and now with the weather

crocheted a cat harness. all of the cats proved they could get it off in less than 3 mins. Houdini has nothing on them. KoKo has been avoiding me since 9am thanks to it. heh. better than begging to go out! 

today the dog neighbor was yelling at her mutts... So apparently I am the only one that isn't supposed to do it? oh if she only knew how many lol's we have had over this whole thing I think she would be even more bitter than she is.  We are pretty sure her husband left her (we havent seen him in a few weeks anyhow) so maybe that is what has her acting like a bitch.

Discovered that there are things called window well covers for the basement windows. Tomorrow we will go around and see if Ace or any of the local hardware stores have them. The cats would love to be able to sit in the basement window wells. Still waiting for Ace to get the screen mesh in. lol, sometimes living in a small city isn't all it is cracked up to be. 

I didn't manage to fall asleep until well after 3 and then I was up around 7:30... been dragging ass all day today... hoping for an early bed time!

Today B and I planted my pepper plants. We had originally planned a proper garden, but decided that maybe since this is our first go at the whole garden thing that we'd start out small and see how it goes. lol, I must say it looks super cute. :) I also sprinkled coriander seeds around the edges, as B eats it CONSTANTLY and since it is a herb im hoping it will take very little tending to come though.  

B got word on a possible job that starts up in a few weeks in SC (i think... or maybe WV... lol, one of the eastern directional states anyhow) and talked to a few local people today about piddly-jobs. Thats the thing, with anything local the are either so very under paid or so very under houred that he makes more on unemployment than he would working. :\ pretty frustrating, especially for him... but things are sure to turn around in the next month or so, just got to keep your ear to the ground. I am so glad he has no proble making cold calls... I would be a wreck if I had to just randomly call up this lead or that. He is on a few halls *out of work* lists, but the halls are pretty full this year... we are far from the only pipeliners out of work. But it is much easier to keep your chin up when you hear good news.

When we got into it with the neighbor she mentioned our cats in her yard, so we have kept them in since (something we would have done if she would have mentioned it nicely or bitchy, it is the law here, and i am nothing if not a law minder!) and they are starting to go a little stir crazy. We have planned a way to screen in our back porch to give them a bit of fresh air, but none of the shops had the mesh screen in a 9x9 or larger size, so we are waiting for it to come in... lol, knowing my luck B will have to leave before it does and I will have to figure out how to do it alone... heh, I always have something to bitch about. ;p

Glad school is inching closer to an end. This year seems to really be dragging on.... We still have a month to make all of our days, but I think the last 2 weeks will be projects, and video heavy, because we are running out of material in the science/grammar department. I cannot believe this is the end of our 6th year homeschooling!! :) all at once it seems like a very long time, and hardly anytime at all. lol, you have no idea how many times I nearly tossed my hands in the air and quit, but I am so very proud at how far we have come. <3 Every summer Eli talks himself into going to PS the next year, and then changes right before they start... I wonder if this will be the year he goes for it. (lol, Ean plans on homeschooling FOREVER ... even college....)

Well, I guess I should go fix supper before there is a revolt!

lol, neighbor bitch made her son stay over all day today while she was working.... and guess who was yelling at the mutts to STFU? her son of course. :p it took ALL my will power not to yell over to her house *You need to stop yelling at those dogs!" 

in other news, at least the joint hatred for the neighbor and her dogs gave B and I something to focus on today. still no word on the jobs front...grumble... but oh well, THINGS WILL GET BETTER. just have to keep holding out hope.

Neighbor bitch yelled at me for yelling at her non-stop barking dogs. Let me say, if there wouldn't have been a fence there I may have killed the bitch. You reap what you sow though, and boy, she has no fucking idea the wild oats she sowed this afternoon. Guess who will be in her yard ALL DAY tomorrow, yelling at those mutts every time they think of barking?

that's right, this girl. 

lol, it's on.

planted my marigold and dwarf zinnia starts in my window box today. I cannot wait for them to start flowering!

my areo garden is a freaking blessing when it comes to starting seeds! turn the bad boy on 24 hr light cycle and they were 3-4 inches tall in a matter of weeks. hopefully it doesn't hard freeze again (said the lady who knows that april snow is normal here...it happened 2 days ago...) if so I'll just toss a towel over them and say a little prayer to the plant gods. I have  a number of pepper starts, morning glory, moss roses, and *variety mix!!* that still need a week or 2 before they are big enough to plant. 

