Home Early due to Snow

Kyle came home early this afternoon due to the weather.  It was icy last night and snow, hail and raining throughout the day today.  Many other schools, government offices, and daycares were closed or closed early today due to the weather. 

Shannon has to work tonight, so I am worried about him having to drive to work.  He's hoping to leave at least 3 hours before he has to be there just to be on the safe side. 

A long weekend and then some...

It's been a long four days with Kyle home from school.  I can't wait until he goes back to school tomorrow.  I have a few things I want to catch up on.  I am looking forward to my quiet time to be able to work on the things. 

Today, I decided that I needed to get a few things from Walgreens, so I took Kyle for a walk.  He loves going with me to the store.  He holds the reusable bags for me while we walk to and from the store.  He loves helping me overall.  I use reusable bags just so I don't have to carry 5 plastic bags (or however many) I would have if I didn't use a big reusable bag.  It just makes it easier to carry my purchase in one or two bags. 

It was nice to get out of the house, even though it was still cold!  Kyle loved it too. 

I bought a few things with coupons such as toothpaste, toothbrush and toilet paper.  I also bought the store brand of draino because our bathroom sink and tub have been slow draining!  It's been a nuisance!  The store brand worked pretty well considering.  I am always leery about using the store brand of a product, but I compared the ingredients and they were pretty much the same except one or two ingredients.  The drains work at least 85% better than they were before.  So, I am happy. 

Snow!

It ended up snowing yesterday evening and all throughout the night.  The school district decided to close the schools for Friday and let everyone know yesterday evening.  I found out on Facebook from a local radio station's status update!  There were other people who commented saying they received phone calls (we never received a call).  I was planning on watching the local news station's website for updates if I didn't hear anything.  We do not have local TV, so I have to depend on the internet for news and updates. 

Since Kyle was home all day today, I did get a few loads of laundry done.

I am not sure what I will be doing this weekend.  I'm thinking about making soy candles!  I still have 3 more batches to make!  I am still burning candles from the first two batches I made in December.  I just love soy candles!  I also have a plugin tart warmer, which I use for any leftover wax from burned candles or from my tarts that I make from the leftover wax from when I make the actual jar candles.  I have the plugin tart warmer right next to my desk, so I turn that on while I am online.  It's nice to add scent to the room. 

Snow Tonight

We are expecting snow tonight!  I am not looking forward to it. 

Shannon reminded me that they may cancel school tomorrow.  I wish they didn't have to, but according to the forecast, it looks inevitable.  I really enjoy my quiet time when Kyle is at school. 

Shannon was called in to work from 10pm until 6am tonight.  This is the third night in a row due to someone calling in sick.  It just means more hours for us.  Shannon is trying to pay down his credit card that he racked up over the holidays. 

He worked at Best Buy today from 10am until 2pm.  He had to stop at the sporting goods store to find some warm socks or toe guards.  His shoes are sneakers and they get wet in the rain.  Which made me realize that he needs work boots, especially since they keep his feet dry and warm. 

I also reminded him to pick up a little sewing kit since he has a few buttons that needed to be sewn back on.  He already had needles, so he bought white thread.  He only has two work shirts for each job (his security job and Best Buy).  One of his security job work shirts had two buttons missing on the cuff, so I "sewed" them both back on. 

Plants, snow, iPad update

I received my new air plants on Saturday!  Once I opened them, I put them in water to let them soak for about 30 minutes.  I think the best way to water my new plants is to soak them a few times a week in water for 30 minutes.  Misting may not be enough for them.

I am also downsizing on my houseplants as I hope to have more air plants since they don't require soil.  Soil is messy! 

We had our first snow fall yesterday!  Kyle loved watching the snow fall!  He just stood by the windows and looked outside.  They were predicting 1-3 inches of snow.  This morning, we woke up to snow covering the grass, rooftops, and cars!  Thankfully, today was already a scheduled day off from school for Kyle so they didn't have to miss any school.  We'll see about tomorrow.

