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Is it over YET (2008)

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All Jacked Up...

Whew, it is over.....time to wipe sweat from brow and thank our lucky stars that we all survived. Even with all of the drama leading up to the holidays, they turned out WONDERFUL. My family got together, my kids were great and Lance's dad came out to my mothers with us. My mother had close to 37 people in her house this weekend, it was SO nice to have everyone so close. We ate, drank, laughed and shared another holiday together. Santa arrived at my mothers house around 7pm. All of the kids were SO excited, Pyper would not leave the guy alone, she was enamored by Santa. Rylan on the other hand, walked up to me, pulled me down to his level and whispers in my ear 'mamma, I know that is my papa.' I look shocked, then a big grin comes across my face and I respond ' then tell me why papa is standing behind me with a camera.' Rylan's face was so surprised, he looked at my dad, back to santa - in a state of shock. um. Maybe santa really does exist. *At least for th

Laughter - it helps

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I hate Christmas.......I think it is too much fuss for the event. I feel overwhelmed ever year - even thought I tell myself I won't get carried away, and I won't allow the pressure to happen again. Well guess what, once again this year I failed. I was luck enough to get a tree up, but we failed to put lights up outside. We just could not get to it. My son pointed it out to us once again last night "You know dad, we STILL dont' have lights outside." Lance and shrugged ' yeah, we will try next year. This year we will drive around and look at everyone lights instead.' ******************************************* We did begin to shop and wrap early, but once again I failed to get it all done. And as of today (um the 22nd) I am STILL not done. ************************************************************* We wake up this morning, and find a wrapped gift on our door stoop from our neighbors. Don't get me wrong, I understand it is a NICE gesture - it is a box o

Christmas photo - really?

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Dear heavens I bet I have 40258354575673 photos of crap....... We had pouting, we had crying, I tried to bribe her, we had milk, I even offered to paint nails. PLEASE just one freakn' photo. For christmas, I mean for gosh sakes I even got a tree. That's right see the tree in the back, I got a pre-lit one on sale (half off), and stuck that baby up in an hour. I am sprinting for the finish line and of course the kids won't cooperate. Well, Rylan will - he always does. So in true form Pyper will not. Did I mention that I put the tree up and put ordnament's on it, well a few anyway. Only to have Miss Pyper take them all off, then she started to cry 'chsssmas was all gone. why mommy, why?' I look at her like she has three heads, all the while a red star is attached to the leg of her pajamas. In my mind I am thinking 'hey crack-head, you are the reason Christmas is all gone. Leave them alone and it will look like Christmas .' But rather I stated, 'you sho

Hazy....

I apologize in advance if this post rambles or just does not make sense. I was home yesterday, lying on the couch and visiting a doctor. An hour later I left with 3 prescriptions - so today, I am loaded up on the drugs. My head is hazy, my eyes are twitchy - but the green gunk is gone. I did file with the EEOC, they send the complaint directly to the city attorney - I am waiting on a response. The EEOC told me it would be after the first of the year before any further action is taken. um....nothing like waiting. In the mean time I have fired up my resume and started sending it out, pressed my suites, and found my high heels. I may need them in the near future. I figure the IRS will always need people, even in a recession. I am not looking to be the boss, just some job security. This weekend, hubby and I are going to knock out our x-mas shopping. Which should be interesting - we NEVER shop together for x-mas. This will be our first year. My sister is going to keep my kids sat da

Any day now....

I am a pathetic mess these days. I know it has taken me ForEver to post, part of me just didn't want to, and part of just couldn't. It seems I have so much to say, but alot of it just seemed like nonsense. Work is work, at the moment. I am taking my time and trying to get all of my ducks in a row. This is a process, and maybe a LONG process. *Nothing like fighting for your job in the middle of a damn recession. Anyway......here's what I know. Over the weekend my best childhood friend came over for a night with her two girls. Her drama made mine seem like a cake walk. Her life and struggles are hard for a person to imagine. We sat around the table Sat night and joked, 'we could make our millions by writing your life story.' I sat there at my table feeling really blessed and thankful for my family, my husband and my life. Even with all of the work crap, in the scope of things I am okay. My girlfriend called me and asked if she could come over with her kids, ju

No going back.

