The Newfoundland drama.....

For those of you who don't know, I have a registered Newfoundland dog. I purchased her in February of '09. On Easter Sunday, I had a free moment so I sent the seller an email as to why I have not yet received my registration papers. The next day I get a reply. "You aren't getting the papers because I am holding them to protect my interest" she said. Then she called me "mentally and emotionally unstable". WHAT! I paid ***.00$ for that dog and I demand I get my papers! Needless to say, I was not happy! I contacted AKC and they referred me to the Attorney General's office for Pet buyers. They were very helpful. I didn't know they will act as a free mediator in disputes such as this. Cool!
I received an update the other day.They have reviewed my case and have notified the seller as to the complaint. She has so many days to respond then the Attorney general tries to find a solution. If that don't work, here comes small claims court! I have a right to my registration papers! I told her "don't make me pursue this!" I don't think she really knew who she was dealing with. I will update more on this later I am sure.

Spare room is a spare again.

Well I got home from church and groceries today and found out my boarder had moved out. Left me a note like a cheap date! How do ya like that? No previous warning what-so-ever. I had let her stay here 'till her house deal was closed. We thought that would be April 24 th but, the deed was messed up when it arrived at the title office. Now it is backed up to May 5 th. Probably just as well. Keith and her fought like cats and dogs! He did not like the fact that she gets disability for being bipolar. I don't get upset about it, because I can't do anything about it and don't want to waste my breath. some things you don't like but it ain't worth getting gray hair over. Now we only have two of four bedrooms occupied again. Who knows what will come up next.

Breakin' the bus

As I drove this morning on another day of school bus driving bliss, I was going over Rt. 90 when all of a sudden...CLANG DIDDY CLANG DIDDY CLANG!!!!!
What the heck was that? I stopped right away and checked the bus. Hmmmmm.....can't see anything. Maybe I can't see cause it is raining cats and dogs! Now I am soaked. Yum.... I got back in the bus and called the garage right away. Should I drive it? I asked. "Yeah, just if you hear anything let us know and we will bring you a spare." (......don't know if I agree with that but, I will do as I am told). I was at the end of the route. After dropping off the kids, I went to fuel. I decided to reexamine the bus undercarriage. I see two broken tailpipe clamps. OK....no big deal right? I called the guys,they said "ok." Well, after careful examination in my absence, I have broken a front leaf spring! Not drivin' that bus for a while! They actually found it later lying in the road! In the midst of fixing that, they discover my shocks are bad,.......and my alternator.......and my spring shackles! Is there anything else you want to add to the list? Well, it took about four or five days before I got my precious #9 back. Meanwhile I get to drive lovely #11. I remember driving #11 oh about 10 yrs. AGO!!!!!!! What a beater!
It drove like a tank. You had to push so hard on the accelerator that my knee started to swell! I had to make about 400 pushes a day or so on that stupid gas pedal and my knee let me know it didn't like it! Thank God for Advil! I was so happy when I got #9 back that I thought I was in a Mercedes! I guess you really don't appreciate what you got until it's taken away.