I am warming up to my iPad!  I see it as a quick way to turn on the computer to access the internet.  I use it in the living room, if I don't want to turn on my desktop and sit in a separate room from Shannon. 

On vacation

We left for our vacation yesterday and got as far as Brunswick, GA where we stayed the night.  We all got up early this morning and left the motel around 8:30am.  We made it to Florida soon after and arrived at our hotel a few hours later.  We were able to check in early and put our luggage in our room.  Shannon and I took showers and then we went for a drive.  The hotel is located in Shannon's old neighborhood.  We drove down Shannon's old street to see where he used to live, saw where he took karate classes, where he had his first kiss, where he went to daycare, etc!  We then went to Walmart to buy some food, swim suits (for Kyle and myself), and a few other things.  Walmart was so busy!!!

The hotel has a little water park in the middle of it so hopefully I can take Kyle down to the pool.  They have some slides and a couple of little pools. 

The weather is nice, it's in the 70's here.  It's about 30 degrees warmer here than in North Carolina.

Rainy morning

Kyle had therapy this morning.  While he was in therapy, Shannon dropped me off at Walmart and he went by the post office to mail something out.  I bought another pair of Levi's jeans, I love my last pair that I had to have it in another color.  I bought some art supplies for Kyle.  He now has washable markers, a little paint set, and a huge pad of white paper to use. 

I needed some whey protein and decided to try a different brand based on the customer reviews.  Plus, if I like it, I won't have to order whey protein online.  I found a few other things we needed and stopped by the Garden Center before checking out.  They had a display of plants on 50% clearance but I didn't see any that I wanted. 

Update from his new teacher

We received a call from Kyle's new teacher this morning.  Last week, he switched to the other preschool class with more students.  She wanted to give us an update on Kyle and also a schedule change.  She said he walks in a line without needing assistance or being reminded to do so.  When he gets off the bus, he walks next to the teacher and this morning he tried to reach for her hand and she told him he had to walk on his own, which he did!  He tried to feed the fish this morning and she said "apparently that didn't work out too well."  LOL  I happen to call the teacher back during nap time, she said they have music playing and it had whistling in it and Kyle started whistling too!  He will also stay on his cot but he won't take a nap.  It sounds like all the kids love playing with him and talking to him.  I am glad he is able to hear all the kids his age talking!!!!

Also, every Wednesday is early release day for his class.  He will now be getting out of school early on Wednesday at 11am and we have to pick him up, but the bus will still take him to school that morning. 

The temperatures suddenly dropped this morning because it was 47 degrees.  I tried putting Kyle's jacket on him and he refused it, so I put it in his backpack.  I wore a jacket outside and he still didn't want to put his on even though I tried 3 times while we were outside.  He was shivering and his teeth were chattering and he still didn't want his jacket on.  I don't even know if his jacket still fits him since I bought it last year. 

The weather is changing

With season changes, comes changes with the weather.  It's been raining for the last few days.  Unfortunately that means it's back to hand washing our clothes.  I washed Kyle's clothes since his are easier and less back-breaking.

I am not sure if we'll have to go to the laundry mat later this week, but it looks like the weather will let up in a few days. 

My in-laws recently bought a new washer and dryer set earlier this month.  Their washer wasn't working right and it was an old set anyway.  We had to front them the money to buy the set and they will pay us back when they get the money.  Even though the set was over $1400, I am not impressed with it.  It's energy efficient and has a "wrinkle shield" option and that doesn't seem to do anything special.  I have more wrinkles in my clothes even when I don't use the wrinkle shield.  I take my clothes out as soon as the dryer is done and my clothes come out wrinkled!  There are other things I am not impressed with either.  If it were me, I would be happy with a set that's half that price.

