Ok, so I lied...

I know I said I'd be back Monday.  But there's been a lot of craziness going on around here.  Before I get into that, let me just say, last weekend was wonderful!

Ooo, wait, I have to tell you something.  I FINALLY took the plunge (at the urging of many readers [Hi, Karen!]) and came up with a new name for CSJ.  For those of you who are new around here, CSJ=CockSucking Jagoff.  That was my affectionate pet name for him back when I started this little blog, and I hated his guts.  Now, for the rest of the story of how we got to the point we're at now, you'll have to go back through the archives, cuz ain't nobody got time for that!

Where was I going with this?  Oh, yeah, his new name!  I've decided that from now on, I will be referring to him as Magnum, as in Magnum P.I., since that's his job, too.  I don't know why it took me two years to finally come up with that.  I tried working with CSJ, and figuring out what else it could mean (Cute Stupid Jerk, Cuddly Silly Joker, um...yeah, see why that didn't work!?) but I had no luck.

So, Magnum it is!

Ok, back to this past weekend.  In the windup, I didn't just sit at the hotel all day while Magnum was working.  I actually went with him.  I won't bore you with the minutiae of work stuff, but I will tell you that we spent about 60+ hours STRAIGHT together.  That hasn't happened since our honeymoon, over 21 years ago!  Even back during the "good ol' days," we still both had to go to work, so we spent some time apart each day.  But, since I went to work with him this weekend, we were glued at the hip all weekend.  I was actually able to help him, which was kinda cool.  Oo, and as part of our "cover" we went to a few garage sales, and I found an awesome high chair for my Monkey for only FIVE DOLLARS!

But, I digress.  The point of this boring story is that we had a WONDERFUL weekend.  It was like we went back in time almost 30 years, back when we first met.  Even though I was a little nervous about leaving our "baby" home alone for the first time ever, it was nice to just be "us" again (as opposed to Stud's parents, ya know?).  Despite the long work hours, the weekend was really relaxing (at least for me!) and I thoroughly enjoyed our time together.  I like to think Magnum did, too.

So, back to why I didn't check back in with you on Monday.  Monday morning, he left at the crack of dawn, as always, for work.  About 10:30 am, he walked back in the door, with a giant shit-eatin' grin on his face.  He said, "So,do you want the good news?"  Um...yeah....?  "I just got fired!"  WTF?!?!

I thought I was going to pass out.  My heart started pounding, and my head started swimming.  I seriously thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown.  Now we're BOTH unemployed?!?!?

But, I gotta tell ya, he could NOT be happier.  Like I said, he had a giant smile on his face.  He just keeps saying this is a blessing, and that God has a plan for him.  I'm hoping the plan involves this job he interviewed for last week.  He just keeps saying, over and over, "I'm free!"  And, trust me, you guys know I understand that feeling better than anyone.  It's exactly how I felt when my position was closed.  But still....SHIT!  Neither one of us has a job now!!

I'm not nearly as freaked out today as I was on Monday.  I couldn't even check in with you guys on Monday because I thought I was going to have a stroke.  Now that it's been 4 days, I'm much more calm.  Don't get me wrong, I'm still stressed and worried, but I'm not on the verge of cardiac arrest like I was a few days ago.

This has definitely put a kink into my plans, though.  I spent all day Monday on the CPS website, looking for positions.  I had resigned myself to the fact that I was going to have to go back to the ghetto.  I'm not feeling quite that desperate today, but I think I don't have much of a choice - I'm going to have to go back to work.  Unless of course, he gets that job.  So, by all means, step up those prayers!

There are a few new options I'm toying with, but I'll save that for another day.  This has dragged on far too long already.  I'll be back to give you a little more scoop.  In the meantime, I'll take all the prayers, positive thoughts, good vibrations, etc., that you can send.

Break

I know I haven't been around much lately.  That's partly because I've been spending an exorbitant amount of time with Monkey (YAY!!) and partly because I just haven't been feeling much like writing.  I thought maybe I'd be able to finally sit down this weekend and start a long-overdue post about my trip to Italy.  But now I'm not going to be around.  For the first time EVER, CSJ has asked me to join him on a work trip.