Peaceful Easter break

Well here I am enjoying a peaceful and event less break. I am finally getting all my laundry done. Note to self: don't leave the laundry chore to your husband and teenage son anymore! If I haven't done 15 loads so far, I'd be lying! They just push away what they don't want to wash and wash only their own clothes. What's up with that! Anyway, yesterday was real quiet, almost boring. No one comes over. Don't know why. I guess we are to prudent or maybe we smell or something. IDK. I haven't gone anywhere for two days so far. After church Sunday I noticed someone smashed into my truck and left! Now I got a big 'ol dent in my fender and a broken tail light! Who gives these people drivers licenses anyway? My insurance said they would fix it, oh yeah for a 250.00$ deductible!,but that doesn't make it any nicer. My son is bored to death. Of course he can't go outside since it has been a spring blizzard! I'm sure God has a reason for all this snow, but I haven't figured it out yet. Good thing Nick isn't home 24-7 or he would eat me out of house and home! I swear he ate a whole loaf of bread yesterday! Little oinker.(jk) Have been thinking about Youth Camp. Not sure if I want to work all 3 or just two. 3 camps are really emotionally draining! Besides the kids last year were absolutely carnivorous (vv-vv)-grrrrr! at senior camp. Note: to anyone sending their teen to senior camp-make sure they are mature enough and emotionally ready to endure all the high school drama, backbiting, and disrespectfullness that goes on. Seriously, don't let your kids choose which camp they go to! Pick it for them based on maturity level-PLEASE! Whew! They are down right mean!!!! Last year I swore I would NEVER do senior again! I cried and cried and cried. It was horrible! Well enough reminiscing for now. I love camp even though I had a few rough experiences. The overall God experiences make up for it. I am going to youth group tonight. I hope it is great. We are dressing up as army because we are in spiritual warfare. it's kinda cool.

Blissful , God blessed April!

Thank you God for the break from all my previous months drama that I endured! I know it has been a while since I wrote. I will try to catch up.
Well, the family that was accusing me of draggin' there child up the stairs of my bus was proven wrong-thank you video tape! The student whose parents are suing the school over me has returned to riding the bus again. This is good, I did kind a miss him. My sister-in-law has moved in temporarily until the closing on her house is finalized. This was ok 'till she started running the roads at night and trapezing in all hours of the night! I locked her out last week one day when she left at 9:40 pm. I waited up till 11:30 and still she had not returned! I lost two hours sleep over this! Put a stop to that real quick! Had to give her a lecture on the proper behavior of a mature adult speech. Haven't had a problem since. She is only here until the end of the month. I thank goodness. I don't think my prudent lifestyle fits her agenda. On another note; I got my turkey for Easter Sunday. This time I got an extra turkey breast besides the turkey so I would have lots of extra to make leftovers. Usually the breast is the first thing gone. Then I am trying to figure out what to make with the leftovers and no turkey to add with them. So this should be much better. Also, since the last posting, I got home from my grandma's funeral on a wed.,went to the doctor on Thursday because I was sick with a fever, and when I got home, let the dogs out and walked in the house, I turned around to let my doggies back in and .........no dogs to be found.
Where did they go?
I search all over. Hollering and hollering.......
then I heard dogs barking from a distance....I thought...."is that MY dogs?"
I walked towards the sound.
As I peered over the bank of the hill in my neighbors yard, I saw my 1yr old pup Rover tossing my cat of 9yrs. into the air like a rag doll.Then as he landed on the ground he crushed his chest in his jaws like a paper cup in a garbage compactor over and over and over.......
I yelled "Rover stop that!" "Get away from him!" But he just kept squeezing his chest in his jaws, totally ignoring my words.
As I ran down the embankment and towards Rollie( that's my cat's name)I scooped his lifeless body up in my arms only to have him look me in the eye and take his last breath........
The barking I had heard was my Newfoundland barking as she over stood Rover as he murdered my pet of many years. I brought Rollie up the ill and my husband rounded he shed towards me. I said "Rover just killed Rollie". He was so mad! He was the one who picked Rollie out from the pound and bought him. He had never bought a pet before. He loved this cat. I will not say what he did to Rover. He now is sentenced to a life at the end of a chain and sleeping in a much cooler than in the house, dog house. I lost my grandmother and my cat in one week. Not a good week.
On a lighter note; I got our income tax refund back and my husband let me get a new washer, new couch and a new floor scrubber machine for hard floors! My couch had been a 10.00$ couch from the Salvation Army, so I was thrilled! The washer I had was a piece of junk Frigidaire. I will stay away from that brand! The floor scrubber is the Hoover floormate. I LOVE it! It sweeps the floor, then scrubs the floor, then dries the floor in one pass! It hate mopping floors and this baby lets me mop all my floors in the same time as it would take me to do 1! Hallelujah!!!
Well, I guess that's enough for now.

