Any Suggestions?

I just got my electricity bill in the mail.

Ouch.

It went from 61.xx last month to 81.xx this month.

We do have a new computer and a new chest freezer but would those 2 things make the bill jump $20 in a month?

Is it possible that they didn't really read my meter this month? The reason I ask is the total use in kWh last month was 518 and this month it is 718. It seems kinda odd that it is EXACTLY 200 more.

Anyone have any advice?

Happy New Year!

We got home from Colorado Monday afternoon and this is the first chance I have had to get on the computer and type.

We had a good Christmas with the Colorado family. Hubbs wanted to stay an extra day but I had to get my ass into work and close out the year on Tuesday.

Let me tell you, it was COLD up there in the mountains. StepFIL and I sat at the kitchen table one morning and watched the temperature drop. And drop. It got down to 3 degrees around 7 a.m.

I am soooo glad to be back in semi-warm Arizona.

The boys got TONS of stuff and had more stuff to open when we got home.

Yesterday, I spent my day divided between opening the rest of the gifts, working, and putting all the toys together.

Today, we cleaned Monk Man and Bobblehead's "office" (play room) so all their gifts could fit.

All those Christmas' were fun and the boys seemed to enjoy themselves but next year is going to have to be different. I think I am going to put my foot down and demand on 1 Christmas at MY home. If the family can't or won't get along, then whatever. Stay home. Whoever wants to show up can.

I think I will let Hubbs break the news. I am too chicken to be bitchy to his side of the family and my family thinks Hubbs is the best thing since sliced bread.

Off To Bed

Well, I am off to bed to try and get some sleep.

The car is loaded up except for the stuff we need for tonight and in the morning.

Just in case I can't pry the laptop away from Hubbs, Monk Man or MIL, Have a Merry Christmas.

I will be back home by Sunday, if the weather cooperates.

Merry Christmas!

It's Beginning To Look Like Christmas

We just got our first few flakes of snow.

The boys might end up having a white Christmas tonight after all. Tonight is the 2nd round of Christmas. With my side of the family. Ugh. I should start drinking now.

We are heading up to Colorado in the morning and should hit the pass at the right time for the roads to be melted.

I AM SOOOO EXCITED!!!!

We are all packed, well except for Hubbs.....who decided to go out drinking last night instead of helping me out and getting HIS shit ready.

I am not too worried about him. He is an adult and can handle himself.

Snort. Who am I kidding?

1 Down, 3 To Go

FIL and StepMIL came over for the 1st round of Christmas. The boys got TONS of stuff. Inflatable Cars sleeping bags, DVDs, and a bathtub water slide thing just to name a few.

The WOW gift was a HUGE pop up Cars tent. This damn thing took up almost all of my living room.

I got some really cute pictures of the boys and Hubbs but I won't get them posted until we hook up MY computer again. Right now Hubbs' computer and the lap top are the only ones being used. I really don't want to put my pictures on either one so I will have to wait until I find a spot for mine.

Hubbs received lots of clothes and another BBQ set. I got clothes and new dishes. Pretty dishes. They are black with white squares on the edges.

We had an incident with Monk Man's mouth. See, he is like a sponge. We really have to start watching our mouths around him and not letting him watch our movies. He was in the kitchen and somebody asked him what he was doing. He replied with......"Just talkin about pussy."

OMG. What? A few seconds of uncomfortable silence passed.

I got the honor of trying to discipline him and find out where the hell he heard that. We went into the bathroom and had a talk about the adult words he was not allowed to say. I told him that if I EVER heard him say something like that again, I would wash his mouth out with soap again. Then I asked him where he heard that phrase because while we do cuss, we don't say THOSE kinds of words around the kids.

Turns out, it is a line from Stepbrothers with Will Farrell. Hubbs and I both had guessed it was something he had overheard my brother say. Sorry Nunk.

