Not having a good time...

NO ONE is coming to look at the house. So I met with the realtor on Monday to reword the narrative and re-do some pictures. She acknowledged that it was her fault there was no traffic so I thought that was good. It's only been two weeks and I'm antsy to sell it so I know I'm hyper sensitive. I'm glad she's a friend so she understands me! If you need a nice 6 bedroom house, go to www.har.com and search on 13307 Birdcall! Tell your friends!!

I had a lawsuit filed against me. A first for me! A lady at our barn was tending to Jasper and Butch one Sunday in January while I was at church. She helped me periodically while I was traveling and on vacation last year. She was walking him out to the paddock and stopped to talk apparently. It was nice a chilly day and he was frisky. He got tired of waiting on her and decided to leave so he stripped out of her hand, spun around and kicked out as he was leaving and hit her in the wrist and behind her ear. She was really hurt.

I feel awful about the whole thing but she knew what she was doing and she was getting paid to do it so that makes her a 'professional' in the eyes of the law. We have an Equine Liability Law here that basically says, 'there is an inherent danger to working or being around horses and you take that risk on when you do it so if you get hurt or killed, it's your own fault.' But of course, anyone can sue anyone for anything so now I have to defend myself and the worst part of it is that it's probably going to cost both of us money on top of the other suffering she's already been through. She's insured but supposedly can't work now.

And the other bad part is that people at the barn won't help each other anymore if they think they'll have to put up with this nonsense. Another neighbor who won't help a neighbor anymore because of these stupid lawsuits.

On a good note, both Jessica, my daughter in law's sister and Barbara, my friend from church, got new permanent jobs this week! I'm glad somebody is finding work... now if Jake, Megan and Jacque can find something. (Actually, I'm secretly hoping that Jacque and Megan don't so they'll work for me and help me start the business in July, but that's a long ways off if you're unemployed!)

And my Shell friends are still looking sort of... some are contracting, some are still on the Shell payroll technically and a couple of us are loose. Had a nice catch up luncheon last week and we're going to make it a regular meeting so I'm looking forward to the next lunch!

God continues to bless me. Barbara has a friend who is an Equine Lawyer so once again, she has come through for me with her networks. I guess it pays to have a native Houstonian in your circle of friends, for sure!

Career Lull

This career lull is actually quite nice! I'm settling in to a very relaxed routine. Sleep until 8am, never before in my life. Make Mac breakfast. Take the boy to school at 8:45. Feed the horses. Play with them for awhile. Or pick up some poop if I'm in the mood. Come home and look for a job for awhile. Play PoGo for awhile. Read email. Go to lunch with someone. Come home and do Ancestry.com for awhile (my secret addiction). Check out Facebook and see what my friends are up to... Pick up Mac from school at 4pm. Go back and feed the horses. Do shopping or errands when Mac's in school... so that goes a lot faster! Supper, homework, bath and bed for Mac. Then I can do whatever until midnight! So cool... I should be trying to write my book. Maybe I'll start that next week. Maybe not!

I never was a "stay at home Mom"... Never found a man who made enough money to be able to, I guess! I'm really envious but at the same time, I managed a career and did everything for my kids that I do for Mac. I just did it all somehow. The money allowed them to not want for much. I guess there are trade offs in either situation. This new found relaxed attitude may wear off anyway. Of course, it will have to wear off when I get to Nebraska and need to kick off the new business!

Seems Mac, my foster son, may have to stay here in Texas. I'm not done arguing with CPS yet but his teacher has stepped up and offered to foster him in a kinship placement. That just means the child is placed with someone they know. She definitely knows him and her husband and kids are supportive. That would be a good alternative for Mac since his adoption is still delayed due to his citizenship status. They are arranging to get his status changed to permanent resident alien and he can be adopted then but who knows how long it will take. He's Sudanese and Egyptian so they're not used to handling this sort of case.

The house isn't getting many viewings... only two so far. I'm still praying for a quick sale. I'm still closing on the one in Papillion on 7 June. The horses are being moved the 1st of May. I sent in the deposit for the training class in June in Florida. So Jacque and I will attend training 2-4 June. She'll go back and sign the papers for the house for me. Move is scheduled for 14-15 June. Hoping to save some money there since I've done half the work... the packing! Taking bids now.

AND THE VERY BEST NEWS EVER! I splurged and bought tickets to the EAGLES concert in Kansas City on June 24th. Jacque and I will take a break from unpacking and drive down. They've been my favorite band my entire life and I've never seen them live so I am excited beyond belief!

God is truly good and I'm so blessed. My life just keeps falling into place and it couldn't happen without HIM.

The House is Listed

OK... now time to send up prayers for a quick sale! The plan has changed a bit. I must wait until I'm 55 to draw out my 401K money or I pay another 10% penalty on top of the already outrageous 20% tax so I'm waiting. I've revised my offer on the house in Papillion to close 6-7 June. She was willing to wait until May 15 so I hope 3 more weeks isn't a big deal to her! I did offer to sweeten the deal a bit for her since she was waiting longer so she's actually getting a bit above her asking price. I hope she goes for it! I also asked for her living room furniture! It just fits with the room! I offered her additional money for it so we'll see how fond of it she is! Hey! Might as well push the envelope while you're asking!!

It's OFFICIAL!

I'm unemployed! Signed my papers yesterday and signed up for unemployment benefits this morning!

I'm so glad I've had several months to adjust to the change and I'm also thankful I worked for a good company that provides a great deal of support in the exiting process. I'm not happy to be out of a job but I am happy that the blow was softened. And as time goes by, I almost AM happy because I get to change my journey and get closer to my kids... love, love, love my kids!