A lull in the drama.

Well here we are at the last week of February already.What a month it has been! Tonight is youth group and I am glad to be going. Nick has been really sick with a sinus cold and today is his first day back to school. I don't know if he's going to youth group or not. I hope he does, for selfish reasons, he is such a big help to me! On the other hand though, I don't want to spread the cold virus around church. I will have to check him out when I get home. Had a board meeting last Sunday that lasted over 3hrs. So between church for 3 1/2 hrs and board meeting for another 3hrs, then home for 2hrs and back for Nick to be usher at 6! I don't like those days that I am not home at all. So much for Sunday being a day of rest. We have to be in all church services which is very demanding! I can't give up being a youth leader though, I believe that's where God has called me to be. Things at the school are in limbo. I am working with the union to get me through this whole mess. The only thing keeping my sanity is that I know I was right and that these people are lost and I must forgive them for behaving the way they do. God bless my bus aide who really rallies to my aid all the time. she gets fired up in my defense. Whoohoo! Go Becky! Keith has been taking his medicine which also is helping tremendously. When he doesn't take that anxiety medicine-Whew! Look out! Also, my Newfoundland is now shedding, my house looks like the land of the black shag carpet. Yuck! I could sweep three times a day! I guess I will be brushing her this weekend. That's all for now, see ya next week.

It's getting quieter!

Since we last spoke, things have been a little quieter. This tells me that I was right about my suspicions as to who was behind the whole latest scandals. It is all spiritual warfare, I know that. I have prayed over the bus and anointed it with oil, so I think it has to change something! Last Sunday, I had set up for youth group after church service. I do not like doing set up, just because no one ever shows up to help. So this time, I tried doing it right after church so maybe I could round up a few helpers --I got one, (besides me and Nick) Wow! That means about 1 1/2 hours of works ahead of me. UUGGGh! So my son, Seth and me got busy. First I found out my fridge was turned all the way up and the pop exploded all over. Yuck! Then Nick and Seth were doing a lot of stuff and I was cleaning bathrooms, and setting up chairs, etc. and my husband.......was sitting with his feet up taking it all in. We were getting VERY irritated! Did he ask us if we needed help- NO! Never got up at all except to get himself a drink! Well, didn't take long for things to get very heated on the way home. It was the first time my son ever let loose on my husband for yelling at me. Nick has never come to my rescue before and I didn't stop him. Not that I encourage yelling at adults, but when Keith deserves it, I welcomed someone else on my side. He usually yells at me and Nick just gets upset. I guess he had enough. So, we had a horrible start to our week. Things could not have gotten any worse. As the week went on they did start to improve. But now my husband refuses to go to church again. He needs to go! Anyway, the bus route has cooled down, things between Nick and Keith are quiet, but ok and today, I finally got groceries for the first time in over a month. We have been getting only the minimum for weeks now. That really makes it hard to keep dinner on the table. Then came the wind storm on Thursday. We had a two hour delay from school and when we went out to get in the car for work, my windshield was smashed! Guess I am not driving to work today! I jumped on the phone and said "someone come pick me up!" Thank God I live 3 miles from work. Well 312.00$ later, I have a new windsheild. Insurance only paid 62.00 so I was stuck with the rest! UUUUUGH! Then came Friday. I found out that the same person who has been starting stuff in the community with my bus route, is now accusing me of being "sick" because I try to reach kids on myspace. NOT that I owe her an explanation, but, for general knowledge, I will tell the reason behind getting on myspace. If you want to reach unsaved kids and tell them about Jesus, you have to go where the kids are. And where are the kids? ON MYSPACE!!!!! Jesus went to the prostitutes, the Lepers, and the drunks to find and save them. If I only talked to saved kids then what am I doing to spread the gospel to the lost? Duh!!! Well, That's my whole motive in a short version. If that makes me "sick" then I guess I am. My Friday ended well with someone telling me that we had no school on Monday! Whoohoo! I didn't even know. and boy did I need an extra day off! Hallelujah! Thank you Jesus!

