Ok, we had his party last night….yay!!!

Unwrapping presents…he did really good and only need a little help with the first and last couple presents…

Playing with his new toys…

Cake time….

A very messy, tired, sugared out kid. Ready for a bath then bed time….

We had a great time. Derek loves his new toys. I got him some little trucks and he was pushing them around the living room making car noises….Bishop was thrilled! By then end of the night Derek was covered in frosting, tired and shuddering from all the sugar….the milk bottle was the high point for him at that point. And during his bath instead of crawling back and forth in the tub like he normally does he just kinda laid down on his belly in the water and played with his bath toys….he was very happy to go to bed after that. Wow, he is a year old. It’s kinda hard to believe…..

So yesterday I called the girl at the grocery store and she had me come in right then and give an interview. I’ve known this girl for years, she has worked at the grocery store for a long time but I swear I knew her somewhere else. Turns out that her and I worked at Taco Bell together when I was 16 and she was 18. I knew I knew her from somewhere. LOL!

So she pretty much hired me on the spot. It’s not going to be the greatest job to start out with but it’s a start with a very good chance for promotion and raises. I’ll be working midnight to 8:30 am as a doughnut fryer, making bagels and pastries. It’s a union job so that means good benefits are available for me even though I’ll only be guaranteed 24 hours a week to start (she said because of the holidays coming up I’ll be working full time, or close to it). The longer I work there the more things I’ll get taught and the more things I learn the more money I’ll get and the more hours I’ll be scheduled. Good deal. We may be tight on money for a little while but I have no doubt that in a short time I’ll be making myself known as a go getter and be racking up the hours.

Right now the hours aren’t ideal but they are something. If we can get Derek to stop waking up at 4 am he will basically be sleeping the whole time I’m at work.

I’m supposed to get a call today about when I can come in for orientation and to start my training. I CAN’T WAIT!!!!!

My birthday went ok, mom took me out to lunch then bought everything for me to make dinner.Super Salmon, potatoes and green beans. No dessert, I’m making 2 cakes for Derek’s birthday on Tuesday so we’re good for birthday cakes.

This week I have to call about an interview at Safeway (I have to call in about 30 minutes….), I have an appt at unemployment on Monday to prove that I know how to find a job (like I’m dumb or something) and to tell them I’m actually looking and not sitting on my ass collecting unemployment checks.

Tuesday is Derek’s first birthday, don’t worry, I’ll post lots of pics. I also have to take mom and a car full of stuff to an antique shop in hope that she will buy the stuff from Granny’s house from us so we don’t have to put it in the non-existent garage sale.

Thursday I have to go to the WIC office and get this month’s vouchers.

In between all of that I’m hoping to help mom get her butt in gear and get working on this FUCKING GARAGE SALE!!!!! I could really use the money that would come in from selling our few things that I’m putting in it, even $100 would go very far right now with the truck’s registration coming due at the end of December. I wish she realized that she is the one that is dragging her feet and making everyone upset by not doing the stuff she said she would do.

I got lucky today, very lucky.  I went to the grocery store and did my thing there.  I got home, Derek had lunch, I ate, we took a nap, played around here and there then went to leave to go to Mom’s house.   Then I noticed that the Croc cell phone holder on my purse wasn’t there, and my cell phone was gone too.  Total, absolute, blinding panic.  Granted I have another phone that I could have reactivated if mine was stolen but still, I was totally freaked that it was stolen.  I called it, and nothing, no one answered.  I called the grocery store and the lady there said no one had turned one in.  Fuck!  So I go to Mom’s house, she decides that she needs something at the store so we go and I have her cell phone so I can call mine and walk around the store looking for it.  We walk in and the customer service desk is right by the door and there is my phone, still in my Croc holder.  Amazing!  So yeah, the strap on the Croc was broken and it had fallen off my purse when I was there and thankfully someone turned it in.  I’m so happy!  And then Bishop text messaged me (after I texted him saying I found my phone) telling me he got a huge tip at work for changing out a woman’s battery, considering he works at a parts store that’s pretty cool.  So not a bad day overall I guess.

This week has flown past.  I meant to do this update on Tuesday but I never got to it.  Just too busy I guess but now I’ve got a minute, or a couple anyway.

