Thursday, July 23, 2015

Ahhhh... Karma... I Love You

Princess almost had a run-in with the Wildebeest yesterday. It was bound to happen; we do live within the same suburban area. She & her two youngest children just happened to walk in to Taco Bell while Princess was inside getting her dinner (before babysitting). I was waiting in the car & saw L (I *think* she's 6y, maybe 7y)... then M (10y?)... then Wildebeest herself. Princess saw them, put her hood up & turned so she was less visible, & texted me from inside "J***a just walked in... :'( ". I asked if she needed me to come in; she said no, that she was ok for now, & didn't think they'd seen her.
As soon as she got her food, though (because the TB staff said her name when her order was ready, and she used her full, real name), she's pretty sure J noticed her, but she slipped out the side door. She texted me from BF's 1/2 hr later, & said "From now on, we use the drive through or we go in together". Poor thing; my own heart was racing as soon as I saw Wildebeest, so I can only imagine the stress *Princess* felt. She handled it, well, though, & I'm very proud of her. When she returned from her babysitting job, we had a chat about how to handle it if she runs into/sees J, MG, or any of MG's family.
**Just a quick note for you, Wildebeest, and any other ex-family of my daughter. In the future, if you *do* see her, it's best to just leave her alone, ignore her, walk away. If you approach her, be prepared for a tongue-lashing, at the very least. DO NOT touch her, either; if you attempt to do so (whether I'm with her or not), she may inflict pain on you in her efforts to protect herself and get away from you.**


Now, for the KARMA part -- Seems the Wildebeest is at it again... Posting things about their wedding anniversary when she's fully aware that not only are they not together, but it is highly unlikely they are ever getting back together. I don't know if anyone else who read it picked up on it, but she didn't say that they are CELEBRATING their anniversary, only notes that it IS their anniversary, what "real love" is, and what marriage takes (as well as some crap about how they've been in love with each other for 15 years -- do any of her "friends" know how to math? Have any of them put two & two together to realize that she was his mistress for a while before we officially split? Or do they all still buy her lies, even after all these years?). Makes me laugh; her public persona is so totally 180` from who she is in real life...
I know she posts that stuff publicly to give *me* the impression they're still together & happy (as if I should care?), but since I know the truth, all she's doing is deceiving her friends (& some extended family who obviously aren't in the loop). Anyway, I know that MG has a girlfriend whom he practically lives with, and that J (& the girls; I think they live with her most of the time) will soon be homeless if she doesn't find a new place soon. I'd feel sorry for her if I didn't find it so amusing in a "Karma really is a bitch" sort of way... It's really too bad that she can't be honest about her situation with herself & friends. Good friends & family are important to getting through some really hard stuff, including splitting with your spouse. I know; mine were a lifeline when MG & I split.
Regardless, I hope she's not a vindictive bitch as they go through this (no divorce papers, yet, but it's coming...). She could take his truck, and try all her tricks to get custody and child support. But, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if that is exactly what she did. Playing the victim seems to be her forte.

Monday, July 20, 2015

Mid-Summer Update

The beach trip was a success... although, next time, we'll take our espresso machine & stuff to make our own mochas (instead of having to get dressed to drive to a coffee shop) and we'll sleep on the Queen bed upstairs (instead of the Double downstairs); Princess will just have to get up when we do. We hadn't explored the north side of Lincoln City much (my mother's beach house was south of town), so this was a good chance to do so. The beach house is between Surftides hotel and Chinook Winds Casino. We had one lunch at The Mist At Surftides (pretty good; Ace's first time having fish tacos), one brunch at Pig 'n Pancake (because a trip to the coast isn't complete without eating there), one dinner at Blackfish Cafe, did a lot of walking on the beach and exploring the neighborhood, and of course hit up our usual stores (smoked meats, fudge, and misc chocolate). A couple of things to note: we hadn't been to LC in about four years, so there were some new things in town to explore, we discovered that Jetty Drive runs almost the full length of LC so we didn't have to make any unsafe left turns to get back to the house, and what used to be Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (on 101 at SW 32nd) is now an independently-owned store. She makes all her own chocolates, in-store.

After multiple short drives out with Princess, we have decided she's not ready for the class that was supposed to be next month, so we canceled it. We will put her in a Fall one (and hopefully, KP will be able to join her). Because of this, she is now able to go to the coast with LeC fam before GrandCamp. I may join them, if there is room at the B&B. The trick here is figuring out transportation; T&D's Suburban has crapped out, so they have no vehicle that will fit six... If I join them, that's not a problem, but since I'm not staying for camp, too, they would need assistance getting back home. Mom has offered to Greyhound back home, so that may be a solution... Renting a bigger vehicle may be an option, as well.