Fourth of July evening

Kyle got his haircut this evening by my MIL.  Kyle sat on the kitchen counter and he was able to see himself in the big mirror on the wall.  Of course, he didn't like it and kept squirming around.  Afterwards, I took him outside to brush the hair off his clothes, face, and neck.  He ended up wanting to run around outside.  He was running around smiling and touching his head!  He loved the weather and I think he realized he hasn't played around outside in weeks.  It was perfect beautiful weather and the sun was still out.  He played with his tricycle for a bit and then we pulled out the hose for him to play with the water.

I am wanting to get my haircut.  Hopefully this week or next I can get it done before or after one of my shifts at work.  I have been thinking about getting highlights again, I haven't had that done in a few years.  I think it will look good for the summertime.

Over Two Months Ago!

Monday was our weekly laundry day!  Since the weather has been so hot and horrid, my MIL wanted to get an early start.  With the humidity, you start to sweat after being outside for a little as 1 minute!  Plus it gets hot and stuffy at the laundromat!  I had three loads of laundry this time around, dark clothes, light clothes, and towels.

The other day, Shannon announced that his unemployment isn't set to renew, because Congress hasn't passed the bill to extend unemployment benefits.  Of course his first thought is that I should go back to work!  That made me mad...why me?  He needs to go back to work too!  Then again, I thought, "what the heck do you think I've been doing all this time?"  I've been applying for jobs for him for months now.  He's gotten calls but he isn't calling them back because he doesn't want to go work at a hotel again! 

The other day, I realized it had been over 2 months since I last heard from Speakability.  So I took the time to call and the person I needed to talk to happened to answer the phone.  After I had told her my name, she knew exactly who I was and where we lived.  She had the nerve to ask if we were still interested in having a speech therapist [for Kyle], and I thought, "DUH, why else would I be calling?!?!"  She said she would call with a name [of a speech therapist] tomorrow morning! 

I've been comparing the different online colleges that offer "studying at your own pace" and am now reconsidering Ashworth College.  I already have an Associates Degree from them.  When I looked at the classes for a Paralegal Studies Degree, I saw that I have already taken 9 of the classes!  I contacted the school to see if any of my classes would transfer over to the Paralegal Studies Degree.  Just as I thought, I would only need to take an additional 11 classes, which equals to 2 semesters and 1 class!  I told Shannon this information and he says we don't have any money.  Yet, he hasn't called the bank to cancel/dispute a charge for a subscription we didn't authorize/renew.  In other words, he doesn't mind paying for things we don't use!  So that makes me upset.  Also, he's wanting to get a psychic reading from the same psychic his parents have used in the past. 

For the last few days, I have been writing like crazy at hubpages.com!  I joined some of their affiliates to earn some extra money.  If anything, it's been fun writing different articles and publishing them online.

Out of the Ordinary Monday

This is Kyle's last week of school.  I got him off to school with no problems.  He doesn't seem to like riding the bus or just doesn't want to go to school.  His teacher said he cries a little bit in the morning and then he's fine the rest of the day. 

Shannon had his LSAT test yesterday, the instructions said to be there by 12:30pm.  He left around 10am, since the test location was in Winston-Salem, which is about 45 minutes from here. 

Soon after Shannon left, my MIL and I went to the laundromat to do our laundry for the week!  This time around I had 4 loads of laundry!  I had to wash our clothes (darks and whites), towels, and bedsheets.  It took about an hour and a half to do all of our laundry, which is about the average time for us. 

When brought Kyle home from the bus stop, I made him a little "afternoon meal" since he usually eats and drinks when he gets home.  My MIL wanted to go to The Home Depot and then to the park for a walk.  Kyle loves riding in the car, so he loved it.  When we got to The Home Depot, I tried walking around the store with him, but he wanted to sit in the cart.  I ended up getting some toilet bowl cleaner, I bought the Martha Stewart brand of toilet bowl cleaner.  She has a line of cleaning products that are safe for the environment.  They are safe to use around kids, which is all I care about.  It seems to work pretty well and doesn't have a stinky smell. 

