The First Day of Vacation

Today is the first weekday of my vacation. I planned my vacation around spring break for the girls, and me finishing up my last set of classes. What should one do on their first day of vacation? Set up an appointment to have keyless entry installed on one's vehicle at 9 am in another city so one can get up early even on vacation.

I knew in advance it was going to take 3 1/2 hours to install the keyless entry, remote start, and alarm system(I'll get to that later). I packed a couple of snacks. A snack size bag of Extreme Dill Pringles, and some "100 Calorie" snack packs.


The reason I didn't have someone follow me and just go home is because I drove to Nashville. Which is 30-45 minutes from where I live. It seemed wasteful to drive to Nashville, drive home, drive back to Nashville, then drive home again. Everyone who knows me knows that I am very concerned about gas conservation....especially mine. So, I packed a few snacks, my Ipod and made sure to bring extra change for the the drink machine. All in all, it was not a bad morning. I got to listen to music, read, and watch "The Young and The Restless", and munch a little.

One of the ideas of "spring" break is that the weather is SUPPOSED to be nice. Oh no, not on my spring break. As I was leaving CarMax, I saw snowflakes. And it was cold. And windy. I was right across the street from the 100 Oaks Mall (which I always want to call 100 Acre Mall...you know, from Winnie The Pooh and The Hundred Acre Woods).


Anyway, I had never been to this particular mall so I went over to check it out. And blew my budget. I did not have any purchases budgeted for this week. I decided that I simply had to have some new shirts for spring. I needed them for work and around the house. I have to say that I made out pretty well. I bought 4 shirts, 1 tank top, and a pair of shorts for 50 bucks. On my way home I remembered that I had promised Keri that I would take her shopping to spend her Easter money. She really needs clothes and so off we went. Keri found 2 shirts and 2 pairs of shorts for 36 dollars. She is her mother's child. A bargain hunter by nature.

Keri a.k.a. The DQ on the left, her friend "E" on the right. So I get home and start looking at all this paperwork that came with my keyless entry. Apparently I have all these flippin' alarms(and I'm not sure I was supposed get all that fancy stuff) and valet parking settings on my keyless entry. Which I have NO idea how to operate......oh well I have the rest of the week to figure it out.

Let's Review, Shall We?

This week has really passed by in a blur.

Monday: Sister gives birth to baby with no epidural or pain meds.
Tuesday: Work all day and then visit sister at hospital after work.
Wednesday: Feel guilty about being away from home Monday and Tuesday, stay home, make dinner, finish my final exam for my online class, deny my daughter's request to go on a spring break trip by herself
Thursday: Work all day, visit sister and baby at home, leave children to fend for themselves, daughter gets followed by a maniac on the way to same sister's house.
Friday: Work most of day, start cleaning yard, sweep front porch, do dishes, clean bathroom, then do nothing else for rest of evening except talk on phone and watch TV.

I really need to revisit a couple of the above mentioned items. Let's see, we'll start with Wednesday. Melissa wanted to go on a trip to our home state, North Carolina to visit some friends. Even though it has been almost four years since we moved, she still talks to her friends from there ALL the time. Most days, tying up the phone line most of the evening. I denied her request based on the following reasons:

1. She is too young/inexperienced to make a trip like that by herself.
2. She barely had enough gas money to get down there. She had no extra emergency money.
3. There are too many crazy people unsavory characters in the world. What if she got a flat tire, pulled over to the side of the interstate where some seemingly friendly person stops to help her, then throws her in the trunk of their car and takes off with her?

Yes-I do realize that I am paranoid about kidnappers and murderers. Which plays into her being followed by someone on Thursday. She was on her way to my sister's house and some man was motioning for her to pull over. He followed her for a while and at one point stopped his car and got out. Of course she didn't stop or pull over(Thank God). It scared her really bad. But it did bring home my point that there are people in the world who are nuts. I told her, "See I told you there are crazy people in the world". "What would you do if something like that happened and you were far away from home?".

I also told her that if anything like that ever happened when she was on her way home that she should not stop at our house. If she did then, whoever was following her would know where she lives. She has not said anything else about taking a trip by herself. I know that when I tell her that there are people in the world who are not so nice, she thinks I am the crazy one. I think she believes me now. I think she also knows that me not allowing her to make a trip like this is not some twisted desire to see her miserable or to be mean to her. Obviously it's because I love her and I don't want anything to happen to her. I would rather her be angry with me for a while then to be dead. When I first told her she couldn't go she said I was being "ridiculous".