My heart is heavy, my emotions are on overload. Will this EVER stop? Yesterday, I spoke with an employment law attorney. Today, I spoke with the EEOC to file a complaint. This afternoon, I am being spoken to by some upper mngt , so they can provide me with the level of discipline action that has been set in place. um.... Discipline for what? We will soon find out. Funny how when the meeting happened to discuss 'me' I was not allowed to attend. Funny how when a male counter part was spoken too and disciplined, he was allowed to attend, speak and defend himself. Funny how a special meeting was held off site in order to speak with a another male counter part in order to discuss with him how inappropriate his language was towards women during his senior staff meetings. The held the special meeting in order to avoid having an open discussion. Funny how is am being disciplined less than 60 days after a formal complaint was filed against one of the men speaking to me today. Which

Home maybe???

Well, we made it back Sat night around 9pm. Which is ideal, we like to have Sunday to relax and recover. Our trip was 'fine', nothing to terrible to report. On our way to the airport Pyper decided to puke all over the place, we had to pull over on the highway to change her, and attempt to clean up. YUCK. We could not find a car-wash, so my car sat for 7 days with puke. GREAT!! I threw away her travel outfit, which was covered in puke. What were my options really? Keep it and travel with a plastic bag of puke for 5 hours to El Paso. um, NO. Keep it all in the back of my car, in a plastic bag, with the gross car seat? um, NO. The trash can seemed like the best option. The only good thing, she had plenty of changes of clothes in the car, a suitcase full of stuff. So, I rode to El Paso smelling like kid vomit. Day 1, good times (NOT). Day 2, while sitting Chili's having lunch Lance reached over to get Pyper something and knocked his full beer in my lap. Great! We were

All I ever wanted... VACATION

In my mind I keep replaying the go-go's song 'Vacation' You know it, sing along 'vacation all I ever wanted, vacation HAVE to get away.' We are leaving tomorrow for El Paso Texas, where it is 70 and sunny. We will be spending 6 nights and 7 days in Texas, visiting family. Hopefully we break away for a bit and actually just spend time, with our kids by ourselves. We are planning a day or two in New Mexico as well, with a hotel and a pool. My kids should have a blast, and hopefully have fond memories of getting away. My son loves to visit Texas, we go every year to El Paso, and he has a great love for his Aunts and Uncles there. Pyper on the other hand, has been too little to remember any part of her trips to El Paso. She still maybe too little, but they will be amazed at how much she has grown since last year. While brushing his teeth this morning, Rylan beams at me 'mom, aren't you just SO excited about going to Texas?' Me ' sure buddy, by thi

Cadaver Bones??

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Cadaver Bones? Okay, so ever since Rylan has gotten his braces, I have known that a BIG surgery is looming. We are prepping him for a bone graph. The doctors are suppose to harvest bone from his hip and place it in his jaw line / palate in order to address his bi-lateral clefting. I have known this day was coming. Lance and I fear that harvesting bone from his hip will halt our son's ability to play sports. Other than swimming (maybe). Not that I think my son will be a professional sports player, but I cannot imagine taking away his excitement of playing sports so early in life. For gods sake he will only be 8 in March. If we harvest bone from his hip, football will be out of the questions, baseball, soccer etc. We have met several young teenage boys who are cleft and have had the bone graph, they indicate the stopped playing sports, and further they indicate that even the whether change seems bothersome at times. Cold damp nights, rain - all make them sore, and achy. These stor

Pee-Wee Football (Superbowl Winners)

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Getting T.O.U.G.H before the game. Rylan and I riding in back, getting tough. He has his game face on. The game was a tough one, as a Superbowl should be......we played in St. Genevieve, and they had home field advantage. We won the game 6 to 0, no one scored for the first 3 qtrs, it came down to the last quarter. We knew whomever would score first would win. Lance as usual was a nervous ninny - he smoked close to two packs of cigarettes during the game. All the while me and his father sat in the bleachers cheering for our team. Grandpa would knock his cane on the metal bleachers when the team did well. As we scored, and the time ran out a tear strolled down Grandpa's cheek and he stated 'Nancy would have lov'd this.' *He is so right, Nancy luv'd football and baseball. Even on her healthiest day, you could find her in front of the TV catching her beloved Cardinals, watching Ice Skating or Mizzou Football. She would have been one of Rylan's greatest fans. And sh

Joke - NOT funny.

