The cutest thing

"E" (see the list of characters to the right) received an iPod Touch from Santa. He seems to enjoy the "facetime" feature. It is so cute to hear Cal and "E" talking. "E" just talks and talks about everything and Cal doesn't "know what to say". It is funny. The first few days they called each other several times.

I hope they keep it up because I know that Cal really needs and enjoys talking to his nephew.

The Vacation that wasn't

My work was very generous in giving us the entire week between Christmas and New Year's off. The bad part about being part-time is the fact that I don't get paid. I was able to "bank" enough time so it won't hurt too badly.

I was so excited because this would have been the first vacation (for more than a day here or there) that I had since starting the job two years ago. I cannot tell you how much I needed this vacation. I have been having a difficult time dealing with just the everyday stresses of a job. Two years without a vacation is a long time. I work 34 hours a week so I am part-time on paper only.

Then reality hit and I soon realized that we would be car shopping during my vacation. The stress was on because we had to purchase a car this week. The insurance would only cover a rental for 20 some days and the first ten we didn't know the amount that we would receive.

It is hard to shop for a car when you have no idea what your budget is going to be. We started shopping the day the settlement check arrived. Because of our past sins, we knew that we would not qualify for the conventional loan and we most definitely had to look for a used car.

Monday, after no less then ten phone calls about different cars and a few trips to look at different vehicles we found what we wanted (or better described as what we would settle for). The hard part was the fact that our used 2005 was loaded, and when I say loaded that is what I mean. Our old van was a Limited and it had every option ever offered by Dodge. We could not find any vehicle that had everything. We knew that we would have to settle.

On Tuesday, we drove an hour to look at the car, and a few other makes and models. We decided to get a 2007 Dodge Caravan. We filled out all the paperwork and the salesperson sent us home to come back at 4 p.m, when we could drive away with the car. We drive the hour home, got all the ridiculous paperwork together, waited a few hours and then drove back. We sat in the waiting room for 30 minutes and then had the privilege of being called into the office of the "financial officer". This guy was as smug as they come. He felt the need to remind us of all our past sins and problems. Thank you very much but we were very aware of the "problems" He then showed us the "offer". The deal was 25% interest, $1,700 fee, 25% down, and a loan that was longer than the life expectancy of the car. I let the "gentleman" get to the 25% interest and $1,700 fee before I stood up, shook his hand, and told him he was out of his mind. I left the hubby sitting there. I walked out, told Cal to get in the car and waited for Dante.

This place did such a job on us. It was horrible. Not only did they think that they had us over a barrel, but they made us think that we would NEVER get approved through a bank. (which is what this smug finance guy told us).

Wednesday, we spent the entire day arguing. I think that both Dante and I really started to panic. We had no idea what our next step would be. How can we buy a car if we can only get approved for a loan that in the end costs us almost 40%. We spent the entire day saying mean nasty things to each other (more me than him) and looking for cars that we would be able to purchase with the limited cash we had.

Thursday, we decided to get back on the horse. We went to look at a car and filled out the credit application. Once again everything played out like it did on Tuesday. They told us we were qualified but had to call us back with the terms. We were on pins and needles. We waited the entire day to find out that this company is awesome. They approved us without the ridiculous requests and paperwork and, the interest is one third what the first company tried to charge us.

Friday, we picked up our new car. It is not a car we ever considered looking at but, in the end, love. I am so glad that God put the obstacle in our way of the shady car dealer in order to point us in a different direction. We do not have a mini-van. We purchased a Honda Pilot. I am a little nervous about the gas mileage but in the end it is awesome.

I cannot believe how easy the process was once we were on the right track. The first car dealer was a scum and I will spend a fair amount of time giving them a negative review on every web site possible.

So in the end my vacation will be a stress free Saturday and back to church on Sunday.

Tis the Season for Surgery

I must confess that I don't think I have ever known so many people who are having surgery.

My husbands brother fell and broke a hip and he is in surgery. One of my ladies from basketball just had surgery on her knee. I know two ladies that will be having surgery for breast cancer. The list seems to go on and on.