Now on to Friday. I spent the better part of the evening talking on the phone to one of my friends, and two of my sisters Alicia and Marlette. Have you ever given much thought to call waiting? Neither had I until I heard it said that call waiting is nothing but a popularity contest. So I am talking on the phone to my friend and her phone beeps for call waiting. She says that she doesn't recognize the number and can she call me back. I got kicked to the curb for someone she doesn't even know!!! My sister calls and does the same thing. She tells me she has a beep and can she call me back. If I was basing my self worth on call waiting, I would not be feeling very good about myself. So here's the basis for the popularity contest. You are on the phone with a friend or family member and they tell you that have another call coming in and they need to take it. Which really says, "Whoever is beeping in is more interesting than you so I am going to talk to them instead".

What if you are like me and want to talk to every person that calls? How do you choose? Your sister who has been a part of your life forever or your best friend who put up with you when you were going through a nasty divorce and listened to you whine and cry ALL the time? I don't need that kind of pressure. Maybe I should just do away with call waiting. Then no one feels left out or not important. Of course that won't stop people from calling my cell phone if the landline is busy. You just can't win I'm telling you.

To all my southern friends: I have a special request. I have a blog friend who recently visited Nashville. While in a restaurant, a server brought her a black napkin . When she asked what the black napkin was for, she was told it was because she was wearing black pants. If anyone knows what the purpose of this is, please let me know. For more details, please visit this blog. Any information would be appreciated.

More Baby Pictures

Dejah and Taylor




My mom and Baby Isaiah





More of Taylor Austin

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

You know how you think you are prepared for something? You thought of everything. Everything is in order and everything is prepared. WRONG. My sister Dejah, (Pronounced Dee a-short a sound) started having contractions yesterday morning. She had contractions all throughout the day. Finally in the afternoon, she went by her doctor's office to have him check her.

She was dilated to a 4 and he told her to go straight to the hospital and not to stop anywhere. She called me and told me everything. I told her that I would be up there when I got off from work. My other sister Marlette called me to see if I knew that Dejah was going to the hospital. She suggested that I not wait until I got off from work. I should just go ahead and leave. The more I thought about it, the more I became convinced that I should get to the hospital.

Problem #1 I had a presentation and a report due for one of my classes. It was to be my final class....ever.

Problem #2 I also needed to drop off the check for my graduation fees.

Problem #3 What if she had the baby without me?

Not happening. I started cleaning up my desk and preparing an email to my professor. I wanted her to know that I was not making up some lame excuse for not showing up to class. I included my sister's name and I was trying to include the name of the hospital, just in case she wanted to check it out. My mind went blank. I couldn't for the life of me remember the name of the hospital. I am starting to get a little panicky now. I need to get to the hospital, quickly. Finally someone in the office very calmly gave me the name of the hospital. I sent my email and was on my way.

Of course I got behind every single slow person that was out driving on the roads. I got behind a fender bender holding up traffic, I got lost, I almost wrecked, I couldn't find a place to park, my nerves were a little frayed.

I find her room easily enough. When I got there she was dilated to about a 7. Everything seemed to happen really fast after that. Dejah kept asking for her epidural. The nurse said she was on her way. She left the room. Dejah said she felt something, so we called the nurse back into the room. She was dilated to a 9 1/2. Which meant, NO EPIDURAL. I had realized a few minutes earlier that she wasn't going to get the epidural. Dejah stated several times that she couldn't believe she wasn't getting an epidural. It was her worst nightmare come true.

One of the reasons she had been leaning towards being induced was because she was afraid if she went into labor on her own that she wouldn't make it to the hospital in time to get the epidural. I told her several times that there was no way that would happen. Of course she would know when she was in labor.

One of the reasons she didn't realize it was because her contractions never seemed get on any set pattern. Anyway, I digress. At this time myself, Melissa, Marlette, Dad, the baby's dad, and one of Dejah's close friends were in the room. We all got to be there when the baby was born. It was really upsetting to see her in so much pain and to know that she wasn't getting any pain medicine. There wasn't time for her to get ANYTHING. She was so great. Yes, she screamed. Loud. I believe her exact words were, "GET IT OUT!!!!! GET IT OUT RIGHT NOW!!!!. The next thing I saw was the baby coming out. It amazes me how fast a baby comes after the head comes out. The crowning of the head was when she screamed. The rest of the baby almost seemed to shoot out of her.