My new salon studio is just about done; I have some finishing touches to do, but I am officially in that room now. Saturday, I used my new pedi chair for the first time, and figured out a couple more quirks I need to find solutions for, but that's typical. Took me a good six months in the old room to get everything the exact way I wanted. The room is functional as-is, but I will have an Open House when it's completely done, I think. One bit of good news to note - I found an app to help me keep track of my retail sales. I only have a small amount of things I'm offering to start out (starting with lotions, body butters, and cuticle oils, plus some foot care, and mini home-care stuff), but will add more as I figure out what is & isn't selling. My friend, JC, has been doing some sewing for me; she called yesterday to tell me that my closet curtain is hemmed and she made a liner for the new clean towel basket. I'll pick those up later today.

Speaking of work, I've been pretty busy! Enough so that it delayed working on my new space... It's good for my wallet because it means I'm not having any problems paying my new rent. But, I'm feeling very overwhelmed because I wanted to be in there and done with the details two weeks ago. That being said, I do have space in my books for a couple new clients (Thursdays & Fridays, every other week). If you, or someone you know, are looking for a quality nail tech in Portland, come see me!

The last few days brought the Air Show to town. I live in the path, about 3 miles from the local airport, so we got to see quite a bit of it from our yard. A few different teams rotate for the "big attraction", but when the Blue Angels are here, it's quite a big deal. I was teasing Ace yesterday (remembering that as an older child, I lived a few blocks from the same airport, and we used to climb out my bedroom window to sit on the roof to watch) that he should build me a platform with a canopy (collapsible, of course) on our roof so we can climb up there to watch. He just laughed... but he did take his nice camera out and actually got a few good pics.

Our son (I don't remember if I mentioned this previously) got accepted to both University of Oregon and Oregon State; he chose UofO, as their Master's program for his chosen field is better (in his opinion) than OSU's. A couple months ago, he did the research for financial aid and made sure his credits all transfer, and about a month ago, he went down for orientation and looked at a couple places for rent. He officially moves down there in less than two weeks, and will be starting classes in the Fall. Ace will be helping him move, as he will be on his sabbatical at that point.

Princess has started a list of school supplies (basics for now, we'll get the class-specifics lists at registration), and has started to go through her clothes & shoes. She's already pulled two bags worth out... I usually give the good stuff to friends' kids, and we donate what's left. Four small bins of clothes and misc household goods were donated yesterday. We'll be school shopping probably by the end of this month.

I think that's it for now...

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Playing Catch-Up

END-OF-SCHOOL:
* So, we heard back from the teacher in charge of LINK CREW; seems that position is only available to upperclassmen. Um, so why did you give Princess an application?!?! Argh. Oh, well; she said she'd just apply again when she can actually do it.
* Their last day was supposed to be a half day (out at 1130a, I thought), so I scheduled her summer hair appt for 1215p... Turns out, they didn't get out 'til 1230p, so I just picked her up at 1130a. I really like their system of pick-up; I never have to get out of the car.
* Her grades came back almost perfect -- 6 As and 2 Bs (and those two Bs were in pre-IB classes). I had promised her her choice of a massage, a mommy/daughter pedicure, or a facial if she got straight As, but since she didn't, but made Honor Roll again, I treated her to her choice of four candies from Moonstruck and lunch at our favorite sushi place.

PRINCESS' SUMMER SO FAR:
* She & KP had a great time in Utah with Mimi. There were two other kids around their age, plus the Youth Group instructor (Megan) and some of the other adult members from Mimi's church (Princess knew most of them). The volunteer work consisted of sewing & boxing up Birthing Kits, but they also got to play. There was a trip to the water park, a visit to the local library, they hit up a museum, and they got to watch how screen-printing is done.
* BF has enlisted Princess to babysit her youngest for a chunk of time all summer. KP sometimes accompanies her & they split the cash, but mostly it's just Princess. Minus the money she spends on coffee, Takis, and sunflower seeds (hahaha), she's going to have quite the savings by the time summer's over!
* The girls and a few other friends went to an overnighter at KP's family Fourth of July tent last weekend. They got junk food at the grocery store where the stand is, hung out in another friend's pool just before and again after the overnighter, and played a ton of games.
* She & KP are headed to KP's grandparents' house this weekend with KP's mom. They may stay just for the day, they may spend the night... Either is fine with me. All the babysitting, the trip, and the hanging with friends is keeping her just busy enough, without stressing her out.
* When she's not otherwise busy, she's been helping me put my new space together at work.