I am thankful that I don't know anyone who is having laser spine surgery.

Of course, Cal having his teeth pulled was classified as surgery and that is the closest to home. He had to have several stitches and that doesn't help the smile. He has two large black clumps on both sides of his front teeth.

Hopefully after the stitches come out things won't look so bad. He will have the top braces put on in mid January and that will also help tremendously

Prayers Appreciated

It seems to be the time of stresses in our family. We have a history of December being a difficult month and this year is the same.

Cal had to have two of his teeth pulled, his eye teeth. The thought is, because one of those teeth didn't survive being knocked out, to pull them and move everything else forward. This is fine but it leaves him with a very unattractive smile for quite some time. This also comes during his basketball season which will probably have to end early.

The situation with the car is just a little stressful. We did OK with the insurance but quickly found out that we cannot "replace" the vehicle we had for what they paid us. We obviously got a great deal when we purchased the car originally. Now we are trying to find a car within our price range. The van that I want is probably not "the best" minvan on the market but it is what we can afford. Of course, Dante wants the best. I understand but we do have to live within our income.

I have to take the last week of December off, and of course because I am part time I don't get paid. Just what I need, a decrease in income.

If you could just keep our family in your prayers it would be appreciated.

Party

We will be having our staff Christmas party this evening and I am confronted with the fact that I really don't have anything "fancy" to wear. Yes I have plenty of skirts, and a fair amount of shirts but nothing fancy. I am just a plain girl.

Our dress code at work requires a skirt or dress that is mid calf length. Most of my skirts meet this requirement except for a few summer ones that barely touch the knee. I wear them anyway and I am sure that I look ridiculous but they don't make scooter skirts that long.

What I need is to break down and go shopping for plus size dresses to have for Sunday morning and these occasions where I should be dressing up just a bit.

I am not feeling well today (or yesterday for that matter) and do not look forward to going back out this evening to a party, but I do have the perfect gift for our swap and that is making it worth the effort.

Almost Done

I am almost done with Christmas shopping. Not because I really want to be but because I am desperate to try to keep things under control this year. We have already spent much more than we had wanted to but because money has been tight for several years our want list is much larger than normal.

My list is mostly household items. I wanted a new living room set, love seat and over sized chair. I hope Santa can get that down the chimney.

Promises, Promises

Each year I promise myself that this will be the year that I use my cross country skis. They actually made the move because I was positive that in our new town I would most definitely use them.

We live in a great location and have a nice park within walking distance and it is an ideal location to get out on the trails and ski again.

This is about the time that I start looking for Black Diamond Compactor Poles to try to make the walk to the trails as convenient as possible. I would also love to use the poles for other winter activities that I am sure I will take part in during the next few months.

This will be the year! I have always used the excuse that I had to wait for Cal to get older because Dante would NEVER do an activity like this. Now that Cal is older he is very much like his dad with little desire to actually spend time outside in the snow that he claims to love. Winter is his favorite time of the year.

Not the best way to start the week!

Monday after arriving home from work around 3:30, Dante said that he needed to get an order ready and run it to the post office. I told him to go ahead and I would start dinner. Cal also declined to ride along.

I started dinner and few moments later Dante appeared with a good-bye kiss and he was on his way.

The next sound I hear is the front door crashing open and Dante bursting through. I came out of the kitchen and asked him what was going on, I had no clue. He didn't answer me the first few times that I asked, because he was concentrating on calling 911. Finally he screamed that the car was on fire. I looked out and saw smoke coming from the hood of the car. It didn't look bad and it certainly didn't look on fire. I did notice a little fire underneath and assumed that is what he was talking about. I grabbed the pot of water that I had on the stove and threw it under the car. That was when I noticed the entire engine compartment was red with flames. Yep that pot of boiling water was like spitting on the fire.