We had a going away lunch on Tues so I got to see most of my colleagues and everyone wants to keep in touch! We'll see how we do. This was always the theme each of the 8 or 9 times I transferred in the Navy and I typically have 1 or 2 friends that really do stay in touch. We're all just busy people... too busy for the important things sometimes.

But now I'm not! I can do anything I want to! And after I get this house ready to show, I am going to do just that. (The contractors should be done and out TODAY!) I think I'm going to the zoo without the kids. I've never done that. And I haven't checked out the museums in a LONG time. Houston has a wonderful museum district and I think there's a Russian jewelry show going on! That will be fun!

News front: I'm sick of hearing about cheating husbands. First... Yes, men are dogs but that hasn't changed since the beginning of time. But what about these bimbo women?! Doesn't anyone have any sense of honor and pride anymore? They all knew they were cheating with a married man. They're not 'victims'! They accomplices! Go find one of your own! Leave other women's husbands alone. And secondly, we should just butt out! I'm sick of news people taking up air time talking about this crap instead of much more pertinent news. New England is about to wash away... how can we help them???

On a more positive note, I just found out about the Nissan Leaf. All electric car, 100 miles on a charge and $25,000! I'm in! ... when I get the business profitable! Maybe they can be our company car!

Have a Happy Easter and celebrate the gift our Lord has given. You are saved!!

Progress Report

Things are moving along slowly. The painters are STILL here. They told me four days but that was totally unrealistic! They are expecting to finish next week. That's cutting it close. I have an appointment with the realtor to list it on Thursday and I have massive amounts of cleaning to do before it's ready to show. They are making quite a mess as they go. They haven't started on the outside yet so I think they'll still be working past Thursday.

I still have boxes to pack and stuff to move to the garage, too. I'm up to 84 boxes. But my storage unit is full so I'm going to have to rearrange the garage to get more in there. I'm not paying for two storage units. I refuse!

It cost $660 so far to get the pool working. One of the kids left the pump running when we went away for a few days and it burned out. Some part for the heater is on order and we'll be back in business. Another $300 though!

And the foundling yellow lab, Buddy, has heart worms. I took him in for all his shots and his test. I had a feeling he probably would have them since he had been so neglected. And he's a big, beautiful dog. 86 lbs of love... such a shame. But I'm not doing the arsenic treatment just yet. The vet recommended starting him on heart worm preventative for a couple of months and retesting him. The preventative will kill off any new worms and the adults will die off eventually. If he doesn't have a big load, he could be cured by just staying on the preventative. Otherwise, he'll have to go through the arsenic and that is so hard on them. He has an appointment for neutering in May. Hopefully, he'll be well enough to go under anesthesia. He has been chipped as well so if he gets lost again, I hope someone brings him back. He is turning out to be an expensive free dog!

I'm a little worried with all these expenses pouring in. I don't get any money from 31 March to as long as 15 May. Both my severance package pay and my unemployment don't kick for several weeks. I've been paid every two weeks for most of my adult life. So I'm going to have to budget myself for the first time for six weeks! Yikes!

We meet Mac's new adoptive case worker next week. I hope she's open to the idea of letting Mac move with me to Nebraska. I've gotten the process started to transfer my foster care license to NE. But I haven't convinced anyone in TX or NE to move him there, YET!

His last day of school will be 2 June. Jacque and I will go to

Florida to do the training for our business from 3-5 June. Then back home to load the trucks on 6 June and start for Omaha. I'm starting to get excited about the change. I already know I'm going to miss my friends and TEXAS but I'll make new friends. I'll probably never consider myself a Nebraskan. I'll have to learn to be less of a Texan somehow. Or at least less "braggy" about Texas! Hard to do... hard to do...

My last official function for Shell will be Tuesday. I'm going to do two back to back training sessions and I'm really ready to have it over with. I love doing these things but I have so many other things going on right now, I'm ready to be loose and working 100% for me and the new business.

Spring was here for a few days but it's cold and rainy today. I'll have to blanket the horses tonight! We had a picnic in the park yesterday. Now I know how Denver feels.

The Magic of Being Six

The kids helped me feed the horses tonight.

Tisa: Savanah, put some oats in the buckets.

Savanah: What's oats?

Tisa: Those little white things right there. Your oatmeal is made out of those, too.

Savanah: EWWW, we eat horse food! ? !

Tisa: Stop running! Stop running! STOP RUNNING!!!!

Mac: We're not. We're power walking!

One of the horses was bucking and playing and you know what!

Mac: EWWW, did he eat beans!??!

Always good for a laugh... only reason we don't kill 'em I suspect!

Fresh paint

The painters arrived today, two days late but they're here. I wish I spoke more Spanish so I could call BS on whatever the excuse was... beats me what he said!

House smells. Buddy, the Labs's tail is whiter... not sure what he helped 'paint'.

Still lots of work to be done, inside and out, before I'm ready to list it. And cleaning!! But I'm anxious to get it on the market and get it sold. I hope all these people will be rushing to use their stimulus money in April!

I agreed to do a final set of lunch and learn sessions on " Trust" for Shell before I depart. Going to take some Academy Award level acting to remain professional since I have fairly strong feelings of how trustworthy many leaders were in recent years. But I'll manage and go out with good reviews.

And speaking of poor leaders, I was deeply saddened to hear that a female Navy Captain was relieved of command. Accused of assault on her crew and misuse of authority (walking her dogs!). She did all military women a disservice with her conduct if it's true. Knowing how long these things take before someone is relieved, it probably is true. I hope she is able to learn and live a better life.