It's been crazy lately since I blogged last. Where do I start? I'm not even sure. Anyway I think Winter is finally behind us, it's not that it was a "bad" Winter it just seemed like a never ending Winter.
Kelly got laid off on Dec. 31st from his job. Kelly got laid off but was told to wait before looking for another job with another company because as soon as a position opened with the company he was currently employed with he would have his job back. (The company he was working for from the end of August until Dec. 31st lost contract to another tree company.) We were supposed to wait until a certain date in January when the company could speak to the utility company and then we would have an answer as to if there was room for him. We waited. I can say now, looking back I think it was a mistake waiting. I don't know though -even in writing that I still am hesitant. The thing is: I don't think anyone likes to change jobs all the time and that's just something we are not used to. So that's pretty much why he wanted to wait to see what the outcome would be instead of changing jobs. Let me explain a tad for some who might not understand what my husband does. He is skilled, has special licenses, and is trained within the "tree business" which cuts trees around the power lines. There is residential and utility, and he works for utility which means he works for the power companies. These skills, licenses, etc. are what gets him the better pay rates than what some may get and it also gets him into the job. The job he got laid off from (Davey Tree) -another tree company came in & out bid them and they lost contract to another company. So that is why he was laid off. So his boss had to have a meeting with the power company asking if he could put on another crew and we were supposed to wait until such & such date and he was pretty much told "don't worry I got you." Well the meeting happened and the power company told his boss he could not put on another crew. As soon as Kelly got this news he started making calls for another job in the same field. He literally had 5 job offers in 2 days. Ironically two job offers were for the company he previously worked for --for over 11 years and was fired from in August. It's strange how things work, huh? Kelly getting all these job offers in such little time really irked us because we wondered if we should have waited on that call from the other boss or not? All this time he could have been working and we would not have fallen into a hole and got backed up in our finances. We literally had no income for January. We fought with unemployment over & over and up until last month was still fighting with them. We lost the fight -mostly because we just give up and don't feel like fighting anymore. A long story short: When he lost his job in August of 2015 he signed up for unemployment but was denied because he was fired. That's fine, within a week he had a job anyway so we just went on with our business. In September we got a letter from unemployment saying he didn't sign up for the job gateway thing -we just threw it away not thinking anything of it because #1. They already told him he was denied for being fired and #2. He already had a job so why would he sign up for a job gateway thing? It made no sense. When he got laid off in Dec. he signed up for unemployment "thinking" it was a new claim -a brand new case but I guess according to them it wasn't. Their last and final letter to us (just a few weeks ago) stated that they told him in their letter in September of 2015 that if he went to file a new claim he could be denied benefits so that's how they covered their butts. It's not fair and it's not right in my opinion but whatever. We had to withdraw from our savings, Christmas club, and even his retirement to pay bills and just get by. We had a gift from some special friends & some family even gave us a gift card for gas to help. He was traveling to & from Pittsburgh with interviews, drug tests, etc. for the job he now has. So it was rough coming up with gas money, etc. when you have no income coming in. So both gifts were huge blessings! Thank you! (You know who you are!) Kelly got back to work on Jan. 25th working for another tree company but working for a completely different power company: Duquesne Light. He has worked on their property in the past and we knew that it was the better power company to work for as far as wages. Flat out: They just pay more than the other power company he was working for. Period. The one bad thing though is: He doesn't get "storm work" or over time because he lives so far away. You have to have a quick response time to be available for storm work. So basically if someone lives closer and can get their quicker the over time is theirs'. The drive is about an hour and it's a "hectic" drive, he hates it, and its on the other side of Pittsburgh. When he went to take the interview he almost turned around and came home because of the drive. He is now so glad that he didn't turn around. He absolutely loves his job and loves his new boss! Ironically, there are a few guys that drive from Ohio to work there. About a week after starting the job one of the union reps got him in touch with a guy that lives in Natrona Heights and he now car pools with him so it does make things a tad easier. I have to stop there and say that his union (which he has been in for over 12 years) really helped him find this job. I am very appreciative to them for that. Anyway he is liking the job and things are going well for him and rumor has it he will be getting a promotion soon and I pray that happens. So please keep your fingers crossed for us if you would.
Jaden is 10 & in 4th grade & and has done excellent all year. She has had nothing but good report cards. However as many of you know through the years Jaden was always the one with the hair all done nicely, the sunglasses, the purses, toenails painted, etc. Well now, I'm lucky to get her to comb her hair. Yeah it's that bad unless she is in "the mood" to get herself cleaned up. Otherwise I have to fight with her to do these things. Anyway she loves her teacher and is doing well in school. Her favorite things to do lately are: jump on the trampoline, play Barbies (Ever After High Barbies), and play on her tablet.
