AOL Anniversary Contest

Let the festivities begin.  If you haven't been over to D's journal This and that, and hockey!, you need to pay a visit.  She has created a lovely lighthouse sidebar and also a larger tag that is going to be the official  commemorative symbol for the anniversary and available on Aug. 21st for all of us to use. 

We are all invited and encouraged to enter the contest.  Our job is to come up with the words used on the graphics.  Here is the link to use  contest.  So, put on your thinking caps and go add your "two cents."

                 

Our dear Sugar is also playing a part in the festivities with a memorial page to all those who have lost pets over the past year.  If you've lost a beloved pet or know someone who has, drop by and leave Sugar the info.   Sugar's Pet Memorial 

If you're interested in keeping up with all the things going on during the celebration, here's the link for that.   Technorati Tag: Aol Journals Anniversary

AOL Anniversary & This and That

An anniversary is brewing and J-Land is jumping.  Of course, it took me a couple of days and reading more than a few journals to figure this out.  Donna has some lovely tags to celebrate J-Land's third year and links to the festivities.  This and that, and hockey!  Thanks, D, for the lovely tags!  I've only been journaling since Oct. 2005.  What in the world did I do before I entered the world of J-Land?

Life is relatively quiet around here...shhh...probably not for long.  I was asked what OCD stands for....not funny but it stands for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.  I do think that I have a very mild form of it.  Seriously, not to make light of those that suffer tremendously.

My problem is that once something goes wrong, I am on "patrol" continuously.  I'm not so bad with the AC now, for the timebeing because so many other things are making noises, leaking, etc.  Anything with a guage drives me totally nuts because I can see the problems creeping up before my eyes.

Plumbing problems...lol...my handy dandy plumber, Randy explains this to me.  I have extremely strong water pressure.  I live 1/4 mile from the pumping station (as the bird flies, so says Randy).  Water must be pumped to a 10 mile radius in my township.  So, I need a water pressure regulator to keep my pipes from bursting continuously so that others can take their showers with water flowing five miles from me.  The problem is my new pressure regulator doesn't have a guage.  It's self-adjusting, so says Randy.  Well, this big old bolt is ready to pop.  When it does, my basement will flood, if I'm not home to shut off the water, which according to Murphy's Law, I won't be.  Not that my basement couldn't use a good dose of clean water.  My pipes bang if the pressure is too high.  My hot water tank sounds like it's going to explode.  My BF puts a new pressure valve in my hot water tank every couple of years.  Grrrr.....that tank freaks me out.  I have to release pressure every month or so and can see myself going through the roof with it.

LOL...no kidding....I have a pipe right now leaking slowly under the bathtub into the livingroom ceiling, a pipe to the basement shower is blowing...all signs that the pressure is way too high again.

Did you know just how many plungers they make?  ROFL...I have at least 4 different plungers...a toilet one with a narrow neck, a tiny one that sucks the hair out of the bathtub that Megan uses, this super duper big one that looks like a waffle.  Besides pipes breaking, I drano and plunge all the time.

Most of the time, these little problems are noticed and occur at 5:56 am when I'm ready to run out the door to catch the bus.  Why that is, I can't explain but then I have to call home and drive the kids nuts also.

As you all can tell, I'm the happiest of homeowners.  I can't wait to sit back, sell the house and rent something so the landlord can deal with all of this.  That would cure my OCD really quickly.

The sound on my new TV is fading in and out.  My BF says his is also.  So, I call the cable company and, of course, they say no one else has complained.

Now, while others in my life say I fuss about nothing, I've learned that most times I'm just very observant and notice when things aren't as they should be.  So, who knows......

A little bit of cleaning today and sunny and in the low 80's...sounds like pool time again.  Speaking of the pool, the pump is acting up again.  Now, as my BF says, if it didn't have a guage on it, I wouldn't even know it.

Tomorrow is Terri's birthday.....You think you know, but you have no idea...  Stop by and wish her a happy one.  She might not be around coz she has a life this summer.  Have a great one, Terri!

Stay cool and have a great weekend. 

 

         Thanks to Dianna for this too cute little siggy.............

 

        

Questions, Etc.

  The AC is fixed....almost two months to the day.  It's an enormous unit and was exceptionally loud when the air clicked on.  It has a thermostat so sometimes the fan runs and then the air clicks on.  The AC unit was so loud we had to keep the tv up super loud.  At the beginning of each summer, it would take me a couple of weeks to get used to the noise it made.

