The Kid will no longer be called The Kid. She is now the Little Lady. I know, confused? Don't be. She came to me yesterday and said she thinks she started. Yeah. STARTED. My beautiful 12 year old baby has started her period 2 years before I was prepared. My niece started hers at this age, too. I don't understand why 12 year olds are having periods. I didn't start mine until I was 14. Most of the girls I went to school with didn't start until 14 or 15 either.

I keep thinking of the olden days, days when America was still in the pioneer stage. Women were married by the ages of 12 - 14 and having kids then, too. So maybe somehow we are going back to those days. History repeats itself all the time. Although it still baffles me as to why girls are starting their periods at the age of 12. The Mom would say it's all the hormones in the milk we drink or some oddball thing like that.

Ok well. I've got a shitload of homework to do and it's a damn good thing that I am off work today and tomorrow. I am going to need all the time I can get. Laters.

Ok.. are you enjoying this layout? Remember, it'll be gone when Christmas is over.

Hope everyone has healthy and joyful holidays. Laters!

Ok so the family got together for the holiday. We all went to my sister's house. She made ham and potatoes and all kinds of food. I didn't eat though. I wasn't really hungry being as I've not stopped grazing since the office party.

We were playing cards though. Which is usually fun. I won the first hand and almost won the second hand. After that I was screwed. I only won another small pot and that was it. Ohwell, no big deal. A friend decided my gambling habit was worth it, so he was fronting me change to continue playing. I tried to give it back, but he wouldn't let me. Known the guy for years. My cup of change is still sitting over there on their kitchen table though. I'll have to wander over at some point and grab it or just leave it there for next time.

I got accosted and taken to the bowling alley. They couldn't force me to bowl, though. I dislike bowling. Bowling hurts my wrists worse than being on a computer for 16 - 20 hours a day. I sat there and talked and joked though, so it was all good. I had a Fuzzy Navel, woohoo! I love that drink. It's my favorite. I keep thinking I really need to buy some peach schnapps and make them for myself at home.

I got some cleaning done today. I did the dishes and swept and mopped the kitchen floor. I tried to vacuum but I had to tear it down and clean it out in order to do so. That took forever because I had to blow dry the filters. But I finally got to vacuum. I still have to tear apart the bottom though. I have to figure out where 'tab number 1' is so that I can take the cover off and clean the roller. I think I might have to replace the belt, but I'm not sure since I can't get the cover off.

Things have been fairly quiet today. The Little Lady slept at my sister's house last night, which was great. Tonight she's sleeping over at the Mom's house. Not sure how that happened. I'm glad though, it helps me get cleaning done. I have a load in the washer that I need to throw into the dryer.

I have to do some shopping but I don't like going out the day after christmas, or any other holiday for that matter. There are a lot of crazy people out there, I swear. So I will do the shopping I need to do after work tomorrow. Ugh. Work. I have to go back tomorrow and I don't want to.

Still grateful I have a job though. I'm off. Laters.

The Little Lady has not been home all week. She's been with the Mom. Tonight she'll be staying with a friend. I have been hoping that I would get to go celebrate new years eve with adults, but unless this trend keeps happening, it's not likely.

I'm just way too lucky right now for it to keep holding. If necessary I could probably talk her into staying with her cousins and then doing something together on New Years Day. Who knows, maybe I'll get lucky.

The Little Lady forced me to come over to the Mom's house last night because she wanted me to open the present she got me for christmas. She bought me body lotion and body soap that smell so pretty. I'm going to take a nice steamy shower tonight and use them.

Otherwise I've been sitting here in the Cursed Cube at work on Lunch. I've been reading some articles on different things. I'm also freezing my ass off for some reason. I think I am gonna get another cup of hot chocolate here shortly. I hate being cold.

On another note, I am ready for school to start again - almost. I saved 20 bucks on the digital tablet I needed by getting it at Circuit City. So far from what I've done (playing with it) I think it's a pretty cool piece of hardware. I like having a mouse again and the pen is interesting. Haven't set my buttons on it yet but I have time to figure out what I want them to do.

