....

That's about all that's going on ... not terribly exciting. I'll post again when I hear more on the appraisal. I've run some numbers to see how much it will change things for us. WOW....I could ALMOST quit my job. Course, we'd have no money for extras and that wouldn't be any fun...and as much as I complain about some of my kids to my husband and friends...I would miss MOST of the "little angels". So I think I'll keep on keeping on....

Doing the last minute kind of stuff one tends to do before "company" comes over. The appraiser will be here Monday afternoon and today Bill and I are cleaning out our room, even under the bed...EEK~ I think there is about 10 pounds of dust and animal fur under there. I may shave my dogs for the summer! I decided that the hallway between my kids room needed to be painted and knocked that off earlier today. I have a corner cabinet that needed to be repaired so I did that and am going to prime and paint it sometime this next week...though I AM tired of painting. Tomorrow we finish the garage, we've managed to put it off long enough.

We're hoping to hear back on the appraisal by Friday. I am not stressing though as I figure we've done all we can do...the rest is in God's hands.

Oh and if there is anyone out there who reads this and has managed to survive a teenaged daushter....please leave some advice. I honestly can't take mine any longer.

Your Linguistic Profile:

60% General American English

20% Dixie

15% Upper Midwestern

5% Yankee

0% Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Final update on the house...Painting is complete. Blinds replaced in 3 windows, will do more next month...they aren't cheap. Fence is up and the gate has all of it's boards again. The garage is 3/4 cleaned out. Have some laundry to finish. Tomorrow the gates get new latches. One of the grandpas in my classroom has an employee who can install the faucets I purchased...and will give me a discount. Soooooooo all that and a thorough cleaning the next few days and we're all set. Please pray that the appraisal is where we need it to be....I am a worrier...and while I trust God to see us through...there is still a nagging little voice saying "Yabbut". I KNOW I need to let go and let God...sometimes though, that is easier said than done.

and one final thought... hold tight those who are true friends. Let the rest go. They drain you emotionally and spiritually. Why waste concern and caring and expend your energy on someone who doesn't care enough to appreciate who you are and what you are about? To those of you who are reading this, I consider you friends...and I love and value each of you. {{HUGS}}

Cause everyone else is...
Name four books on your bookshelf:
The Stand
Interview with a Vampire
Trixie Collections
Outlander
Name four DVDs in your collection:
Save the Last Dance
The Matchmaker
Some Kind of Wonderful
The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill and Came Down a Mountain
Name four things on your walls:
A Group graduation photo
Family pictures
a cobweb in the upper corner
a God awful paint job from the previous owners.
Name four things in your wardrobe:
Black Pants
NC State Shirts
A floral dress I've been waiting to wear and can now that it is warm
capris
Name four artists in your music collection:
Bonnie McKee
Katie Melua
John Mayer
Daniel Bedingfield
Name four real life stores you shop at regularly:
Target
Albertson's
Costco
Michaels
Name four things in your bag
Wallet
Pen
Tape Measure
Mentos

UPDATE: The living room is almost complete. We have to do the upper 1 inch and the lower 1 inch. We ran out of light, gosh darn it~The front door has a few little spots that will need to be touched up, but, it looks like the doorknob can go back on tomorrow afternoon. I am still covered in paint...And look forward to a long, long hot shower in a few minutes.

Bob, the junk hauler, is coming back tomorrow at 1 p.m. to haul off an old ratty couch, a washing machine box filled with trash, an old mattress to a twin size bed, a bean bag and whatever else I can fit onto his truck. That will almost take care of the garage. I have laundry to do still but, it is all sorted and just awaiting me to get busy.

Bill has decided we need to put new blinds in the living room so tomorrow we go back to Lowes...if I remember correctly it is an odd size and we will have to have them custom cut....grrrrrrr.

I'm so sore...I keep telling myself this is worth it...that while it isn't a huge amount of work, it will look nice and fresh when the appraiser comes. I know that technically none of this will make the house anymore structurally sound, it will, in some way, leave an impression. I just want that impression to be a fresh and inviting one. Besides, my Honey-Do list, has gotten A LOT shorter the last few days.

I am covered in paint splatters and my shoulder is throbbing horrificly...but, the bathroom, the entryway, the shared dining room wall, the hallway and the front doors are all painted....and in some cases...primed and painted. I think I'm stopping for today. I'll just clean the kitchen and do laundry tonight and paint the living room tomorrow. Monday's work will include working on the gates and the fencing. Tuesday the closets will get cleaned and reorganized and the bedroom will get cleaned and rearrainged....Wednesday, I am just gonna lay around and relax. The REST of my list can wait til Thursday and next weekend..

