What The Hell!!

Have you ever walked in and seen something so weird and random that it makes you wonder what was going on before you got there?

I got home tonight - walked in the door - Buffy was there to greet me like she always is - lying on her back right in the middle of the doorway wanting someone to scratch her belly - I think she thinks she's a dog! I put my purse on the floor and headed towards the kitchen. As I got close to the kitchen I could see some dark shapes on the floor by the baby gate. First quick thought - great, Muppet pooped in the kitchen and made a big mess! I even said - what's going on in here! Then I got closer to the baby gate and realized it wasn't poop it was . . . . . . . . . . . . Blueberries!! What The Hell!! The container of blueberries that I had left on the counter was now on the floor and there were blueberries everywhere! Along with the blueberries were a nice set of purple paw prints! They went across the floor and ended at . . . . . . . . . . . . . my butcher knife!! This too had been up on the counter!! What The Hell was going on in my house while I was at work all day!

Here are some possibilities:

• There was a rousing game of Blueberry Ball! They couldn't find the bats so they used the big butcher knife instead. Muppet hit a home run which would explain how some of the blueberries made it on to the other side of the baby gate and the purple paw prints all over the floor.
• The cats were playing a game of - who can hit Muppet with random things pushed off the counter. The blueberries went first and then the knife. The purple paw prints show the random pattern that Muppet ran to avoid being impaled with the knife.
• The cats started a food fight and were throwing blueberries at Muppet who then used "The Force" to get the knife so she could protect herself.
• The three animals got together and discussed the best way to get into my head and drive me crazy when I got home. The plan they decided on was to just have random things on the floor inside the gated part of the kitchen and watch my reaction when I got home.

Thoughts? Ideas?

De

It's A Boy!!

Baby Extein has arrived!! His Official Stats are: Name - Hoyt Allen Extein, Weight - 8 lbs 13 oz, and Length - 20 3/4 inches. Full head of dark hair - and so so so cute! Don't take my word for it - you can judge for yourself.

Auntie De De

Scam me once shame on you . . . . .

Man - I should have known better!! I should have remembered how this always goes!! Why is it that I keep banging my head against a wall and expecting a different outcome!

Call from L tonight - in tears - saying how she hates it at Justin's - he's being mean to her - ordering her around - treating her like crap. Can't she just come and stay with me for the weekend again! Aaaaagggghhhhhh! See - I give in once and say yes and then she just expects me to always say yes and swoop in and take care of her. I never should have let her come back for that one weekend. Jason - you were right!

I stood strong though - said No - said she needed to work things out on her own. Figure out another place she can go stay. She turned on the waterworks - saying she was sorry and never planned for things to be like this. Yeah - same thing she told me two weeks ago. She says she has been trying to find a place but hasn't been able to. I am thinking she has tried has hard as she has to find a job - hmmmm still unemployed.

This could turn out to be a very long interesting weekend.

De

**Received another voice message from the people referenced in my previous post**

Ring - Ring . . . . . . . . .

I received a voicemail today from a number that has been calling here a lot lately. They haven't left any messages before - this was the first one. It said – This is Joseph from FFG and Associates you must call me back at (1-866 number). You need to call me back soon. There was nothing in the message indicating what the call was about and he didn’t say whom he was calling. So – I did what most people do these days – I Googled the business name. Well – let me tell you – I found a lot of websites that had people leaving messages on chat boards regarding getting these same calls. They were split about 50/50 in saying that this was either a Scam trying to get your money or they are hard-core collection attorney’s who will sue you for the debt that is owed. Now I know I do not have any outstanding debts – I have my mortgage and my regular monthly bills and that is it. But - L has a lot of debt right now so it’s possible someone turned her over to collections.

• $600+ to T-Mobile for her cell phone

• $300+ to Bank of America

• $600+ to Klahanie Shell for the work on her other car

Man – she’s not even living here anymore and I am going to be getting Collection Calls for her. So – do I just ignore the calls and not pick up the phone. – answer the call next time I see that number and tell them that L doesn’t live here anymore or that this isn’t her number – do I give them her cell number or just tell her that they are calling and give her their number.

If what I have read on some of the chat sites is true – these are very aggressive collectors and they will send letters and file lawsuits. But if they never actually contact her and if she’s not here to get a registered letter can they file lawsuits? And – if they are scam artists – that just pisses me off.