Here is glimpse into how dysfunctional we really are........ I have been feeling crappy since last Sunday. I mean really crappy - tired, cranky, sick to my stomach, feeling like I want to puke ALL the TIME. Any woman reading this knows these are clear signs are someone being pregnant. (OMG, I HATE that word). After having Pyper I had an IUD put in, this thing is suppose to last for 5 yrs, and suppose to be 98% effective. I know, probably TMI, but come on, I don't want anymore kids. So this was my way of making sure I was 98% safe and sound. Because we all know dear ol' hubby won't do anything about it.....he was suppose to get snipped. Once again TMI. Anyway, so my symptoms have not subsided. I looked at Lance last night and we talked it over and decided we should just take a damn test to be sure that I was not with child. *cringe* The pit in the bottom of my stomach grows larger, just the possibility of it makes me break out in hives. However Lance, walks around

Halloween Re-Cap

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Halloween 2009, was a success at the DePew household. Rylan was a football player with blue hair, Pyper was a Princess that changed twice. The photo's here are of her first dress, I did not get photo's of the second dress (it was too dark). Prior to actually walking the neighborhood, she decided that 'I dun't lik'y ths dress.'' Therefore she took it off in the front yard. She refused to wear custom until she saw the other kids running around dressed up. I was afraid she was going to be the kid that did not dress up, but I was wrong. Once we got in the swing of things she was a true champ. I don't normally dress up on Halloween night. I wear jeans & a sweater in order to walk my kids around. comfy is the attire. My biggest accessory are eyelashes, as seen below. I wore these to work, and to Rylan's school party. The weekend before Halloween I had all of the kids over the for the night, here they are gathered around the kitchen table, we are getti

VOTE Today

Okay, for the most part I have kept my political opinion to myself. I will attempt to continue to toe that line, not because I am ashamed, not because I am not political - I just find it better. I will let you know this much, my household was a split household. However, my husband was so passionate about his stance that he actually voted today. LISTEN this is a big deal. He registered to vote this summer, and actually found it important to vote for the first time in his life. The man will be 35 next year - he has had plenty of time and plenty of issues to vote on; so why now? I don't really care, I am just really proud of him for getting done. Not only did he get it done, he did it first thing this morning. He was at the polls at 5:30am. Mind you, I was still sleeping. He felt this was important, he felt that his vote 'might' actually count. Someone and/or something got thru to him - it was not me. I don't care how it happened, but the fact is that it happened.

1/2 DaY

Well it is here - Halloween and I am getting really excited. Which surprises me, I normally don't like this holiday, and I am not sure why. I guess after having Rylan and living in an apt where we never got any kids, I never got really jazzed. But with each passing year, this Holiday gets a little more of heart. My kids are SUPER excited. Which just penetrates to every being in our home. We have decorated , we have gotten a TON of candy, customs , and food (adult beverages). We are for all intensive purposes good to go. Not to mention the weather....the weather is going to be 'effing beautiful. I dressed in my long black skirt today, my orange shirt that barely holds my boobs and my boots. And just for grins, I showed up in a bright green wig. Everyone at work laughed - well almost everyone, the Chief of PD did not find it funny. WHATEVER!!! I am leaving in 2minutes for the rest of the day. I am going to go to my son's Halloween party, pick up Pyper and maybe car

REALLY STUPID..

Disclaimer - I truly luv my hubby. But I swear I think he inherited two STUPID genes. Not just one, but two.... Here is sample of his most recents stupid incident. ***************************************** Last night I get home, and demand that he go by Sears and pick up a new grill. I state, 'just put it on the card, and we will pay it off on payday.' *I do not encourage credit card use, it makes me break out in hives, but we need this today. My comment triggered a previous conversation Lance had prior to my arrival home from work. He states ' Oh, by the way Michelle, speaking of the card, I put $895.00 on it today.' I laugh out loud and state 'No you did not.' He smirkes, 'Yeah, I did. Some guy called on the phone and said if we spent $895 today he could save us $3,000 in credit card debt.' I look at him and state 'we dont' have $3,000 in credit card debt - so how could us spending 895 be any help. Dear god.' Did you give them your soc

Sprint to the End

Can you believe that October is almost OVER. Where in the hell did the month go? Somewhere between the meetings, meetings, meetings and meetings this month I lost the entire month. Dear heaven. That means, that next is Thanksgiving and then the dreaded Christmas. *****I HATE the holidays. It seems like way too much work on my end. So much going on, so little time to blog about it. Where to start??? um. Well, my budget meetings are almost over. YEAH. I have my final one this Tuesday, then we will wrap it up, issue it and move on to the audit work. In the mean time, last week I re-arranged my office. This is code for DEAR GOD WE HAVE ALOT OF CRAP. I have alot of stuff in the conference room that still needs my attention, but I just shut off the light and closed the door. I cannot look at it any more today. I will tackle a little more of it tomorrow. It was very overwhelming, and I am sure in the end it will be a good idea. But today it still seems daunting. My boss apparently

Company...