How much more is a person supposed to take!

Well where do I begin? What a week it has been. a week from Hell! I have had one or two complaints on my school bus driving skills EVERYDAY since my last post. I have evidently made someone very mad. They are making it a community effort, collaborating amongst all the neighbors, making stuff up from the deepest recesses of their imaginations. I have had teens calling from the back of the bus and parents calling after every morning coffee. Thank God my reputation of being the strictest bus driver at Edgewood School has saved my butt! I have had about enough of the false accusations! As my wise friend at church reminded me that, "no weapon formed against me shall prosper", as I am a child of the almighty God! I have had more stress this week than any human should have to endure. I think I have added 500 new gray hairs! I guess I will make it , but, good Lord why do I have to go through this every couple of years? I don't know why, but I do know I don't like it!!! I came so close to quitting on Wednesday, that one more negative comment would have pushed me over the edge! Too many people with to much access, and to many phone numbers to call. Half of these complaints were totally conjured up! Like, I turn on the air conditioning! Get real! I don't even have air conditioning!!! All I can say is, we are held accountable for all our actions. I will trust the Lord to handle this and deliver me from my struggles!

A day in the life of a school bus driver.

Well, no school today, but I still had to call my boss to see what he called me for and left a voicemail to call him back. Those calls always make me nervous! Well, turns out I had my 3rd complaint phone call of the week. Seems I have had a target on my back lately. I was just telling the boss that I hadn't had to talk to him in so long that I almost forgot his name. Well, that didn't last long. First, I had a complaint because I asked a tall student to help me slap my windshield wiper to the window to get the ice off(on a back dirt road, with no traffic). I guess I can't ask for help even in a snow storm! Then some bimbo calls in to say I drive the bus with no heat on! Where do these people get these hair brain ideas? Do you think I like to freeze? Then, I could not get down one of my back roads yesterday because the snow plow was having a hard time coming through to even make one lane and I had to back the bus out! So of course, that one student who lives down there has to stand out and wait for a bus that can't arrive, instead of going in and making another arrangement to get to school. It's all my fault for 4ft snow drifts and impassable roads! Every bubble headed brat on the bus now a days has a cell phone and if I forget to turn on a turn signal, someone is calling the school! What has this society come to? If I were to give any one of them the chance, they would not drive a bus for a million dollars, but they will persecute me for how I drive it and for every little mistake that they think is outta line! Sometimes I am so ready to quit! If they only realized how much I care for their kids and their safety. They don't even think of that, they just want to complain to anyone who will listen. I say give me 5 minutes with them behind the wheel and see how far they get! It is so hard to find drivers. Then when we find someone crazy enough to drive, the parents berate them with complaints! So UNGRATEFUL! Maybe if they all had to take their brats to school they would appreciate public transportation a little more. I don't know if I can make it for another 13yrs to get my 30yrs in. It gets harder everyday! One more thought for those of you who are reading this: keep in mind, that if the bus were to ever get taken hostage with your student(s) on board, I would freely GIVE MY LIFE to defend those kids on there, under my care,without reservation. How many people do you know who are willing to drive in adverse conditions, with 70+ k-12 students in the vehicle, with your back turned on them the whole time your driving, and put up with complaining phone calls all week long? Next time you see a bus driver-take my advice and thank them for what they endure so you don't have to get out and take your kids to school everyday.

Just chillin' on a Friday night.

