So I haven’t been posting as often this week.  Not for any real reason other than it’s time for school to start.  I’ve been getting my daughter accustomed to going to bed at a certain time, etc.  I forgot how time consuming that is.  I hadn’t had to do it for so long because my oldest never had a set bedtime once he got into high school.  It didn’t matter what time he went to bed, he just needed to be able to get up on time for school. 

For those of you who know that I’ve been trying to move… it’s not happening for awhile.  My mother just put in a bid on a house, but the house is a short sale so we’re not sure how long that’ll take.  Then we’ll need to play it by ear.  Plans are to stay with her once she can move.

Which means, the job situation doesn’t matter.  I’m going in and doing my work, then leaving.  It’s just a means to an end.  I do need to update my website(s) and work on the other one.  But I’m having issues with my graphics program, so I’m downloading the most current version to use. 

In the meantime, I leave you with this thought.   There is a difference between humility and low self-esteem.  The art of being humble can be a fine line to walk, but those who are humble do better in their relationships as a whole.

A parallel thought, what does your behavior toward your family show them?  I realized that time was passing and I wasn’t spending enough time with my younger 2 children, so I picked up a habit I had when my oldest was the same age as my daughter.  I read 1 to 2 books to the kids each night before bed.  I want them to remember my reading to them, not my sitting on the computer and ignoring them every evening.  My kids are important to me, even the girl that was almost a step-daughter to me. 

This week, I started walks with my husband and kids every night – though tonight I went for a walk alone since we were late getting home.  Sunday I started the reading.  Kids grow up too fast, as I well know.

As for the other… well we’re doing a contest at work where they gave us pedometers and divided us into teams, and we’re supposed to see which team can get the most mileage between March 1 and May 31… so far all I’m finding is that the pedometer doesn’t always show all of the steps I’ve taken during the day, and when it does, I take a lot fewer steps than I thought.  My goal is to hit 5,000 consistently by the end of March…. which means I need to find out if I can have the pedometer replaced as I managed to break the clip somehow…. Let’s just hope they don’t consider that actually breaking the pedometer, and I won’t have to pay for the replacement.  Sighs.

So, since we got cable again on Tuesday, she’s watched Cartoon Network pretty much non-stop while she’s been awake.  Except when she does a Walk Away the Pounds 2 mile walk video with my husband… but that’s another story.  At least she’s getting exercise.

Back to my point, Sketchers has been advertising a shoe for girls called Twinkle Toes or something like that, and I keep hearing from my daughter that she wants a pair of them… I haven’t figured out how to break the news to her that even if I had the money, I wouldn’t be buying a pair of Sketchers for a 5 year old.  I just can’t see spending that kind of money for something she’s going to grow out of rather quickly.

Let’s not even mention the ad she saw for makeup for girls when we were cuddling in the recliner yesterday.  It was showing different makeup in a case that looked like a cell phone, etc.  I was at Claire’s a couple of weeks ago to look for a bag to put some jewelry in to protect it when I shipped it to my son for his girlfriend (whew, that’s a long sentence, but I can’t figure out how else to put it LOL).  While at Claire’s, I saw the makeup in cases that looked like cell phones among other things… but do I really want to buy that for a 5 year old??  I did see a couple of other things that I thought she might like for her birthday… I can’t believe my baby girl is growing up.

*edited to add: I told her that I don’t wear makeup so she didn’t need makeup, and she just looked at me and said “but it’s toy makeup”  LOL

Anyway, if you’ve made it this far, I guess my point is that these companies know what they’re doing when they advertise during the day on a channel like Cartoon Network.  They know the kids are going to be bugging their parents to buy whatever it is they’re trying to sell.  I may consider it a dirty trick, but I understand it.  I also know that I can combat it by being consistent and telling her no when she asks for whatever it is on TV.  Even if I do decide to buy it later for her birthday.  LOL

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And I’ve started writing for somewhere else too.  I signed up to write for Examiner.com as their Oklahoma City Weight Loss Examiner.  My URL is at http://www.examiner.com/x-22761-Oklahoma-City-Weight-Loss-Examiner.

My first article went up tonight.

Now, I’ve also heard stories about how the park is dangerous after dark, that there are drug deals that go on.  One time someone shot a gun off up the street at about 11:30 pm, and then ran into the park.   I just deal with that by avoiding the park after dark, and being aware of where we are when we go during the day.  I’m also very careful to lock my doors at night.  I sleep lightly anyway, so this is generally enough of a precaution against trouble.

There was an issue last Saturday night (the 4th).  I overheard one of the cops directing traffic tell someone that there had been a stabbing at the miniature golf course attached to the park.  The golf course is about a block from my house, so understandably I was very concerned when I heard that.  However, the cop directing traffic didn’t have any more information, and the newspaper hasn’t had any information since that night.

Because of the lack of information, I’m finding myself wondering how many similar incidents have happened over the years, but haven’t been published in the newspaper.

We started having Internet issues around my Birthday, so my hubby was trying to be nice and signed us up for LocalNet.  I wasn’t going to deal with dial-up, so the same day that he signed up, I cancelled the account by fax as their policy dictates. 

Ten days later, they charged my checking account for almost twice what the monthly charge was supposed to be.  Uhh unacceptable.  You don’t charge for services NOT rendered. 

I’ll keep everyone updated on whether they actually resolve this dispute, or if they ignore it like many of the others that I see listed on the BBB website.  150 billing related complaints ignored is a whole lot of complaints, and their BBB score is a big fat F.  Check out this page: http://search.buffalo.bbb.org/codbrep.html?id=5000341 (Opens in a new window).

I know that some of my posts have seemed truncated lately.  That’s because I’ve said some not very flattering things about a member of my husband’s family and I decided that I would just delete everything after I posted it.  It makes for a disjointed account of what’s going on. 

I think every family has one person that just doesn’t pull their own weight.  In my family, it’s my uncle.  It was fine when my grandparents had their farm, he helped my grandfather with chores.  After they sold their farm, he just lived off my grandparents even after he turned 40.  He hated the idea of getting a job paying what is starting out pay in northeastern Vermont.  Now that my grandmother has Alzheimer’s and is living with my mom, he’s glad he got a job.  Oddly enough, he got a girlfriend not long after that.

In my husband’s family, there’s 2.  One is his cousin, who is in jail for stealing, then trying to escape.  If you go by his letters, jail time has agreed with him and he’s trying to straighten his life out for once he gets released.  Exactly like this cousin is my sister-in-law.  She hasn’t been caught by the law for much more than child neglect, so she hasn’t had to face the music for her bad choices and refuses to see anything as her fault. Instead, I see her daughter (my neice) suffering.  It breaks my heart. 

Then there’s me.  Some days when I get so bogged down with how much I have to do at work, I long for the simpler days of living with my mom and working part time after I left my ex.  Or maybe I’m just longing for a vacation.  It has been over a year since I took any time off.

Now I’m tired enough to sleep.