In the immortal words of someone I work with - A phone call is a request for a conversation not a demand. You don't have to answer. (Not sure if I got that right but close enough!)

De

Time Flies When . . . . . . .

Over the past two days a few things have come up that remind me how much time has gone by.

1. A Facebook friend from grade school thru high school played a game online called Pop Culture. It's kinda of like Family Feud - you're given a question and you try to match the top answers. Yesterday's question was - Name a state in the USA that starts with a vowel. She scored 100 points and commented Yippee!! I guess that song I memorized in sixth grade will always come in handy. I commented that I still remembered that song too. She responded - Fifty nifty united states!!!! Way back from 1976. WOW! That was a long, long time ago. 33 years!! How is it that I can remember a song from 33 years ago but can't remember where I leave my keys!! By the way - I scored 100 points too!
2. It was Matt's B-day at work yesterday. He's not in finance but I had told him I would bake for his birthday. Muppet issues made it a day let - baked last night! Anyways - a group of us were talking and I asked how old he turned - 24. You know what - that is the age the kids in my first preschool class would be today!! I could have been his preschool teacher and here we are working for the same company. The kids form my Kindergarten class I did my student teaching would be 28 - 29. The one and only Kindergarten class I taught - they would be 26 - 27. Old Old Old!
3. This one doesn't necessarily make me feel old - it just demonstrates how much time has gone by. Today would have been my 21st wedding anniversary! 21 Years!! That is just mind boggling to me. So much has happened - it just seems like it was in whole other life. I was so young back then. I sent Lindsay an IM today - 21 years ago at this time you were not smiling for pictures! She was such a grumpy little flower girl - No smile - finger in the mouth - but she still looked cute! Here's an interesting side note - Alan is now married to Randi who was the guest book attendant at our wedding! I tell ya - sometimes I feel like we could be on Jerry Springer! Remember - Randi is the little sister of Gerri who was my best friend and is married to Chris - Alan's older brother!! In case you're wondering - I don't remember this date for any nostalgic or still in love with Alan kind of reason - it's because my sisters wedding anniversary is exactly 7 days after mine! She will be celebrating 26 years!

De

Lots of little things going on!

L - Last week I found a job on craigslist that sounded good for her - I called her and told her I was setting up an email address for her (one that was acceptable!) and submitting her resume. She got a call from them on Monday and interviewed with them yesterday! She said it went well and that she should be hearing from someone today. I haven't heard from her so either she got the call or didn't!! Once I know whether she got it or not I'll let you know the name of the place.

Muppet - I got home Monday night and Muppy was limping a little bit - not sure how she hurt herself seeing as she is locked up in the kitchen all day! Tuesday morning when I got up I noticed she hadn't moved at all during the night - so not like her. When I took her outside and sat her down - she couldn't use her back legs. If you've been following me for awhile then you know she has seizures - I immediately started worrying that she may have had one during the night and was now having nerve issues. I called the vet and made an appointment - she was thoroughly checked out - looks like she possibly strained her back muscles - not sure how! She may have had a seizure during the day when I wasn't home. She is on pain meds and hoping she shows some improvement in a few days. I now have a Muppet Cam!! A little web cam I have set up in the kitchen so I can watch her from work to see if she is having any seizures. I started watching her today! I discovered 3 things:

1. She was not faking injury to get attention. She had a hard time climbing out of her bed - took her 3 tries! She then wobbled over to get some food.
2. She sleeps a lot!
3. Buffy - my cat - does jump over the baby gate in to the kitchen to eat dog food and then she jumps back out! I knew it!

The camera went dark around noon - when I got home the computer didn't have internet connection anymore. We'll try again tomorrow. It was rather entertaining while it lasted - the cam has a mic so I could hear the cats running around and Muppet snoring! Muppet is still not walking real well tonight but I am hoping she will show improvement by tomorrow.

Baking Peanut Butter Brownies right now! As soon as they are done I am heading to bed!

De

Weekend Update

OK – Let’s see – who chose no drama in the pool – who had that there would be an argument when it came time for L to leave – who chose I never should have let her in the house in the first place!

If you chose no drama – thanks for your optimism! If you thought I never should have let her back in – as they say hindsight is 20/20! That just leaves us with the argument scenario – which is what happened.