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Well, over the weekend we headed down to the country to see Lance's dad, visit with my family and meet the newest member. *Drum roll please.................. meet Juno the dog. Out of blue, Grandpa got a dog. I cannot express how much having this little puppy in his life has lifted his spirits. Grandpa has always wanted a great pyrenees, and on a whim he found one and then bought one. There were nine puppies to this litter and this dog apparently went right up to Grandpa upon his arrival. Juno, was waiting for Grandpa to come and get him. Juno will grow up to be a big dog. And they 'think' his mask and spot on his head will go away. *I hope not, I love the mask around his eyes. Here is a photo of an adult great pyrenees. I LUV big dogs!!! With the new dog in his home, Grandpa has a bit of pep in his step, a glow in his face, and happiness in his voice. I have not seen a glimmer of that happiness since before he lost his beloved wife, Nancy, last November. I am so glad

Fall 2008

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It is Friday, and I am feeling rather rested, comfortable and believe it or not happy. um. Happy, it seems like a long time since I said that word. I am going to miss summer.... I luv the sunshine and warmth it provides. But this year, more than ever, I am looking forward to the fall. Here are a few good reasons for my recent happiness.....words or not necessary.

Nat'l Holiday day?

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Okay folks, really, we celebrate Nat'l Bosses Day? When? When did this STUPID day sneak in to our calender? One more stupid thing for me to consider spending my money on. By the way, what does one do, when they HATE their boss? Which, in case you haven't noticed, I do . Okay, perhaps Hate is a bit strong, but it is right up there in my top 10. And it is not a curse word, so it is the best I can muster. So, I get an email from a co-worker, asking all of the dept heads if we want to pitch in $11.00 each for a gift card for 'our' boss. *hear the crickets..... So, after some careful noodling around in that brain of mine I came up with a plan. Or rather a cheap plan. I responded to her email and I quote 'sorry, but I have already covered this holiday on my own.' *ha, ha! That punk is not going to get $11 of my hard earned money. And besides who waits until the day before the proposed holiday, to ask if anyone else wants to chip in? I am clearly irked today. Here a

Craz'd

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Baahhh, Okay........so I am CRAZ'd these days. I need a bit of comic relief. It is a bit foul, tasteless, and FREAKn' funny. So enjoy. Tonight, I begin my budget sessions. I am back at work at 7pm to 9pm. Stuck in a room with 12 other people, all whom will argue over the STUPID stuff. I will hold thy tongue, and go home and drink. (ha!). This month is better known as hell month in my household. I have 4 budget sessions on top of 2 regular night meetings. On top of that, tomorrow is suppose to be the BIG talk with my boss. That is top secret , so shhhh - don't tell. I am not even suppose to know, but as usual people cannot keep their mouths shut. Bottom line, if discipline action is not set in place, I will seek outside forces. What the hell, what do I have to lose at this point? **************************************************** To speak to my unstable state of mind, I laughed so hard I cried last night. Tears, streaming down my face, stomach hurting

Relax...

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Well, it was a relaxing weekend. I am HAPPY to report. I took the time to unwind, soak up some sun, and spend time with my family. We had football on Saturday, and we won 28-0. With each passing win the ego's get bigger. I am not sure who's head is bigger my son's or dear ol' hubbys. All I know is that, they both cannot fit thru the door at the same time, because their heads take up too much room. Saturday afternoon / night we took some much needed down time. We stayed home, took naps, bbq'd and hung out on the back porch until close to 10pm. It was good for our soul and mental attitudes. We woke up Sunday a bit refreshed. We tackled the inside of our home, and moved to the outside. The house now looks like we actually live here rather than a foreclosure. I mean for REAL, we had weeds growing everywhere, smudges on the windows, and trash lids sitting next to the cans. I must say, when we take the time, we clean up nicely!! Around 3pm, we loaded up and went to the pu

Courage or dumb? Cannot decide....

