White cold stuff outside!!!

I came home from work on roads starting to get slick and was very glad to be staying home. It wasn't a bad shift, no contractors moving equipment through the warehouse for a change.
Ben fixed supper and I made peanut butter fudge, need to make and gift that stuff along with home made bread..and need to get busy with cleaning out the computer desk so it's ready to move.
I did add some photos to my facebook but have a lot more I want to have accessable to pals on line..in time, at least I got some up there...
And the Christmas letter is done and 6 copies printed out, now to buy some cards and get them addressed and out into the mail..before Christmas.
House feels cold but I know it's not really that bad, furnace is up to 74 right now and it's not that bad outside..temp check---29 happy degrees!!! NO, the snow won't be melting during the night...
Right now I'm scheduled to work 3 more shifts and then be off 4 days but I have to wonder about Sunday--maint and contractors are working but no one in supply is scheduled to work..I will talk with my supervisor tomorrow and make sure everyone is on the same page and in the same book...
I am connecting with old friends through Facebook, it could be interesting, but I am not looking at making any huge changes in my life--other than the living room changes that I have coming up and hopefully the window replacement changes that I want to have take place this coming spring/summer.
It's nice to have Ben here but it's just for a short visit, he's helping me with some things here before Jake comes, will house/bird/dog sit so I can be gone overnight to take the computer desk to MO and come back with Jake..and he's going to spend the time he can with Jake while Jake is here...
I need to get to bed soon, got stuff I need to do tomorrow before I go to work, need to get busy with boxing or bagging up the stuff here at my computer desk and clearing off the library table, it will move to this corner to be my new computer desk...

white stuff outside tonight. . .

Well, I guess as it's December and a week before Christmas I can't whine too loud...and it isn't as cold as it was last week while I had vacation.
Jake will be getting on a plane in a few hours, he flies into Kansas City, his dad will pick him up and I go over the 24th, see Cami and her boy and then get Jake and all the things of his we can move here...
Sam is planning to relocate to the Phillipines with his wife..she's from there and Jake will adjust his lfe plans..not much else he can do with Dad selling the farm Jake has helped keep going and helped support.
Jake will change his legal home address to here and move what he can to here for me to take care of for him, his great grandpa's desk, his Aussie saddle, his Studibaker Lark..quilt mom made...what ever else is important comes to Mom's house and he works on building his own life...
Ben is here visiting and has been helping me with some projects I needed done to make space for that huge old desk. I still have a lot of tidy work to do and my computer desk is going back to Mo and to Cami, she has place for it and can use it so I will gift it to her and then have the space once things are moved around for that very big desk that has become Jake's...
I'm battling the heels in his current socks but have them almost done and will before I go to bed. The alarm is set already, start work at 7 am tomorrow..
Will be having 4 days off over the holidays, that was a nice suprise, it will give me more time with Jake than I expected to have.
Well, at least I got around to posting something here...

Marines and boxes from home

That Marine called while I was out and left a message, he did receive his most recent box and was very happy to have his PSP and it's games and appreciated the cookies that came with it---but did I Have to decorate the outside of the shipping box? Of course the answer to that question is YES! I get great pleasure from decorating/labeling those boxes, I have no doubt he gets plenty of attention from it but he is a Marine, he can handle a bit of flack..and it's that Mom love thing..I may love him but I also have to bug him just a bit...it's the Mom job.
the garden is growing, the weeds and I are battling, I am enjoying a day off work and am even being productive. The laundry will be caught up, the dishes will be done, there will be food cooked in this house...and I am enjoying my day.
But I did not enjoy the dental appointment, that needed bi-annual cleaning stuff and I got an estimate on the crowns I would like to have done and the office will submit it to the insurance company, and I set up appointments for the work, Aug and Sept. so hopefully I can afford to have to work done then. Budget is tight but I will see how things go.
I am getting some overtime at work, I am still glad I have the job and won't let the people with attitude drive me out. I do my share of mistakes, my share of work and then some and I love my job, even on the bad days or with working 19 days in a row.
The dating Casey thing is going well, he seems to be very keepable, and wants kept. He did get a trucker job on the cut floor and the hours are better for us, I still work every weekend, but at least our start times during the week are the same or almost and we get off at a lot closer to the same time.
I have no idea what sons #1 and 2 are doing, they have to live their own lives, I am busy living and enjoying mine. And I do enjoy my life, not having Ben live here is great. Dating a guy who is tidy and responsible is terrific, the weather warming up is very nice, and I have a better watering system this year for my garden and back plantings/yard.
I need to work in the front beds some, still have to remove the dead lavender plants and that should have been done weeks ago. I will do it today or so I tell myself.
And I need to plan to make cookies for that Marine, need some nice colored markers for decorating his box too- -yes, I am that sort of Mommy person....and he knows me. . .
the Tonner convention is getting closer, I did order a dress that I hope will look good on me and be suitable for that very dressy dinner we have on Saturday night...
guess I better go check my watering project and scatter the seeds I bought for the south back flower bed.

