Big News!

Tony got a job! It was the craziest thing too. See, Tony has been able to draw over $400 each week on unemployment. So we were not hurting too bad. Well, last week his unemployment ended. He was able to get an emergency extension but it is only $233 and will not last long.That's half of what he was getting and we were just barely getting by on that. We were not able to get government assistance because Tony is a drug felon. Tony is unable to afford to go to school because of his felony he can not get a grant! They even cut our ARKIDS to part B because they said we made too much money!
He began to really step up the job search, but was having no luck. Since becoming unemployed Tony has applied to more jobs than I could count. The list included: Pizza For Less, Mazzios, paper delivery guy, Wade's, the Dollar store, truck washer, Bad Boy's, pest control, car detailing, Dodd's signs, barge work, Conagra, Townsend, Ideal bakery, Loco Ropes, and all of the employment agencies in Batesville! He has gotten one call back from all his months of looking and it was for paper delivery and was only part time. No One will hire him because of his felony. I am sure that they throw the application away as soon as they see what his charge was for. I understand it, but it still SUCKS!
We had finally decided that he had no choice but to go to truck driving school. Truck driving is one of the only professions where they don't care at all about your education or criminal record. All they care about is your driving record and Tony's is Perfect! They offer a 4 week course at ASU Newport. So today we sat here and decided that in the morning we would go get all the paperwork started to get him enrolled. He was not excited to say the least!
Within 5 minutes of coming to this dreadful , but necessary decision the phone rang. It was Taylor Made. They are a company in Newport that makes ambulances. Tony's step-dad had recommended Tony for the job a couple of months ago but nothing ever came of it, We had forgot about it all together. So we were tickled when they said for him to come down tomorrow and start Thursday! One day later and Tony would have been having to come up with a CB handle! I am feeling some divine intervention at work here. The weight is lifted off of my shoulders and today I feel truly blessed!

What the Deck?

We are getting a new deck this week. The old was was falling apart and the landlord has been promising to replace it for a couple of years. He finally hired some guys to come replace it. They showed up this morning and Tony's Siamese kitty "Cookie" was not having it. She is a house cat and is very territorial. She was so involved in what the guys were doing that they even noticed that she was not happy about them being on her deck. You can see in this picture that she even puffed when they started up the chainsaws!I haven't seen her do that since she was a kitten.

So they finally got the deck completely down. Tony opened the sliding glass door to let some air in and next thing we know Cookie is outside.

She was climbing on the little pieces of boards that were left. She was nervous at first, but then she was decided it was pretty cool. She hasn't been outside in about a year so being able to let her out without having to worry about her was kinda nice. She sat out there on those boards until we had to make her come in. Now that she has claimed her spot out there I really feel sorry for those builders when they show up in the morning!

Easter Bunny

I think the Easter bunny is lost. Not long after Easter I started seeing this white bunny in the yards all around the neighborhood. I think everyone thought I was crazy at first, but today I got proof. He is just the cutest little thing ever. I hope that he wasn't an Easter gift that either got away or was let go.

I really hope that this little guy does not start eating my garden. I do enjoy seeing him hop around in the yard every evening about this time. I have had to chase so me cats away from him a couple of times. At least I got some photos this time to prove I wasn't seeing things.

Mother's Day

Friday night I had baccalaureate service at Lyon. I was a little upset with my family that they chose not to attend. So, I came home from the service in a bit of a mood. To my surprise, they had spent their time shopping and wrapping while I was attending the service. They gave me all of my graduation/mother's day gifts. The first one I opened was a blender. I thought hmmmmmm this is an interesting choice. Turns out this thing is awesome. I love slushies and this one makes the best slushy ever. It is one of those gifts that you would have never bought for yourself but just don't know how you made it without it now.

The girls had made me some great cards. I just love stuff that is hand made! The card with the flowers Jadelyn made. Each one of those flowers lists a different thing she will do for me when I cash them in!

They each picked me out a beautiful necklace.

Tony got me a digital photo frame to put in my office at work(when I get an office that is!).

As for today, which is actually Mother's Day, we haven't done much of anything exciting. I will tell you this. Earlier this morning Jadelyn was whacking me with this squishy yo-yo ball thingy she go out of a machine somewhere. I said "hey stop hitting me with that". She said "oh yeah it's Mother's Day, so I can't hit you with stuff." Then she paused and said "Well, I'll wait 'till tomorrow then" My crazy family......gotta love 'em!

Graduation

I can't believe it is over. I think I am still in shock. I am used to always thinking about what I have due at school, and now I feel almost bored. I said Almost! Anyhow, graduation couldn't have went any better. I was so surprised to see all the folks that showed up to see me. I am really going to miss school, but  I am so tickled that I finally did it. I bet a lot of you thought that it would never happen there for awhile. I know I had doubts myself. I have come a LONG way baby, and it feels Damn good!

Lyon sure does make a big ta-do about things. I love the pipe band, but hate all the unnecessary things Lyon squeezes in all its formal affairs. I was dreading the long ceremony and all the speakers, but it gave me time to think about how far I have come and where I want to go in life.

So I was very proud to be getting that diploma in my hands! I think what moved me the most was all the folks that showed up to tell me they were proud of me(even those that were there in voice only----Ashley!). I almost cried myself when I realized how proud Randi was of me. I thought this must me big! I was just overwhelmed with joy! I can not express how much all of y'alls words of encouragement have meant to me. I want to say a special Thank You to Dale and Judy Altom who stepped in to take the place of my parents. I think Judy called me every day leading up to graduation to tell me how excited she was. They also took the whole fam out to lunch at Elizabeth's. Oh My Gosh was it good! I am so grateful to have them in my life. I got lucky when I got my BFF Randi, I also got some great parents too! So Thanks to everyone for not giving up on me!

Oh I just have to add this little bit in. After lunch I wanted to take a family picture while we were all still dressed up. Well, Jadelyn was not having it! She was pissed about having to wear a dress in the picture and was ready for a nap. Big events where she has to be good really wear her out! So, I didn't get any good pic because she would not cooperate. Here are the attempts. I was pissed about it at first but now they just crack me up. The poor child looks just miserable!

Just a swingin'

I absolutely LOVE laying in a hammock. It is my favorite thing to do when we go camping. Well, Tony made me a thing in the backyard so that I can have a hammock at home. I am loving it! He built it for less than 10 bucks and I love that too! He made it so I have a full view of the backyard. I can lay out there dozing while keep one eye on the kiddos. On a cool spring day it is just bliss!

Garden Update

So it has been 5 weeks since we planted our garden. It is growing like crazy. Our cabbage is starting to make a head already.

Our cucumber and squash are making beautiful blooms.

We are having a problem with bugs eating our leaves. The ants are especially bad. I was determined to have an organic garden. We tried lots of different natural remedies for garden pests, like cinnamon and pepper, but they did not work at all. In order to not lose all our veggies that we had worked so hard on we had to use Sevin Dust. So that is the white stuff you see all over our garden.

 We have planted three more rows of things since my last blog. We added okra. cantaloupe, and watermelon. You can see the difference in size in these rows that were newly added. We are not sure if the melons will produce, but we got them half price at Home Depot and thought we would give it a shot at least.

So all together we have spent under 30 bucks for the whole garden. We are hoping it all produces, but no big loss if it doesn't. I will keep you updated!