Ok, me being a bear of little brain, it is going to be almost impossible to get all these posts under control, let alone respond to them!!!!!!!

I did notice the absence of Robyn......You ok???????? I guess Alex did not really make landfall as bad as they thought it had the potential to- but still it did not look too pretty there in NC. At least from what I saw on the weather......Robyn, we all hope you are ok!!!! I'll keep you in my prayers till we know that you and your loved ones are safe. Hopefully you are just up to your eyeballs in painting a bathroom or something like that!!! Or, worse yet....in jury duty!

Kerry-despite the miserable heat (it is here in NY too!)- congrats on getting your workout in and for your good weighin/measurement losses. The scale is not such a big deal if you are seeing those "non scale" victories.

Summer-sorry about the playdate from ****!!!! (don't you hate those playdates that are more work than they are worth?? Nothing like a playdate with a buddy when they are almost self sufficient!) As far as your finances go- you might try going to Crown Ministries (www.crownministries.org, I think). I must mention- this is a Christian organization.....no they are not going to sit you down and give you a 20 hour sermon on the pitiful state of moral decline in our society.......but they used to give a lot of free advice (very good advice too!) to couples who were in financial difficulty. I used to be able to listen to their radio program on my way to and from work.....am unable to now, as I now work much closer to home and cannot pick up their broadcast. I'll pray for you and that this all straightens out somehow. Vent here (or pm) anytime you want to, ok??

Mouse- my gosh, when it rains, it pours!!!!! How are you feeling? How bad that you reacted to the antibiotic that way- someone else suggested acidophilus, it does work- have you tried that? (when you get sick of the yogurt thing!). Also- is the bandage itching too? My dh is sensitive (very!) to surgical tape- they do sell hypoallergenic surgical bandages/tape. Could that be a problem too?

Well, I survived the trip ok. It rained like crazy when we got there......the streets were flooded (probably a foot of water on the streets in some areas), so we pulled over for a late breakfast until it settled down. Later in the day we did get some beach time in- it was cloudy but really not all that bad. That night, we went out to eat at a really good seafood restaurant, which had all of us on pins and needles. Ds had some shrimp for dinner when we took Dd out for her HS graduation~ an hour later, I was in the ER with him- his face was all blown up (he was unrecognizable) and he was having difficulty breathing- what we thought was a reaction to the shrimp. Since then I got him to the allergist, and he tested negative to any food allergies, including shrimp (he was happy about that!). But, epipen in hand (actually my purse, along with benadryl) we tried it out.......and, lucky for him, he was fine. We are headed back to the allergist Thursday for additional testing to discuss this and other stuff anyway........ Monday it was HOT- I hated it- they loved it. I felt like a greased fried pig- between the sunscreen and the heat. Yesterday, somewhat cloudy....but we had some periods of sun and a nice breeze. Got walks in both days on the beach, and the hotel had a great treadmill, which I got on twice. I am glad to be home.....2 1/2 days of the beach is enough for me. And I am glad that we did not go to NC- we missed Isabel by 3 weeks last year........and 2 other times we were there when there was a hurricane in the Atlantic just offshore, which prevented swimming in the ocean for several days.