I ordered the software I need and the book I need. I am supposed to have a beginners html book, too, but I didn't order it. I've got two html books at home if I need them and from what I saw of the pages they have available online, I shouldn't need it.

Ok, I'll be right back. I'm going to get hot chocolate before I freeze all my goodies off.

Ok, so now I'm getting warm again. Replied to two emails and back to the post I go. Unfortunately I have to go back to work now. Perhaps I'll post again this afternoon if things slow down.

Laters.

So yesterday was an extremely lazy day. We didn't even get dressed, which is always a good thing. I enjoy lounging around in my robe watching tv, snuggling, and napping all day. So the kitties are getting along quite a bit better. Quite funny, I fell asleep on the couch Saturday and Honey's Kitty was at my feet and Velvet decided to lay on me, only a few inches away. Today they were both in our bed, Velvet in the far bottom corner and Honey's Kitty as far opposite as he could get from her. It was adorable and if the bedroom hadn't been completely a disaster area I'd have taken pictures.

The Little Lady is in trouble again and I am not going to discuss the details here. It's a rough time with her sometimes and I don't know why that is. She's normally a good girl and I usually don't have to worry about her doing the stupid things that some of the other kids tend to do. Today she did. I don't blame her because adults were involved and lied and then she didn't tell me about what was going on.

Trust has been ripped away and will have to be earned again, the passage will be rough but I'm sure she can pull through.

Laters.

Since I've started reading my books voraciously again my cat, Velvet has decided to retake her place on my lap constantly. This has begun to include me being on the laptop and it's kind of hard to have both the laptop and a cat on your lap. There just isn't enough room. So it's hard to do anything when she wants to curl up on me to sleep. One arm she has her head laying on and the other arm has to figure out what angle to be at in order to hit the keys right.

So if anyone has any advice on how to type while there is a cat and a laptop on your lap, feel free to let me know!

So the Little Lady and I will be heading to Alabama here either tomorrow or the next day. My mother has passed away, completely unexpectedly and so we will be going to see her to say goodbye and visit with my sister and her family for a few days to get everything we can under control.

So the Little Lady and I head out at a little before 4 Am. We take our first flight at 720 to Charlotte and then the next flight to Birmingham to arrive at around 430pm CST. We will be gone for 9 days and 8 nights, returning on the 21st.

Between family and school I do not know how often I'll be available online. I am off now to finish packing, which includes the laptop.

So the Lttle Lady and I are in Alabama until the 21st and so far things have been going pretty good. No vehicles have broken down, no one has gotten seriously hurt and we even got to have a good time last night. We said our goodbyes to mom and then said our goodbyes to our Aunt and Uncle from Oklahoma as they headed back home. So far things have gone quite well out here. The weather has improved from the 'balmy 34 degrees' that the pilot told us when we arrived.

We made the decision that we are going to split mom up, I know that sounds off, but really just listen and you'll understand. I am going to take some of her ashes back to California with me and let her go in the ocean, my sister is going to spread a little of her in her backyard and the rest is going to go to Ohio and be buried next to dad in a year or two when we can afford to go. We know she's no longer residing in her body any longer but it seems the right thing to do. Mom never had anything against cremation and eventually wanted to be.

All right well I am off for now. I need to check in with school. Laters.

Well mom, wherever you are, I hope you are happily enjoying this day. You had a rough life raising your two kids and it's not like we did much to make it easy on you. Thanks for being there when we needed you and yelling at us when we needed it. Give Dad my love. I miss you both.

I had a beautiful mother's day today. I went out with Honey's mom, his sister couldn't come due to feeling ill, so we missed her during our outing, but we still had a good time. I bought a new plant, orange peonies, they are so pretty and catnip seeds. I got a beaded bracelet kit to make a bracelet for myself (which is turning out to be a lot more work than I thought it would, props to master beaders out there). All in all it was a great day. We walked through a rose garden (professionally grown roses, all different kinds and hybrids) and opted to have lunch at McDonald's instead of waiting in line with a ton of people for a regular restaurant.

I came home to a clean kitchen and living room, which is exactly what I wanted and ask for every year (birthday, mother's day and christmas) and for the first time, have gotten. I guess the Little Lady asked her friends at school what their mom's wanted and it just so happened they all said the same thing: a clean house!

