Okay - I am seriously getting sick of applying for jobs again. I am more than qualified for the ones that I have been applying for - and I have received ZERO phone calls. Financially, it's not really a big deal (right now), but morale wise - it's shitty.

It is inevitable that we are going to lose our house - and I would like to go back to work and start putting some money in the bank for Christmas, security deposit, etc. I am stooping to applying for retail jobs soon - which, in all aspects, isn't bad, because usually you get a nice employee discount - which comes in handy during the shopping season!

Last week sucked. Someone shot out the rear window of our van - while it was parked in our driveway, mind you. Got that taken care of - cost $100 we didn't really have to spend.....

Saturday was the real gem of the week, though. A certain Caro police officer (who shall remain nameless) showed up at our door saying that our neighbor called in a complaint about our dogs. Gee, it took a whole lot of guessing to figure out which neighbor. NOT! The thing that pisses me off is that #1 - the dogs weren't even barking #2 - the neighbor never said anything to ME - just called in the five-o, and #3 - the cop was totally and completely rude. I told Ray that I seriously think that our little neighbor boy thinks that he can intimidate us because he is older than we are. I told the cop that my dogs DON'T like the neighbor because he is a CHILD MOLESTER (yes - conviction / prison / the whole nine yards) - and there is nothing that I can do about that. However, when they do bark at him, I bring him inside. Specifically because I KNEW the guy was an asshole and have always thought something like this would happen.

I realize that dogs barking incessantly can be annoying - which is WHY I take measures to prevent my dogs from doing that. They start barking up a storm, they get brought inside.

Ray's Dad went over and talked to the freaky neighbor, and basically he got the impression that the guy wants like absolute silence. Hello - his house faces the MAIN street in town. MORON. Everyone around us has dogs, too. He told Ray's Dad that our dogs "keep him up all night". Bull!! My dogs are not outside at night - Sparky sleeps in my bed and Zoey usually sleeps in Brendan's room. Now - don't you think that if I have an almost 10 month old baby sleeping that I am NOT going to have dogs barking ???? Then, he comes up with some story about how our dogs bark all the time while we are gone. The dogs are in the basement with the door closed while we are gone. How the hell would he know if they are barking or not????

Oh, and my personal favorite - he "tries to be a good neighbor" and he "doesn't know why we put the rocks in our yard".... Our entire backyard is privacy fenced. From the corner of the fence to the side walk we have large rocks along the property line. It does NOT look bad. The reason that we did put them there was to keep neighbor man from mowing our lawn. Did it work? No - the dumb f--- moves them. It's like dude, I can live without a child molester being in my yard. I'll mow it myself, thanks! He is an ass. Ray's Dad asked him if he wanted it so quiet all the time, why doesn't he move the country? LOL

The thing that pisses me off the most is the total rudeness of the Caro PD. There was NO opportunity for us to defend ourselves or our dogs, or state the measures that we DO take to "take other people into consideration". The thought that a nuisance law is completely and totally subjective never seemed to enter the police officer's mind.

Don't you just LOVE applying for jobs? :) I am in the process right now - and I am very glad to say that there are several "good ones" out there. I am definitely interested in and crossing my fingers over! The only negative I can say is that it is frustrating when they refer you to the company / organization website and it is either very slow loading or just very disorganized.

Things are going all right - although I did not finish the bankruptcy paperwork like I had intended. Oh, and then I checked Ray's email today (he never does) and there was email in there from Sallie Mae saying his student loan was 30 days past due. They never even sent us anything saying that it was out of forebearance. Whatever. Just another thing to stress me out, I guess.

Some days I truly wish I could rewind time - back to the days when a bad hair day was about as stressful as my life got.

There's a thought to ponder --- If you were given the opportunity to "do it all over again" - would you do anything differently? If so - what - and why?

I don't know if I would or not - yeah, there are some painful / embarrassing situations that I wouldn't mind avoiding - but at the same time, I lived through it. I can also say that for the most part, I have learned something from those situations.

There is one thing that I would change though - if I had it to do over again, I would be better about physical fitness / healthy eating - and making a stringent effort not to gain weight. I know they say that you "didn't gain it overnight, so don't expect to lose it overnight" - but that little speech does nothing for my motivation.

On that note, today I looked up information on the Lap-Band surgery. It is the reversible not cutting you up one. LOL My Mom thinks I'm crazy - and maybe I am - but I have tried exercising - which I enjoyed - and Weight Watchers - but I am quick to lose motivation and I am so beyond just needing to lose 20 lbs. If I only had a "little" bit to lose, that would be an entirely different scenario. I need to lose about 125 lbs. to be w/in my acceptable "healthy" weight range. I can honestly tell you that as I read that number, it is very overwhelming and I really don't know where to begin! I would love to join Curves, but at last check - I'm broke - so that option is out - and working out at home is free I know, but come on, I'm a full-time Mom - working out for 30 minutes by MYSELF would be like a vacation!!

This is a topic that I could go on and on about ---- but I want to go home and go to bed, so TTFN.

WOW !! A very very very long time since my last post. :(
I am so neglectful.

Here is the quick update:

Changed jobs a few times since my last update.

Had a baby since my last update! Brendan Robert was born on January 12, 2005!

We did get the house in Caro, but unfortunately I was off work a bit w/ pregnancy complications and then gall bladder surgery...oh yeah and a lay off...so we are not in the hot seat financially. :(
Things definitely did not work out at all in that department, but oh well.

I am in a rush to beat the Bankruptcy law changes. I have to contact a lawyer tomorrow. I did pretty much all of the leg work myself, so I am hoping they won't charge an arm and a leg. It's like HELLO if I were rich I would not be doing this.....ya think??