Now for my cat (with all this serious stuff going on, I thought I might provide some comic relief....and vent a wee bit). My neighbor, a dear senior citizen and her Dh were to feed this spoiled kitty who lives with us. I left out 3, 6 ounce cans of food.....bear in mind it is "diet" cat food, some dry food, and some treats and one pouch of moist cat food (leftover from her non diet days). Not long ago (during early June) I read a book on cat behavior/cat care and it really stressed the importance of keeping your cat at a healthy weight. So, Miss Piggy has been on a 90-100 calorie/day fare for about 3 weeks. My vet (who, hahaha, also has a fat cat is the one who gave that to me as a place to start). I left out that much food because, I do not ever want to have happen to someone else what has happened to me twice, where I was asked to pet sit- and was left with an almost empty bag of pet food to last for a week!! (how rude, in my book). And always in the back of my mind, is we could hit car trouble....whatever.....and I do not want to stick someone else with having to put out additional cash for my pet. Oh, and I did leave a good note explaining how much and how often to feed the cat....mind you in a former life I was a technical writer and although my posts ramble and are wordy, this was concise and efficient in getting its point across. What I did not factor in is that Dear Maggie, my sweet neighbor (and I do adore her) loves to spoil other peoples pets.......so..........RC was fed 3 1/2 cans of diet cat food, the pouch of food, one can of her own cats food (fancy feast or something like that!!!) dry food (just in case she got hungry in between meals!!!!!) and the rest of the treats!!!! All that in less than 3 days......no wonder the cats go nuts when Maggie stops over!!!!!! My dh asked if I was upset (I have been trying so hard to get this cats weight down)........what are you going to do????? At least she was cared for, and I did not have to worry about her not getting attention!!!! BTW, I am caring for her cat in September............revenge is sweet!!!!!! Although I think that her cat is already far beyond the spoiled stage.
Ok, enough from me for a while! Guess I'd better do something productive.

It's great to be back.....hope everyone is ok.
Ginny

Well, I'm not feeling much better today. Right now, I am so pissed off at DH for letting things get out of control. We do not combine our finances, and I trusted him to meet his responsibilities like I do, so this is all a shock to me. I personally have a lot of credit card debt, but I always pay my bills on time, and I'm good at paying a little extra than the minimum payment. I also transfer balances to get lower interest rates when available. I've always had a perfect credit rating. It was something I've always taken pride in. I assumed (stupid me) that he was also handling things on his end. I guess his time out of work because of the surgery finally made things go out of control for him. I was brought up to be responsible. His family has a different value system than my family. The word, "bankruptcy," just terrifies me. I'm sorry, but I refuse to accept that as our only option. He seems ready to do it as if our debts will just disappear. I worked too hard for everything we have to just throw in the towel now. I can't get over this feeling of embarrassment and shame. I forbade him to tell anyone we know...not a soul. I only feel safe telling you because we are somewhat anonymous...and yet I know you all care about me like I care about all of you.

I called Christian Credit Counselors today. I need more info from DH to complete the call. So, I will call them again later or tomorrow. But, one thing that got my attention was that they asked more in depth questions than the so-called credit counselors DH talked to. I wonder if the number he called was just a cover for bankruptcy lawyers looking for more business. I find it hard to believe that this is our only option when we have been paying our bills on time all along, and this is our first time that we are having trouble.

Thanks to all of you for your support and suggestions...mostly for your prayers. It appears that I will be tightening my belt in more ways than one!

Ginny, sorry about DS's adventure with shrimp. Thank God he is okay. We have a neighbor like Maggie who spoils our dog. He is normal weight with no health problems at the moment. I think it is cute how she spoils him, and DH thinks it is awful. (He can be such a drag.) Welcome home!

Kerry, congratulations on your progress. You go girl!

Robyn, I hope you are okay.

Mousie, I hope your day is going well.

I'd better unload the dishwasher and get dinner going.

Evening Ladies,
Sounds like everyone has been very busy. Ginny sounds like you had a nice few days away. Did you get to read any while you where gone? Glad to hear that your ds was able to eat the shrimp. I wonder what caused his reactiont the last time?
Summer I will continue to say my prayers for you sweetie! Keep your chin up and don't get too depressed about it. Go do something fun for yourself to take your mind off your troubles for a little while. Go read a trashy novel, take a soak in the tub or watch a movie. Hugs going out to you honey!
We went to my mil's today for lunch. I had to laugh when the twin's were asked to eat some spinach. The one eat his first and the other one went to the last minute to eat his spinach. Old last minute boy was trying his hardest to get out of eating it. He tried to con his way out of it. But we only put about a teaspoon on his plate. He was making the funniest faces. They were the ones that told us that they needed to start trying new foods. Image a 6 year old saying this, in the land of chicken nuggets, fish sticks, pb and jelly sandwiches, cheese sandwiches and mac and cheese.
Please say a prayer for my sister. She has to have an ultrasound done next Wednesday afternoon. The doctor found a bump on her breast and thinks it might be a cyst. So doctor wants to do this before doing a biopsy.
Well I better go and fold the laundry. Talk to you all later.
Take care,
Kerry

Okay... I'm going to do two responses here,because there is this whole page of stuff, then another.