I have a Philco compressor in there now.  I kept asking them if they had the air on and not just the fan.  It's quiet and lol unnerving because I keep thinking the air isn't working right.  OCD again....  They said the Philco compressor is much quieter than the Kenmore.  Now, if this isn't a gift horse, I don't know what is.  Besides my AC always needing serviced, it was LOUD.  So, I keep running outside to make sure that it's as cool in here as before.  Yep, I have some severe OCD problems at times.  My old car seems to be running ok again so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I'm going back to work tomorrow.  I actually think I'm ready to.  I need a break from the drama at home.  For some reason, the pool is nice but not as addicting as it used to be.  Could be my quarterly visits to the dermatologist have something to do with that.

We spent the whole afternoon in the pool today...picture perfect sky.  Megan had some friends over and Joey and I just joined in.  I hadn't seen a couple of the guys since they were "young" ones in high school.  Of course, they all love Grizzly so he was eating it up.

 

I'm stealing these questions off of Penny coz I think they're neat:

I HATE nothing.  I strongly dislike but don't hate

I RARELY read anymore although I was a bookworm

I CRY less frequently than I used to which I don't think is necessarily a good thing

I AM NOT one bit organized

I LOSE my mind almost every day

I`M CONFUSED by computers lol this is Penny's but I am confused by everything technological

I NEED peace of mind

I SHOULD clean my house

I AM very loving

I WANT more money (ok, I'm stealing Penny's again)

I HAVE a roof above my head and food on my table everyday

I WISH I wouldn't fret and fuss so much

I SEARCH for my keys continuously and my work ID

I WONDER if I`ll ever be self-sufficient financially

I REGRET that I didn't leave my ex before I did

I LOVE my three children more than life itself

I ACHE for the hurt, pain and worries that my children have

I USUALLY sleep on the couch because I have insomnia

I DANCE every chance I get to and probably look like the biggest fool

I SING but sound like fingernails scratching a chalkboard

I NEVER say never because I've eaten my words too many times

 

Hopefully, the drama is going to end soon.  Thank you all for being there and your wonderful support.  Love each and every one of you............

                         CHRIS

ROFL...I loved this tube but don't like what I did with it that well to put it in my graphics journal so I threw it in here. 

Now, frustrations are still around but I've decided that they are just coming in a series and should slow down.  hehehehe...yeah right.

My AC didn't get fixed today because Sears sent one guy out even though I called Friday and Saturday to make sure the orders were written for two.  He got here and was a tiny little guy and flipped.  So.......they "promised" to have two guys out here between 8 & 9 tomorrow.  Actually, I wasn't all that upset because I could legitimately take another vacation day.

Joey and I hit the pool at noon.  There was a pretty heavy cloud cover.  We had a couple of hours of off and on sun.  Then it rained but dang it was steamier afterwards.

Adding insult to injury, the power steering felt like it crapped out in my beater car on the way to Walmart yesterday.  I'm to the point now where I just almost have to laugh.  I knew this was coming.  I've been adding fluid for a couple of months now.  I had a power steering hose replaced three years ago.  My mechanic said at that time the pump was on its last legs so I consider myself lucky (ok I tell myself I'm lucky) it lasted as long as it did.  I haven't even looked at the car today.  I don't want to deal with it now but I suppose I should get my BF over here to test run it so I can get it scheduled if need be.

I've had some chats with Megan.  Last night was not a good time so I did it over dinner tonight.  For some reason Eat N Park has a corporate manager there now.  He works double the amount of waitresses so their tips have been cut in half.  She is only making $50 at most instead of close to $100.  This started two weeks ago, and none of the servers are very happy about it.  We discussed the car and my reservations.  I told her she couldn't afford gas for it right now, among other things that bother me about the car.  It seemed to sink in, at least I hope so.

I would say all in all I've been pretty lucky with my finances until recently when everything started to go one on top of the other.  It seems things happen like that.

Hopefully, my darned air conditioner will get fixed tomorrow before I get a sledge hammer and pound it out of the wall.  I did tell the manager of the service dept. at Sears that I was going to do that if it's not fixed tomorrow.  LOL... I told her they can come pick up their compressor and AC and either refund me my money or replace the whole unit.  Should be interesting but seriously if no one comes tomorrow, I do want the whole thing replaced.  It's three years old and been out of order more than its been running.

I'm hoping the sun will be out more tomorrow and no rain.  Of course, Wednesday is supposed to be the best day for sun....hmmmm....extended vacation sounds good to me.