Well here we are at the end of another week. No trip to go on, no shopping to do, just relaxing at the ol' pc. I got a really cool Newfoundland Italian charm bracelet today. I LOVE Newfoundlands. My last two were killed in bizarre accidents, so I have been cherishing them in my heart ever since. I called today to see how much it would be to get my dog neutered and WOW! 165-350 bucks! I about fell over. I can't believe these prices. I know exactly what is involved and it don't take no 350 bucks to do it! Makes me disgusted. No wonder people can't afford to get their dogs fixed!
On a lighter note, I finally got my strength back on Thursday. Between being sick and all the stress of pre-trip stuff from last week, I was exhausted! Not to mention that my cat has gone absolutely off the deep end! Every night he meows in this deep meow and wakes everyone up 'till I throw him in the basement! I call him psycho-cat now. He keeps this up and kitty may go for a ride! My dog was making a fuss every night 'till I filled his house with a truck load of straw. Now I don't hear a peep outta him. Thank God for that! I had him in the house but I can't take my eyes off him and he's either on the counter or in my garbage. That's when I said "out ya go buddy!"
No real plans for this weekend. Just stayin' home and cleaning. Getting all the final holiday decor put away. Almost feels like spring with this warmer weather. I know though in the back of my mind that it is several weeks away.
My husband has been very sick this week. He caught the cold that I had last week. Poor guy. I drugged him up and sent him to work again. He feels like he lives their but I am thankful for the job.
Nick was supposed to have a friend over but he never showed up so I guess it's just him and I tonight.I got plenty of housework to keep me busy. I was gone the entire weekend last week so nothing got done. I don't know what this place would look like if I was gone. Heaven help us!

Never the same.

Well, I have just returned from one of the most awesome , mind blowing ,God filled experiences in my entire life. There are not enough descriptive words to accurately depict the move of God that took place this weekend. I don't even know if I can write it well enough for you to grasp the intensity, the impact, the lives it changed, -it was absolutely worth all the effort, all the time, all the preparation it took for us to get there.
I saw teens falling on their knees and crying out to God to help them stop cutting themselves, stop watching porn, stop there addiction to witchcraft,to restore their self images, to stop believing they are worthless, stop their addictions to alcohol and/or drugs. Kids from 13-18 were raising their hands to God and crying out to Him for deliverance. Praise God! I cried with them ,I prayed with them,I held them as they fell to the floor in their pain and shame and loneliness. Then I saw them be restored and rise again to their feet as a new creature in Christ almighty! Praise God. I saw them throw their razors down at the altar (literally) and get delivered from cutting themselves on a regular basis. My God, what these kids are goin' through everyday? I am so glad God has anointed me for the task of helping them through it to be healed by the best healer in the industry!
I also witnessed the fall of the Holy Spirit on some of our very own teens and they began to speak in tongues! Hallelujah! I wish I could do this work everyday of my life. It is sooo fulfilling! I love doin' God's work! I could eat, sleep and drink Jesus 365!

Never a dull moment!

Well, the drama never quits! Wake up today and the driveway is full of snow again, my furnace quit and my husband ate way to much chili by the smell of it! Ha Ha LOL! Well, I am sure it is no coincidence that my husband just bought a new spare nozzle on Friday for the furnace. I know God was taking care of us. he replaced it this morning and got it running again. And as far as the washer goes, my husband decided to take it apart and see what happened,why not right? What could we lose? Well a penny had gotten stuck in my washer pump making the transmission unable to kick in. Can you believe it? Now, I can wait for a new washer. Even though I couldn't go to church, God is still taking care of me. Thank you God. He takes care of His people all the time! God bless you all.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Here we are on a beautiful snowy day and no particular place to go(thank god!) so let it snow -right? Well if you know me at all,- I love snow! I can't stand hot weather. I should've been an Eskimo! I was woke up at 6:45 today by my outside cat named Oreo. I had let him stay in last night because I felt sorry for him and I thought he might be cold,well....I woke up to the sound of him puking on my carpeted floor. Ahhhh, the warm stench of cat puke in the mornin'!(NOT!) After cleaning that up and returning to bed, I am awoke to the sound of my other cat Rollie trying to fill the litter box and he must have been constipated. Every 5 minutes it was another scratching/digging session and another round of warm poop smell. YUCK! After all that I said the heck with it and got up! UUUUGGGH!
After a short not-long-enough nap, I decide to plow the driveway. Well, I attempted to put air in the tractor tire and wouldn't ya know no chuck for the air hose! What do men do with these attachments anyway? Keith always takes it off and I swear he puts it in a secret place and its not with the other air tools! So -I drove the tractor with a 50% flat tire. A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do! If I didn't make a run down through the drive before to long, we could have easily been snowed in. After cleaning out my drive I always do the neighbors. So I limped my way over to the neighbors and I don't think anyone had plowed it since 1987! If there wasn't 16" in their driveway, I'd be a liar. Whew! that stuff was deep! Well, I got it all done anyway-Hallelujah! and I didn't even ruin the tire! I say let the snow keep comin'. I get paid even if we have a snow day so it don't matter to me!