Summer: Sorry about the finances... My mom is kinda in a similar situation 'cuz a few years ago she was transferred from night shift (more pay) to day shift (less pay, less overtime)... to avoid downsizing. And now she's being paid to leave, so she is. But I'm worried about it. My father is horrible with finances and lost our house, so I'm somewhat anal about it. I hope things are better with you!!!
Kerry: Congrats on the loss of everything... Your kids sound lots like mine. I always got everybody that people din't know what to do with. Some of my kids could've done fine in regular ed classes with support if it weren't for the damn testing and such... but it was either in or out, and if we wanted job skills they had to do a functional curriculum. Except in my inner city schools... I treid to keep my kids with me as much as posisble 'cuz I saw what the other teachers didn't do!
Ginny: Welcome back!!!

Okay... more later...
:mouse:

Sounds like lots of people need praying and good thoughts sent their way. I will definitely be doing all of that.
My hand is healing. I talked to the nurse at school today because it was turning purple. She said that is probably a bruise and why its still swollen. It hasn't scabbed, but she said that is because the bandage I wear at work (a huge regular bandaid) keeps in moisture, and won't let it scab... so she said I should do a light gauze pad at night or leave it unbandaged at all if possible. I can keep it bandaged at work because of the kids ... both germs and freaking out from seeing the bruise/bite.
So, no swimming yet... The itches were a little better today, but I'm still taking benedryl at home plus yogurt. I love yogurt, so its not a pain to eat it.
I am, believe it or not, keeping way more food down this week than any other week recently. Its really weird! My body just doesn't do ANYTHING right, does it??
:mouse:

Hey ya'll.....

(((hugs))) to everyone! I'll get back to post a REAL post....BUT, I have to leave for jury duty in 20 minutes....and my hair is FARRR from ready for the day. I was gone all day yesterday and then dh and I went to visit with friends after dinner last night. Sorry to have NOT checked in. Off to face the judge and jury! HA.... that sounds like I'm the defendant! :) Why am I nervous to be going...AGAIN?!

take care...will be back!
Robyn

Alright God. I got the point. I hear you. My sugar eating days are over. No, I don't want diabetes and all that comes with it. My credit card days are over. No, I don't want to lose everything we have.

Isn't it interesting that both of my vices, my sweet-tooth and my love for shopping, would come to a head almost simultaneously?!

WHEN GOD SPEAKS, I LISTEN.

Granted, DH is the one with the serious overspending problem. But, I did my share too. It is just that I'm the one that was able to pay for it. Being out of work for two months and not getting paid his normal wages and certainly not getting paid on any kind of normal schedule brought his problem to the surface. And since I had to lend him over $3000, I'm now in deep with him!
It breaks my heart knowing that I will probably never see that money again. Had I known this was around the corner, I certainly would have curbed my spending. But, his spending habits were a secret he kept from me. We have some real TRUST issues to work out now. It seems that I married my father (only my daddy was a much nicer man). Dear old dad was an alcoholic with a gambling problem. He went into rehab and straightened out when I was 15, but money was always a struggle for my parents...they never completely recovered. I had planned to do better than that. I have always been responsible about bill-paying. My credit rating is/was perfect. Now, thanks to DH's irresponsibility and my love for shopping, I'm right where my parents were.

It is time to end this.

I called Christian Credit Counseling and spoke with a very nice, non-judgemental man. He came up with a proposal for us which lowers our interest rates, but not our payments. The key is that instead of paying off our debt over the next 50 years (we'll be dead by then) we can pay it off in 5 years. DH will have to work overtime or get a second job. I will have to work 3 nights instead of 2 at the after school program. And, since I will be starting grad school, I will be out Mon., Wed., and Thur., until 6:30pm and Tues., until 8:30pm. This is going to be rough, but what other choice do I have...bankruptcy?! No way!!! I will do whatever I have to do to avoid it.