The Baby Marine

Jake called tonight, he graduates tomorrow/Friday and flies to Kansas City, Dad is to pick him up and then next Thursday i will go over and steal him away for a few days over here.
He's enjoyed himself, can't march in formation, his shirt tails still come un-tucked but he is keeping boots laced up and doing well with most things. He says everyone in his recruitment group of 89 people knows his name and face.
So, his first pair of hand knot boot socks are waiting, I have another pair started, enough black yarn for 4 pair and can get more easily. I will keep a pair going as long as he is serving and hopefully get them sent to him on a regular basis.
And it's below 0 here, the floors are terribly cold, the house feels cold even with the furnace set on 73 or 74 and the wind blowing doesn't help. I really need to work on insulation work and sealing drafts with the new foundation so that I can keep the house more comfortable when the temps drop so low.
My w-2 was available on line and is printed out and my federal taxes are sent off to the IRS, hopefully I will get an e-mail tomorrow that they are accepted. It should be 2 weeks or so before the refund hits my bank account and I can put it to use, it will pay down some credit debt, including the new tech toy I am getting this year..
Well, I am cold and want to find a warm place to watch Star Trek DS9, am working my way (again) through the entire 7 seasons.

Weekend and Play with sons

This is my 3rd weekend to not go to Havana and spend time and $$ with Ray. And I once again have extra funds for non essencials here. The funds spent in Havana were spent by my choice, sometimes more at the grocery store than I was pleased with but I didn't object and I was staying there 3 or more nights a week and eating there also.
I have to take Jake back to MO tomorrow and it will be a long and cooking hot trip but we are going to play in Springfield again today, Ben, Jake and I...and I plan to go to at least 1 of the 2 yarn shops there.
I stil have not heard a thing about the tech service job I have been trying to get for about a year now, tests done in April, interview done 2 weeks ago...patience, patience--not something I ahve much of. We are seeing very hot nights at work and I am trying to come up with a more comfortable way to dress. Being wrapped in blue plastic aprons makes for a long and sweaty night so loose and comfortable clothes are a must.
I think Jake and Ben both have had a good 2 weeks together, Jake has also been able to spend quality time with pal Kim, she was on days the first week and on vacation this past week. Of course my living room is gaming central, Ben's games and books have now grown to the point of taking over far too much space so I am going to have him buy the support brackets and put up a shelf here in living room for his collection. I have the shelf board and had planned to get it up eventually, set up high for my tins and dolls but will first have it become Ben's shelf.
The house is very warm, I did not get any work done on insulation in attic--again but have almost 3 full rolls of insulation to start the job up there. I am going to buy another small window air cond. from pal Nancy and put it in the north bedroom window for now. The air cond. in the kitchen window has seen 5 summers now and just isn't cooling enough for our current heat wave.
I am not sorry I became involved with Ray but do realize how expensive it was becoming. That is not the only reason I chose to step back, the most important reason was his attitude and treatment of me, I deserve better than to be yelled at and walked on, I know he has a lot of anger issues, had them for many years and none of them are my doing. I did enjoy the weekends up there, especially when both Bryon and Ben were living here.
The house is just too small for 2 adult sons and me to live and get along in, Bryon and I don't share as close a relationship as I do with Ben and Jake, he and I like each other far better with him living on his own a block away. So, my being able to escape up to Ray's every weekend helped Bryon and I get along here at my house until he was ready to move out, instead of me telling him to move out before I threw him out or murdered him.
But it's time to post this and get some breakfast cooked so sons and I can go play...

Jake's Here!!

Off to Missouri yesterday to get Jake, camped overnight at 1000 Hills, and went to Havana before coming home, to take Jake to meet Ann and to catch Ray or leave hiim a note about the few things there I forgot and would like to get.
Jake is now off to visit Kim, Ben went down but came back while I was outside pulling sand burrs. I now have the water going outside, a much needed chore that has been terribly neglected for several months.
Jake has 2 weeks here this summer and I am sure we will all enjoy that, I am planning to set the tent up in the garden area and did some cleaning and raking an area so I can set it up. I don't want it on grass areas and kill out my grass, I don't have enough of that as it is and there aren't many places that I can set up my tent.
I think the house will be too full some times with both Ben and Jake and possibly Bryon stopping by, the tent will give me a place to retreat to and also sleeping place for Jake or myself.
I did the interview for the tech service job and now will fret about wether or not I get the job but I did the best I could, and I do feel I would be competent and hard working and reliable.
a net friend sent me some Anne sock yarn in a great purple so I have started it on 2mm needles but am not sure I like it yet. The color is great but the yarn feels really fine for those needles but I know socks on smaller needles go even slower than my normal slow...
Need to check my water and go bug Kim and Jake.