Last night I was restless, sleepless, and down right amped up over the series of events at work. I tried to sleep, I laid down, closed my eyes - but my mind would not shut off. I could not get the damn thing to calm down, shut down. I kept going over situations, scenarios and possible letters I was going to write. I had it all planned out on my way into work. I was going to stand my ground, call a meeting with my boss and explain how in appropriate his actions were yesterday. God must have been shining down on me, because prior to making my way to his office, I glanced at my approved job duties and low and behold I don't need his approval or endorsement to issue the budget. He was totally off base yesterday and I had it in writing. Not to mention that the mayor put him in his place thru out the day yesterday. This only supported my cause, which is good for me. Not to mention it gave me another level of confidence. My goal today was to stand up to this man AGAIN. So, I square

small things...

Before i made it to work today my son and I had the following conversation at blockbuster: Ry - hey, mom. Me - yeah. Ry - I know why you MAKE me drop off the movie. (mind you it just goes in the slot). Me - why? Ry - Because I am the fastest person in the house. The rest of you would take FOREVER. Me - *smiling* Yeap, you are right. Thank god we have you to run around for us. *Apparently, new shoes work wonders, and make you fast. Do any come with super-powers??

sinking feeling in the bottom of stomach?

I have been absent lately. I have been swamped and stressed. Ever since 'pulling the trigger' I have been sick with anticipation. Not to mention that I have a budget to issue this month. As of today the 'powers that be' still have not addressed the boss issue. I issued packets of information to the Mayor & City Attorney. This packet included several individual accounts, in their own words, of their abuse. By several individuals I mean over 7 of them issued statements. When we only employ 73 full timers that is pretty significant - like 10%. All weekend, I stressed over this issue. It keeps me up at night, makes me feel like throwing up, and has me walking a bit of a fog. This morning, I was met at my car by my boss and he escorted me in to his office. *never a good sign when you are met at your car and provided an escort. He was angry over an item I placed in the 'preliminary budget' to be discussed next week. Actually, angry is an understatement. H

Leap of Faith.

There are alot of circumstances circling in my head, that I fail to share. But all of them weigh heavily on me, and effect the manner in which I function. For a long time I have been allowing you to peer into my relationship with my ars*hole boss, well I have taken the steps necessary to bring formal action against him. This decision was not taken lightly, and now that i have opened the flood gates I must walk in, grab the life raft and hope that it does not get a hole and sink. Two days ago I met with the new Mayor off site to disclose the degree of anger, erratic behavior, extreme emotions that my boss displays. My boss for the most part has avoided me, mainly because I fought back. I got back in his face, I ignored him, I walked away from him, and I told him I would sue him. But on the flip side, he turned his anger and terrible management style on other employees. It is my job as a manager to protect those employees as well. As side from my own personal experiences with this m

Trippin' tuesday.....

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I am going to trip thru today. Just sort of hop over the unnecessary meetings, skip on over the bank and see what is really going on with our personal savings and my works investments. I woke up at 4am the other morning in a cold sweat. Why. Because i suddenly remembered that my work has investments in Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac. OMG. Are you 'effing kidding me. Once i got into work I emailed our investment rep, asking for a 'clear' explanation as to the safety of the City's investments. The investment rep wrote back that he was headed to a meeting and would 'call' me in the morning. That is code for I am not willing to put anything in writing . I FREAKED out, and waited for the phone call, which I put on speaker phone so my entire office could participate. The investment rep informs me, via the phone, that our investments are safe because the government has a moral obligation to make good on the investments principal amount. Hold the presses, is this not the bi

Upbeat, and Friday.

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I cannot believe that it is Friday already. Where did the week go? Between the sickness, the days off, the sleepless nights, the meetings and phone calls I totally lost the entire week. I am glad to report that everyone is feeling fine. Everyone returned to their regular scheduled program: Lance - back to work (yeah) see channel 140 for further info. Pyper - back to the sitters, she sauntered in there today like she owned the place. See channel 440 (drama queen channel) for further info. Rylan - back to school, practice and preparing for his Sat game. See channel 550 future althele channel for further updates. Me - back at work, shuffling papers around and trying to look busy. I am going to drink my starbucks, and perhaps have lunch out today. See channel *666 for the Antichrist will return this weekend. I am beyond blessed in my life, and at times fail to mention it, recognize it or embrace it. I am lucky to have a husband that is my best friend, and the angst of my existence at tim