Christmas All Week

Hubbs' parents are divorced and live in different states. My parents are a little strange. The 3 sets of families really don't get along so rather than spending 1 Christmas together (full of hate and discontent), we have 4 Christmas' (usually just as dramatic).

This is how this week looks:
Sunday: Grocery shopping. FIL and StepMIL are coming over to our place for the 1st round of Christmas at around 1. Pizza will be ordered and mass quantities of beer will be drank.
Monday: I have to work. Plus do laundry and pack.
Tuesday: I have to work. We have to go to Nonnies and Papa's for the 2nd round of Christmas. Dinner will be Tamales, rice and beans.
Wednesday: Momma has to work half a day. Then we have the 8 hour drive to MIL's. When we get there, the boys have 1 special gift to open (their holiday pajamas).
Thursday: Santa will visit MIL's. We will do the 3rd round of Christmas. Dinner will be extravagant and delicious.
Friday: Nursing hangovers and visiting family. Momma will be going shopping with Hubbs' brothers girlfriend. MIL will be enjoying some quality time with Monk Man and Bobblehead.
Saturday: Home? Maybe? When we DO make it home, we will have the 4th Christmas, with just the 4 us. Santa will have left gifts while we were gone.

Hopefully things will go smoothly. Probably not but a girl can dream, right?

I still have a shit load of things to do.
~Find the stockings.
~Laundry
~Grocery shopping
~Packing
~Bake cookies
~Make Fudge and Christmas Crack
~Put together the goodie plates
~Load up the car with the presents and our stuff
~Find the camera and pack extra batteries
~Keep the house looking decent
~Keep the kids semi-under control and from going into a sugar coma
I know there are more things but I can't think of them right now. Ugh. Off to start on my list.

Tiny Brag

I just watched Monk Man (3 1/2 years old) take the wireless mouse apart, pull out the battery, replace it and put it all back together.

I have been trying to get that damn battery replaced for 2 days now.

Amazing. This kid can figure out anything. Hubbs is the same way. He is always taking shit apart.

Right now, Monk Man is sitting at the laptop playing on www.starfall.com learning his ABC's. We have been working on it on and off for about a week and he is finished with A through D, and we are on E tonight.

I am in big trouble if Bobblehead is this smart.

Mini Vacation

I just realized that MIL has a Walgreens in her town.

That is where we are spending Christmas this year. Snowy Colorado. That is, if we can get over the mountains.

Score! I think I have been in 1 Walgreens my entire life.

I am soooo going shopping while we are there.

I just wish I could remember what other cool stores are in that area.

Hi. I am freezing

I can't seem to warm up today.



No, it hasn't snowed yet but it is bitter-ass-cold!



I have the furnace on, plus my little heater on my feet and I am still cold.



I have actual shoes on, socks too, a thick pair of jeans and a thermal shirt on.



WeatherBug says it will snow tonight down to 6000-5500 feet. But we are at 5000, so maybe.



I can't wait to get home, put my oh so sexy flannel Eeyore pajamas on and curl up on the couch, in a blanket, in front of the T.V.

Think it is going to snow today

It is 7 a.m. and it is still DARK. Like the middle of the night dark.

It was warmer yesterday than it has been in about a week.

Have you ever tasted snow? Duh, of course, everyone has. Well, you know that distinct kinda dirt aftertaste? That's what it smells like outside.

I really hope it dumps 6 feet of snow.

Work will be closed. Maybe. Bad drivers and bad weather are what keeps us in business. Plus, it will give me an excuse to sit on the floor, in front of the laptop, bundled up in a blanket, drinking my 3rd pot of coffee, reading the BHB since it is still there.

Yum

I am baking tonight.

So far I have made another batch of Christmas Crack and a batch of Peanut Butter cookies.

Safeway had a smokin deal on Toll House break & bake cookies. I was only going to get 1 package today but they all had peelies on them. So I bought 3. I have Chocolate Chip and White Macadamia Nut left to bake.

I have made Christmas Crack every single weekend since I found the recipe.

