Chatterbox Thread-Cmon in and Jabber! Everyone is Welcome!

[staley7580]

Kelly, my husbands company is on workshare.. Its a program through unemployment where if they work up to 20 hours a week, they get supplemented by unemployment. That way they are getting paid for 20 hours from their employer, and 20 hours from unemployment.. I dont even know if they have that in California, but have him check with his boss and see if thats an option.

 

[kelmac284]

Thanks Megan. I will have him ask but I am pretty sure they don't do that here. I WISH they would. That would be so awesome if they did!!! But usually the way they have you fill out the forms is in 2 week increments. They ask you if you have looked for work and make you fill out however many hours you DID work and it goes by a formula. If you make over a certain amount for that week you don't qualify for any benefits. And it goes by the GROSS not the net which really sucks cuz obviously after taxes you don't get even HALF of that. So that is why I said it is better if he just doesn't work for the week cuz then he qualifies for like 500 bucks which he normally brings home like 900 a week in the best case scenario although lately he has been bringing home anywhere from 700 to 200 a week depending on the job he works and how MUCH he works. It is really stupid. Certain jobs pay less and then if he is laid off for a day or two. Try budgeting when you NEVER know how much you are going to have to work with each week. It sucks!! But anyway if he works more than 1 day he "makes too much" like I said and doesn't qualify. It is REALLY dumb and like I said I just wish his bosses would stop doing this. Either don't have him work at ALL or have him work the whole time but this one day here one day there crap really sucks!

Of course now I am REALLY peeved at him cuz he has been staying up really late and then this morning I got up at my normal time and he slept in and his boss called to tell him he had some work for him and since he missed the call he got someone else. GRRRRR!!!

 

[MotoXPrincess99]

Loving all the pictures in your trip report!

I love them too!!

Morning and happy Wed!!

Sarah loving your trip report!! Makes me really excited for next year and I hope it works out that we can do it!! As the others have said LOVE all the pics!!!

Thank you all for reading my trip report! I've got many more pictures to add. I hope to finish up Day 1 today.

 

[MotoXPrincess99]

Do any of you watch Wipe Out? DBF and I love that show. Well on Saturday at the ESPN Zone in DTD they are doing an open casting call. I want DBF to try out! I don't know if I can talk him into it but I think it would be fun.

 

[sameyeyam]

Hello,

I went to my hip hop class last night. I did a lot better this time because I was more comfortable and I didn't focus so hard on trying to copy her. It was a lot easier and more fun. Towards the end of class I felt a bit dizzy and nauseous. I drank water but it made me feel even more nauseous. Finally, the teacher told me to go to the bathroom to put a wet paper towel on the back of my neck. Luckily there was a nurse who just happend to take the class. She told me that I looked pale and she asked if I felt dizzy and nauseated. I told her yes and she told me my blood sugar was low. She asked if I had eaten and I said I hate lunch but that was it. She told me not to skip meals again and I felt sick because I was burning calories on an empty stomach. The water made me feel worse because it was empty calories. I went to buy an orange juice from the vending machine but I only had a $5 bill. The front desk didn't have any cash at all and couldn't give me change. The girl at the front desk gave me a small piece of candy to try to help. On the way home I stopped and got something small to eat and just felt a lot better afterwards.

I never had that happen before but I'm not going to do that again. Even if I don't feel hungry, I should still eat something small. I was thinking of maybe getting some nutri-grain bars or some quaker oats bars or something.

Other than that, I did pretty well in the class and I did dance more after I washed my face but I felt like I was going to puke.

Not good. At least all is okay now.

Glad you feel better now. I have problems like that and have to eat several small things throughout the day. My hands will start shaking really bad if I don't eat and then I get really weak and light headed. It doesn't happen often, but every once in a while I get busy on weekends and forget to eat bfast and lunch and before I know it, it's 2pm and I haven't eaten a thing. That's when the problems begin. During the work week I'm on a schedule, so I don't have problems.

Thanks gals for the well wishes! Back from work! I just went in and did the payroll taxes and got the heck outta there. Had to do them cuz they are due tomorrow. Then I ran up to CVS real quick to get the pics off my camera as I had some going all the way back to July LOL. I had our party at my cousins, first day of school, soccer and Katy's party so it was getting pretty full and I wanted to get it done. Then when I got them all printed out and got home I found out they shorted me five pics . Oh well. I will have to make sure I have them all next time!!