So far, she is the only one of us girls in the family to ever have a child with no medication. Now as long as she lives, no matter what her and her boyfriend argue about, she can always say, "You're not the one who had a baby with no pain medication". I began using this phrase myself immediately. The baby's dad, (we'll call him "L" to protect his identity in the event he doesn't want his name mentioned on this blog) made a statement about having to sleep in the uncomfortable hospital chair. I said, "Yeah, and you are not the one who had a baby with no drugs". He laughed and said that no he didn't give birth with no drugs.

I have to take a moment to give props to L for being in the room when the baby was born. Anyone who knows my sister knows that she can be pretty vicious when she's mad. To be brave enough to stay in the room with her during all that was pretty brave(or stupid). Personally, I was a little scared myself. I didn't get close to the bed. I mean, she could have knocked someone out or something.

I also have to give props to Marlette who snuck and turned on the video camera during the birth. At this hospital, you are not supposed to begin taping until after the baby is born. Marlette was slick. She turned the camera on, and no one even knew. Now, to tell you how demented my family is, after it was all over with, we watched the video of Dejah screaming and laughed. Even Dejah laughed.

So what we got on St. Patrick's Day was a little more than we bargained for. But it was worth it. Taylor Austin was born at 5:16 pm weighing in at 6 lbs, 1 oz. Approximately 1 1/2 hours after Dejah got to the hospital. Thank goodness I left work early or I would have missed it. Thank goodness Marlette is EXTREMELY excitable and me worked up enough to leave early. There is no way I could have made it to the hospital in 16 minutes.

I started working on this blog yesterday at lunch but I didn't get to finish it. Mom and baby got to go home today. Everyone is doing well. I couldn't seem to get a picture of him not crying, but I tried.

Taylor Austin

See My Living Room In It's Glory!

The painting in the living room is finished. There is only one small hallway left. My sister is such a great painter. She gave me a fabulous discount. Which I very much appreciate. She treated my walls just like they were the walls of her highest paying customer.









































Here is a "before" picture.

















I have to say that my energy level has been through the roof lately. Not only did I get my living room back in order, I did several loads of laundry, mopped the kitchen floor, made dinner, washed dishes and cleaned out my entire refrigerator. There is a certain satisfaction in having a clean frig. Especially if it hasn't been cleaned out in a really long time. I mean a REALLY long time. I almost posted a picture of it but I thought that might be too much. I still have many projects that I am excited about. Only one more week until my whole week off from work. I have thought of several more projects to add to my list. I just don't have the energy right now to deal with it. All my energy for the day has been used up and I feel pretty good about it. Dejah, I don't know if are reading any of my blogs now, but if you happen to............ THANK YOU!!! Thank you soooooo very much. It looks beautiful.

I'm Not One To Complain Part II

Everyone knows that I am not one to complain. I handle all life's difficulties with poise and dignity. I never go on and on about my problems. If you don't believe me just check out this blog. So I will not begin this blog talking about the phone call I got yesterday afternoon from my school. Mere hours after I surmised that my finances need serious work. Mere hours after I surmised that there is NO room in my budget to take on any extra bills right now. I will not complain about how the university informed me that my financial aid for the semester is only covering one of my classes. Which leaves me to figure out how I will pay for the remaining class. I will not complain about how I was informed that if I could not figure something out, they would be happy to set up payment arrangements.

That was pretty funny. Sort of. Nor will I complain about how two young men knocked on my door last night to try to sell me magazines. Of course they had no way of knowing that I had pulled my budget together and need a second job. Because if they had known that, they would have simply walked past my house pointing and snickering at the woman who can't afford magazines. Nope I had the pleasure of telling these young men that I had just that very day, worked on a budget and NO I don't care to sign up for a magazine subscription so they can go on a cruise. I am just not that generous.

For some reason, they think that if they tell you that if they get so many magazine subscriptions, they win a cruise. UUmmm, that's nice and everything but if I can't go on a cruise why in the world would I want to fund a cruise for two young punks kids who probably won't appreciate something as wonderful as a cruise anyway? They are too young to be tired, or burnt out. Why do they need to go on a cruise anyway?

I politely refused and even warned them to be careful walking around after dark. They could be hit by a car or something.

I will not complain about how the doctor's office called and told me I have an outstanding balance of about 200 bucks. Apparently the insurance company has not paid a couple of claims filed for Melissa. (Sissy to fellow bloggers and blog readers)

Apparently since I have been made aware of my true financial situation, everyone is coming out of the strangest places with demands for money. I just don't get it.

Nor will I complain that my furniture is still in the middle of the living room floor because my sister is not finished painting yet.

No sir, I will not complain. I will keep all these problems inside and deal with them gracefully, as I am known to do. No one will hear a word about any of this stuff from me. I will deal with it all silently and courageously. That's how I roll.