No more feelings of humiliation. No more anger and mistrust of DH. I can't change the past. I can only change the future.

It is time to begin anew.

FIVE YEARS FROM NOW, I ENVISION MYSELF 70 POUNDS LIGHTER AND DEBT-FREE!!!

Well, enough about me.

Gosh Robyn, what a lousy way to end the summer. I sure hope the judge grants you clemency soon! It is time you were released on your own recognizance!

Mousie, I appreciate your empathy. It is easy to feel all alone at a time like this. I will continue to pray for your healing.

Kerry, I'm sorry to hear about your sister. My best friend is going through the same thing right now. She is having her cyst removed on Monday. Can you believe she wanted to have a play date that very afternoon?! I told her I'd see her on Wednesday unless she needed me sooner. It is funny to hear about the twins...DD is also 6 and has the same list of foods for her diet. She would also do whatever necessary to avoid eating even one little teaspoon of spinach.

Hi Ginny!

I hope that you all have a great day!

This is certainly selfish of me, but today was a rotten day. I have more of a scab than I did before, so the hand is healing, but its still oozy, so no swimming.
But it really all started this morning. The people that run our garage are incompetent boobs. Seriously. Lots of times I can't get in the garage, or more rarely, I can't get out. This morning, I couldn't get out. I left at 6:30 (I figured that I was allowed to go in a little late today!), and sat in the garage for nearly 40 minutes! It must've been, because I wasn't outside for more than 5-8 minutes waiting for the 7:15 shuttle! Fortunately for me, the apartment complex runs a shuttle to all the major hospitals, and the driver is always willing to drop me at the hospital that runs my school since we're right next to Hopkins. But the shuttle from the hospital to the high school only runs once an hour until 10 a.m.... 7:30, 8:30, 9:30. I missed the 7:30, so I didn't get to work till 9:00. I was an hour and a half late for work. And one of the residents screamed at ME because he tried to play Hercules and hold the bar for the gate up with brute force... and wasn't doing it, and I just wasn't going to risk my car. And he's screaming about how he has to go to work and the woman was TRYING (badly, but trying!) to get the bar up. But she had to deal with him, and then he starts screaming at me to go... but I was afraid because the bar wasn't stable. So I screamed back at him, and asked him he would fix my car if something happened, and he said that wasn't his problem. Getting to work was. So I told him I had 30 students sitting in a classroom with no teacher, and he wasn't the only one that had to go to work. Okay, I don't have 30 kids in one period, and my TA is fantastic... she picked up the ball and ran with it for fantastic lesson...
But I finally get to work, and then find out that instead of having some of the school day where I have no students, I'm going to have students who don't want to watch movies ALL DAY (until noon) playing board games. And I dragged my laptop to school so I could work on those reports! WRONG! Okay. And because I had the laptop, I didn't want to go home the way I usually do, which is take the shuttle back to the main hospital and walk up to Hopkins. From there, I can either take the Metro subway, or I can wait till 4:30 for our shuttle. But its not a good neighborhood, and we were allowed to leave at 1:30... And I was afraid that I'd get the laptop stolen! So I asked another vocational teacher on my team for a ride. She lives south of us, and I'm right near I-95! SHE LEFT THE BUILDING WITHOUT ME! Fortunately, I found another teacher who was willing to give me a ride, but I had to stay an hour past the time everybody else left. My TA would've given me ride,but I told her I had one.
Anyway. What a day! But my TA ran with it, and I have 22 of the reports completely finished. Only 13 left, and I might have a good enough scab by Saturday morning to swim.

:mouse:

Mousie, WHAT A HORRIBLE DAY!!!

Well, I had to drop my graduate course today so that I would be available to work the after school program 5 days a week. What can I say? We need the money. :(

Just a quick hello!!!!
Mousie- what a miserable day.........thankfully, we get a clean shot at life each morning~ hopefully tomorrow is gonna be better for you! And I am so glad that you are getting those dreaded reports done. Good for you.