Anyway glad to be home and I am feeling better finally. Not 100% but WAY better than yesterday thank goodness!!

Alison and B I think you are right it might be the weather changing or school or what have you. I know Shelby said half her class was sick and sneezing the other day. UGH! I guess it starts!

Anyway Rochelle that is good you are enjoying your class but I agree you should def eat a bit of something first. I found that if I don't eat at reg intervals it sets of my migraines. That among every other trigger in the world LOL but that DEF does it for me. It makes it really hard when I am trying to lose weight cuz when I try to cut back on eating I get a MASSIVE headache! But I guess yesterday was the day for the pukey feelings LOL. Glad we are both feeling better!!

Sarah that is awesome you are doing a TR and will be anxious to see your pics!!

Well I am going to go take a nap I think!

Have a good one all!

Don't forget it's also quarterly taxes due...I had to deal with those yesterday. Sheesh, talk about kill the messenger. Our tax CPA prepares the estimates and I have to deliver to my bosses. Seriously guys, don't complain. Yeah, I know it's a lot of money, yeah I know you don't like Obama, yeah the economy sucks. But don't complain to me cuz it's not my fault.

wow, everyone was chatty this morning!
The cold rages on, this time with a fever Nice!

Or maybe I just masked a low grade fever before with my usual motrin dose in the morning? Didn't take it today, too busy hacking up a lung and got side tracked. mmm yummy, lungs, want some?

Kelly, that sounds like an EVIL migraine! Glad you feel better.
Pix, eat! Puking and Passing Out is not the coolest new Hip Hop dance move! It's so yesterday retro, not the cool kind of retro

Too funny hauling a trampoline on a little truck. We see people drive by occasionally that we go .. uhhh geee that doesn't look safe? As they drive by with a mattress barely strapped down to the roof of their sedan, fluttering in the breeze and attempting to take off like some giant bird in flight.
Somewhere buried in my parent's albums is a picture of the delivery of the first home put in on their lake property. The road was narrow two lane with lots of hills and blind curves ending in a one lane dirt road as it approached my parent's driveway (also hilly, curved, unpaved and very narrow).

When the house was delivered, there was nowhere for the trailer to turn around. The delivery team had to back it in the entire way from the highway to the resting place on the property. Several painstaking miles of slowly navigating this extra wide, extra long load with dips, hills, curves.

Thankfully it was delivered in the fall, never would have worked in summer as the population increases with everyone out at the cabins. At that time it was only my parents and two other families on the road year round.
I lived out there for my senior year, hated every minute of it. I felt so isolated and cut off from everyone, 45 minutes to town. Personally I think my dad likes it out there because he is isolated, no need to interact with anyone. My mom, the social butterfly, hates it more now that she is retired and has less chances to "escape" .. I so wish they would move! Little scary as they are both in their 70's now and my dad needs hands on help for everything.

We are slowly turning into town. When Walmart opens up about 2 miles from my house, well then that's the beginning of the end. Oh well, we are still in the county and doubt if the city will ever annex our hill. They checked into it and providing water would cost them about $2 MD per mile. Not something a tiny town wants to do. Apparently sending water up steep hills is very expensive and our hill is notorious for having water shortages. So for now still a 2 acre minimum and not a ton of homes. But at the bottom of the hill it's starting to look a lot like civilization. Six more years until DS graduates and we will most likely semi-retire; do a lot of traveling, etc. Haven't decided if we will sell the house or not. Will decide when the time comes.

I started my Trip Report. The link is in my signature.

I will try and check it out today.

 

[staley7580]

I need a vacation!! Whos with me?? ANyone?? Anyone at all?? Not that I could afford it now, but I swear I dont care anymore. I think I am running away and moving in with Alison. KIDDING!!

 

[funnygarcia]

I need a vacation!! Whos with me?? ANyone?? Anyone at all?? Not that I could afford it now, but I swear I dont care anymore. I think I am running away and moving in with Alison. KIDDING!!

Oh yes, let's go invade!


I want a vacation from this lingering ugh-ness. Or maybe it's just the rain making me feel bleh! I like rain, the sounds, the smells, being cozy inside, it's better than snow! Today I'm having a harder time enjoying it. This too shall pass...

