Happy Birthday Ethan!

This past weekend was a fun one but also a tiring one as we are still feeling it today. I know sometimes it feels like we have so much to do when we do make it home that we run harder then we do when we are on the road. On Saturday Josh decided we were to go to Evansville and upgrade our phones and plan with a special deal that Best Buy had going on so we head to Eastland Mall. Ethan was able to join us and made it even better. We stopped in Old Navy and got Ethan some socks and new tshirts, Payless Shoes for new tennis shoes for Ethan and me, and a Kitchen Store for a noodle cutter for me. We eventually get to the Best Buy Mobile and got that squared away and happy to say we now have bigger phones that are easier to read as I read alot on my phone on the road and we got more data so hopefully I can blog more often. We then went to TGI Fridays for lunch which is one of my favorite places as I love almost anything with the Jack Daniels sauce on it. When I ordered my usual meal of steak this time it came with a lobster tail and I was excited about that, I love lobster. When my plate came out I was highly disappointed with the lobster as I looked at Josh and said "I thought I was going to get lobster not shrimp." it was so small and when I did pick out the one bite of meat that was there it had tiny pieces of shell in it where they cut it, nice. We thought about going to a few other places like JoAnns fabrics and Barnes and Nobles but by the time we got done eating my head was pounding, probably from each store flooding the areas with music that was way too loud, so we headed home. That took up a good portion of the day and I didn't get much else done.

On Sunday we got up bright and early as we were heading to Chicago to Medieval Times for Ethan's birthday. He is now 19 years old and makes me feel old that my baby is that old. He invited 3 of his friends to join us and we drove for 5 hours to get there. It is weird that when we are in the semi it doesn't seem like it takes that long to get there but in a car it seemed to drag on forever. I know I missed the fact that I wasn't able to get out of my seat anytime I wanted and also missed my potty as we had to stop each time I needed to go. I guess I am becoming more accustomed to riding in the truck than I thought. I also didn't like feeling so small on the road, it seemed as if I could touch the pavement easily and I like being able to look down on people on the road, it just feels more secure up in the truck. We make it there and I took quite a few pictures and it was pretty neat with all of the paintings of shields and wooden items to make it look like a castle. We got to dress up in costumes to get our picture taken and Ethan got to be Knighted with a real sword that he got to keep. We got seated and we were front row center, which was awesome. They had horses come out and show off all of their fancy foot work and tricks, and then it was the hawks turn. He was not going to cooperate as well as the horses did as each time he was allowed to take off he sat up by the roof and refused to come down. You could hear the trainer muttering his anger under his breath and eventually the hawk came down and that part was over. Then came the knights on their horses and they did tricks like using their lances to get rings that were hanging, and riding along side each other passing battons. Then the real fun started with actual jousting, breaking their lances and then sword fights, some fights were on horses others were on the ground and of course you can tell that it was choreographed but it was still an amazing feat of strength and talent. Each section of the arena was colored and each section had a knight, and I have to admit that our knight was quite good looking and he was quite good at getting out section to cheer. There was a story line to all of this but it was lacking and the king and princess were there but further away it was hard to see them. I like the trumpeters that followed him around though as they really did play. Now on to the food, all of the food was to be eaten with your hands and so I guess this limits what they served and the food was good, but the portions were on the small side. We started with a tomato bisque and a piece of toast. They didn't even fill the bowl 1/3 of the way, we then get half of a chicken, which sounds like a lot but not when they looked like pigeons, we got one rib but mine was almost all fat, and then for desert we got a apple turnover, again small. I was good with the portions and was pretty filled but everyone else was complaining about still being hungry when we left. We paid dearly for the tickets and did expect a bit more. Almost forgot we did get a slice of potato too. I think overall Ethan had a good time and we are thankful that we got to spend the day with him as it may be a few years before we get to spend another birthday with him when he leaves for the military. I think we celebrated big and it was more than worth it. We drove home and didn't get there til close to midnight and we had to get up bright and early to leave in the truck, plus I didn't have anything done that needed to be done to prepare for leaving. Laundry didn't get done or the grocery shopping and everything else that did get done was rushed that morning but I believe we remembered to grab everything that we needed.

There is much more to tell on what has been going on but I am going to save some of that for another day! Happy Wednesday!

Emotional

It has been an emotionally charged week. We were actually home for three days this time and it was nice to be home on a Friday and so we could get some things done that you can't always get done on a weekend. We started out getting my drivers license renewed, just a few weeks late on getting that done, went to the bank to get new debit cards as ours was "compromised" , then went to walmart to pick up a few essentials and was upset that they didn't have the color of yarn that I needed to finish my current project. We started going through some items for Alex as he was wanting some things like towels and dishes for his new place. I think that started my emotion rollercoaster, knowing that he is doing it, actually moving out but I am happy for him, getting out on his own but doesn't make me feel happy.