So I got what I wanted and I hope all the moms out there that take the time to stop by and check in on me got what they wanted as well. Happy Mother's Day, on this oh so beautifully created Hallmark day, but in reality, every day is mother's day! We are mom's every day of the year and we work hard at raising our children to be respectable and knowledgeable about the world around them. It's more important to raise them properly than to have a huge house and expensive cars. It's the most important job in the world and the hardest because kids come up with new ways to cause trouble, forget to use the common sense we teach them to use and get bombarded with materialistic views of life each and every day that parents have to contend with.

So for those of you mom's out there who do take the time, thanks for raising your kids to be respectable and a prospective member of society. Have a beautiful day.

So summer has been here for a whole 5 days (school for the Little Lady ended on the 30th) and I was quite on top of my chores. This week things are falling apart because it's that time of the month again. Yesterday I was so fatigued that I passed out on the couch and didn't hear a thing for like 3 hours. After that I was still tired but decided to read instead. My book was very heavy feeling even though it isn't heavy at all. Today I am feeling a bit better but nothing is going to get done again. My fault, I know. I should put money aside for Midol but I don't. Perhaps I should look into something a bit more natural to help me with my issues. Fatigue and some emotional distress (a touch of depression and sometimes more)... shouldn't be hard to find something to counter them.

So the Little Lady is having her going away party tonight, featuring brownies. Mmm.. brownies sound so good right now. Anyway, she is abandoning mommy and going to Ohio and Alabama for the summer. She'll spend a month and a half in Ohio and then a couple of weeks in Alabama. She is flying to Ohio and will be getting a ride to and from my sister's in Alabama.

I have no idea what we are going to do while she is gone, but I'm sure we'll figure something out to do.

I also have to figure out information regarding the pay out of life insurance policies in California. In Alabama it turns out that anything over $3,000 has to go through probate court and you have to have a lawyer to represent you (so with a $10,000 dollar policy, you have to have a lawyer - cheapest is between 3 and 4 thousand - then court and filing fees) and then with the costs of the funeral home there'd be nothing left. I have to find out if there is anything like that stupid law in California. I asked Honey's mom but she didn't know and I've done some Googling but I don't think I am using the right search terms. I thought of asking someone who I worked previously with but being as she no longer works in insurance I don't know if she can give me any good information. I've thought about calling local insurance agencies and asking who I would call for such information. I just don't want to take up someone's time when I am not a customer though. We always had issues with people calling and asking questions and legally we couldn't answer anything because they weren't our client.

Well I am off to go work on the portfolio some more. Try to anyway, I feel like crap. Laters.

So the Little Lady has arrived safe and sound in Ohio. She raved about how much she loves Continental. I did as well when I flew with them. I didn't read anything about them having planes grounded due to the false inspections so I trusted they were really going through with them and not bribing the inspectors to look the other way.

I signed her up for the One Pass Elite (according to their website I had to since she was going to be an unaccompanied minor) and she got paged to board the plane before anyone else and was also the last one off. She got her meal for free and they watched two movies, one which she slept through. All in all, she had a great flight. Nothing like what she went through with US Airways (not that they were bad, but she ended up with horrible ear issues and was in pain for all of those flights).

She also told me that it started storming, which it wasn't supposed to storm until today, as soon as she stepped off the plane. She was safely delivered, in one piece, and I am happy about that.

It also turns out that my oldest niece decided she didn't want to be alone in Alabama so she decided, if it was ok with the 'father-figure', that she would come up to Ohio and stay with him and the Little Lady. He was fine with it and I know darn well that if they cause any trouble they'll be sent home. It'll be hard to cause trouble at his house since there really isn't much for them to do other than swim in the creek. The other house has all kinds of neighbors and kids (the one we rented years ago that he is now remodeling) and they could get into trouble there but I hope not.

With all of the kids being in Ohio for most of the summer, who knows if the Little Lady will even want to go to Alabama. She may decide to stay in Ohio instead and that's fine with me. For those of you who are traveling by plane this summer, be careful and have fun!