Sis was very kind and played postman for me. I have no need for groceries, but she still does.. she swung by and picked up a packet of forms to mail off to the county. Here's hoping for a quick turn around and start up of medical quickly! Applied for SNAP (food stamps), not that we need ANY groceries but it will help tide us over and allow me to hang onto my money until slow as molasses Social Security finishes their process. Once the deposit occurs, we would not longer qualify.. but it's the impending sense of doom of "oh crap what are we going to do?" if they take yet another month. The good news is the longer wait means lots of back pay. We plan to pay up our rent in advance, hopefully enough to last thru until tax return time.. and pay up in advance again.

so yeah.. I have no money for vacation either.

 

[staley7580]

Oh yes, let's go invade!


I want a vacation from this lingering ugh-ness. Or maybe it's just the rain making me feel bleh! I like rain, the sounds, the smells, being cozy inside, it's better than snow! Today I'm having a harder time enjoying it. This too shall pass...

Sis was very kind and played postman for me. I have no need for groceries, but she still does.. she swung by and picked up a packet of forms to mail off to the county. Here's hoping for a quick turn around and start up of medical quickly! Applied for SNAP (food stamps), not that we need ANY groceries but it will help tide us over and allow me to hang onto my money until slow as molasses Social Security finishes their process. Once the deposit occurs, we would not longer qualify.. but it's the impending sense of doom of "oh crap what are we going to do?" if they take yet another month. The good news is the longer wait means lots of back pay. We plan to pay up our rent in advance, hopefully enough to last thru until tax return time.. and pay up in advance again.

so yeah.. I have no money for vacation either.

We are having poo weather too.. I am feeling all kinds of blechy today. I a tired.. No idea why, the babies sure werent. Took them three tries to finally understand NAP TIME! I hope Social security hurrys up! For us, I just went down to the DSHS (welfare) office to apply for food stamps and they got me on that day. I took Kaylee with me and she was all freaked out. WHAT is this place?? We ended up getting next to nothing, so I dont know why I even bothered. Oh well. I keep applying for a part time job, just to get us through.. But cant seem to get anything. You know, because I have all this extra time for a job!

 

[eatmypixiedust]

Hello,

A friend of mine invited me to attend a funk class with her at a local gym. I said: "Sure, why not!" and thought it would be similar to my hip hop class. The teacher didn't show up and instead, they had this crazy substitute teach who did not speak English well at all. When she spoke it sounded as if she had marbles in her mouth. The whole class just stared at her in silence like: "abuhhh?"

Next thing you know, she turns on Latin music and starts moving around real fast and crazy and doing some pretty raunchy moves, such as grabbing her booty and all that. My friend and I are laughing along with another friend of hers. We did try to keep up but it was hard. My friend's friend did really well though and she dances well.

She was supposedly teaching Latin Zumba only it turned into crazy hoochie mama dancing. I mean, she was just doing all sorts of crazy things.


In the end, we just gave up and just sat on the ground and watched others attempt to keep up with her. It was so nuts!


I ended up getting a free trial for 2 weeks so I can take the class again (this time with the actual teacher). The sales guy I talked to was saying : "OMG, I peeked in on the class and was thinking WTH is she doing? That's not zumba!!" He told me she is actually belly dance instructor. That explained a lot.

 

[funnygarcia]

It would be a pain in the booty to go to the office, I know we would get expedited benefits but I'm okay with waiting a few days for them to process it. The office is in St Paul, we may be in a St Paul suburb.. but there is no direct bus from here, only to Minneapolis and transfer to another bus.. very long trip! Just to sit around for hours to wait our turn.

In 2012 the light rail line between Mpls and St Paul will be complete
Slightly shorter, more comfortable trip than the bus.

Not sure why but our county does not have multiple service locations, my sis is in a different county (she lives just 2 miles from us).. that one has extra locations, serves less people.




Thank you Pix!!!
I get such a kick out of getting surprises in the mail

Too funny with the Latin Funk belly dancing. I'm glad that you will have an opportunity to take a different class, hopefully with the right teacher!

I was cranky, tired, sore today. Had a cranky sick teenager under foot and a crabby dh to deal with when he got home. Thankfully the day is almost over, cranky crabby be gone!