Nothing exciting, but still.  I think we're headed to southern Illinois.  We'll be leaving at about 4 am tomorrow morning, and we'll be back late Sunday night.  He'll be working all day, and I'll be stuck in the hotel room.  But, at least I'll get to see him at night, right?  I was hoping for some hot hotel sex snuggle time, but since we'll be up and out by 4am, then he has to drive at least 5 hours, THEN he has to work all day, I have a feeling he'll be passing out the minute his head hits the pillow.

But, it's just nice that he asked me to come with him.  I guess absence really does make the heart grow fonder.  Since I've been home, he's been sent out of town 3 times.  Man, I really hope he gets this new job!!!

Oh, I guess I forgot to update you about that.  Well, it's not so much that I forgot, there's really nothing to tell you yet.  He hasn't heard anything.  However, the man who interviewed him told him he's the ONLY candidate.  You can't ask for better odds than that, right?

Also, his friend who referred him just started working for this company two weeks ago.  He told CSJ that there was about two weeks between when he interviewed and when he was called and offered the job.  So, I've been trying not to dwell on it too much.  I'm going to just keep praying (as I hope you all will) and see what happens.  I will keep you updated.  Thanks to ALL of you who have been pulling for him, and leaving me such sweet, encouraging, thoughtful comments about it all.

Speaking of sweet, encouraging and thoughtful, thank you to all of you who have clicked over to C's page.  I can't tell you how happy I am for her!!  The outpouring of love and support that she's received is going to make such a difference in her life.  She absolutely deserves some GOOD finally!!  (If you don't know what I'm talking about, go down a post.)

Wow, I didn't plan to write more than a sentence or two.  Maybe my writing juices are starting flow finally.  Hopefully there will be free wifi at whatever hotel we're staying in, so that I can pump out a few more posts while I sit all alone in our room.  If there isn't, I'll be back to check in with all of you on Monday.  Have a great weekend!!

I suck

I guess I blew NaBloPoMo for May. I completely forgot to post yesterday. Poop. But, you know what? I'm totally ok with it cuz yesterday was one of the most WONDERFUL days I've had in longer than I can remember. I had a great time from start to finish. The fun continued this morning, as a matter of fact. This was a glorious weekend. It's exactly what I needed after the week from absolute HELL I had at work. I just hope I can hang on to the joy once school starts tomorrow.

I actually pulled out the computer to make a game for the babies. I thought I had posted about it when I originally made it, but I couldn't find it anywhere in my archives, so if DID post it before, sorry for the repeat.

I can't take all the credit for this, as it's a variation of an idea that I found on another teacher blog. (I'm so sorry, I don't remember which one.) We call it Scrambled Words. I took some left-over plastic Easter eggs, and numbered them 1-10, for the 10 words on our weekly spelling list.
I then made a table with all the letters in the words, times 2, so I can make 2 sets. Then I cut all the letters apart. I coded the back of the letters (green for one set, red for the other) with a number that corresponded to which word on the list it was. I then put one word in each egg. I put the eggs into empty egg cartons that I had at school. I made a recording sheet (sorry, don't know how to share it here) that's basically just 10 lines, going down a half-sheet of paper, numbered 1-10. The babies pick an egg, open it, then try to figure out which spelling word the letters make. When they figure it out, they record it on the sheet on the line that has the same number as whatever egg they picked. Easy peasy, right?When I originally made this, I made the letters for the next 3 lesson. I realized at the last minute last Monday that I didn't have the letters for last week, so I attempted to make them using index cards. They were not nearly as nice as the letters I printed on my computer on cardstock, but they worked. There are only 3 lessons left in our reading book, so tonight I will make the remaining letters for the rest of the year.

All that being said, I'd better get the hell off here, and get to work!! I've actually been working on a little project for the bar for well over two hours now, and I'm going to have stop and do some school stuff. We had new menus made (again!) and we decided to laminate the pages this time. There are 6 pages in the menu (Yes, we make THAT many martinis!) and there are 30 of each page that needs to be laminated. Oy! I got pages 1-3 laminated, but not trimmed, and I'm going to have to do the other half tomorrow. After all, my babies need their game!

I hope you enjoyed your weekend at least half as much as I did. :)

[And, yes, C, I will email you about the weekend! ;-) ]

*ok, I guess I never did post about this. While looking for the pictures I KNEW I took, I found them in a folder that was from a camera dump I did a while ago, with a bunch of things I had planned to post about, including some awesome art that Stud created. I'll be back with it later this week.