I also called up the local animal shelter and made arrangements for our pets. When I called they only had room for our dog Prince, and told us to call on Tuesday to see if they had room for our cat Annabell. I bathed our little guy and took him out there and I knew it was going to be a hard thing for me as the guy took him and put him in a cage and Prince was whinning and shaking I broke down. I couldn't stop sobbing. I had tried for 2 months to find him a home and was unable to and wasn't left with any other options but to take him to the pound and all I kept thinking of later on is all the posts on facebook of people trying to make you feel guilty about leaving them, how they don't understand, and how heartless the humans are for doing this. As if I didn't have enough guilt to start with and it wasn't something I wanted to do but had to do. Luckily Prince will be in a no kill shelter but I know that doesn't make it any easier on him. Alex is the one who drove me out to the shelter and when I came out bawling my eyes out he stopped into a gas station on the way home and bought me some chocolate bars. "Here", he says "I know girls like chocolate when they are upset." I appreciated him trying to make me feel better. On Tuesday I called the shelter to see if they could take our cat and they could, so I call up Ethan to let him know he can take the cat there. I thought I would handle this a lot better as I wasn't actually there to hand her over, and for a while I did til I saw her picture on the internet. She looked scared inside the cage and that guilty feeling took over again and I cried again. I realized that we have had a pet inside our home since Ethan was 2 years old, that is 17 years and it was extremely hard on me every time we lost one. Josh tells me that when we get our farm going that I will have lots of pets and I told him that they aren't pets if you are going to eat them!

While we were home Ethan also informed us he now knows the exact date he will be leaving for Basic Training, December 2 and he is going to Texas. As soon as he told me I broke down again, oh how I hate uncontrollable crying and no matter how much I try to will it to stop it doesn't work. I knew he was leaving and probably in December but now that I have the date I guess it makes it all so real. I keep thinking I am mentally prepared for these things but I guess I am going to have to realize that there isn't a way to do so, at least for me. Logically I know these things but emotionally I can't seem to prepare. I just can't imagine not seeing my son for a long time and he enlisted for 6 years. His birthday is coming up and I am sure this will be the last birthday I get to celebrate with him for quite some time so we are making plans to go to Medievil Times in Chicago. He is inviting some friends to come along and we are going to make a day of it. I can't wait I am excited!

It has been a week later since I wrote the above and I can say that the crying emotionals are in control now, but now comes the rage. I have never had a job that is so hard on my emotions and all I can say is everyone should appreciate all the crap that truck drivers go through on a daily basis. I know this job isn't for me but when I am riding along and have to deal with all of the crap right along with Josh it makes me furious. I didn't used to be a person that spoke out about things but maybe I am just getting crankier the older I get but dang it sometimes you just have to let it out. Josh has not learned this yet. He will rage inside the truck and throw stuff and yell but when he is talking with someone on the phone or in the offices he is just as pleasant as can be, like nothing is wrong. He told me he thinks it unprofessional, bologna! I believe there is a place for constructive critisism. Don't be a whiner, or be a person who just grippes, but make sure that they know the way things are being done isn't working for you. Josh just bottles it all up and then explodes and quits the job instead of trying to work with them. I wish he had a few more qualities that we don't agree on. For instance, using coupons, I will use them with no problem, he doesn't like to, he won't haggle for a price on anything, he was looking at a job where he would have to haggle the price of what he would be hauling and I KNEW that was not the job for him, also smart shopping isn't something in his vocabulary, if he wants something he will buy it where ever he is, instead of stocking up on things when it is cheaper. There .. I said my grievances...:)

Today should be such a great day! NOT! Yesterday when we went to get our load it was not loaded yet and told us to take a trailer over and get live loaded. They do it by appointment only so we had to wait til they had time to squeeze us in, after that we had to wait again to be loaded as we were not top priority. Once we got loaded after waiting for 6 hours they come out and say they broke the handle off the trailer door that locks them shut and since they can't secure the load they would have to unload it to another trailer. After all of that we were out of time on our clock and couldn't even take the load after they did get it loaded. GRR. So today they send us out again to the place to pick up the load and once again they are wanting us to do a live load. We had to track down an empty trailer and of course since we don't have an appointment we will be sitting again all day. This infuriates both of us to no end but Josh is on the phone with the dispatcher saying "okay." If we actually get anywhere today it will be a miracle as we didn't drive any yesterday and it makes me mad that we were on duty trying to do our job but won't get paid a dang penny for it. Just imagine if you worked at McDonalds and when you get to work they want you to fix the coffee machine, you tinker with it, clean it, call repair places and try to find a solution to fixing the coffee machine and you put in a full 8 hours there but you don't get it fixed and they send you home with no pay for the day since you didn't get it done. Yep for all of those McDonald workers out there demanding $15.00/hr. they definetly wouldn't put up with that! I can say that it is getting harder and harder to have a positive outlook but I am trying.

Interesting trucking company name to say the least

Ah the trees are changing and it is BEAUTIFUL!

Not the best pictures but here is the Longaberger basket headquarters in Ohio, and I can honestly say that I have never bought any of their products.