It's been another long stretch between blogs, but not by choice. We still don't have the internet, and probably won't have it again at Kim's parents house. It looks like it's not important enough to them. Personally (and with no offense intended), I don't see how people can live without the internet. We've missed out on a lot already: driving directions, phone numbers, apartment information, medicaid information, and a lot more. But then again, I don't think having the internet on a 56k connection is worth $30 a month. Well, I guess when you live in a small town who is long distance to all other towns except itself, I guess things like that happen. Whatever happened to $20 a month (which is still a little pricy) for internet access? All of the major providers that I know of (AOL, Earthlink, MSN) are under $20 (of course that's without tax).

So anyway, we're going to go see Celes tomorrow after Kim picks up her new glasses. BTW: The optomotrist said that one of her eyes is "off balance." There is a word for it, but she couldn't remember what the doctor called it. She thought the doctor was eerie. Celes was just moved from St. Francis to another hospital in Tulsa called Children's Medical Center which is located pretty close to downtown, so the traffic there is much worse than normal traffic. Kim called her today and the nurse said that Celes was doing good and that they haven't had anything bad happen yet.

Well, for a quick recap on the events as of late: I lost a contact the other night while Kim, Michael, and I were at Marc and Vic's house the other day. We were all playing video games and then we went outside to wrestle (at like 3:00 AM nonetheless). It just popped out within the first minute of wrestling. Oh well, I still have another pair. We also borrowed Final Fantasy X and dot.Hack: Infection. I also got a few movies which I have so conveniently ripped. They were The Lord of the Rings Extended Version (2 disk set), Akira, and Monty Python's Life of Brian. I also have Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust which I'm going to get ripped pretty soon.

Anyway, about to have to split. Gonna go see Matrix Reloaded. Later!

Today has overall been a disappointing day. Apparently, my mom called the Ronald McDonald House and asked why we weren't allowed back there. They said there was numerous reasons, but they wouldn't say exactly what. So, I called up there personally, and if you know me, I don't like making phone calls, but I'm just so fed up with everybody's lies and mistruths that I just can't stand it anymore. The first call, I get transfered to a voicemail. We all know how well that works out; you never get a return call. The second call was to somebody else. Same thing. The third call I explained that I kept getting voicemail. What does she do? Transfer me to the first voicemail. So I call back. I ask for anybody's phone number ABOVE them. She doesn't know any. How totally screwed up is that?! So, in an e-mail to both the administrator and resident manager, I explained everything as polite as possible. Let's just see if I get a reply.

Also, this Thursday, Kim and I will go back to the hospital to stay longer and learn more about how to care for Celes. I don't know for how long, but hopefully it's a sign that she's getting ready to come home. Yay!

But nonetheless, I'm still depressed and worried. There's just so many things going on, and a lot that don't even involve the baby. I'm just ready for this all to end and get resituated.

OK, we're back from seeing Celes in Tulsa. While there, we learned a few things, like how to care for her gastrostomy tube and how to suction her trach tube to get mucuos out. I also changed her diaper for the first time, and we also took her temperature a couple of times. Nothing seemed really all that complicated, so I hope when we're on our own, we get through things easily.

However, today, when Kim called about Celes, they said that her heart wasn't doing something right, so they were going to do another scan on that. I'm not sure, but that may be the cause of her high blood pressure. I hope it's something a pill can fix, and not another surgery. I don't like seeing her like that. Otherwise, she's doing OK (high blood pressure, though). If she's come this far, there's no need to turn back now.

As for my diet, I've had to break it a couple of times. The reason is because I'm tired of eating the same things every day (eggs, salad, bacon, sausage). But I've been eating less than 10 carbohydrates a day, so a day or two of high carbohydrate intake shoudn't affect me too badly. I've just been completely out of energy on the diet and always wanting to sleep (which is normal, it lasts a few days, even up to a week or two). This is just your body transitioning from primarily burning glucose to primarily burning fat. In case you don't know, carbohydrates are what get metabolized into glucose.