OH and No, I didn't feel the earthquake though it was a 5.1. Guess I am used to them :-)

new verticals up...done
door knobs replaced....done
Old back fence pulled down...done
piles of wood from old back fence stacked.....done"
regular blinds" measured for replacement....done
garage cleaned ALL out......half done
Someone hired to haul off wood and load of junk....done
new faucets purchased.....done
new faucets installed.....not yet....still reading up on how to do it..... :-P
front door sanded, primed and painted....tomorrow
Paint picked out for bathroom and living room ... done
Friends asked to come over for a paint party....done
actual painting.....Sunday

feeling things are getting quickly accomplished....PRICELESS
~there are some things money can't buy, for reappraisals......it might help though ~ ~ Say a prayer that the appraisal value is within $20,000 of where the estimated value is....the difference is how quickly I'll be debt free.... who knew a homes price could almost TRIPLE in 7 years??

Today is almost FINALLY over. It's been a long one. We've been down two staff members at work with no subs in sight...which means NO ONE else had better not come in. That in turn means I have been dragging my butt to work the last few days feeling like absolute garbage (for want of a stronger word ;o) One of the teachers will be back tomorrow..and I should call off and stay home and try to shake the "cold" that was so "nicely" shared with me. However, I am too much a slave to my job and unless I am running 101 or higher...I'll pop tylenol and go in.

Bill and I have been busy trying to get the house ready to appraise. HOPEFULLY we can wait until next Monday to get it done. Tonight we purchased and installed two sets of vertical blinds over the patio doors, new door knobs, spackle and putty that I have been fixing the walls with, new towel bars for the bathroom and are deciding tonight what color paint to buy for our bathroom, the formal living room and (time willing) the family room and the front doors. I've arrainged for someone with a big truck to come over Friday and haul off junk and the old fence boards that we'll stack up tomorrow. AND I bought another $50 worth of new fence board to continue redoing the fence. Anyone have some free time this weekend and want to lend a hand?? !! BAG !!

And to anyone who knows about trying to make repairs with a spouse....send positive thoughts our way please....we tend to start to grate on one anothers nerves doing projects.

AAAARRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!

and now ~Back to your regularly scheduled reading~

http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com

How can you not do this? It's just a click and 10 seconds out of your day. Please click the above link to feed an animal in need...Thanks to Aleta for sharing this on her site.

~AHA~Found it. Now I can make things pretty again...YAY me~

I swear at one point I could pick colors as I typed...Where did that feature go??
not much to report...I haven't felt well this past week...Bill was nice enough to share a rotten cold...and it comes with a headache that doesn't quit. I have blown my nose til it is sore and I really don't want to blow it any longer...but as I am so stuffy, I HAVE to blow it. I am not supposed to use decongestants due to it can interact poorly with my thyroid replacement...so stuffy I'll remain.

My Mommy came up for the weekend to celebrate Beverlee's 12th birthday yesterday. I can't believe how quickly she is growing up. We had just a low key family dinner. She has asked that instead of a party we go to Universal Studios again...and take a friend with her. Since we are all free...I'll only have to pay parking and for her friends entry into the park. We'll have a day of fun...and it'll be cheaper than paying for a "real" 2 hour birthday party in the long run. Kids parties can be quite expensive. Here in California, old fashioned "home" parties are almost non-existent. It's spend, spend, spend. Parents honestly seem to try to outspend one another. Specialty tea parties, renting out entire ice and roller rinks, even renting out clubs with a non alcoholic bar for teenagers. It's nuts I tell you. MTV has a show called My Sweet 16 that showcases enormous and outrageous parties for teenaged girls. We're talking $50,000 to $150,000 parties. Yes, I'm serious. I told my oldest her party will be more like the redneck version. A Costco cake, 20-25 people in our backyard, with a helium tank for balloons and streamers from the 99 Cent store. Even if I had the money...I wouldn't spend it like that.

