Update

I haven't been on here in a while, and I feel the need to post an update....

Ronnie still isn't working. He has a job interview tomorrow with Mission Glen Elementary to teach special ed, so please think good thoughts or send prayers his way. He is FINALLY collecting unemployment, but that is not indefinite, so he is working hard on getting gainfully employed. I wish there was more I could do to help him. I'm used to "taking care of" problems, but this is one problem I can't do anything about, and I feel so helpless.

I'm still talking with my mom. Not a huge fan of her boyfriend, but I tolerate him. He thinks I like him, but there's nothing wrong with that. ;) Now, there's drama with my brother Steven's girlfriend. I believe quite a bit of it has been created by mom's boyfriend, but I don't think SHE sees that. I do have some questions about Steven's girlfriend's motivation, but there's not much I can do about any of it. He's grown and makes his own decisions. Most people that know me think I am the older sibling, but I am not. He's twenty months older than me.

Financially, things are.... Well we have been keeping one step ahead of complete and utter disaster. We need about a thousand dollars to pay for Ronnie's COBRA payment for the past three months. Normally, I would just say forget it, but he was in the hospital with chest pains at the end of August, so we need to get him covered. My dad was supposed to send us some money, but we haven't gotten it, and he has his own problems right now, so I don't want to bother him about it. Someone turned us in for having a green pool, so now they want us to clean it up. We need a new pump, which we can't afford, so I am sure more fines are coming our way. Plus, the mortgage company is trying to increase our mortgage, which we can't afford. Our lawyers are attempting to fight it. We'll see what happens. Of course, our gas has been disconnected for over a month now, and we will need a deposit to get it reconnected -- which we don't have. So, cold showers for the discernible future.

I've been torn between two loyalties. One to my company, which hired me just in time for us to NOT lose the house, and more specifically, to my boss, who is the greatest most supportive boss a person could ask for. However, my OTHER loyalty is obviously to Ronnie and our family. I need to make more money, and I know there are jobs out there that pay more than my current position. So, after much reflection, I applied for a couple. I talked to my boss about it, and she understands where I am coming from and thinks that it would be good for me, but of course, she relies on me for a lot, so she would be disappointed to lose me. Anyhow, that was a week ago. I haven't heard from anything, so maybe it's a non-issue. Hopefully, Ronnie can get a job and I won't feel like I am being disloyal to him by staying here. I really don't want to leave Texana, but I really need to make more money.

Me and Ronnie have been going to church. For a while, it was mostly mass at the church I grew up in, the church my mom and brother are still members of. But, we have branched off and have gone to a couple of masses at a couple of churches. The one I want to join has an awesome pastor, and is just getting off it's feet. I'm excited about the possibility of helping to develop a parish. On the downside, however, once they get their own building built (the ground-breaking was this weekend), the church will be in Sienna Plantation, which is quite a ways from us, 30-40 minutes, which is silly when there are probably half a dozen Catholic churches that are closer. That's really the main thing that is holding us back.

Ronnie's mom's cousin died last week, on the 15th (of September). Her name was Paulette, and she has been battling Cancer for many many years. It started out as ovarian cancer, and finally spread to her brain. We attended her rosary and funeral this weekend. It was very sad, but we know Paulette is in a better place. Our hearts and prayers go out to her two daughters, Angela and Allison. As always at a funeral, it was good to see family, especially Ronnie's sister, Sarah, and her two sons, Tanner and Cullen.

On to a better point. In July I joined a "Paranormal investigative group" (yes, a ghost hunter group). I have attended five separate investigations now, and I am really enjoying it. I could write a whole blog about my reflections and experiences, and I think I probably will. The group is called Houston Ghost Town, and they are really good people. Check them out at www. houstonghosttown.com and please let us know if you have any locations that you would like investigated!

The animals are doing well. There for a while Maggie was limping a little bit, but she stopped, and hasn't started again. Dee Dee is doing well, and has been spending a LOT of time inside without any behaviors (that we know of). We have been working on a behavior plan for the Puggies, but we are losing patience with it. I think it needs to be modified, but I am about out of ideas on what to do to modify it. I want to eliminate the pooping in the house behavior.

That's it for now, I think. I hope to write another blog about my ghost adventures in the near future. Feel free to follow me on twitter (bastet325). When I am on an investigation, I enjoy tweeting live. We also broadcast our IR cameras live, and I will tweet that URL...

God's work

So my four year wedding anniversary was this past weekend, Sunday, June 14. Yes, I was married on Flag Day. Anyhow, so four years ago yesterday, me and Ronnie got married on the beach in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. So much has happened in four years, it feels like it was a lifetime ago.

I frequently joke about marriage, telling me unmarried friends "never get married!" but I love my husband to death and would marry him all over if I had it to do over. However, I don't think I would have bothered with the wedding reception.... My parents didn't really dig the destination wedding, and even offered to give us money instead. Four years later, I think I would still go to Jamaica, though. You only get married once (at least I plan on only once), and you should do it the way you want.

Obviously, I have blogged about our financial disability of recent. Ronnie wanted to go out to eat yesterday. Around six or seven, we were having a conversation about it. I didn't want to spend what little money we have (for gas and groceries and so forth) on eating out, so I was trying to convince him that we can choose another day to celebrate this year. He didn't really buy that idea, and the conversation ended without a conclusive plan either way.