The dance that mom did for the fund raiser wasn't a huge success, but it worked out with at least a profit. She says she thinks it made $150, but she's not sure yet because she hasn't counted the money. Mom has been working herself ragged the past few weeks and I feel so indebted to her. Maybe some other day I can do something special for her when I'm in a more stable condition. I'm going to help her tomorrow or the next day or whatever with the house. She wants a deep clean, and that's what she'll get. Last time, Kim and I cleaned the house and did the laundry, so we'll just do a repeat with a little more dusting and whatnot. If only we could get Michael to help more. He reminds me a lot of myself how I was when I was his age about how I never cleaned and relied completely on Mom for everything. But then when I moved out, I got a crash course in practically everything. I didn't even know how to do laundry or cook in a skillet, how bad is that for you? Not to mention, if he could help us out and get a routine, I bet it would help Mom's health condition considerably since a lot of her symptoms are probably related to stress and anxiety. I still think she takes too many pills for her own good, though, but who am I to say.

Also, Kim permed her hair. I never thought you could improve perfection, but I guess I proved myself wrong. The perm looks really nice and gives her a new look. She's trying her hardest to look better for me, even though I think she looks perfect already. A little extra weight isn't a problem that can't be fixed, and that's what she wants to do for both herself and our future baby. We've both agreed that if we have another baby, it'll be after she is at or near her recommended body weight. You just can't take too many precautions when you have had something like this happen.

Oh yeah! I also got my contacts. For only $99, I get 2 pair, which is enough to last 1 year. I feel so much better now that I don't have those goofy looking glasses on my face. I'm supposed to go back in for another checkup next Thursday at 9:30 AM, but I don't know if I'll be able to make it unless the hospital can put us back in for some more training. I will go back for the checkup, because I'm a little worried. The pressure in my eyes was 22, where 10 - 20 are acceptable pressures. This is a risk for glaucoma, and I certainly don't want that (or even really know what it means). I've just been told it can cause blindness and pain, which are two things I least desire.

Well, I guess that's all for today. Happy reading!

Sadly, today is going to be my last day of blogging for a little while. But while here, I'll let everyone know what the plan is. Tomorrow (Thursday) we're going back to Tulsa to learn a few things about how to care for Celes. Luckily enough, we're getting a courtesy room for two days to do this. After that, who knows what. At least we'll be spending time with her.

On to the Atkin's diet we've been doing. Yesterday I bought all the vitamins that the book recommended for people on the diet. They were:

• Borage Oil (500 mg), containing 200 mg Gamma-Linolenic Acid
  
• Flax Oil (1000 mg), containing 585 mg Alpha-Linolenic Acid
  
• Multivitamins, containing an array of things
  
• Natural Fiber Laxative (Sugar Free) containing Psyllium Husk Fibers (but also 2g fiber, if I'm correct)
  

These vitamins should help increase the rate at which I loose weight while also supplying me with nutrients that I'll be deficient on while on the Induction Phase of this diet.

So far, on this diet, I haven't been really starving, but at times I do get a bit hungry. I am allowed all the food I want, as long as I keep the carbohydrates below 20g. Not too bad, huh? And this induction is only going to last a minimum of two weeks. After two weeks if I'm ready to move on, I can, but probably not because I want to lose weight the fastest possible. If anybody is reading this and wants a change in lifestyle/health/weight, I would really recommend reading Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution. It's only $5.99 at any Wal-Mart. It'll change the way you feel about eating.

I'm still a little depressed about everything going on. To be honest, I'm not sure how long Celes will live, and if she does, how good the quality of life will be for her. It's on my mind every day, I just don't show it to Kim, because there's no reason to spread fear around like that. I would give my life for her, without a second thought. I wish I could, but I just can't. The best I can do is just be here for her, but like in the previous blog, being here isn't enough for that social worker.

When Kim and I chose to have this baby, we knew things would get tough. We knew things would get tight, and we would have less time for ourselves. That's what we wanted, though, because Celes is worth everything, and Kim surely agrees. But this isn't under normal circumstances. I never expected to have a child with a need for breathing aparatus or a whole in her throat and stomach. You don't know how much it hurts to not even hear her cry. The closest thing to crying I ever see is a scrunched up "mad" face. Maybe this is a reason I don't like to see her so much? It hurts, deep down where I've never felt hurt before. I'm always looking for ways to get my mind off of it, but it's never enough. It's like a drug... You do it, you feel a little better, but when you're done, the problem is still there, but now you feel worse because you didn't spend that time with her.

