Cole is on the floor in the living room right now talking to, well, I guess he's talking to all of his toys. No one is in there with him right now, so that's the best I can make. The boy is going off at the mouth, though, and it's so damn cute!

Bad news came yesterday. I no longer get to be a new aunt anytime soon. Poor Ronda had a miscarriage, and from my understanding, is in a LOT of pain from it. I'm not sure why it never occurred to me that they could be painful. She and my brother are so upset. We went to eat at his restaurant last night and he told us, and he was so depressed. I had a distinct feeling that this baby was no "accident". Of course, that could have something to do w/the fact that they kept telling her son that he was going to get a baby sister. I called today to see how they are doing, and she cried almost the whole time. I felt bad b/c I really didn't know what to say. I offered to watch her son for a bit if they need it, but that was the best I could do. I also told her that what happens totally sucks, and I was really looking forward to seeing my little niece (which they were 100% sure it was). That made her cry more, so that probably wasn't the best thing to say, eh? I wonder now if they are still going to go ahead and get married soon, or hold off? I am pretty bummed, though, b/c I really was looking forward to my little brother having a kid, as scary as the thought of that is.

Oh, and after we ate last night, we went over to Julia's for a while just to hang out. Richard had gotten a REALLY BAD haircut over the weekend, and I couldn't keep myself from laughing hysterically every time I even looked in his direction. Yeah, it was that bad....and I'm just that mean. Sooooo, I offered to fix it for him, b/c, of course, I have that little cosmetology degree that I made up for fun. Shocker of all shockers, the man entrusted his poor little head to me! And would you believe that I made his hair look kick-ass!? Yes, that's correct, I not only fixed it, but it looks damn good. Why, I would say it's the best Richard has looked in ages...Okay, okay, so I'm going a little overboard here, but really. It looks a ton better now, and I am pretty proud of myself that I didn't completely dick up his hair. He suffered quite a bit of pain, b/c I have a tendency not to cut, but to pull the hair out pretty much. Plus, the scissors were dull. Hey, no pain no gain, right? Anyway, I'd love to show you his fancy new cut, but unfortunately there seems to be some kind of gag order on showing any pictures pertaining to his ordeal. Trust me though, I ROCK!

Well, I must go show Trey how much I love him now by snoring loudly in his ear. I hope you all had a great day, and I'll talk to you soon.

I am officially unemployed at the moment. The job's schedule just was not working out. Oh well.

I'm off to find another job now. Wish me luck.

I surely can't believe it's been a week since I posted here. It doesn't feel like it's been that long. Really, though, I can believe it. This has been the LONGEST and most EXHAUSTING week ever! My poor brain and body are completely worn out!

So I was in my first week of training Mon.-Fri. this week, and man, was it brutal! The first day was pretty cool. We went over the basic schedule, then went on tours of all of the various offices we work with. Easy enough. The second day we got into the actual bookwork, and it was the same on Wed. It was a LOT of stuff that was pretty much foreign to me before then. I sat for about seven hours each day, which killed my back, and the action was, well, NONE. On Thursday, I was tested as soon as I got to work on all of the stuff we went over on Tues. and Wed., which was ten long chapters that covered stuff like:

all of the districts of Charleston County and whose jurisdiction each one is, as well as the boundaries of each (did I mention that Chas. Cnty. is the largest in the state?)
the history of 911
all of the liability I will be held accountable for
all of the references I will be using in my job to answer the millions of questions people will call in for (we are undoubtedly the answering service for the county as well), and where and how to find all of them and what they do
the complete CAD (computer aided dispatch) system and the tons of codes that must be used to access anything in it--might I add that it is not at all user friendly
major roads and highways in Chas. Cnty., all of the bridges and their jurisdictions, all of the fire stations and who dispatches for them, etc.
phone numbers, the phonetic alphabet (A-Adam, B-Boy, C-Charles, etc...), the county alphabet (completely different, a set of codes)
the rank order (Do Silly Little Coles Make Candy and Salads?=Deputy, Seargent, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Chief, Asst. Sheriff, Sheriff--Yes, I made that up all by myself!)
the scariest part of it all--10 and C Codes: 10-04 (ok), 10-18 (theft), C-03 (lights and sirens), etc.--there are 173 of them, and I must have them all memorized and be ready to use them off the top of my head by next Wednesday!