Summer- keep up the good outlook, Hon!!!!! Guess the same goes for you about each day being a new, clean start. Kind of sad how we can marry the same kind of personality as our mother's did.......in many ways my Dh resembles my dad.

Kerry- I will pray for you too, as well as your sister. I have been there too with a crummy mammogram (a few years ago), the statistics on cysts are pretty good- most are benign. Keep us posted, ok?

Robyn- jury duty is the pits!!!!!! Last year I brought my cross stitch, and after 2 days of the stupid xrays and purse searches, the guards FINALLY let me in with my compact scissors (which are so dull it is pathetic) so that at least while we were sitting around waiting (tell me this is an inefficient system!) I was busy and not ready to strangle someone. (I love to cross stitch). Hope you are finding a way to cope with the time spent there too.... Hey,if your hair looks messy, maybe they will let you go home!

I am taking it easy today, just trying to get some stuff done around here......not my most productive day to say the least!
Guess I'd better sign off and go get Dd from the neighbors house. See ya later!
Ginny

Oh okay let me try this one more time. For some reason, my computer will let me on for a few minutes than says that it can't find the server. This is only the third time I have tried to post this evening. So I guess I better type fast. :O
I had a great day for once. I was able to sleep in this morning until the kids came over. Then I got up and went into school for a little while. I was able to unpack my teaching books and some of my books for my bookshelves. Then I had a surprise visit from my dh and his kids. They helped me move my other boxes around the room to the right area where they are going to be stored during the school year once they are unpacked. My dh has never been out to help me get my room ready the last two years I have been in this school. I guess I should keep my mouth shut and work him to death. LOL Then this afternoon I worked with the twins out of their workbooks. I was able to get the lazy one to work with me for about 40 minutes doing his Jumpstart workout. We did a few reading and math pages. Then we worked on the computer doing a Reader Rabbit CD for another 40 minutes. So things are looking up for this one. Then I worked with the other one for about 20 minutes, since I had to go to water aerobics and their mommy was picking them up soon anyway. Why is it that at the end of the summer I start getting treated better. Well I better not complain about or they might start mistreating me again. My dh even brought me home a York Peppermint Pattie this afternoon. Never brings me a treat home when he gets the kids treats. My goodness, I wonder if he fell and hit his head. Lets see how long this lasts. :)
Mouse, I am so sorry to hear that you had such a lousy day. It is great that your TA was able to fill in for you though. How did your evening go once you got a ride home? I hope it was better for you. Glad to hear that your hand is healing and you are almost done with the dread reports. Heres to a wonderful day tomorrow.
Summer, I am glad to see that you are keeping a positive outlook on life. That is an important thing to do. Sounds like you have mapped out a pretty good plan of attack to dig yourselves out of debt. Keep your chin up honey! Things will get easier. Take care of yourself and don't get depressed on us.
Robyn how was jury duty today? I hope you get out of it soon. What do you do to pass the time away? I would be bored out of my mind sitting around all day playing the waiting game. I don't care if brought a book to read, after so long I would want to get up and go do something else. Have you got your contract from your new school yet? Hang in there, sweetie!
Ginny so what did you to enjoy your easy day? These kinds of days are nice aren't they? But once school starts here in a few weeks, they are going to be few and far between. When does your dd start college?
Well I need to go and check to see when the one concert is at a local county fair next week. My dh said he would take me to see Mark Wills if I wanted to go and it wasn't on Thursday the 12th. So I better find out the info and tell him before he changes his mind.
Have a great evening.
Kerry

Hello again!!
Kerry-ok, so to throw the question back in your lap, how did we both manage to have a halfway decent day????? Good for you that yours happened to be good.....help unpacking and a pleasant Dh to boot!!! :D And sleeping late too???? Take a mental picture of it.....and hide it way in the deepest part of your memory bank......cause we all know that school's a coming! Then I can only hope for a snow day, or something like that. How sweet of Dh to be considerate, whatever it is I hope it lasts for you! Will you be able to get tickets to the concert next week????