Not even ten minutes later, my mom called. This was unexpected as I knew she had gone to the Sunday evening Mass, so I was not expecting her to call. So, she calls, and tells me that she wants to take me and Ronnie out to dinner for our wedding anniversary. I was floored. Seriously, if that is not God's hand in our lives, I don't know what is. So, we debated where to go before decided on the Swinging Door, where we had a delightful, delicious dinner with my mom and her boyfriend.

I think I have blogged here about being worried about Ronnie telling me he doesn't believe in God anymore. I talked to him about it, I think it was after my mom called, but before they got to our house. "Who do you think had a hand in that?" I asked him. "You." He responded. "No," I replied, "I thought about it, but mom had told me earlier that she was going to the Sunday evening Mass, and I couldn't remember whether it was 5:30 or 6:30. No, that was God's hand." He didn't respond, so I continued. "Why else would she have called so soon after we had that conversation?"

I don't know if it has affected him or his faith, but I certainly hope so. God works in mysterious ways. I sincerely believe that our current issues are due to the lack of worship on our parts. I just don't really know how to change that, especially if Ronnie doesn't want to. It's awfully far to the Church I grew up in, but we don't have any roots in any churches closer. I've talked to him about a nearby non-denominational church that several friends as well as family members attend, but Ronnie wants a Catholic church. I need to find us a Catholic parish and remember their Mass times on Sunday.

I will do better in the future. In fact, I will look them up right now and print it out....

It's Friday

I wonder why companies even have employees stay at work on Friday afternoons. It's not like anyone does anything (unless they can't help it -- for example, when I interviewed children, if there were children there, I HAD to interview them, regardless of whether I felt like actually working).

I guess technically I haven't been terribly productive all day, not just this afternoon. I did some filing, I did some shredding, I made a couple of phone calls, and I spent some time getting a pep talk from my boss. You would THINK maybe she gave me a pep talk because she wants more work out of me, but that's not the case. She gets plenty of work out of me, it's just a down time right now.

So why is it some people are so exasperating? I hate it when anyone talks about me behind my back, regardless of whether they are saying I am a skank or that I look pretty today. I don't like it. There is someone in my life right now who was rude to me, and now she is mad at me. I am a little puzzled by it all. Is it because I got tired of being treated that way and told her "if you're going to be like that you can just leave" my office? Is it because someone I have no respect for and no use for told her some lies? I think she just resents me. I'm not sure why, but I have some theories. Before this all blew up, whenever she would make a "remark" to me, it always tasted resentful to me.

So what should I do about it? Frankly, I have lost respect her and now have no use for her personally as well. But, she is someone I work with, and I don't think it will be completely possible to completely disregard her. My boss tells me to kill her with kindness. But it's hard to kill someone with kindness when they completely disregard your existence. So, do I sit down with her and "talk" about it? Ugh, please, gouge out my eyes with a dull, rusty spoon.

Today at lunch I actually talked to her. We were watching All My Children (which I solely watch in order to make fun of it), and this one girl's son is having heart surgery, and she is at home in bed explaining to her older son that she has too many "toys" and she doesn't know which one to choose (i.e. men). Ridiculous! So I said "What kind of mom would be in bed at home when their son is having heart surgery? NAME, what do you think?" She grumbled some response. I have no idea what it was, but that doesn't matter. It was very anxiety provoking for me to do that at all, and look, I did it!

I also learned this morning she told my boss something I had told her in confidence. I have been wanting to tell my boss, but could just never find the words. So, suspecting that she had gone and blabbed about it, I just told her this morning, and she told me that she did indeed tell her, but only about 3-4 weeks ago, when she has known about it for a while. Puzzling. I don't know how I feel about that. I have been wanting to tell Vickie (my boss), but I didn't know how, so I wasn't angry that she knew. But, it wasn't this other person's information to give, and that kinda upsets me. It was my place to tell people, not hers.

There's been a bunch of other drama that really upset me this week and even hurt my feelings. I'm over it now. Well, most of it. I've realized that just because you hold yourself up to a certain standard, it doesn't mean other people do. All a person really has is their reputation and integrity, and I worry mine has been tarnished this week through no fault of my own. But, the people who really matter, they don't listen to the smears and padded insults of others, so I don't think I should really waste my energy worrying about it.

I have always been a tomboy, someone who does not "fit in" with a bunch of females. I don't care about my clothes, and I only wear makeup to make my eyes even prettier. I would rather spend my money on gadgets, DVDs, and video games. I'd rather spend my time playing video games or reading Lord of the Rings than gossiping with other women or watching Entertainment Tonight. Unfortunately, I work in a field that is predominantly female, and my need for socialization seems to outweigh my need to isolate myself (both are very strong pulls for me). I wonder, if it would be easier to just cut myself off, and not participate in social activities (where invariably I find myself listening to other conversations as I do not seem to know how to function in a large group), but I always seem to get drawn in. Opposing forces, I suppose. Alcohol always seems to help as well. Self-medication more likely.

If someone else has figured it out, please let me know. I can use all the help I can get. It's too bad people aren't more like my pugs. Or my cats. Or my prairie dogs. Or my flying squirrels. I know how to deal with them. Mostly, you bribe them to like you with their favorite food. Or, any food in the case of my female pug....

They're flying now!

Taken Monday 6/8/2009

Taken Tuesday.

Taken today.