The boys want to help soooo badly but that isn't happening.

Oh! And I made Insulation Cupcakes this morning. I couldn't find white insulation foam so I grabbed a can of light yellow and am going to paint them.

They didn't turn out very pretty. They are lumpy and look more like a glob of whipped cream instead of a cupcake and frosting. Hubbs said that I can sand them down to make them smooth before I paint them so I think that is what I am going to do tomorrow. Well, sand the cupcakes and clean house.

Stupid Railroad

Ugh! I am so frustrated with Hubbs' job, I could scream.

They are taking his retention board away on Monday.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For the non-railroad people: The retention board is for the guys (and a few girls) that don't have enough seniority to hold a spot on one of the regular boards. The retention board pays a small wage plus keeps the health insurance available. The people in charge instated the retention board a few years ago so all the new people with low seniority wouldn't quit.

At the time the retention board was instated, it was cheaper to pay these employees to stay employed with the railroad than it was to let them quit and have to hire and train new people. Well, now YEARS have gone by and it is no longer cheaper to keep the retention board.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shit.Shit.Shit!

Hubbs has to chase work again. The only problem with that is, there really isn't much work to chase. It is going to get really bad the first week of January. That is when the railroad is going to cut jobs nation-wide.

Luckily, Hubbs has almost 3 years under his belt. He will be able to work somewhere, just not here. Don't know where, don't know for how long, don't know much of anything.

To be able to work our local railroad station, you would have to have a minimum of 6 years seniority starting next month.

In the past, when the economy goes down the shitter, the railroad is the last to be hit and the first to recover. I don't see a recovery happening any time soon.

Uhhhhh........I just lost my train of thought.

Anyway, Hubbs faxed in his request for 21 days of unpaid leave. That will take him into next month so hopefully he can figure out a place to go that he can stay at until he can work the local station. If he can work it at all.

Our station has a 5 year primary recall. More railroad lingo: Primary recall is an amount of time that you HAVE to be available to work that station. So that means if Hubbs goes to, say Iowa again, and our station picks back up enough to need him, he HAS leave Iowa and come back here.

After his 5 years are up, he can go anywhere in the network and never come back if he doesn't want to.

The only thing that is keeping us from picking up and moving to somewhere he can hold a job is this stupid primary recall. Well, that and my job.

If, in January, things really look like I think they are going to look, we might be moving. Not sure where yet though.

These are the places we have been discussing:
Trinidad, CO
Sweetwater, TX
Denver, CO
and a few others that I cant remember.

It Snowed Last Night

Yay! I woke up this morning to snow on the ground.

It isnt much, maybe an inch.

But it is still snow. Bring on Christmas!

Red Bull Friday

Will there be one today?

Maybe, maybe not.

I'm not really feeling the whole "clean frantically all weekend while hopped up on legal speed" thing today. Plus my mom forgot to pick me up that case of Red Bulls while she was at Sam's Club yesterday. The same case of Red Bulls I have been reminding her of since Thanksgiving dinner last Friday.

Uuuhhhhhhhggggggggg. But there is so much I need to get done. LoL Just like always.

Must.Stop.Shopping.

Aaaaacccccckkkkkkkk!!!!!!!!!

I just checked my email for the first time all weekend.

OMG! The deals are super amazing. B&BW is calling my name! So is Amazon.com!

I must resist the urge to spend any more damn money. I have already spent WAY too much, just because "it was a bargain".

DH is going to kill me if I buy anything else.

It is so hard to resist.

Must leave the computer. Now.

Stupid Car

I went out this morning to start the car and it, well, it didn't. The dash lights come on but nothing happens when I turn the key.

Piece of shit.

Hopefully it is still under warranty. If not, we are going to have to trade it in sooner than we expected.

The dealership is going to tow it right now.

That's one of the good things that came from me working there for so long. When I need something, they jump right on it.

My PSA of all PSAs: Please, please, please, don't buy a Chevrolet HHR. All they are are problems.