As far as life here goes, Dd heads off for college on 8/27. It is not all that far away- and with her fall ball schedule, we should be able to see her almost every weekend. And the way that she and Ds can feud......well, I will miss her but the lack of arguing will be nice. And Ds is looking foward to the peace and quiet too, Dd can get on his case an awful lot. So, Dd heading off for school is a mixed blessing...good and bad in it.

BTW- my fat cat has been harrassing me all day, now that she is back on her diet rations! I did get a walk in this pm, and here the heat and humidity have broken. It is supposed to get down to 56 degrees tonight........oh, I dread the return of school but so look foward to some cool fall weather!!! Fall is my favorite season. Also, I bumped into some coworkers today- most seem to think that my route will be there for me come route bidding time next week. Several routes were changed a lot.....don't think mine was one of them, at least not from the information I was given. I just have to keep trusting that a run will be there for me that can work out with my wacky schedule.

Guess I'd better get to the credit unions web site to balance my check book, which is why I came online anyway.......so I came here instead :lol: .
Ok, off to the checkbook. Have a great night.
Ginny

Hey ya'll ........... I spent the entire day in court sitting on a jury listening to lawyers argue, witnesses cry, doctors (via VHS *for an hour and 1/2* and via the lawyers and court reporter READING a previous whatever it is called *for an HOUR*) discussing medical conditions and medical records and medical KRAPPPPPP........

We haven't begun to sort out the evidence and make decisions....... THAT will be
done tomorrow. I may NEVER EVER watch any court related television show again! I nearly got into trouble today when the bailiff (how doooo you spell that?) used the little microphone thingy to announce that the witnesses were needed in the courtroom. He used a hysterical voice that was SOOOOO different than his REAL voice! hehehehe I actually got a look but then a smile from the judge.

AND I am SOOOO in the running for Citizen of the Year by just sitting thru this stuff! ....as are the other 6 on this jury! ;) Enough.... I can't tell ANYMORE!

I'm soooo sorry to hear about your rotten day, Mousie! I hope that you've gotten to relax, take a nice long hot bath (hand hanging out, of course!) and that you've put it all behind you! :) Tomorrow is another day! (Said in my best Scarlett voice...ONCE again!) (I'm using that voice WAYYY too much these days!)

Ginny...I'm so glad that you weren't down in NC for the storm! Glad that your days away were delicious AND that your kiddo didn't have to have that epipen yanked out of your purse in an emergency! How scary! I'm not too sure that I'd ever taste a shrimp again.... what a brave kid!

Kerry...it is great to *hear* you smiling! :) I'm so glad that you had a good day! Enjoy the fair! Ours was cancelled due to the horrid rain that we've had... they couldn't set up. One of the trucks sunk.... don't know when they will get it out. First time it has been cancelled in 40something years. Kids are disappointed, but well.... they'll live!

Summer..... ((((((HUGS)))))) to you, my dear! You will survive! You will! Failure is not an option! Chin up! Go on...you know where you've gotta go! :) Your VISION is your TRUTH! Do it!

I'm going to bed.... at 10:15! I am never in bed at 10:15.... How can I be exhausted from just sitting and listening and sitting and listening and sitting some more?! Tomorrow isn't going to be fun.

til tomorrow, ya'll take care!

Well Robyn, your time at jury duty sounds somewhat like mine last summer......hours and hours of insanely boring testimony about an individuals injury in an ER waiting room.......the furniture she tripped over.....color of the floor tiles.....yawn........it was the most dreadful 4 days of my life. Plus that- the attorney for the alleged victim thought he would get in cute with me and winked at me constantly......make me wanna puke!!! (He picked the wrong woman to wink at.......I am not a die hard womans libber, but winking at me (when you don't even know me!) makes me sick.

Anyway, hope this case is over quickly.....did they give you any idea how long it would take????? (mine they gave us an estimate that was reasonably close). Stay awake and tell us all about it when it is all over!!!!!!!! Oh, and when this case is over, are you still on jury duty or is your job as Jane Q Citizen over???
See ya!!!!!!!!!
Ginny