Our trip to the park was nice.  The weather was heating up for some reason, even though the rest of the day was sunny, but with a cool breeze!  We pointed out the squirrels to Kyle.  When he saw them, he would run towards them.  I am not sure if he wanted to play with them or try to catch them!  It was so cute!  The squirrels would run towards the tree on the opposite side so we couldn't see them and then run up the tree.  Kyle didn't know they would run up the tree so he would run around to the other side of the tree and look confused.  Then we pointed up in the tree and he saw that they ran up the tree every time.  He had fun trying to chase the squirrels!

Shannon got home around 5:30pm or so, much earlier than I expected!  He said the test was much harder than he anticipated!  He said it was intense and he felt rushed!  He said he felt like his brain was fried and it looked like the other test takers had the same look.  His test results will be available in about 3 weeks! 

To Walmart We Went

Shannon and I went to Walmart this afternoon before Kyle got home from school.  We needed to buy a fan for our room.  Kyle's been unable to sleep as well through the night because it is hot!  Since Kyle isn't sleeping as well, we are suffering too from him being up!  The air conditioner is on, but with our room upstairs, it is still hot!  The last few nights, he'll wake up with a sweaty head!  Last night his whole entire body was hot.  Shannon had to remove his pajamas just to cool him off.  I also wanted to buy Kyle some shorts and short sleeved shirts for him to sleep in.  We picked out 4 shirts and 4 short pants that can be mixed between each other and they can be worn outside or to bed.

This week, Kyle has been crazy for boca burger patties in a hamburger bun!  So I bought more 100% whole wheat hamburger buns and boca burger patties.  We needed more goldfish crackers because Kyle loves them so much. 

I also bought one more pot for some of my plants, I wanted to transplant them into soil.  I think these plants will thrive in soil.  My plants that are in the Miracle Gro soil already are doing really well!  

After we were done shopping at Walmart, we stopped through McDonald's and ate at home.  It is always nice to go "out" without Kyle!  It's odd, but it's nice to have some alone time.

In the 70s

What a difference the weather is today, compared to the rest of the week!  Today we're in the 70s, yet on Monday and Tuesday we were in the upper 80s.  It's definitely a nice change!  It's overcast and a slight breeze. 

I called Kyle's speech therapist last week and she advised me to call the main office later this week and talk to a particular person.  She is unable to take Kyle on because her caseload is already full!  I called the office and left a message, hopefully we can get Kyle a new caseworker and get him going on speech therapy! 

In February, we tried re-applying for food stamps.  It turns out, they needed additional documentation from us.  At the time, we were unable to provide one piece of paperwork needed.  Today, we finally received what we needed to send to them.  However, we were unsure if we could qualify for food stamps since we just received a nice chunk from Uncle Sam, aka the US Treasury.  I called our caseworker to see if it would affect our application and she said it wouldn't, as long as we could prove that it was indeed from our taxes.  I gathered all the paperwork needed and had Shannon fax them to DSS (Department of Social Services).  Now we wait to see if we are approved

Second Day of Spring Break

Kyle is feeling better these days.  Yesterday, the weather was nice.  I took Kyle outside to play and I took the time to soak up the sun.  I put sunscreen on Kyle and myself anytime we go outside.  There were times when the sun went behind the clouds so it wasn't as hot.  Shannon and I had a chance to sit in the shade, meanwhile Kyle still played near us.

In the evening, Kyle wanted his Dad to throw a soft frisbee, which Kyle loves!  Sometimes he'll want us to throw a softball to him.  He'll wait until the frisbee or ball falls on the ground and then he'll go to pick it up.  Then he runs it back to us and runs back to where he was standing to wait for us to throw the frisbee or ball again. 

I am not looking forward to today's weather, it's supposed to get up to 89 degrees today! 