I did get postcards from Sugar and Deb....hugs....I'm so disorganized and out of it lately, I haven't gotten around to even buying any.  I'm terrible...sheesh   Megan was really excited about it.  She brings the mail in and was fascinated by the whole postcard thing.

Have a good evening....I think the old "CAB" is back in the house again.........

CHRIS

Frustration

Sheesh....I'm being tested to my limits with frustrations galore.  I hate that my journal is turning into day after day of issues.  Where did my goofy, happy stuff go?

I did talk with my mother yesterday.  She wasn't upset with me at all.  I was also able to discuss my uneasiness with her to an extent about my brother.  She didn't disagree so I'm thinking she may have some clue.   There was an issue with her will which didn't bother me until I mentioned it to a close friend at work.  My mom took me out when I was going through my divorce.  I never heard that she had changed it back.  I didn't care because I've been given enough but I didn't consider the fact that there are also three grandchildren involved.   Relief but brief until Megan got home from work.

Megan told me her dad is giving her a 1989 Escort with 30,000 on it that was his mother's.  Bad, bad feeling.  He never gives anything away with worth that he could sell.  I told her under no circumstances to sign anything because I had a feeling he would want to sign it over to her. And that is exactly what he wants to do.  No way.....  He's moaning about it costing $400 a year for insurance.  She said she would pay him the insurance money.  Again, no way.  She has been wasting money all summer which is angering me and stressing me.  I found out how much she will get back to live on off campus from her student loan.  She is barely going to cut it if she is conservative, which she is not.  She thinks this is a joke.  So, back to the car....my ex bought an inspection sticker off of someone he knows.  Not permitted in Pa. but it's done.  I would take it to my mechanic to check it before it gets driven.  Bottom line is she will not have the money for gas; she doesn't need a car this year because she is close to campus; she needs to concentrate on her grades; period.  God only knows how I will get this through that thick skull of hers.  I cannot keep feeding her checking account this year because she is too irresponsible to pay attention to what she is spending.  I estimated  her utility budget and rent.  Sort of flipped me out.  And yet, I dont know for sure.  Her roommates are living their now.  I've been telling her for weeks now to call and find out what the utility bills are.  Has she?  Nope.

So, her dad, once again is not planning to give her a cent toward school.  Grrrrr.....  What he is planning to do is pawn a car off on us that he can't sell.  How he can even consider putting his own daughter behind the wheel of that car is beyond my comprehension.

I hate to whine yet again when others here have so many issues far worse they are dealing with.  It's just been a month of endless stress for me.  LOL...I cringe when my cell phone rings.

But I do have the day off tomorrow.  Sears is coming to install my compressor.  I sure hope they get here early because I want to float in my pool.  I have to go move some things around in the family room so they can pull the darned thing out of the wall once again.

I'm tempted to take Tuesday off as a "mental health" day and try to regroup.  I had to cancel the trip to Myrtle Beach due to lack of funds.  I know Becky was disappointed but understood so I have plenty of vacation time to use.

Seriously, I do hope the spinning slows down so I can get back to my old self again.  I was reading my old entries and wonder where that person is now.

Lots of love to all of you.............

            CHRIS

  ROFL...this is most definitely fitting for me this week.  Thanks to Nutters in my PSP group for tagging this for me.

Before I go off on one more rant trip, I want to wish Barb  Diary of a Mad Woman  a happy birthday.  Stop by and wish her one.  LOL..also have a good question for her to answer...hey, she asked for it.

Thanks to Coastal Comfort Sharon, I know why this week has been a mess.  It's Mercury causing this.

I should probably keep my big mouth shut but I won't because right now I really don't give a rat's behind who reads this or what they think. 

It all started with my crying over my nest egg being depleted.  Wed was an ok day....a pizza party at work, my doc's appt for my blood pressure, which was 110/66 and some pool time.

LOL...then I read Sharon's journal about Mercury wreaking havoc and thinking....yeah, right.  Hmmm...the next day, I get a voice mail message and text from Becky crying hysterically that her piece of crap Tempo that my mom gave her needs numerous repairs totalling $600.  Should she fix it or not and would I "loan" her the money.

Oy vay, the first thing I do is call my mom to see what she thought I should do.  Man, it gets better.  She said she would call my brother.....oh, I hate this.  She called me back and said "G" said to get it fixed.  She would pay for it.  She told me to call him and tell him what all had to be done.  The little girl in me was cringing because 1.  I don't trust my brother....2.  I have many reasons not to.  Luckily, for the moment my cell phone died on the bus from so many calls.