Things went fairly well Friday night and Saturday. She came back around 1030 Saturday night and said she applied at 4/5 stores at Redmond Town Center. She then logged on to my PC and said she applied to QFC and Fred Meyer. I woke up on Sunday at 730 – why so early you ask – well that would be because L was on the phone with her friend Talon and was talking rather loudly! I could hear her in her room and when she went outside – I’m sure my neighbors were thrilled. I got to listen to her explain to Talon about the fight with Justin – new information is that Justin only knows about a few of the guys she has hooked up with and he doesn’t know about Colin (aka Panda) or the random people she met at parties. Have I said I’m so proud! I got up and took a shower – took out Muppet – sat down to read the Sunday paper (basically the Target Ad). L got ready – had some breakfast – and said she was going to go meet up with some friends. I asked her what her plans were – she just gave me a look. I reiterated that I said she could stay for the weekend – well that started the argument that I knew was coming. She has nowhere to go – why can’t she stay – what is it that I think she’s going to do in the house if I’m not there – she can’t find a job in 2 days – can’t she just stay here until she gets a job and finds a place to live – how am I supposed to see she can be trusted if I don’t let her stay with me. Her friends all know what she’s done and even they don’t understand why I don’t care anymore. I said – that’s interesting seeing as none of your friends want you in their house crashing for a couple of days. She said – they’re her friends so they don’t have to – I’m her family so I should be willing to help. My favorite was when she said that I never give her a chance. I just kept saying No over and over again – told her I was extremely clear on Friday that she could only stay the weekend and if she thought she was going to change my mind she was mistaken. L finally stormed out of the house.

During this time poor little Muppet was curled up tight in my lap – hiding her face under my arm. She was stressed out – didn’t move the rest of the day. When L came home later in the day she went to pet Muppet and Muppet pulled her ears back and shrank away from her – think she was a little nervous!

L came back later in the afternoon – she had spoken with Justin and he was sorry for the way things had happened and told her she could come back and stay with him until she found a place to live. She is doing another install job with Justin and his boss today.

So – as of 700 this morning she is out of the house – again.

De

Drama . . . .

I have L back in my house for the weekend. She called me at 830 last night - she was scared - Justin was pushing her around and threatening to hit her - she was out on the deck. When the conversation first started there was a part of me that wondered if she was blowing things out of proportion - pulling something over on me to get me to let her come home. I asked her if she had found somewhere else to stay - she said no. I asked her what she wanted - she said she wanted me to help - that she never wanted to be in this situation. I finally told her that I would drive to Justin's apartment - help her get gas in her car - and she could come stay with me for the weekend. She needed to spend the weekend trying to find a place to stay and looking for a job.

So she spent the night here - she got up around noon - her friend Kellie called her and she went to go hang out with her - saying she was going to Redmond Town Center to look for a job. Not sure whether I believe that or not. I reminded her that she needed to be working on a place to stay - I still don't trust her so she can't be in the house when I'm not here. I have a feeling that there is going to be drama tomorrow when she has to leave.

I think she needs to go somewhere to start over with a clean slate - be rid of the friends that she hangs out with - get away from the potentially abusive boyfriend - when she applies for jobs she can say she moved and that's why she left her other jobs. I think moving to Tennessee with her Dad might be the answer.

De

What Round Is This . . . . . . . 10+

Phone call received at 10 this morning from L - in tears - hardly able to speak. She and Justin had gotten into a huge fight - Justin told her they were over and that she needed to move out of the apartment! She called me because she had nowhere to go - she didn't ask to come back but she certainly hinted around about it - I didn't offer. I gave her some suggestion like - call some of her other friends to see if she can crash with them - she said that she couldn't. Get a job so she can afford a place - said she had no gas in her car - again. She said she wanted me to just help her.

The fight they had seems to have stemmed from Justin's jealousy and lack of trust for L. She went with him and a group of people from the warehouse to Moses Lake on Monday to help out with a job. Monday night when it was getting late Justin went to their room and L stayed up with the group to finish her beer. Justin came out a few minutes later to fine L sitting on the edge of a chair next to one of the guys and he had his hand on L's thigh. Justin got mad - they had a huge fight - he wouldn't believe L that nothing was going on. Told her that as soon as she got paid for the warehouse job she had to move out - he was done dealing with her.

I don't know what happened in the past between them - I just know that L needs to figure things out. I can't be her safety net - she will never hit rock bottom and make changes if I am always there to clean up the mess.