I'm sure I'm forgetting plenty, but really, is that list not scary enough as it is? On Thursday I was tested on all of this stuff, including the 10 and C Codes, which I did horribly on. I managed to make an 86 on the test, which I was super happy with. On Wednesday, when she told me at the very end of the day what was going to be on the test, I cried the whole way home and contemplated never coming back again. I sucked it up and studied my brains out and did better than my trainer thought I would. Then, on Friday I had another test and got a 97. That was cool. Here's what I don't get, though, on Thurs. my test was over almost everything we'd covered. Then, Fri.'s test was just on reference materials and was just ~10 questions that were directly pulled from the test on Thurs. Like, why would she give me the hardest test first, then the much, much easier one? Whatever, I needed a 70 to pass, and I got it on both, so there!

Yesterday afternoon we got on the phone for a while and I took some calls. I was sick I was so nervous at first. Once I found out I wouldn't have to take any 911 calls I felt better. I think I did reasonably well for my first few calls, especially considering I was still completely lost as to what was going on! The traffic people started calling in around 4 or so to find out if there were any accidents, and the first guy said, "Hey, this is AJ," right as I was answering the phone. I thought he was telling me I was AJ, I was like, "Uhhh, no." Undoubtedly, I'm going to have to remember who all the people who call in on a regular basis are and just know what they want, among other things. Oh, and every deputy has his own number, as well as his name, that we have to know for when we talk to them. Lord!

Honestly, though, I'm still not sure if I want to keep this job or not. I mean, it's not that I don't think I can do it. Once I got on the phone yesterday, it gave me a boost of confidence, somewhat, and I realized it wasn't as hard as it seemed. However, I'm not sure if I can handle sitting at a desk for 12 hours a day, breaks or no breaks. I'm not really the sitting type. I've been sitting for most of the day all this week, and these are just 8 hour days right now w/an hour for lunch. My back is miserable, and it makes me want to sleep. I'm hoping that once I get into actually taking lots of calls and get to know people better, that it will be better and I will get used to it. We'll see...

Anyway, that was my week. Next week I get to train 8:30-4:30 Mon.-Thurs., then on Fri. I start my shift work, and I go from 7am-7pm. I do that Fri.-Sun., and I'm off Mon. and Tues. Yep, so I get to work 7 days straight next week. I can hardly wait...I hope your week is a little less, uhhhhh LONG, and I'll see you sometime soon.

Right now, I'm still working at Pizza Hut. On Friday, I start my new job. I'm so nervous and excited at the same time. I also have the boss of the newspaper routes trying to get me to cover the route I covered before so he can fire the chick I trained. I hate to say no, but I'm pretty sure my plate is a little too full as it is right now, and I don't want to suck at my new job b/c I'm tired from the paper route.

So check it out: The other day Julia and I ditched the kids w/Trey, the sweet, sweet man that he is, and went shopping. Oh, it was SO FUN! I haven't gone shopping w/Julia before w/out kids. We both tried on lots and lots of stuff. I found about 7 or 8 shirts, two pairs of pants, a pair of shorts and some trouser socks. Julia, who was not shopping for a new work wardrobe, got a pair of pants, a necklace, and a really pretty skirt. It was mostly just nice to get out and be able to look at stuff w/out having to chase little people and yell. Plus, I found a basic cut of shirt that looks better on me than most...I think my mom called it an empire waste.

Yesterday, Trey got together some gift certificates he had to Frankie's Fun Park, and we headed on over. TJ drove a go-kart for the first time. It was the cutest thing! Taryn rode in one with me. She liked it alright, but she was still a little too small for it and kept sliding down, which freaked her out. They also both rode w/Trey on the bumper boats, and down the giant slide about ten thousand times. They loved it! I'm just sad I didn't think to bring my camera so I could show you how cool it was!