Within minutes the entire engine was engulfed in flames. Both Cal and I had already changed into our PJ's for the day so I yelled to Cal to get changed and then we would need to get out because the car was parked very close to the house. By the time we changed and got back down stairs the fire was large enough that exiting through the front door was not possible.

We ran to the back door as Dante starting banging on the window for us to get out of the house - just in case. The Christmas tree blocked the back door so I grabbed it by the middle and laid it on the floor and Cal and I exited just as the police arrived.

The police officer started banging on the doors of our neighbors and made them leave their units. I guess Dante and I should have done that before but by that point no one was really in danger the cop was just being cautious.

The fire department arrived a few moments later and put the fire out. The car is obviously totaled and now the fight with the insurance begins. As I type this the car is still sitting in front of our unit, stinking to high heaven. I called the insurance company yesterday and told them that it needed to be gone by time I got home from work because the smell was making me nauseous and giving me a headache. I don't think they really gave a hoot.

Dante mentioned that they called back and said "maybe" Friday. I love being at the mercy of these people. They have no trouble collecting my premiums each month, but when I need them they suddenly have trouble with the simplest requests. If this fire had been in front of a store would they have left the car that for five days, I doubt it. I have had insurance with this company for almost my entire adult life with only one small claim over ten years ago.

Now we wait to see how little they will give us for the van. I am just praying it is enough to actually get a replacement but I worry that they will low-ball us and we will be up a creek.

I will update you when this is all over and let you know just how "on my side" the insurance company is being.

Flying South for the......

summer? Dante broke the news to me today that he would really like to go to Flordia to visit his kids. I guess the plan is to meet there this summer. Dante's son would be coming from TN and then his daughter, of course, lives there.

I have not been filled in on many of the details, probably because I would not be able to attend anyway. I think it would be great it Dante and Cal could do this. It would give them the opportunity to see the little kids.

It will be interesting to see if this works out!

Home with the kids.

The Author of this post is Herschel Compton

Being home with the kids all day means I watch a lot of satellite TV. I wake up and immediately turn on the Today Show which is great for getting my news and celebrity fix for the day. After that goes off I switch over to Dr. Phil which is usually either an interesting topic or something relevant to my life like how to deal with your in laws or something like that. I also really like House Hunters which comes on at noon here and then when that’s done I flip to Hoarders. That show can really depress you but if the people get better then you feel better by the end of the episode! There’s something great about Criminal Minds, too, which comes on after Hoarders because it really makes you think about whodunit and all that stuff – it’s a bit graphic so I have to make sure the kids aren’t home but you know, they could stand a bit of real world topical conversation every now and then, you know?

Missing Blog

Sometimes I get confused with Facebook and blogging. I thought I had blogged about "breaking my ribs" but it seems that I just talked about it on Facebook.

We have stared a ladies' baskeball night at church. In November we had a very competative game and in my confusion I dove for the ball. Now apparently I was confused and forgot that I was not 20 something and 125 pounds overweight. I landed on my chest and my breast was shoved into my ribs. It knocked with wind out of me and I was desperate to not act hurt. I jumped up and ran down the court and sucked it up.

For over a week, I was not able to breathe, laugh, cough, or heaven forbid sneeze without extreme pain. During that time it seemed to get worse each day instead of better. Last Sunday I seriously considered having Dante take me to the emergency room.

That must have been the turning point, because after I made it through that day I have been getting significantly better each day.

I doubt if I broke anything because it did heal quickly but, during that first week I was wondering if I had cracked at least one rib.

It was extremely painful and just simple motions brought tears to my eyes. I certainly was not attempting to jump pool fencing, but small tasks, like doing the dishes were difficult.

I have learned my lesson and will not play above my ability again.

Happy Birthday Bub

Today at 1:57 my wonderful son will turn fifteen. Yes, fifteen. He is pretty excited because in NH you can get your driving permit at 15 1/2.

Cal is our miracle baby, and I have had to retell this story many times over the years. I think that Dante is going to tell our story for the ladies ministry! Each year they tell an abortion story during a ladies event.