I did manage to do laundry,wash dishes, and make a decent meal (with long breaks in between each task).
Hooked on watching Hoarders on Netflix, it gets depressing to watch and I change it out with something mindless silly .. but I can't stop watching. You hear of the trash houses and think "just clean it up" but after a few episodes you realize hoarding is a mental illness. It won't magically get better in just a few days with a therapist and organizer crew.

 

[staley7580]

Isnt that show crazy?? I cant watch it. Makes me feel all claustrophobic just watching it.

I have started my first "for sale" outfit today. Its just a minnie mouse stripwork jumper. but still Im all nervous because its for someone else to buy. Crazy. Julies BOYFRIEND is coming over Friday for dinner. Cant wait. I had to promise that we wouldnt embarrass her. Like thats even POSSIBLE. Ooopps.. Sorry. didnt mean to BREATH.

 

[funnygarcia]

I had to promise that we wouldnt embarrass her. Like thats even POSSIBLE. Ooopps.. Sorry. didnt mean to BREATH.

 

[kelmac284]

Morning and Happy Thursday all!!

Gosh all the troubles everyone is having UGH! B I hope the SS comes through quickly. Shane gets VA money and I know we had to wait FOREVER for that whole thing to go through and then he hardly gets ANYTHING for his disability and we are supposed to get a cost of living raise which is a whopping 5/month more every year and now the last couple of years we haven't even got THAT because of the stupid economy. So I feel your pain. On top of it we had custody of stepdaughter for 10 years and dh was always afraid to try and get child support but then after all the crap her mom pulled her finally did it and we ended up getting a judgment for almost 800 a month. Should have done it a lot sooner!!! We had to pay for her braces and just everything for years with NO help whatsoever. Well we got the judgment all right but then of course she NEVER paid. The whole year leading up to when she turned 18 I think we got all of about 4 partial payments and now she is over 18 and it is in arrears and they say it will never go away but this woman is an RN for god's sake and she couldn't even pay for her own child. SCUM!!! She owes us close to 7,000 in back child support that I seriously doubt we will ever see. Oh and get this now that it is in arrears she only has to pay it back at the rate of 26 bucks a month. COME ON! She was supposed to pay 800/month when it was ongoing but now that the ongoing is over and she NEVER paid it when she owed it she can get away with only paying less than 30 bucks a month!!! STUPID! We could SURE use some of that money now but of COURSE we will probably never see a dime.

And speaking of money shane is STILL not working but I finally convinced him to file for UE yesterday so hopefully something will come of that although the last two times he did it he ended up working a day or so and got like 100 bucks. SO not even worth it and it took like 3 weeks to get it and he was back to work by then. STUPID. I am afraid that his ongoing claim expired and if he has to re-file this week may be considered another "waiting" period which means he will get nothing! Who knows. Plus his boss asked him to work Saturday and he told him NO cuz he had our soccer game. I was livid and told him to hell with the game that work comes first but he claims that if he works Sat he will just be off next week and he is not missing the game only to be off next week. ARGH! I don't know if this is true or not but I was NOT happy with him after missing the call yesterday and then NOW refusing work regardless of the reason. GRRRRRR

Anyway he claims he is going back tomorrow but we shall see. Haven't heard anything yet and even if he goes back that doesn't mean he won't be laid off again in a few days so I am just holding my breath. Soooo annoying!!

BTW thanks Allison for remding me about the quarterlies and I actually looked that up but ours aren't due till the end of Oct. The third quarter ends end of Sept and then they give you the next month to pay them. Cuz I JUST paid the 2nd quarter Aug 2nd. But thank you SO much for the reminder! I really appreciate it. Our CPA hasn't been in in awhile so I need to get him back in cuz he made a boo boo on the 2nd quarter ones and we actually OWED some money so this time I am going to make him come in EARLY and we are going to go over them to make sure they are right this time!!!

Megan that is awesome that you are starting to make stuff to sell! You will have to post pics and GOOD luck! I think you could do really well with that!!!

B hope you start feeling better!!

Have a good day everyone and talk soon!!

 

[staley7580]

Oh I so feel you on the child support thing. ALex's dad owes over $8000 in back support. Here they garnish his wages for it. And unemployment. Which I think is what he is on right now. Im not sure. We get $50 a week right now. Its supposed to be $345 a month. He actually had us all paid down, and didnt owe for the back, but then he quit working, and his back child support just added right up again. Stupid.