Monday: Went to therapy with Lin and Mom. Therapy went fine, since it was almost Lin’s birthday her therapist took her out to lunch while we had lunch too. Afterwords Mom and Lin had an appt with the regional center that pays for her stuff, therapy, psychiatrist, riding classes and 4-H (when she was still going). Every year these meetings happen and we plan out Lin’s goals for the year and what activities she can do. Since the state has cut almost all budgeting for social activities the only thing left for her in the way of services provided is therapy and her psychiatrist appointments. Though they will pay for a day program (a program for disabled adults to go all day long, 5 days a week and be with other disabled adults and go do things like go to the library, the mall, the dollar store, the zoo and such). For years they have been pushing this on Lin but she won’t because she doesn’t like being around other disabled people. So the answer to that has always been no but she has a new worker this year and she hasn’t heard that answer and she seemed kinda upset about it. The regional center has a habit of pushing disabled adults, no matter what their disability is, into independent living. Basically a studio apartment with no supervision, no one to take them to their appointments or to cook for them or to dispense medications or remind them when to bathe, which is what Mom and I have been doing for years now because Lin can’t/won’t do it for herself. I stayed out of the meeting since Lin can’t stand to be around me and basically I’m not in her life anymore (by her choice) but I was called in at the end of the meeting. At the point I came in the meeting had gone almost 2 hours, Lin was upset because they had been talking about her no longer going to 4-H and them not paying for riding lessons (they were paying for them before the budget cuts), Mom was upset because she didn’t know the things the worker was asking about and she needed the answers from me. I came in and everything fell apart with Lin shouting at me and threatening me and refusing to look at me. 15 minutes later Mom and I left the room so Lin and the worker could talk. I went back down to the car and was reading my book. Mom waited in the waiting room for Lin and when she came down the worker said that they would have another meeting in a month and that it would be just Lin and the worker, Mom and I weren’t invited. Mom is upset, she thinks, and I agree, that the worker is trying to push independent living on Lin and Lin, being naive and gullible and easy to persuade, is going along with it. The rest of the night was awful.

Tuesday: Lindsey’s birthday. So I spent all morning making a cheese cake for Lin, (Meyer Lemon Cheesecake, and making phone calls and looking for a job on CraigsList. I called Safeway and talked to a girl I know there, the girl that does the hiring. She said they had a job opening at the bakery, a doughnut frier, guaranteed 26 hours a week but usually working 35-40 hours, midnight to 8 am. She asked me to call back on Thursday and to call on November 8th to talk to the store manager about the job. Come evening we had dinner, Lin played the Wii and everything was mostly calm.

Wednesday: I called Mom at 10 asking if she was ready to go to Granny’s house and continue working on the garage sale stuff. She said no, it was more important for her to finish making the shelf for Lin’s My Little Ponys. That left me frustrated and pissed off. She said she would call later so we could go over and do the garage sale stuff. She never called.

Thursday: Mom still was working on the shelf for Lin so I started making calls. Called Safeway, she was busy and they took a message from me. I called WIC and got all signed up for it and was able to get an appt for 4:00. I pull into the parking lot for my WIC appt and mom calls my cell phone. Not now Mom, I’ve got an appt, I’ll call you later. So I go into the WIC office, start all the paperwork, she is explaining to me what is what and my cell rings, it’s Lin, wanting to know what I was doing, she was bored and Mom told her to call me. I growl that I’m in my appt and not to call me anymore, I’ll call when I’m done. I end up going over there after my appt. What do they want? To do something. Mom is in paint covered clothes, Lin is still in her jammies, and Lin wants to come to my house to play the Wii. Ok, fine, whatever. I talk mom into buying us take-out Chinese food for dinner since I didn’t plan for them eating with us and it was very tasty, last night and this morning.

Today (Friday): Nothing so far this morning really. I called Safeway and she was already on her vacation and gone, shit. I called Derek’s Dr about getting the H1N1 vaccine for him and they said they wouen’t have any of them until his next appt, November 24th. We can wait I guess. Derek has had his nap and already fallen off the bench after trying to stick his hand into the fish tank. I worked on making a grocery list using the vouchers I got from WIC and have almost succeeded, I’ve got 4 things on my list that WIC doesn’t pay for so maybe we’ll be able to pay some on the Shell card, we’ll have to see how much Bishop’s pay check ends up being. I’ll have to run to the bank when he gets home for lunch. I’m expecting to hear from Mom soon but I think I would enjoy a call free day today. I’m hoping for a nap at some point, if the phone stays quiet I may get one. That would be nice. I had some pretty crazy dreams last night and I didn’t sleep well, I could use a nap.