New Vitamins, Ahoy!

I ended up ordering a different vitamin for myself. This time I bought a "vegetarian food-based" vitamin. The other vitamins that I bought a month ago were making me feel sick to my stomach soon after taking them and throughout the day and evening. Just to be sure, I even skipped my vitamin yesterday to see if I still felt sick and sure enough, I felt fine!

This past weekend, I gave in and bought a different vitamin. I was trying to wait until my current vitamins were all gone, but the pain was unpredictable, sporadic, and sometimes unbearable. I also started feeling dizzy at times.

I found a brand that I liked but after reading further, I realized that it wasn't vegetarian. I finally found the vitamin at a great price at vitacost. I plan on starting my new vitamins tomorrow!



We had quiet weekend. Saturday was bright and sunny, it got up around 76 degrees! Sunday was the opposite, it was overcast, windy, and gloomy. It even rained!

Kyle went to school on Monday! We went out to the bus stop and waited...and waited! It never came. The bus comes between 6:56 AM and 7:09 AM (the latest). Well, we waited there until 7:15 AM-- just to be sure. As we were walking back home, Kyle started crying because he was expecting to get on the bus and go to school! We ended up having to drive Kyle to preschool! Apparently one of the kids got sick on the bus (threw up), so they had to take him back home. I guess the bus did come by, but we had gone home already.

Kyle has school tomorrow and Shannon and I are planning on going grocery shopping while he's in school. Kyle has his hearing test on Thursday! I am not sure what to expect or how they plan on "testing" him on his hearing. I guess they will go by his reaction to sound?

School and Taxes

Shannon started college again earlier this month! He's already back in the groove of the school schedule. He is tentatively scheduled to graduate in July 2011. He's also looking at taking the LSAT test, which he needs to go on to Law School. I saw on the LSAT website that he can apply for a "fee waiver" in order to take the test, so we would have to go that route.

Kyle went to school for the first time in a week! As soon as he saw his school bus, I saw a little smile form on his face! He was so excited to get on that bus! The weather got up to 70 degrees today. Kyle doesn't have any short sleeved school shirts. It's definitely time to get him some Spring/Summer friendly clothes. The teacher sent him home with a copy of the incident report from last Friday. It explained how Kyle got hurt. It said that, "Kyle was on a tricycle, and another child came up behind him and PUSHED him on the bike. The bike went forward and Kyle fell face first onto the gym floor." The report also came with a note from the teacher saying she was glad to have him back at school!

Kyle was also sent home with a letter from the school. It explained that his school has teamed up with a local dentist to offer an "initial dental exam" free of charge to any students who sign up. The exam includes x-rays, cleaning, and fluoride. They also give us an option to have Sealants added to his teeth. I was all for this, considering Kyle has never been to a dentist and it is free of charge. But, Shannon and I were concerned that Kyle wouldn't sit still and he wouldn't understand what was happening. I tried calling the office to ask them how they would handle a situation like that and if they would put Kyle to sleep while they worked on him. I was unable to get a human on the phone so I looked up their website. Their website stated that they serve adults and children 0-13 and also offer "Sedation Dentistry." I filled out the permission slip to have Kyle go to the dentist but I attached a note asking for him to have the sedation dentistry!

I received my W-2 in the mail today! Our taxes are done and e-filed! We're getting a nice chunk back from Uncle Sam!

The weather is beautiful today. Shannon took Kyle outside to play this evening. It's supposed to reach 76 degrees tomorrow!

Another Round

My in-laws informed us today (I wish they had given us more notice) that they are doing another round of using the septic tank cleaner in their septic tank! Which means we have to conserve on the water for 24 hours. Since the last time they used the cleaner, we were limited to doing one load of laundry per day. I have only done two loads in the last week and a half!

I am taking the weekend off from working out. I did 30 minutes of pilates yesterday and my body is paying for it today. I am sore all over!