I am seriously far behind in my Jix reading. Maybe this next weekend, Sunday, I can do some catching up.. I have a lot to do around the house as we have an appraiser coming over to fill out a 13 page report as we are trying to refinance the house. Ya'll pray for us won't ya?? Our lives could change dramatically if we are able to refinance based on the pre-estimate of the house. We would actually have a fair amount of money left at the end of the month...instead of month left at the end of the money. Refinancing at the amounts in the good faith estimate means we can be DEBT free(with the exception of the mortgage) in as little as 18 months. If Bill does overtime, even less time. Considering that is a source of stress for me, I would welcome the change immensely!

free enneagram test


Profile Summary for Enneagram Type Nine
Healthy: Deeply receptive, accepting, unselfconscious, emotionally stable and serene. Trusting of self and others, at ease with self and life, innocent and simple. Patient, unpretentious, good-natured, genuinely nice people. / Optimistic, reassuring, supportive: have a healing and calming influence — harmonizing groups, bringing people together: a good mediator, synthesizer, and communicator. At Their Best: Become self-possessed, feeling autonomous and fulfilled: have great equanimity and contentment because they are present to themselves. Paradoxically, at one with self, and thus able to form more profound relationships. Intensely alive, fully connected to self and others.

Average: Fear conflicts, so become self-effacing and accommodating, idealizing others and "going along" with their wishes, saying "yes" to things they do not really want to do. Fall into conventional roles and expectations. Use philosophies and stock sayings to deflect others./ Active, but disengaged, unreflective, and inattentive. Do not want to be affected, so become unresponsive and complacent, walking away from problems, and "sweeping them under the rug." Thinking becomes hazy and ruminative, mostly comforting fantasies, as they begin to "tune out" reality, becoming oblivious. Emotionally indolent, unwillingness to exert self or to focus on problems: indifference. / Begin to minimize problems, to appease others and to have "peace at any price." Stubborn, fatalistic, and resigned, as if nothing could be done to change anything. Into wishful thinking, and magical solutions. Others frustrated and angry by their procrastination and unresponsiveness.

Unhealthy: Can be highly repressed, undeveloped, and ineffectual. Feel incapable of facing problems: become obstinate, dissociating self from all conflicts. Neglectful and dangerous to others. / Wanting to block out of awareness anything that could affect, them, they dissociate so much that they eventually cannot function: numb, depersonalized. / They finally become severely disoriented and catatonic, abandoning themselves, turning into shattered shells. Multiple personalities possible. Generally corresponds to the Schizoid and Dependent personality disorders.

Key Motivations: Want to create harmony in their environment, to avoid conflicts and tension, to preserve things as they are, to resist whatever would upset or disturb them.

Examples: Abraham Lincoln, Joseph Campbell, Carl Jung, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Grace, Walter Cronkite, George Lucas, Walt Disney, John Kennedy, Jr., Sophia Loren, Geena Davis, Lisa Kudrow, Kevin Costner, Keanu Reeves, Woody Harrelson, Ron Howard, Matthew Broderick, Ringo Starr, Whoopi Goldberg, Janet Jackson, Nancy Kerrigan, Jim Hensen, Marc Chagall, Norman Rockwell, "Edith Bunker" (Archie Bunker), and "Marge Simpson" (The Simpsons).

Well THAT figures~

Have you ever wondered which hurts the most; saying something and wishing you had not, or saying nothing and wishing you had?

I don't know how I came across this little piece...but it was asked by a 14 y/o. Sometimes I don't think I give teenagers, specially mine, enough credit.

Deleted as it screwed up the rest of my blog~

Apparently I am 100 Proof...Vodka to be specific...but when I tried to post here, some html tag line was broken and sent my entire blog into some foreign code. The funny thing is, I am not a huge drinker. I have an occasional Strawberry Margarita...tequila and I don't mix. I have Canyon Sunsets, Pina Coladas and a drink that my fave bartender makes. A cross between a Mai Tai and Sex on the Beach...he calls it...Tied Up Sex...and I absolutly 'dore them.

Thankful for the weekend....was feeling a bit stressed at work this week. It's registration time and the parents always wait until, quite literally, the last minute, to bring in their paperwork. Nothing like almost losing yours child's place in our school. We only have so many spaces available...where do they think we'll put them...on the roof??

We open enrollment to the general public Monday...and we will fill up quickly. Always do. I know for a fact my class will get 5 new students sign up no later than Moanday afternoon...lol...I just read what I typed..Moanday...I like it...seems apropos....I'm leaving it and may begin using it in my everyday life. Giggle!

My sister is visiting...if you want to call it that. She came Thursday....I was working. She was here yesterday...I was working. She's be gone today...when I am not working ....as she is headed north for a dog show. Back tonight to sleep at Hotel Charly. Not much visiting going on. Plus...she keeps shushing me, in my own home, cause she puts her kids down at an early hour...then we have to be super quiet cause "If they wake up...I just don't know what I'll do." Oh well, means for the last few nights I've been in bed earlier....reading.

And yes, I am in a grumpy, grouchy, pissy mood...does it show??