I got home and charged my phone.  Joey had to call his uncle, my brother, about picking paychecks up for the cemetary or something.  I bit the bullet and said to let me talk to him next.  WELL....he went off on a rampage once again, getting angrier by the moment that I'm bleeding my mother dry, we need to learn to live on our own (my kids and me), my mom is almost broke, etc. etc., she is getting too mellow with me, and many other things I simply won't awknowledge on here.

My mom has been paying my mortgage since Sept. of 2004.  I lost $700 in child support at that time due to Megan turning age 18.  I couldn't regroup and still haven't.  My mother's mind is very sharp.  She knows to the penny what she has and would not have offered to pick up my mortgage if she couldn't afford to.  I feel terrible every day of my live about this but am thankful beyond belief for it.  I do not ask her for another cent except if I absolutely have to.  I had to this time for Becky's car.  It killed me to do it.

The trash my brother said about Becky and implied about other things angered me but I said nothing and ended the call as soon as I could.

I have things I need to discuss with my mother and simply can't because it would totally undo her right now so I pray for God's guidance in a couple of situations that are really eating away at me concerning my brother.

So, Thursday night I took Grizzly for a walk and balled my eyes out once again because my dad is gone and I'm left in a nightmare right now.  I also live in total fear that something is going to happen to my mom.  She has gallstones, not a biggie and they found some cysts on her kidneys.  I'm so terrified of being left in the control of my big brother.

My BF has a semi-crisis on his hands right now also but I'm not even going into that right now.

I have to call my mom to see if she is ok.  According to my brother, I upset her by my phone call.  She didn't sound upset to me the both times I talked with her so I think "someone" else upset her.  Nuff said (probably too much but, like I said, at this point in time, I really could care less.)

I apologize for not getting around to visit.  I've been online but just staring at the screen for a few days.  I've regrouped and I'm moving on.  God will see us through this somehow, someway.

Love you all...........

A Long Week

Wow, is it only Tuesday?  It's been such a long, draining day or two.  The church service was very nice.  I don't think it would be the church for me.  It's located in one of the new trendy areas of Pittsburgh, the South Side, where college students and young adults live, party and carry on.  This ministry is needed and is reaching out to those young ones.  There were a handful of people my age, and I didn't feel out of place.  I can see that this is moving Becky and perfect for her.  There are activities scheduled on weekends and evenings.  She went to a picnic on Saturday with the church at a local park.  I am going to attend with her for a while because I feel she needs me there.  Of course, I cried through the whole thing almost, as did she, and could almost feel her heart opening.

As a leap of faith, I threw my last $50 in the offering plate.  Becky sort of flipped.  I used to do this all the time and always had more than enough money to live on.  LOL..now I'm sitting back waiting for the ten fold to arrive.  It's not really funny.  This used to be the way I lived, on faith.  It's still there somewhere.

I'm flipping a little bit because I've used so much of my nest egg on cars this month.  I get fearful when this happens.  I keep asking myself why I'm fretting so much.  I love my job now but I made more money at my old job with my OT.  I have to learn to be patient because the next increase in a year should be much larger.

I'm just totally confused right now because I have a feeling that Becky wants and needs me to live closer to her now that she will be starting grad school.  But Allegheny County is far more expensive to live in than where I live now.

What to do?  My mind is spinning.  For some reason, my heart feels heavy and shouldn't.  The old "hole" in the back yard is calling me again.  Sometimes, I really just want to run away and hide.  More so lately than in years.

As I said, the job is going great but I'm getting fatter coz I'm on my rearend all day. Then my BF was at the bus stop waiting to take me out to dinner...that really helps the flub.   ROFL at myself.  I sound like I have PMS but those days are gone for this old bat.

My compressor is here for my AC.  Sears is coming on Monday morning.  Please, please pray for sun so I can get in my pool.  I think if the weather is supposed to be nice, I'm taking two days of vacation.  I really don't have the money to go anywhere this year and I have plenty of vacation time.

OK, enough rambling.  Joey will be home tonight or tomrrow.  He seems to be having a ball so I hope he is happier when he gets back.

I'm done whining for the moment.  The dog needs to be fed, and it's garbage night again.  I'm two days behind on journals.  Actually, I did read them last night but wanted to read as many as I could so I didn't comment.  I swear I'll catch up.

I hear Calgon, take me away calling me.........

 

CHRIS