When it was time to pick Kyle up from the bus stop on Friday, the bus was already there waiting for us. Apparently they arrived early and they tried calling us. They said every time they tried calling us, they would get the fax machine noise. My MIL and her friend were trying to send a fax during that time! It sounded like the bus had been there for at least 10 minutes! I felt so bad. I am going to give the bus driver our cell phone number. I don't have the voicemail set up on it, but they can always text us too (since many people have cell phones these days).

We went to Walmart yesterday to pick up a few things. I talked to one of my former co-workers and he said that I could come back to work there (he already asked for me). It made me wonder if I really want to go back to work there. I've been thinking about taking the certified nursing assisting course. I guess North Carolina doesn't have a requirement of how long the course has to be, because this course is only one day! Once I take the course, I can take the State tests to get certified. There are actually several places that offer the "one day/fast track CNA course." Typically they are taught by one or two Registered Nurses, it sounds like they do this on the side for additional income. I have also looked on the local hospital website and they are currently hiring for CNAs.

Lately, we've been letting Kyle play on the computer. He plays around on the Nick Jr. website. They have games, art, videos, and radio of all their cartoon shows. As he plays, he's learning eye-hand coordination, he gets to hear music and cartoon characters talk to him. He loves it!

Our forecast is calling for a "winter mix" on Tuesday, which usually means snow and/or rain! Hopefully it won't be so bad to where Kyle will miss school on Wednesday!

No School Again

There's hasn't been any new snow fall. It did rain here and there today. It's supposed to rain tomorrow as well. I don't think we'll be getting anymore snow until the weekend.

We just received a call that there is no school tomorrow! Surprise, surprise! I have a feeling there won't be school on Friday either. Either way, I am kind of glad because Kyle is still sick. He woke up this morning at around 2:45 AM, but that's only because he fell asleep at about 7:45 PM! He's been coughing and still have a running nose. He also felt "warmer than usual" to the touch, but I am not sure if it was a fever. I have him on cough medicine today.

Last night, I placed another order on Amazon and my order came to $0!!! I saved up enough gift cards to pay for the order. I ended up buying another workout video and coconut oil. I plan on using the coconut oil for my hair and skin. It's supposed to be really good for your scalp, softening your hair, and making it more healthy. I can also use coconut oil as body lotion and it's good for those with eczema! Another use for coconut oil is as deodorant, I am curious to see how that works. I bought a new workout video because I need a little change from my current workouts. Not that I don't like my current workouts, I just need a little change here and there.

I also found Winsor Pilates workout videos on youtube! They are entire workouts! So I plan on going back to Pilates here and there!

Snow and No School

We had plenty of snow over the weekend, we got about 8 inches. They canceled school for Monday and all the city, state, and county offices are closed as well. There are a few more snow storms in the forecast for this week! School may be canceled this whole week, from the looks of it.

Kyle is sick. All day yesterday he had the sniffles, sneezing, and stuffy nose. A few hours after he fell asleep last night, he woke up to coughing and coughing up liquid. I could hear it when he tried to swallow that it wanted to come back up! He had to struggle just to swallow.

I finally got a little more insight from Shannon, regarding his training. From what he was telling me, his training isn't anything special. I just wasn't seeing the point of him being out of state to do "on the job" training! He wasn't doing any special corporate training or specific training that needed to be done only in Kansas City. He's not in any meetings or training courses with corporate people either. The other new managers are tired of working 10 hours a day cleaning rooms. All the training they got was watching an instructional video and follow a check list on cleaning a room. There is also one manager saying he wants to quit once he gets back to North Carolina. It just sounds like all this "training" could have been done close to home, instead of spending hundreds of dollars per manager to fly them out there AND keeping them from their families for 12 days!!! Not only that, they had them work on Saturday, so they only had ONE day off last week!!!!

Shannon was able to get a month off from school. This will give him one less thing to worry about while he is training and we are finding a place/moving.