Life is getting ever more complex, and making ends meet will be especially hard. I feel like a new me, not the old me that exploited everything with little feelings for others, but a new me with compassion for my family and friends and especially my wife. Without them I'd be lost in an endless void. But life will hopefully get better. It usually does, but I've never experienced anything like this, so I just don't know. My cousin Jamie went through something similar to this, but he didn't have the brain problems that Celes does. If she could just turn out like Jamie I'd be so very happy, but I won't know for a while. Watching her grow up will either be wonderously happy or wonderously misirable. That doesn't mean that I don't love her, it just means it'd be very hard to know she won't know the better things in life, or have to live on all kinds of prescription medications, or whatnot.

Another thing that bothers me is my teeth and my glasses. My glasses are near shot, they look like crap, and make me feel even worse when I look at something. Of course I know that it doesn't matter what other people thing about you, but to me, it matters enough that I get embarassed and look away as much as possible. If I'm dressed the best I can be, as clean as possible, hair styled nicely, I'm still left with that. I've lived with it for several months now, and I can't stand it. It makes me feel like the poeple think I'm just too cheap to buy new ones (which of course I am). Now my teeth is another story. That's been a lifelong problem. I wish I could have had them fixed while I was a child, but my parents never could afford them. It's embarassing to smile, just like how it is with the glasses. I have this one tooth that sticks out, and several others that are just crooked. I would fix all this if I had the money and the insurance, but for a person like me with no college experience, finding a job that pays that good is very, very hard.

College is another thing. I wish I could attend, but I can't. I know there are pell grants, but where I'm from, I don't know any colleges. Maybe I'll ask. But either way, going to college is the same thing as not supporting my family, because I won't be making any money. And God forbid that Rick give us money. Everytime he does, he uses it as leverage against us about many other things. Kim wants to attend a vo-tech to get into medical transcriptioning, but if she did that, who would watch the baby? As you know, Celes has special needs, and only her and I will be trained for it. The options are never enough, and I don't want to be stuck the rest of my life as just another minimum wage person.

So, any suggestions? And by that, I mean suggestions that produce results, not just "hang in there" or "it'll get better."

I'm sorry, but after this blog, I won't be able to blog again for a long period of time. This isn't a good thing in all; in fact, it depresses me. I started this blog with the intent of staying steady with it, but look here... No more blog. It's not my fault, nor anyone's really, unless you say it was Rick's, who decided to cut it off last month. I won't go into the detail of why, but I'm sure that if you're assuming it's about money, you're getting pretty hot... Sizzling, I would say. Anyhow, back to the subject at hand, right now I'm pretty depressed. There's just so much going on that I never planned on, so much traveling, and so much dealing with hospital social workers who don't understand the things I'm saying. Maybe it's just because I get nervous when I talk to people like that. She has all the right to take the baby from us but I don't want that to ever happen. You see, the issue is because we couldn't see Celes over 50% of the time was because of many different individualized problems. On one hand, we could spend much of our day with her, and on the other, we could get rid of stress by seeing the sights of a new town. Well, in all actuality, we went somewhere in the middle of those two. We did see her at least once a day, if only for a half-hour, but many of the times we would see her two or three times a day, being about 3 hours total, except for the occasions where we stayed over eight hours a day for her first surgery.

It's just like when we try to talk to her, she tells us that she just can't (but the reason is usually because we didn't see her over 50% of the time) help us there. If we were to promise to spend time, which to me feels like begging, she could even still say no, but I don't know the truth because I haven't asked. She keeps telling me that, since I'm not required to be up at the hospital anymore, that I should just go back home and get my job back. However, like I asked her, "What's the point in getting a job that you'd leave in a couple of weeks; a number of weeks that you're not even certain of to come back here to learn how to take care of her?" I don't even remember her answer to that question, but oh well.

