Another exciting week at the "Family Zoo"

Well, it has been a wild week this last week here. It has been hectic at work with everything going on there. A girl in our office got laid off and now we are trying to re-group as a team of 3 instead of a team of 4. It is a learning curve for all 3 of us. Then Rebecca got sick with the flu and missed 3 days and one of those days my boss was on vacation so I was the Lone Ranger on Friday. I needed a drink around 10 am, but made it though the day without one. Of course the day started off with one of the employees getting hurt and had to go to the hospital. The afternoon was a lot quieter which helped me get some stuff done that I needed to. Next week is payroll week, so it is a really hectic week for me anyway.

Alayna had a so-so week at school. She is having a lot of trouble with paying attention. We are not sure what to do with her yet. We hoped that getting glasses would help because she would be able to see, but it only seemed to make her hyper even more. Of course it isn't helping that Papa is not here at night to help her along. He has a calming effect on her when she is having trouble.

We got the Wii fit about a week ago and we have been having a lot of fun with it. I have lost 4 lbs according to it. I do different stuff every night after supper. I have had to be careful because I pissed off my knee last Sunday and working out isn't helping matters. I am trying to deal with it without going to see my favorite ortho surgeon, but am not sure if this will work. I put ice on it every night after working out - and then cry on my way to bed because it hurts to walk.

Tom is dealing with his 2nd shift assignment pretty well. His supervisor said that he is doing a really good job except he analyzes stuff too much. Sometimes he needs to take things at face value instead of trying to figure out how everything works. I told Melvin "Good luck on changing that one - he has always done that."

Kristi is working hard on her school work. She is upstairs now working on it - or so she says. I really think she is watching TV!!!

Oma has been enjoying having evening with different foods. With Tom gone we can have eggplant pie, sauerkraut and polish sausage, salads, etc. All the food Tom doesn't like. That is probably why I am losing weight - not eating a big meal at night. One night Alayna cooked Hot dogs on the roaster that I brought home from work. She loved cooking for us. Tonight she made homemade pizzas for us and we Wii-Wii'd for about 3 hours. Had a blast. Now we are watching Monsters Inc in Blu-Ray.

I really don't know what is going on with Brian. Have not seen him in a long time. I am having Brian withdrawal. I will have to get my Brian fix soon or I might bust!!

Next Saturday we are going to Kansas City for Brayden's birthday party. I am so excited to see the Independence clan since we have not seen them since the first part of December. We went shopping tonight for Brayden's last present. I think he has 4 now from us and I don't know what Oma and Kristi are getting him. He must be special!!

Hope everyone has a great week!!

a week of nights...

Well, it has been a week of Tom working on nights and I am not sure if it is getting any better. It is such an adjustment for all of us. This is the first time in about 20 years that he has worked nights and that was at Wal-Mart in the pet department when it was in Biscayne Mall. Now, for those of you who live in Columbia know that the mall is long gone and been replaced by a new strip mall. Anyhowmany, Tom is learning a lot of new things which will only help him in the future.

Alayna is coping with her favorite Papa being gone at night. My sister had a great idea (I know - my sister had a GREAT idea????). She suggested getting a tape recorder and he could read a book to her into the recorder and then she could get her story from Papa before bed. This way she could record something back to him before she goes to sleep. I think it is a great idea, so now I am going to have to look for one of them. Tonight she was using my phone and texting Papa while he was eating supper. She was sounding out the words and asking for a little help, but she was able to chat with him. She loved it.

I don't know if I told you but Kristi got a promotion at work and is now Account Payable Coordinator (I think that is the right title). With this great title came a little bit of money which isn't bad either! I am so glad that she likes her job. School is really kicking her butt this time. I think the break made her forget how night it was to do nothing at night. She had a great visit last week-end with her friends in West Plains. She and Alayna left on Friday and came back on Monday. Both of them were off for the day (must be nice).

Alayna got her first discipline report last week. She was playing with a rubber band instead of listening to the teacher. She also was screaming and yelling instead of using her listening ears. Kristi told her that this was her one free pass - next one is not going to be pretty so there better not be another one.

Oma has been busy making quilts for presents. She has this list and has been working on taking them off one at a time. This keeps her busy and she loves it since in the winter she doesn't get out much. Her shot seems to be working so far and I hope that it keeps working she is a lot easier to get a long with when she is not hurting.

I have been busy with work, it has been really crazy and stressful at work for me since we got back from our winter break. I can't go into detail but it is really been stressful and with Tom's change in hours that has not helped much.