Lessons I hope she learns from this

• Don't live with someone who can kick you out at any given moment without having a back up plan.
• If you know you're boyfriend has trust issues - don't put yourself in situations that can be misinterpreted.
• Have your own job and money so you don't have to rely on someone else to take care of you so you don't feel trapped in a relationship.
  
• Keep your Independence

Tony - next time you feel like saying my blog has been kinda boring and needs some drama . . . . bite your tongue!!
De

Makes You Wonder

A new T-mobile bill arrived for L today in the mail - I opened it to see how much was owed and was surprised to see "new" charges on the bill. WTH - she hasn't paid for the service - they shut off her phone - they certainly can't be charging her for service can they. I looked through the invoice - found the new charges - $200 early cancellation of contract fee!! You've got to be kidding me! Here they have a customer who can't pay the bill - they turn off the service - turn it over to collections - and then turn around and bill an additional $200 Cancellation Fee! Do they really think they're going to get that? The customer can't afford the normal bill - do they actually think she can afford the additional charge! Unbelievable - companies will just keep trying and trying to get as much money out of you as possible.

Has me thinking I may just cancel my T-Mobile service - maybe I should break down and get an iPhone like everyone else has!

De

Two Sides of L

My family has had the experience of seeing the two faces of L in one weekend - I have experienced this many, many times as you all know. Thursday's family dinner - L was on really good behavior. The ride in the car was pleasant - only 1 comment about country music on the radio. She hugged everyone Hello - she talked with her cousins but wasn't loud. After dinner she let us take her picture with everyone. When we got back to the condo she thanked me for buying her dinner. When she got to her car she told Auntie Colleen that she would call me later because she wanted to see everyone again before they left. It was very rare to see her like this - it was nice. I heard Nana tell Auntie Jan that she felt a little sorry for her - she had lost her job, lost her apartment, looked really thin, looked lost. Auntie Jan told her not to - that I had found it in me to stand my ground and say No and that Nana needed to remember that. I know that L is good at pulling the heartstrings and that one day of great behavior does not a change make. Demonstrated a few days later at Sunday's family outing and dinner.

Sunday - Original talk was to go to the outlet stores and then meet up with Nana and Papa for dinner - L only heard the Outlet Mall part - I think she was hoping to get me to buy her something there. Then on Saturday the plans changed to going to the Seahawks stadium for the tour at 2:00 and then meeting Nana and Papa for dinner at 5:30. Sunday L called at 10:30 to as she just woke up and would get here as soon as she could. While I was on the phone with her plans changed again - go to the 12:00 Seahawks tour - get to the Outlet Malls afterward - and then meet-up with Nana and Papa for dinner at 6:30. L got mad and frustrated - no way she could get here in time. We decided that I would pick her up in Factoria after the stadium tour and she would join us for the mall and dinner. OK - everything was worked out - plans were firmed up - we were on our way.

Colleen, Tony, and Krystina took the stadium tour - Krystina is a huge Seahawks fan! Lindsay, Jeffrey, the dogs, and I went to Starbucks and sat outside people watching and reading. My car - Lindsay and Jeffrey - hooked up with L in Factoria and headed up to the mall. And the other side of L reared it's ugly head. The whole way up - complaining about the radio station (country music) - why did we change plans - i thought we were just going shopping - why is dinner going to be so late. I'm so hungry - I haven't eaten all day - if I'd known it was going to be so hot out I would have worn something different. Non Stop Complaining the whole way to the Mall - 40 minutes!! I don't think she stopped to take a breath. At the mall - why are we standing in line to get in to the Coach store - this is so ridiculous - oh look at this, I really like this, it's only $xxx, wish I could buy something but I have not money. I did buy her something for a late lunch because she kept telling my how hungry she was. 15 minutes after a foot long sandwich, chips, and a soda - she was hungry again! How long are we going to be at the mall - why are the dinner reservations so late. Then all thru dinner she talked loudly about drinking - her boyfriend - marijuana - things she has done and not gotten caught for. Again - non-stop talking. It was the same on the way back to her car. When we finally dropped her off at her car and drove away my first words were - OMG! Does she ever shut up!!

My suspicions:

1. She was either high on Thursday which is why she was so relaxed and agreeable.
2. She was trying to pull on people heartstrings to try and get something on Thursday.
3. She was tweeking on something Sunday which is why she was a motor mouth and so hungry.
4. She is bi-polar and needs medication.