There are other problems with the hospital as well, but there's really nothing we can do about it. Firstly, the nurses. They're rarely there when we come, so what we do is just stand by her crib. I've counted times as high as 40 minutes before her nurse came and talked to us. It was probably her lunch break or something, and of course everybody needs them, but for God's sake this is Perinatal Intensive Care. It would only take seconds for her to die if she had pulled her tube out, or farther brain damage if she had more seizure-like episodes. Of course machines beep and the other nurses will come, but then what about their babies. Just leave them out to die? One of the nurses also made Kim cry. What happened was it was almost shift-change (where everybody is required to leave the area), she talked to Celes' nurse. The nurse was VERY rude and telling her she had to leave at shift change, and all she wanted to do was ask a question about the baby. See, the question we had we got while in the waiting room. Our nurse told the mother next to us that our baby was probably going to have her breathing tube pulled. She completely failed to mention that to us. When the lady came out, she asked questions about the pulling of the tube. We knew nothing and investigated further to find out the nurse just "forgot" to tell us. That's why Kim talked to her, but she was very rude. When Kim came out she was crying. And, if you knew Kim like I do, she didn't do anything wrong. Now also, lately, since we're hundreds of miles away from Tulsa, we call every day. Three times out of five, when she calls, the nurse has left. How's that for crazy?

So, all in all, it's quite depressing. There's other factors attributing to this, too. Like, if you don't know already, it was accidentally assumed that we had herpes. We thought we did ourselves, even. Turns out we don't. But, Rick and his happy self decided we needed a lecture about how he should have been told because we live in his house. It was a 5 minute lecture that seemed to last forever. He only found out because somebody accidentally told him, and we didn't want to tell him anyway because we knew this would happen. But now we don't have it, and never will. It was a wasted lecture, but it hurt, because it is our privacy, and ours alone, even if we do live with him. If anything like that were to happen again, I wouldn't tell him. It's none of his business, and I hate getting lectures about what I feel is unfair, invasive, or personal. Kim's mom is much nicer, although a little on the silly side sometimes. Thing is, she means well, but she's always asking us to do stuff. Stuff like moving furniture, feeding animals, watering, etc. She doesn't ask it all the time, but sometimes she does, you know? And tells us what we need to do to prepare for the baby, how to care for it, how much of a burden it is... It gets old, real old, and very quick. Especially when every other relative tells you. They all think they're doctors, but what they don't get is that the practices used when they had babies is outdated by better medicines, better practicing, etc.

Oh well... Being sad, anxious, and depressed never really hurt anyone.

So today, check out http://www.orbitz.com/, a nice site for hotel reservations and cheap prices. It's the best service I can find.

Phew, while writing this, I can see my last blog. That was a really long time ago! Well, first of all I don't have access to the internet anymore, which is a real bummer to this blog, but whenever I can get it back I'll try to post more often.

The biggest news is obviously that Celes has been born, but everything didn't go as planned. She was born at McAlester Regional Medical Center in McAlester, OK at 10:00 AM on February 26th. She weighed 5 pounds 4 ounces and was 19 inches long. She was about one month premature. The reason we went to the hospital in the first place was because Kim's blood pressure was up. After staying overnight she was having contractions, so they had to go ahead and take her. When she was out, she only cried very lightly once or twice for a couple of seconds, and she wasn't breathing for quite some time. So, after getting out of the delivery room, they took her out and put her in another room where they could keep an oxygen mask over her. She stopped breathing several times and was having seizures, so later that day they decided to take her to St. Francis' EOPC (Eastern Oklahoma Perinatal Center) in Tulsa, OK. There she has remained, until this date. We're hoping to have her home in about a month or so, if everything goes well.

The reasons for her stay are varied. At first she was having apnic periods and seizures, so they explored all the causes, but the cause was, sadly enough, in the brain. The doctor said it was maldeveloped, and it was the part of the brain that affected movement and motor skills, including breathing. They don't know what this will cause in the long run. She's also had 2 surgery's. The first was a PDA ligation, and the second was to put in a trachea tube and G tube. The first is a hole in her throat to help her breath, the second is to feed her through (since you can't feed a baby with a hole in its throat).

My family has been more than helpful these past couple of months. My mother has raised a whole bunch of money through fundraisers and donation jars, and practically every family member I can think of has sent a card to us or cash or whatever. I've lost my job because I had to spend all my time with her, but they say I can get my job back when I'm ready to come back. I just hope they're not lying (of course they also told me I wouldn't lose my job in the first place).