Any way, back to the birthday wishes. He received his presents this morning and is waiting patiently to go out to Friday's for this birthday dinner. I received his school pictures the other day and will be sending those out to friends and family soon!

Two Year Anniversary

On November 1st I celebrated my two year anniversary with the church. While it has been difficult at times, I really love my job. I enjoy helping my co-workers, and church members. I also enjoy my ministries that I have with the teens.

I will be the first to confess that if someone offered me full time employment with benefits that I would have to seriously consider the offer. I would be open to just about any job or field, including Audiologist Jobs.

The ideal situation, and what I pray for on a regular basis, would be that the church make me a full time employee.

I am starting to fit in better and learn the ins and outs of ministry work!

Black Friday

I participated in Black Friday for the first time in my 42 years of life. I met my mom at her hotel at 4:30 and we headed to our first store. We had to wait in line for only a few minutes before we entered the store. We split up, at that point, just to make sure that we were able to get the items that we wanted. Success!

That one store was really our only plan. Then we just decided to shop with nothing in mind. We stopped at Target and made a few purchases. I was shocked, the stores were empty. I am thankful that the die hard Black Friday shoppers were home in bed after being up at midnight.

We made a few more stops and I dropped her back at the hotel to shower and get ready for more shopping with the boys. She met us at our house and then the five of us headed to Home Depot, Harbor Freight, and Lowes. We had a great time and I purchased some beautiful poinsettias from Home Depot. All in all, it was a successful day and a great time with my mom.

Lighting of the Tree

Yesterday I decided that I need a walk, a long walk. I headed toward the center of downtown or affectionately known as The Oval. After sitting on the freezing bench - a stone bench - for about fifteen minutes, I noticed people starting trickling into the area. I decided to hang around a few minutes more even though my backside had had more than enough.

Within a few minutes they starting singing carols and it seemed that I was taking part in the tree lighting service. It was fun and I sang along with a few songs.

Then came the moment that most had been waiting for, I cannot say that I had just because I was there by accident. The countdown began and at the end the lights glowed. It is a 25 foot Balsam Fir, and apparently the largest in quite a few years. The lights were a little disappointing, they were all white and frankly there needed to be a couple thousand more. That being said, I cannot tell you how much I love our little town. We have more events than most and the people seem to enjoy each others company.

The mood was very Christmasy, and I half expected there to be couples with engagement rings
and mistletoe all around.

Church Rant

This little rant is for the family of six, seven, or eight that insists on sitting in the second or third row at church. You seem like a nice family and have been going to the church for many years, I am sure. You dress all your kids (number still unknown) up real nice and sit in a very prominent section. It seems that you bring your family so they can "perform" each Sunday. Oddly enough, that is the only time I have ever seen you. In the three years that we have been coming, I cannot think of a single event, other than Sunday morning, that we are blessed with your presence.

Now most families send their small children to Sunday School, but not you. I can understand this on one hand and then on the other, it is quite frustrating. Each and every one of your children leave service at least TWICE during the thirty minutes message. Of course, because you sit right up front it is a huge distraction. They seem to leave at will with little direction from you! They have to walk toward the stage and out the front door. Did I mention that I am still unsure about the number of children, that would be because they never all seem to be in the service at the same time.

If you are looking for a way to get your children seen on TV and maybe someone will see their "performance", maybe you should take others into consideration. How can we concentrate on the message when your children are on the go! One leaves, one enters, three leave, two enter and so on the entire service.

Blog?

To blog or not to blog. The time has come to make a final decision. If I am going to continue to blog I must be more diligent about it or, frankly I just need to shut it down. I have made it "work" instead of enjoying the task. If I cannot enjoy it then why bother blogging.

I think my biggest road block is the fact that I don't write well. I thought after all this time I would see a significant improvement in my ability. I have noticed a huge difference in my spelling skillz but nothing with my sentence structure and grammar.

Some days when I go back and read something that I wrote in the past I feel like such a moron because it doesn't even make sense to me and I am the one who wrote the stupid post.