Alexis is 6 and is in PM kindergarten and she likes it for the most part. She also loves her teacher and gets all good grades and good report cards. She is learning to READ! She read me a book the other day and it was bittersweet. She is best of pals with two boys in her class Kholt and Chase. She loves hanging out with them and says that Kholt is her boyfriend. And so it begins....lol!!!! Her favorite things to do are jump on the trampoline, play Barbies (Ever After High Barbies), play on her tablet and she loves and I mean LOVES to draw! She is very good at drawing too. Her Aunt Amanda draws very well too as does her Grandma H. So maybe she inherits that from them because I can't even draw a stick person with ease. Her Aunt Amanda does AMAZING work! I wish I could draw like that but like I said I have trouble with stick people lol
Both of my girls are a handful. They fight a lot. And I mean they fight over everything & anything and there are days where I'm just exhausted simply from their fighting. I can't even imagine what my summer will be like. A lot of the times when they fight I put them to work doing extra chores so they stop fighting but sometimes that doesn't even work. They each have emails on their tablets and know how to use them so feel free to email them sometime and reach out to them! They would love their close family doing that. If you don't have their email address then message me and I will send it to you. They would enjoy a funny picture here or there or even just a "HELLO" once in awhile. Jaden also has a phone, she got a smartphone for her 10th birthday. If you want her # just let me know but she can't send or receive a lot of texts because they are counted towards her allowance and then she will have to get a new card. We told her she had to buy the cards or ask for them for her birthday, and holidays. We had her 10th birthday in October so she could have a bigger party than she normally has and it was such perfect weather for her party. We did it "Halloween" and "Autumn" themed. I'm not sure if we are doing it again this year or not.
We got a new puppy in February and he is a Boxer named Max. Maximus Wilson Bailey. We had planned to get him since the summer before. Everything was set in stone but we just had to wait for him to be born and pick him! I was really worried we would not be able to get him because Dec. -February were bad months for us. But the breeders (they are the same people we got Laylah from and over the years I am proud to say they are our friends now) worked with us. He is getting so big and is now 31 lbs. He was just at the vet last weekend getting his shots. (He's actually bigger now than this picture -this is an older picture) He was wonderful with potty training literally from day #1. Then he started going in the house a few times and now he is back to being good and has now went 2 weeks without going in the house. I am very proud of him.
We still have Laylah and Sophie. Laylah is going on 4 and Sophie is going on 8. All three dogs are a handful but I love them all dearly.
Me? I'm doing okay just busy and battling a few health problems -nothing major (that I know of lol) but just like many others I keep pushing myself to go -but I'm just so tired come evening that I am seriously ready for bed by 6. A friend of mine asked me when I was going to update my blogs again because I had not done it in awhile and I do miss writing but it seems I never have time and when I do have time I am still in a hurry or get distracted. I have 3 blogs total and I just updated two of the three. The third one will have to wait for another day and time. I've been trying to keep busy walking and working out when I can but like I just told Kelly yesterday "I use my time wisely but still feel like I don't have enough time in the day to get everything done." For example: I spring cleaned all 3 bedrooms this week and for those two days I had no time to do my work outs. I was literally just finishing up when it was time for the kids and Kelly to come home. I love emailing, writing, and talking to people -just keeping in contact with everyone and I do miss it. I still try as much as possible to keep in contact -it might be short, quick or far and in between but I do try. I have to stop there and put this out there though: I can't do it a lone. Relationships of any kind take two -so please reach out to me-to us once in awhile too. Please don't think we are too busy and use that as an excuse to not reach out to us -that's the great thing about today's technology -if you send a text, an email, or even a message on FB I can get back to you as soon as I have time. All I'm saying is: relationships of all shapes and sizes take both sides to make it work. It takes compromising, effort, and compassion. It's funny -my sister and I have this "communication thing" -where neither of us leave voice mails. Well, I sometimes do but it's not often. She will call me and if I can't answer and I see that she has called I call her back. And vise versa. Although sometimes I will send her a text that says "just called you" lol because let's face it: technology is great these days but it does fail once in awhile too. So sometimes you have to double check. So that's me: the paranoid double checker!
I had a concussion about a month or so ago. If this is the first time you are hearing about it please don't be upset -I really didn't tell anyone and when I did it was "after the fact." We were all outside one Saturday on a nice day and I went to lean over to pick up the dog poop bucket and hit my head on our window that is never open. We have those roll out window (casement windows) and it literally knocked me back on my butt. I got right back up and yes it hurt but I felt okay. Kelly came running to check on me and I insisted I was fine. I sat down on the porch and started to feel very "weird." I got dizzy, sick to my belly, I thought I saw a person walking through my neighbors yard but there wasn't anyone -it was just my fence sort of moving but -I don't know how to explain it but it just looked like someone walking. I got up and went to the couch and wouldn't let on to Kelly or the girls how I was "really" feeling. Later I told Kelly the truth and he kept insisting I go to the hospital. I told him no I would just watch myself and that was it. For the next almost two weeks I had dizziness, didn't feel "right," headaches, felt sick to my belly, and blurry vision. Without a doubt I had a concussion. I know this but why did I need a hospital to charge me 100's of dollars to tell me this and to just tell me "take it easy." So that's what I did for the most part. I did my normal work but didn't do anything extra and took more breaks throughout the day. I am now back to myself and things seem okay.
Easter was nice. We stayed home, we really didn't have the gas to travel to my parents house. So I decided to just stay home & cook. Kelly's parents came over & the girls enjoyed spending time with them as we did.
We have been trying to save on gas a lot lately. We try to do everything in one trip if at all possible. Kelly has to buy gas twice a week now and there are weeks where once we are home -we won't leave again to go anywhere because if we use the gas -well obviously we have to replace it with more gas --which takes more money. This is the one con from his new job: The gas and wear and tear on the car.
Last weekend we worked non stop on the house fixing some things up around the yard. We also put shelves up in Alexis's room. I think for two days in a row we never stopped working.
Well, I have been on the PC way to long today. I have been doing some "spring cleaning" on the PC and then updating blogs so I've been on here way to long and have a long list of things I have yet to do today that just aren't going to get done. I start a new project next week: re-painting Jaden's room.
Get a hold of us & keep in touch! God bless!
Have a great weekend everyone!
PS: If you see typos and things of that nature just ignore until I have a chance to proof read! :-)