We were staying at the Ronald McDonald house in Tulsa right beside the hospital, but we had to leave because we weren't able to spend enough time with Celes, but it was just too hard to spend a lot of time with her because she was on the minimal handling protocol which meant we couldn't hold, touch, or talk over her for the first few weeks, and after that, there just wasn't much room beside her bed to see her and remain comfortable. But, even still, we stayed as much as we could and were constantly calling and checking on her.

I taped a lot of what went on on Michael's digital video camera. Sometime in the future I will copy it all and burn it to CD, but for now I have other priorities...

Also, Kim and I have decided to start a diet. The Atkins Diet... From reading the book, and learning why and how a person gains weight, we feel like we can quickly and easily burn off these extra pounds and get to our recommended weights. Its a really good book, I would recommend that everybody try it...

Sorry, but since I haven't been online in a long time, I don't know any websites off hand for the site of the day... Anyway, later everybody!

It's been an interesting past couple of days. Friday, we did get married, although we can't afford rings yet. We'll be getting them whenever tax money comes in, though. That day, we went to Chili's just like we did when we first met, then to Blossom to get the mail, then to Detroit to see my aunt. After that, we returned to Paris to watch Shanghai Knights, which was a pretty funny movie. Then, it was off to Wal-Mart where we put some money on our Wal-Mart card for some gas, then it was over to the Budget Inn, which was the cheapest motel in town. So, all in all it was a pretty active day, but it was well spent, and we sure had a lot of fun. I'm still not used to her having my last name, but I'll get over it eventually, hehe.

So, today, we got back around 12:30 PM, I believe. We haven't really done much today except be lazy, but that's the most fun thing to do! I also filed my taxes today. I did it online to save time and money, but I'm only going to be getting back $67 this year. I had only made $2500 in all of last year, and I've already almost made that much THIS year!

If you want to look into filing online, first you can check out http://www.irs.gov/ for links and information, but to actually file you'll have to go through another company. I used http://www.freetaxusa.com/, where I can get a free refund if I make less than $30,000, which I most definitely did.

So anyway, see you all on the flipside!

Thursday, it's payday, woohoo! And tomorrow is going to only be a four hour day, so that is really going to rock me. Today sucked, however. It was 11.5 hours of work! That's the longest I've ever worked. The first hour and fifteen minutes was for a class that I have to go to, which is called Mission: Continuous Improvement. The reason we all do this is because we're competing with China, and there's no way we can compete with the prices, so we have to compete in quality. Also, Kim has been playing a lot of Neopets lately. If you want to message her there, her name is sweetkimfox. Anyway, I'm out!

It's Sunday, the day before the beginning of the new work week. It's been the same old stuff at work, not much to say for that. We've been preparing for the new baby, which we got new pictures of. It is definitely a girl, woohoo! In case you didn't know, we've decided on the name Celes Elise. If you're not sure how to pronounce it, say it like celestial, minus the tial. Like "suh-less." Anyway, so far we have a bunch of newborn size diapers, wipes, the crib, a bunch of stuffed animals, pacifiers, and a bunch of other small random stuff. Also, this weekend I bought Kim a Valentines bear. It's purple, but depending on the way you rub it, it can look like two different colors. She also got me a watch (which looks really cool, I plan to wear it out!), and a small plush bear.

The site to check out tonight is http://www.neopets.com/. It's got a bunch of small flash games you can play to keep your pet healthy and happy. Great layout, check it out.

I'm at the last day of the weekend, which is always too short. I'm actually sneaking to get on the internet now, but after I finish this blog, Kim is going to get a recipe so she can cook a meal for us, since tomorrow is our one year anniversary. Rick has asked me to help him move some rocks in the driveway today, just like yesterday. It won't be so bad today, because I wasn't feeling so good yesterday. Or a couple of days before it, for that matter. I've had a sore throat and just kind of felt "out of it." Also, a few days ago, after having reformatting and reinstalling Windows, I did a virus check because the computer just wasn't working like it should. I found 74 viruses! Then, after the computer wouldn't let me install a virus scanner, we had to reformat again. But this time, the Windows 2000 CD worked perfectly, where it messed up on a couple of files the last time, so it's all good. The virus scanner I used is free, and only about 5.5MB. You can get it from http://www.grisoft.com/. It's called AVG Free Edition, but you'll need a serial number, which they will e-mail to you. So far it looks like a pretty nice program if you're afraid you may have viruses and don't want to pay for a scanner.