I am also super excited to have a few bulb plants peak up in this yard. Looks like a few clusters of daffodils, a few tulip patches (yellow and orange so far) and most exciting to me, as I have never had them, hyacinths! they are still tightly budded, so i cannot see what color they are, but I am crossing my fingers for pink!  I really want to plant some gladiolas and some irises for height under my bedroom window. I think a clematis would be beautiful on our back patio, where we currently have a rose bush. It had better bloom this year, or it will be dug up post haste! 

Drove past my old Park ave house and no one has bothered watering all my flowers this year. cries. at least I gave them 2 springs of healthy blooms. lol, b thinks we should go over there and dig all the bulbs up. :p believe you me, if I planted them they would have been dug up before I left!! :p 

went up owl creek pass today and it should only be weeks before it is completely open. Can't wait to go up to see the blooms start next month!

B absolutely got the job and will be leaving for Montrose PA either tomorrow night or Thurs morning. We learned that his line is only 10" pipe, so a lot of the anxiety he had about manning a *big line* has been calmed. His boss is setting him up with a crew, and the shop has already been set up, so hopefully it is a quick fit for B. :) I am so freaking proud of him right now though. Who would have thought he wold have been able to go from truck driver to purchasing agent in 3 years?!

Boy are we going to miss him though! Sounds like this job goes until Sep, then there is another little line they plan on putting B on until Christmas.... sound like a long time, but we know how time flies when he is working.  We will just keep ourselves busy until it is time to go visit B and other family. 

Montrose CO and Montrose PA are 2,003 miles apart... sigh.... that just makes me feel sad... idk, when he was only 400 miles away it really didn't seem bad. I knew that I could get in my car and be where he was in half a day... PA is soooo much farther. but on the other hand I was looking at the maps and I am pretty sure that if I ever drive out to see him I will be going through IL and IN, and the prospect of FINALLY MEETING Tracey face to face is pretty thrilling. lol, I will kidnap Jenn on the way through so she can see Tracey in real life too. ;) 

Gosh it feels good to be able to breath again!! Between being actually physically sick with he worlds most lingering cold, and just pure anxious, the last 3 weeks have been hard on us all.  Today is going to be a busy one. Packing bags, cleaning out the truck, gathering up everything B needs, washing clothes, and then normal life as well. I think that after the boys are finished with Reading, spelling, typing, math and grammar that i'll give them the rest of the day off. I'm sure they would like to spend it with their dad and I will have to many things going at once to be a very valuable teacher.

i <3 memes. 

RULE: wanna list? comment asking for one and I'll give you a random list of 7 things to talk about!

these are from Tracey

favorite places
global warming
sports
bucket list
reality tv
favorite disney princess
lifelong dream

Favorite places: Of all the topics this is going to be my hardest, because I have SO MANY favorite places.  I have favorite places that I love because of memories, because of the treasure that are there, because of beauty and because of loss. I love Osage county Oklahoma because my roots for 100 years are based in that area. Grandparent after grandparent stood there.  When I heard the thumping of the oil wells as a little girl I thought it was my Cherokee ancestors drumming me a message. in my dreams those hills are where I most likely stand. Oklahoma rips at my heart, but I will probably never live there again. to many ghosts, to few opportunities.
I love Washington DC.I love the pain that grips you when standing in front of the Wall. I love the shivers of awe when you look the the first planes. I love the sound of your foot steps in the whitehouse, knowing that you're walking in the footsetps of your nation.
I love the beauty of the ocean from Lincoln City Or. in the winter right before a storm takes hold. I love the smell of the sea air and the sharp wind driven rain. I love the forests as old as time in the RedWoods of California, where my 8 year oldself learned that Oklahoma was not the edge of the world. I love the fortresses in Ponce, Puerto Rico. I honestly love all of the places I have been. I love that I have been so very lucky. 
But mostly I love Montrose Colorado. I love the people, the climate. I love how in 20 mins we can be in the middle of the mountains. I love how the sun shines most every day. I love how clear the water is and how fresh the air is. I honestly never thought I would find a home but we did. <3


global warming: I believe in it, and that it is something that each and every person should do their part to help combat it, but I am a lazy lazy bastard. I do not recycle like I should. I drive 4 blocks to the grocery store way more often than I ever should. and I know there are 3 billion people who are just like me.... and there are billions others that want to reach this status. We are a species that wants more. We want more choices for food that are trucked over 1000's of miles, we want newer tvs and cars, made and powered by resources we really don't need to exploit. I am beyond sure that humans will be their own demise thanks to pollution in one form or another.= because once it is serious enough for billions of people to take it into account daily, it will be much too late... and all because so many of us are lazy bastards...