I wish I knew - I wish I could help - she won't listen to me, she will just agree with anything I say in order to get me to give her things and/or let her move back in.

De

Family Part I

First chance I've had to blog since the family got here from Texas! Having a great time with everybody here - they read my blog so I have to be nice!

My condo is a 2-bed/2-bath - in addition to myself and my 3 pets I have now added 5 adults and 2 dogs! So far there's been no biting, scratching, or fighting . . . . . . and the animals have been getting along too!

I worked on Thursday and Friday - after work on Thursday we had a family dinner - L joined us. It was the first time in 2 years that the whole family had been together. It was fun. We went to Claim Jumper in Redmond. If you are going to have dinner there - make reservations - and if you are getting there around 6 be prepared to drive around looking for parking. It was packed - when there was a spot open you couldn't pull in because the SUVs in the surrounding spots had parked way too close to the lines. I finally found a spot - then as we were heading to the restaurant I saw a car pulling out of a good spot - I called Colleen on her phone and told her to drive back around - Lindsay, L, and I were going to go stand in the spot and hold it for her. A lady pulled up - gave me a look and waved her hands at me as if I didn't know I was standing in an empty spot - I told her I was on the phone with my sister and she was coming back around for this spot. Fun, Fun, Fun!! The service was bad until Lindsay went up to the front and told them that we had been sitting at our table for 20 min and no one had come by to take our order. The manager came over within a minute and apologized - the gal who was our waitress didn't know she had our section. The manager was very nice - got our drinks right away and gave us to appetizers for free. Auntie Jan and I were beginning to think we were jinxed - the previous week when we were at Cucina Cucina we had bad service! It was a good night - L was pleasant!

Friday we went to the Mariner's Game - Ken Griffey Jr Bobblehead Night - the whole reason for the trip up from Texas.

I will tell you about that experience tomorrow! I need to get some sleep!

De

Middle of the Week

This has been one of those days!

Work - my computer was slow when I first got there - then the accounting software Great Plains started giving me weird error messages and then freezing up, my printer for check runs jammed up - really jammed up - took me 20 minutes to pick all the little pieces of paper out! Got done with work by 4 so I could get home to do some quick housecleaning - The Musielak family - 5 adults and 2 dogs - are flying in from Texas tonight to stay with me for a long weekend.

Home - nothing really went wrong - just a lot more to do than I thought. My feet hurt from running around! They just texted me at 10 and everyone has landed, they have their rental car, and are on their way here.

Drama - You knew on a day like today that there would have to be some L drama! Let's see - she got another ticket over the weekend - this time for expired tabs. She called on Monday to see if I would write the check if she gave me cash. As long as I get the cash first - no problem! Then - she called me tonight. She started out the convo letting me know that she had a new cell phone number - she finally got one of those pay as you go phones. As we were ending the conversation she says, "By the way, I no longer have a job." - What happened this time. A customer left their purse Monday night and after L worked yesterday there was an iPod and $7 missing - workers there accused L of taking it - told the manager that they saw L by the purse looking in it. Of course, she denies it. I have a hard time believing her though - she has no problem stealing from family - why would she have a problem stealing from strangers. When she told me there were no tears - pretty much no emotion in her voice at all.

The houseful of people should be here soon! I'm going to go make one last look through the house - make sure I have pillows and blankets for everyone - as well as towels.

I did find time tonight to make Lemon Tarts! I will bring some in to work and leave some here for the relatives!

De

Dark Places

I just finished the book Dark Places by Gillian Flynn - It was listed as one of Cosmos top beach reads for 2009.

I had a hard time reading it at first - I liked the story and once I started it I definitely wanted to finish it so I could see how it ended - but I could only be in the main characters head for so long and then I needed to put the book down. I never read a book where the main character got to me so quickly and strongly - a sign of a really good writer. She got to me where I had to put it down but then needed to pick it back up as soon as I could - I needed to find out what happened. The further in to the book I got, the more I began to understand the main character - she didn't bother me as much - I was able to see how she had gotten to be how she was.

This is a story of a family that was murdered and the 7-year-old girl who testified that she saw her older brother kill her whole family. The author takes us from Libby now to the events that happened on the day of the murders. Just that one day gives you an insight into how one small event can change your life.

De