Anyway, I've gotta get all dressed and ready to go do some work and then eat. Goodbye all!

Well, it has been a good work week, and I'm finally at the end of the week. Time to rest up for next week! Well, Kim and I have decided that we're getting married on February 14th, and I've already asked to take that day off at work. It's Valentine's day, in case you didn't know, and it's also just a little over a year after we have first met. It's going to be just a small wedding in front of a JP, but that's how we both want it since we're the shy people that we are. :)

Not much else going on right now... Ask me in a few days when something happens. :) Bye everyone.

Sorry for the delay between blogs. Lots of work, little spare time, I guess. I'm liking my job, and hoping to advance in it. Life is looking a lot better, and Kim is nearing her 9th month of pregnancy. I'm not so mad at my mom anymore, but I'm still not exactly happy. Call me selfish or whatever, but I don't have to be happy about everything. Anyway, gotta split. Later everybody!

Nothing much new. I'm mad at Mom because she's never reliable anymore. She cancelled coming here Saturday. It doesn't surprise me. I don't want to see her again for a while, that's for sure. Well, tomorrow will be the start of another work week, I'm looking forward to it. However, we'll be off Wednesday for New Years, so it will be a split week with four days, but that's better than a two day week. Things are starting to look up, and I've actually already got some cash saved back. It's only about $20, but that's a lot right now. First things first, I'm going to go to the optomotrist and get some contacts. These glasses have just about had it, and a new set of glasses would be pretty thick, so I'm going to go with contacts. After that, it'll be paying bills off from in TX and going to the dentist. By the time I have some of the bills paid off, the baby should be here, but hopefully I'll have enough money saved back for when that happens for things like baby food and diapers. I've also already told Kim that I would give her the money to take the course at the vo-tech for transcriptioning, so after she has the baby, she'll probably be ready for that. With both of us having jobs, we should do pretty well, especially since she will be able to be home all the time.

For today, hmm... Try http://www.redhat.com/. That's the operating system I'll be installing when I finally get those CD's.

Right now I'm on Barbara's computer. Why? Because my computer doesn't have an operating system. Why is that? Because Mom lied and didn't come when she said she would. She does this all the time; she's one of the most unreliable people I know, and if it wasn't for my aunt and the government, she would either be homeless or dead right now. I'm not just venting frustration, this has been a thing long in the making. I just talked to Michael on the net and asked him if they were coming this Saturday like my Mom told me she would, but now she says she doesn't know if she wants to come or not. Oh well, it just leaves me computerless for that many more days. I guess all the time that I did all of those wrong things to her are paying back now, and will probably continue to pay me back until the day one of us dies. The more and more I think about it, the more and more I feel like she uses her mental problems as a crutch. She may seem like she tries to get better by going to the doctor all the time, but hey, the doctors still aren't 100% sure about what they're doing, as depression is still a fairly new subject for doctors. She takes it overboard a lot, too... If she gets a headache, to the doctor she goes. If she gets a paper cut, to the doctor she goes. Almost anything sends her to the doctor. If she could just use her strength more to want to heal herself than using her strength to just rely on other people, she might get somewhere. Then, at least, she could say, "I did everything I could, now I can depend on others." Well, lets just skip the first and jump to the latter, and depend on others. By example, what if Michael mimics her? What kind of person would we have then? But I don't think he'll do that... I think I've mimicked her more than anybody else, but I've stopped the foolishness and decided to push on by myself. I've gotten so much better since then; I'm out from under her wing and, for the most part, have few regrets about anything I've done up to now. But her, what does she have to show? Sickness, misery, need, fear, dependency... The list surely goes on, and she just as easily lets it. There's always a way out of the darkness and into the light, but her, she's turned her back on it, looking into the past constantly, walking backwards into and unknown future. Oh well, there's not anything that I can do about it, I don't guess...