Tomorrow I'm taking the kids to Lancaster to stay w/Nana and Grandaddy. They are going to stay there over the weekend while I work all day Friday and try to get in some hours at PH before I'm done (I won't get my first paycheck from my new job till April). Cole will be staying w/my mom. Maybe that means I'll be able to go to my first day on the new job rested and refreshed! Well, just as long as they don't expect it forever!

I hope you have a great day, and I'll talk to you later!

I cannot contain my excitement...guess what! My baby brother's going to have a baby! Tee hee! My mom called him today while she was with me to ask him something about a mattress, and he just kinda slipped in, "Oh yeah, and Ronda's pregnant." Uhhh, "WHAT! WHAT! WHAT!" Of course I was thrilled, as is he, but then had to give him a piece of my mind for not calling to tell me, or Mommy for that matter. Anyway, I talked to Ronda tonight, and she said he's already all ga-ga about it. He's super sure it's a girl, so for his sake, I hope it is. Rather, for the kid's sake, since he seems set on having one, whether he does or not! He said he's gonna marry Ronda sometime, which they'd already talked about anyway, so my brother's gonna be married and have a kid...and a stepkid. How exciting is that! I feel kinda bad, though, b/c I can't really give him any of my baby stuff from Cole. I already promised it to Mike, Trey's best friend, who's having a baby in May. Oh well, guess that just means I'll have to get him stuff then, right! I told Ronda I have every intention of throwing her a shower. It was so fun, though, when I called everyone and told them they were going to be a _________ (fill in the blank w/Grandad, Aunt, Uncle...). There was this pause every time, then I would tell them it wasn't me. Then there was the shock of finding out my brother's having a kid. If you knew him, you might understand more, but it's just not something anyone ever really thought would happen. He seems more into having friends and a party life than the whole family thing. Maybe this will slow him down some...I bet he's an awesome dad. We'll see, eh?

Today Taryn got a new pair of shoes, which she loves and fought for when it was time to take them off! My mom got them for her after I fell in love with them last night at the store (they didn't have her size there, I had to call and have them reserved at the store near my mom's house). Check them out:

They are about the cutest thing ever! She also got her a Hello Kitty nightgown, which she is wearing right now. When I put it on her, she did a little dance, then stared at her belly until it was time to go to bed (where I'm sure she stared at her belly some more!). That girl is all about the Hello Kitty!

I guess that's it for now. I hope you all have a great day, and I'll see you soon!

So, yesterday Trey and I put up a fence. We did a pretty darn good job, if you ask me. The posts are not all quite at the same height, but the fence looks fine, and I don't care what the posts look like as long as the fence itself keeps Taryn in! Today, though, both Trey and I were hella-sore! I'm not used to this labor kinda work!

Unfortunately, while we were putting up said fence, the phone line through the yard accidentally got cut. I called it in to the phone company as soon as I figured it out, and I figured it would take a few days to get it fixed. Much to my surprise, the guy came out today and fixed it! He was out there for quite a while, or so it felt (ever two seconds TJ would ask if he could go outside now and something to do with the wires that would electrocute him and the stranger in our back yard...it felt like days the guy was out there!). When he went to leave, I asked him if the charge would just be on our bill. He said he wasn't going to charge us for it! "Huh?" I said, "But you even came out on a Sunday." He said, "It's all in a day's work." I told him I was gonna cry. I told him we were so proud of saving money on the fence, and now it was going to be our ten thousand dollar fence for not calling before digging! He told me he might stop by Pizza Hut later on (I was leaving for work at the time), to which I replied, "Please do!" I sure wish he had, I would have TOTALLY hooked him up, even if I'd had to pay for the pizza. Maybe I can find out who he was and deliver one to his house one day or something...We are such lucky people.

Oh, and speaking of lucky people, I am a very lucky girl. I FINALLY made it through the arduous process of getting a job with emergency dispatch. Yep, that's right, I GOT THE JOB!!! I start March 16th, and I'm so excited! It kinda sucks, b/c the training lasts 20 weeks, and during that time my schedule will switch all around. So, finding childcare is going to suck. However, once I get through training, I'll be on a set schedule (14 days a month, 7 days every two weeks w/one weekend off), and it should be fine. I'll be the person who answers when you call 911...well, at least if you do it in my district! We were joking that if I ever have to fill something out that asks for my work number that I'll have to put 911! Anyway, I'm really hoping I can get nights and be able to be home with the kids during the days. She told me it's about a 50/50 chance, so wish me luck.