I guess that is all for now. I am going to watch my DVR to clear out some of the recordings.

How is everyone else???

Back to work....

We all went back to work and school on Jan 4 - I don't think that anyone was quite ready for it. Alayna has been asking everyday "It is a stay home day??" Of course it didn't help that she had 2 snow days the first week back. She did a great job for Oma - we were a little concerned about leaving her here with Oma, but they had fun. Made cookies and Oma even helped her practice her letters, numbers, etc.

As you can see in my previous post - things have been really crazy at work. I can't even go into details here on everything that is changing and how it impacts my job. It doesn't help that we are a couple weeks into a new year and all the "new year" files, etc that you have to do.

Mom had the shot in her back a couple of days ago and said that so far it is working. Hope this one works better than the last ones that she has had. They seem to last about 2 weeks and then the pain comes back. Today she went to Dr. Remis and he said that everything looks OK. Just waiting for a few test results to come back. We pray that the cancer is gone for good.

Kristi had her visit before Christmas (and before her emergency surgery) with her oncologist. So far it has not progress in either direction - so it is hurry up and wait for another 6 months. This is so hard on her, waiting for the other shoe to drop and having to have surgery but she is still too young and not married so they won't even consider it unless she goes downhill. Please keep her in your prayers.

I guess I had better go...I have some stuff to do before I go to bed. I really want to make sure I am up when Tom gets home from his first night - don't know if I will make it.

Well, the first night on nights....

As you can see by my title that today is Tom's first night working nights in probably 20+ years. Don't get me wrong, he has stayed late at work, or been on trips for work, or ran into work to pick up stuff or change back-up tapes, etc - but....this is an everyday change at least for now. As of Jan 4, the job that he had at OTSCON was "eliminated" and he was re-assigned to 2nd shift stamping supervisor. Now, he has never done stamping or injection molding but is willing to try just to keep a roof over our head. Tom is a quick learner and is always up for a new challenge, but this came completely out of left field and he was not expecting it. So, now Tom's shift is 1-10pm everyday and a lot of Saturday's, and because he is salaried the Saturday's will be for free!!! Isn't he lucky!!

When Tom called tonight to talk to Alayna, she broke down and started sobbing. She wanted to go to were he was and get a hug. I had to explain to her that we couldn't run to see him every night but that he was working on being able to come home for dinner each night since we lived so close to work. It is so hard to explain to a 6 year old who adores her Papa over anyone else in this world.

I almost forgot to tell you...

Kristi and Brian are in St. Louis right now at a Blues Hockey game. They got really good seats and went with some friends of theirs - Paul and Allie. Brian said that they were having fun with he called to check on Alayna. Isn't he a sweet Uncle to be concerned about his favorite niece??? I feel sorry for them having to walk to the car after the game, but hope the excitement from a win from the Blues will help them stay warm.

I think we are in a deep freeze...

I can't believe it is this cold outside. We are at 10 degrees right now with the wind-chill -4. I have not ventured out of the house except to check the mail in a few days. I don't know what is going to happen when I have to go to work on Monday. Culture shock on several fronts....1). the cold, 2) I have to get up earlier then I have been, 3) I have payroll week coming up - my rough week.

Alayna lost 2 teeth this morning. We knew the one was ready to fall out, but was surprised when she came downstairs with two of them. I guess the tooth fairy will have to get a second job if they keep falling out in multiples. Alayna is so excited to see the tooth fairy. She wants to stay awake to give her a hug, but I told her that the tooth fairy waits and if she doesn't go to sleep then the tooth fairy will go to the next house.

Right now Tom, Alayna, and I are playing Wii. We are trying to wear Alayna out and I think we are getting close since it is after 10. I really like the Wii because it brings together the family and gets us up off our tushes and moving. We have a lot of fun with it. When we were at Tom's parents house they had a game that involved racing cows. They had a blast with it. I guess we are going to have to buy it. I want to buy a fairy one for Alayna.

About my scrapbook saga. If I got paid $100 for each page I have completed since I have been off I would be getting about $3,000 right now. I have done 30 pages and I still have 70 to go to make my goal of 100 pages before I go back to work. I don't see that happening since I only have one more day before I go back to work.

Mom has been searching all the recipes that we have to find at least one new recipe a week - a resolution that mom and I made together. We are tired of the same old stand-bys, so we are looking for something new. I am not sure how the family will take this new adventure, but we are looking for anything that will help.

I better close and head towards bed. I slept for 11 hours straight last night - totally our of character for me. I usually am awake by 6, but not this morning. I don't know what got into me. I think Monday will come way too fast!