A day of bliss...

Well, yesterday was a day of bliss until I got home from driving the bus. Even though it was a snowy,icy day, it didn't start to go downhill until I was making breakfast with my husband and heard a weird electrical like noise with a vibration to go along with it. We both looked at each other and said "what was that?" Well, he went downstairs and couldn't see anything. First we thought it was the furnace,or the dryer. Well, -nothing.....until......5:30, when he went down to do laundry. The transmission in my washer went clapooey! How do ya like that! Only days after my husband got a bonus check AND spent most of it already! Now, uugggh!,I need a washer! They just don't make 'em like they used to. I will never buy a frigidaire washer again! It has been a piece of junk since the day we brought it home. Live and learn I guess.
Also, I am writing this on Friday and I am still on a "God high" from Wednesday! Whew! What a service it was! ABSOLUTELY AWESOME!!!! I love it when we have a break out of the box day and nothing goes as planned. I was so glad to see kids running up to the altar for prayer. They don't even realize how God loves to see His children run into His arms. I LOVE IT TOO! Kids of all sizes and ages were sobbing at the feet of Jesus and opening their hearts. It was soooooo awesome. I just can't say enough to describe the feeling. Well, I will leave you with that warm and fuzzy feeling for now,until next time.

Off to a great start!

Happy New Year to all! I am so blessed! Thank God I am not sick on this holiday like I was 1 year ago. I was so deathly ill this time last year with blood poisoning from a tooth infection that I was actually wanting to die! Can you believe it? Well, thank God again, for unanswered prayers.
I have had such a great Christmas and holiday vacation! It has been wonderful. I got several great presents and only new what one of them was before Christmas. Also, I was able to get my new LG Dare phone,which was rated #1 , so I was excited to get it. I was actually eligible to get it 12/7/08 but didn't have the money then. Also, we spent a lot of time with kids coming over and just plain hangin' out. I LOVE that! Just can't get enough of it! Cj and I have become quite the little gaming buddies! We have a lot of fun.
Then today I got an email informing me that my ebay bid on another Dare phone was outbid. Hallelujah! I had accidentally bid on this phone before I got my present Dare phone, at a cheaper price. When I bid on it, I didn't know that my 2yr contract discount through Verizon would actually get me the same phone way much cheaper. So I have been chewing my fingernails waiting for the bid to go over my minimum. Thank God again, that it happened today! Whew! I only had 2 days left! I learned from that mistake.
Another great happening this holiday is that my husband is still employed,despite 1800 layoffs in his company nationwide. And not only is he still employed, but got a .75cent raise! Praise God!
Also, I got the green light to redo the coffee house at church. I love getting new upgrades! I replaced the counter top,tore out the old cheap metal shelves and installed new top of the line shelving from home depot. It totally gave the place a whole new look! Now I have so much more room. I hated the other shelves. They were a lure for all things small and creepy crawly(mice). In fact I found a dead one underneath that was petrified and utterly gross! I made my husband throw that one away! I brought those shelves home and hubby threw them out!!!
The only bump in the road I know of all week, is that my mom's water pump died and they have been out of water for 4 or 5 days. They are 78 yrs old and are having a hard time getting it back on. They don't have the money to hire any help either. Bummer! I wish I could help but what do I know about plumbing? I hope they get it all worked out. Water is one thing we just can't live without!