I'm liking my job. I'll stay with this one as long as I can; hopefully forever. Well, today I'm off, seeing as it's Saturday, and I'll be off until this coming Thursday. They gave us a pretty large break, and if I'd have been there long enough, it would have been a paid holiday off. Oh well... But yesterday, they gave everyone in the plant free hams (worth about $25 a piece, probably, and boneless to boot). I was also lucky enough to win a throw (you know, something you put on a couch... At least that's what I'm told.) I looked at their website and looked to see how much it was worth... $69 is the cheapest they have! So, that'll make a pretty good gift for somebody, but I can't say who just yet. Also yesterday, we came to mom's to stay for the weekend. Today, we went bowling, which I haven't done in a long time. Michael's friend Jeff also joined us. Kim had never bowled before, but her first game, she beat me! Hehe, I suck. Then, the next game, I won with a 129. All of our scores were low, but we're not experts, and it was sure fun to play.

Today, check out http://www.kazaalite.com/, a clone of Kazaa minus the spyware and ads, plus a few extras. Until next time...

Today was my second day of work. Today was a little different, though, because I worked alone the whole time. I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to remember everything that I needed to do, but luckily I think I got everything. I was a little rushed for time once, but it wasn't that bad. I hope that if I stay with this job long enough, I'll get moved to another job. The person before me was there for about 4 months, and he was moved to another job today, so maybe after 4 months I'll get the same. He said he's also making $7.30, so I may get a raise by that time too.

Today, I can't think of any good sites to visit. Sorry. :(

I have a job! My first day was today, on Friday the 13th. They said I'd be doing "maintenance," but they should have just said janitorial or custodial work. I pretty much clean toilet after toilet all day long, but it's $7.00 an hour, which is the second best paying job I've ever had, so it's not bad at all. This is especially true because half of my day I work with other people, the other half I'm all alone. It kinda gives me the best of both worlds.

Also, I've been working on a revamp of this blog. Sooner or later the blog may move to a different address, and the layout will have graphics done completely by me, but all the content will stay the same. I spent a whole day working on these graphics, so I'm really proud of them. More on this later, whenever I get the time to finish it up.

Today's link is http://www.spamletters.com/, a pretty funny site. Later.

Yesterday, Rick and I cut down trees to clear off some of his land for the spring. Well, he cut the trees down with a chainsaw and I just picked up the brush and logs, and piled them. Boy, was I sore today. It was about 7 hours of work with a lot of bending over, so my back and legs are a little bit sore.

Today, Kim's parents both left to stay somewhere for the week. I don't even really know where they are, but all that matters is we have the house to ourselves for the week! Yippee! Today, we also got $25 worth of groceries, so we'll have a little bit of food for the week.

Tomorrow, we'll be going back to Paris for Kim's Dr. and WIC appointment. Then, we'll be going to Mom's to stay for a few and I'll be burning a CD with a few programs on it to bring back here. I'm not exactly sure how long Kim is going to want to stay there, but more than likely it won't be very long. I have a $10 Chili's gift certificate, so I may see if Mom can't give us a little extra money so we can go eat there; I just love Chili's! Kim is starting to get tired of it because that's where we always go to eat, hehe.

Today, check out http://www.blackmask.com/, a site with online books. Some look like they would be pretty interesting reads. Give this sight a looky-see, you shouldn't be disappointed.

Not much new. Rick came back home today, but right now he's asleep in a chair in the living room. We made a campfire today outside, but gave up on it because it just wasn't warm enough. It's probably because of the rain we got the other day, wetting the logs down. I also went to the Movie Gallery, but the manager said that the people who have my application still haven't contacted her, and she hasn't been able to get in touch with them. Is it just me, or does it feel like a runaround? I hear the same thing from everybody, I've had it with all the "don't call us, we'll call you." Sigh, oh well.

Good news. It's the weekend! Party on! Well, I wish. Maybe I'll just go water the cows and milk the grass.

Other news. The 19th is the day Kim has to go to her Dr.'s appointment. The 18th is the day I'm supposed to go to Mom's for Christmas. Maybe we'll actually stay a day there. I would like to, but Kim's gotten weird about it because of the smoke, but I don't blame her. Maybe I can talk to Mom about this before we actually go and just see if we can work it out. Shouldn't be too complicated, anyway. I just hope that if I have a job by then, I'll be off those days, or maybe not have a job by then at all, but I'd really rather have a job so I can get some Christmas presents for Kim. Well, they can't keep me from having a job forever; maybe Kim can just have a late Christmas.

Well, Michael is messaging me, and Kim wants on the computer, so I'm going to go ahead and get off of here. Check out http://www.mpogd.com/ for cool online games. See yas!

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