Bruised and bloody, she rises from the battlefield

I would imagine some of you (hi, Harmony!) think I've disappeared from the blogosphere forever. Well, truth be told, I almost did. Then I read a post on my good friend's (hi, Harmony!) blog about how some people are way too caught up on being busy.

Guilty as charged.I'd like to think that some of the information on my life that I've shared, would have readers nodding their heads and saying, "Yes, she certainly is a busy girl". And, in light of recent developments which I will illustrate in a minute, I still think I can utilize the excuse of being "too busy". I will also cite exhaustion as a runner-up excuse. However, I don't want to play that game any more. As I sit here typing away, I realize that I am feeling a sense of satisfaction at having done something for me... for ME. Small as it is, I feel good doing it. I can chalk this up to being a good day. I am blogging, and I took Storm and Ben to the dog park. For once, I didn't let "too busy" or his good friend "too tired" get in the way.

Thanks for the swift kick in my cushy posterior, Harmony.

Now for the newest updates (trumpet fanfare please)....

**My stepdaughter left her boyfriend, now she and my two-year old grandson live with us. They have been here since about a week after Thanksgiving. I do not know when they will be moving out, if ever. I now have a toddler terrorizing the house. I love him dearly, but this is hard and unexpected. The house is a shambles, my step-daughter is a slob, and my grandson has major issues with listening, since he was allowed to do whatever he wanted. Both is parents are incredibly lazy. It was too much work to teach him any discipline. I have to say he is getting better with some structure in his life and he adores my hubby and I.

**Christmas was good. My sister, her fiancee', my mom and her fiancee' came out to our place this year. It was all I could do to get all the decorations up, and I only did so because I realized that this was the only Christmas they would be getting. My hubby helped me a lot while I was at work, and we got it done. The house looked beautiful. My family was very appreciative of the work and we had a great time. They were here from Tuesday until Saturday.

**I have lost 22 pounds since starting my new job. Which is really funny if you think about the fact that it's at a bakery. I was running my ass off for 8 to 9 hours 4 to 5 days a week and only eating once a day. We weren't allowed to sit down at all, and if we ate during our shift, it was standing up when we got a spare minute. No breaks!!!

**Just when I was getting used to the above-mentioned job, and my feet didn't hurt like motherfuckers and my back wasn't screaming and I didn't collapse in a heap when I got home... the bakery closed. That's right. CLOSED. The financial backers got greedy and made demands on my boss that she couldn't deliver on, so they decided to bankrupt the business and take a loss. Mind you, this was a very busy and popular restaraunt and we were making good money... but it had only been open a year and was just barely starting to turn a small profit. So that's that. We got called in to a meeting this past Monday and told the bad news. I'd just worked the day before, and that was the last day we were allowed to be open. It's unbelieveable. So now I'm looking for another job. Great.

**Hubby's foot is totally healed. There is a small area where the ulcer was that just needs one of the big-size band aids, but other than that, he is wearing regular tennis shoes and walks around pretty darn good. There is still quite a bit of swelling, and his foot gets tired and sore, but nothing like the pain he was in before he got it fixed. Actually his knee on his other leg hurts the most now, but it's because the knee is having to re-align from a lifetime of bearing all the weight and walking crooked, to the ligaments and tendons are protesting at their new position. The doctor said this will all resolve itself over time. We have become good friends with his foot doctor, in fact my hubby is starting a band with him...LOL. They are together right now practicing with the other guys. So funny.

**My crazy mother-in-law is going to be living in our back yard. She decided she made a mistake leaving here so fast, and will be moving her 5th wheel to our place in the next few weeks. I am not looking forward to this at all. However, she will be paying us some rent, and helping with grocery shopping, and my hubby won't have to worry about her so much. At this point, we need all the money help we can get. With me losing another job, and hubby FINALLY back to work full-time (he only worked 16 hours the month of December... they were "too slow" to have him come in), we need to do whatever we can to save our house.

**I never wished my beautiful Storm a happy birthday. He turned 2 years old on December 7th. I love him so much, he is my guardian spirit. Happy birthday my beautiful boy.