sports: yay! I love sports!! When I was really little it seemed like the only way I was allowed to hang out in the livingroom when my dad was home was if I would sit quietly and *watch the game*. My first sporting love was racing. lol, naming car drivers and their #'s was my party trick. Around 10 or so I started watching football and basketball mainly because I liked having something to talk about with my dad and other guys. lol, it is like a *get in free* pass to the boys club if you can talk sports. I have a hard time explaining why i like sports because for every thing I like about it there are things that make me mad... like the ego of the players, or how much money they make... but despite all my complaints I watch at least part of a game most days and a day would seem empty without an hour of sports nation. 
ironically I am about the most awful person at any sport. I have the hand eye skills of a one eyed, one legged monkey...


bucket list: I do not like them. It seems like something I should like, but I do not. idk, i am now 10 years away from the age my mom was when she died. Mortality looks me in the face every day, I do not need a list to remind me that there are things I have not accomplished.
My bucket list is to be happy most every day. to spread more joy than pain. to be a good mom and wife. to me that list means more than seeing the taj mahal ever would.


reality tv: 2 years ago I would have said *ee! i love reality tv!* but I really only meant I loved survivor and project runway. This year I have watched neither. the contestants anymore are more caricatures than real people anymore, so i really do not care who wins so I do not bother watching.  Reality tv like Khloe and Lamar just make me think of voyeurism. I feel nasty watching them, like I am peeking into their windows. ugh, and the thought of being in one and having people follow me w/cameras all the time? creepy!


favorite disney princess:  lol I guess it would be Cinderella, as i sing a song that goes *Chancie-rella, Chancie-rella, night and day it's Chancie-rella, Wash the dishes, do the mopping, and the weeping and the dusting...* most every day before I start my chores. lol, but truth be told I probably sing a song from most disney princesses at least once a day.  poor cinderella though, she is pretty much the most helpless of all the princesses and really does the least to get herself out a jam.

lifelong dream:  I have always been a goal-less person. This bothered my dad so very much when I was in school (what college? what do you want to be? why don't you know!?) and it really bothers brandon too.... I have very little drive and even fewer dreams. I want to grow old. I want to own a house outright. mostly though, I want brandon, my kids and I to be happy.

wow, I fell off the world without so much as a fair-the-well... :\

I got burnt out trying to think of something to photo every day, but I saw a list thing a little while ago, (thanks judy) so perhaps I will be able to stick with assigned photos? :p lol, well, we will see.

http://www.writespell.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/marchphotoaday-final.jpg

waiting to see what happens w/ B's job still... sigh.... man someday I will become a patient waiter. B called Thurs and from what he could tell it sounds like it is a go, but who really knows. Nothing is certain in pipelining until you get out on the job. agh, I don't even really want to think of it, for fear of jinxing it.

agh.

you do not see many photos of the boys here because they say things like *you cannot put this on the internet!!* right after I take it or they simply will not look at me.

lol, but they do exist.

Ean always sits like this.
always. 



On top of stools it is pretty frightening, even though he's never fallen. At his school desk it results in sloppy work. And regardless of how many times I tell him to sit on his butt, he always ends back up in this crouch that we call cotton picking.

I think it is a muscle memory come long down my line. My dad sat like that when his knees were better, long before Ean was born. My grandpa Luke sat in that crouch well into his 70's. I was the first Freeman kid that didn't start her education in the cotton fields in a hundred years, but scuttling around in a crouch is second nature to me too.

so every time I see him cotton picking, even if my first words are *oh gosh Ean, sit right! you're gonna break your neck!" my first thoughts are of my grandpa and how somethings pass down through a family without any intention but if you know where it came from you can see a families 100 year history.


I'll have to get a picture of Eli pointing with his middle finger. lol, his muscle memory is just an odd one, but exactly like his dad's maternal granddad. :)

burnt the weirdest incense yesterday. I don't think I have ever seen a 2 headed incense before, lol, cannot decide if it is lucky or not.



heh, and since the angle makes no sense, I wedge incense in the door frames.