 

[sameyeyam]

So everybody's coming to my house huh? Wow, didn't realize I was the preferred vacation destination. Although I do have to say my house is sorta like an amusement park at times.

Wish you had 2 cars Megan, then you could just zip down with the kiddo's and spend the weekend. Bernice, you just keep working on those bus schedules. I have no doubt in my mind that you could find a way to get from MN to WA for under $5 using multiple transfers on every public transit system across the US.

I have decided that I'm going to get Megan and the kids camping with me sometime in the not so distant future. Trust me Megan you will love trailer camping. Hot showers, stereo, microwave, oven & stove, flush toilets, clean sheets on queen size bed, heated mattress pad cover, heat & air conditioning (not that we really ever need AC around here, but hey at least it's available). Heck, my new trailer even has hot & cold running water outside, so we can spray off dirty kidlets before letting them come inside.

I'm thinking I'll have DH go ahead and get the trailer set up at the beach lot. We can set up the huge canvas tent for the big kids (it has cots). I can have Chelsie come along to keep Julie company. I'm sure they will ditch us and head into town to ride go-karts, see a movie or whatever. Cooper & Alex will have a blast fishing and riding bikes (heck we would probably never see them. You and I can grab the big umbrella, pack a lunch and spend the day watching the little ones run around the beach. If DH sets everything up for us beforehand, then I can drive up and get you guys. Yeah, that would work!

 

[kelmac284]

Oh Megan I feel ya! In CA they automatically garnish when they get a judgment because they don't even give people a chance to pay. And so of course when Shane's ex didn't pay we called and they said she was probably working under the table. They can only take from what they can see. Plus she quits jobs constantly and then they have to "track her down". She is a TOTAL loser! She is one of the biggest reasons that SD turned out the way she did. I don't want to go on and on but it was REALLY bad. She had her drinking and doing drugs with her at 12 years old and unfortunately we didn't know till years later but then we stopped all visitation but by then the damage was done!

It is TRULY sad what so called parents do to their own children!!

 

[sameyeyam]

Wow, I guess I just never think about how difficult the child support situation must be. I knew there was an upside to just fighting and staying married to the same man for 21 years. After about 15 years we finally ran out of things to fight about, all of our issues had either been solved or one of us just got tired and gave up.

Oh and Hoarders, I LOVE that show! I've actually thought about volunteering for an organization that helps those people. I know it's a mental disease, but I figure if I spent a few months with them organizing, then my own mental disease, OCD, would rub off on them. Think about it, an organization that pairs together Hoarders with OCD people! Brilliant, kills 2 birds with one stone.

 

[sameyeyam]

Confession Time...I'm ashamed to admit it but I collect episodes of Hoarders. I tape them every single time they are on, I watch them over and over again. I have piles of them all over the house. My house used to be clean and now I have trails that go thru the stacks of Hoarders tapes.

We used to eat in the kitchen, but now the A&E Hoarders memorabilia that I order online has taken over the space somehow. I'm not really sure when it happened and I can't believe it has taken over my life. I think the real turning point was when the Girls Next Door broke up with Hef and I could no longer watch their episodes. I tried Kendra & Holly's World, but it just wasn't the same. Then along came Hoarders to replace that void in my life.

I'm embarassed and ashamed to admit this, but a couple of weeks ago I had to call 911 to extract me from my bedroom. I was literally trapped behind a stack of Hoarders tapes and couldn't get out. I live in fear every day that a huge pile of Hoarders tapes will fall on one of my children and smother them. I know that I could stop the cycle if only I could start collecting something else...something like cleaning supplies, garbage sacks and the phone number for the Salvation Army (cuz we all know it's going to take an entire army to help me stop hoarding the Hoarders!).

 

[sameyeyam]

B. wipe that Diet Coke off the screen now. Besides, why are you laughing? We all know you hoard coupons, hundreds & hundreds of coupons. If that's not the start of a hoarder, then I don't know what is? Ya gotta ask yourself, "how many razors, bottles of shampoo & toothpaste do I really need in 1 lifetime"?LOL.

 

[sameyeyam]

Megan, don't think you're immune. Don't think we haven't noticed that children collection you seem to have started! It all started out innocently enough, pop out one kid every few years. Then that wasn't enough, you had to start popping them out two at a time.