OUR SUMMER SO FAR:
* While the girls were in Utah, Ace & I hit up Home Depot, Lowe's, the beauty supply stores, and Ikea; getting everything I needed for my studio move. I couldn't actually start, though, because Princess wanted to help paint (which was the first thing I needed to do). So, everything we bought got stuck in my new room, and waited. Once she got back, though, we cranked out the painting. She also helped me put a lot of the furniture together, and Ace helped me install/anchor the bigger pieces. I've still got a little more work to do, but I can do all that myself. If you're interested, there's an album on my FaceBook page with progress pics.
* After Ace scheduled his vacation (two weeks around his birthday) and sabbatical, we started planning another (long overdue) family vacation. I had five plus days in a row this month with nothing scheduled so we thought, "ROAD TRIP!" I haven't been along the Oregon coast much further south than Newport, so that's where we started. After getting most of it planned out, though, we hit a financial snag... my car needed work.
* My car is now over 12 years old. A month or so ago, my a/c went out. By "out", I don't mean I'm not getting anything... I mean it was now blowing HOT air, even when the system was off. I was due for a service and oil change, anyway, so we scheduled it all at the same time. They had to order a part, which meant keeping it overnight, which meant I took our other rig, which meant Ace couldn't go anywhere or get any errands run until I got home.
* We went to Gustav's for lunch on my birthday (free dessert, no singing!), but didn't get a whole lot else done...
* So, southern Oregon beaches road trip is out, but I had another (not quite as good) plan. My salon's owner has a beach house that we can borrow for a few days. We can also maybe do some fun stuff around Portland (neither of us adults have been on the jet boats...). Looks like this is our new vaca plan.
* Speaking of cars, I decided to hold off buying myself a newer one. I'm not so sure Princess will be ready so soon after her birthday to take on some of the responsibility of "owning" (with limits) a car, so I took some of my money from the motorcycle accident to pay for my new salon space, and rolled the rest back into a CD. There it will sit until it matures; at that point, I will decide if she's ready (and, I suppose, if we're ready). We are still trying to figure out what to get, anyway: I love Jeep Wrangler-style rigs and have since I was a kid, I also really like the Toyota FJ Cruiser. I could go with a newer/fancier version of what I already own (so a Toyota Camry or a Honda Accord), too. Orrrrrr... we've been talking about maybe getting a truck. I love the idea of a Tacoma; the four-door version. Plenty of room for the three of us plus dogs inside, and all our camping gear in the bed. Also, no more borrowing the older children's trucks (they each drive a small pickup) to make runs to the dump or haul stuff somewhere.
* Our annual Birthday BBQ was a success. Smaller crowd this time than in past years, but mostly due to the heat. One of Princess' friends & her family were in a car wreck the morning of my party (against my protests, they still showed up to drop off food they'd made, but went home right after), another friend was sick, etc. No big deal; I just let everyone know which day it'll be next year so they can start planning now. New guests this year included Ace's cousin, LK, and her fiance. We'd been FB friends for years, and had met a couple times, but it was nice to have her here (and her fiance is nice; seems to be a great fit for her). I never expect gifts from anyone except my daughter & my husband, but my friends gave me some thoughtful ones this year, and my son gave me one of the books on my wishlist, as well. My best friend brought my dog-niece, Daisy, and she was super well-behaved.
* Speaking of gifts, my mother was on top of her game this year. Ok, let me backtrack... A couple months ago, my aunt was here visiting and the two of them went to the coast. My favorite chocolate shop has a storefront there, so I asked her to pick me up some stuff. She didn't get my message until they had already returned, so I was bummed. Two or three weeks ago, I got a message from her, telling me she was in Ashland and asked if I wanted anything from that store. I "placed my order" and told her I'd pay her back for whatever she got me. Fast forward to the Tuesday before my birthday. I come in to work and there's a cute coffee mug (says "I love my dogs") and a small bag of chocolates along with a card on my desk. My mother was downstairs getting her hair cut, so I went down to thank her. She asked if she could also take me to lunch or dinner or get coffee (whatever worked for my schedule) when she got back from Utah. The Friday after they all returned, Princess & I spent the morning working on stuff in my new room, and met up with my mother for lunch. They too gave me free dessert! It was not stressful at all.

So, only two weeks in... but WOW! More to come!