I suppose that's it for now. I hope your weekend was a nice as mine. I'll talk to you later. Have a great day!

Oh, plus, on Friday, Julia took some AWESOME pics of Cole, which you MUST see:

Yesterday, we had a bit of an emergency. A BIG emergency. We got a swingset on Craigslist last week for $25, and Trey had just put it up. The kids wanted desperately to go play on it. I had Cole and was going to get ready. TJ went on out, and Taryn followed. I thought Trey was on his way out as well, but he didn't go out for a minute or two. Somehow, in that couple of minutes, Taryn managed to haul ass out of the yard, and on her way through the neighborhood. Trey went out to play with them, and came back in a minute or so later saying he couldn't find Taryn. I thought he was messing with me, as he is known to do, so I didn't hurry in getting dressed. A couple minutes later, he yelled back into the house that he really couldn't find her. I was done dressing by then, so I took Cole, and we began to scour the yard and the block or so around the house. I mean, she's got short little legs, so surely she couldn't have gotten that far, right? Trey looked as well, and once he realized that she was nowhere near the house, took off in his car to search the neighborhood. I remember thinking that maybe some evil creep had just happened to have the opportunity of a lifetime and seen a tiny little girl he could sell on the black market wandering the street, right as he drove by my house. Then I remember thinking about the dirt road behind our house (which is not separated by a fence), and how people drive wayyyyyy too fast down it, and how she could have been thrown hundreds of feet if hit and the driver not even known it. I checked the road, no Taryn to be seen. I noticed there was a ditch along the other side of it, but thankfully there was a sad attempt of flimsy chicken-wire blocking it. I didn't want to think of the possibility of her falling in and drowning, although I did. After a few minutes, Julia arrived w/her kids, as they were heading over w/lunch and to play on the swingset. I told Julia as she drove up that Taryn was missing, and she immediately jumped out of the car looking for her and asked me if I had called the police yet. No, I hadn't...for that matter, the thought hadn't even crossed my mind. I was surprisingly calm and collected. Inside I remember panicking a little bit, and wanting to run and scream and look for her, but telling myself that I couldn't. I didn't want TJ to freak out, I had to hold Cole or he would cry, thus making the situation harder, and I wanted to be able to think. Sadly, aside from looking everywhere I could and calling her name, I don't know that I was really thinking all that much. I keep wondering if it surprised the emergency dispatcher on the phone that I was very calmly telling her what Taryn looked like, and that I almost didn't sound affected at all. Julia was rushing around and outwardly worrying, and I was cracking jokes. I knew everything would be fine, and kept pushing all those bad thoughts out of my mind. However, with each passing minute that she wasn't found, it bothered me more that I wasn't showing my worry b/c in my imagination I just knew something bad was going to happen.

Trey showed up after driving around for what seemed like forever, and still hadn't seen her. I wanted to stay near the house in case she showed up. Plus, the cops were on their way, so I had to be there. Once they got there, they said a woman had called from another street in the neighborhood (or so we thought) that had found a little girl. They kept asking me if she had a Dora shirt on and a skirt. No, she had denim shorts on and Dora shoes. Over and over again they said this till I was sure this must not be my child. If so, then, how on earth could someone else in the neighborhood have lost a little two-ish girl at the exact same time, who just happened to have Dora on her? Finally, they went over and saw her, and it was in fact her. They came back the same time that Trey did, and he drove over and got her. It turns out that the street she was found on was actually near the back-end of the neighborhood behind ours. Walking on the streets, it would have taken us about a half hour to forty minutes to walk there at a normal pace. She was gone about 30 minutes in total, and that includes the time she spent w/the woman who found her. Trey said she had to have gone through two yards, through gates, and through a big, deep gully to get to where she was at! The woman said that when she saw her, she was walking along carrying her shoe in her hand, saying, "Shoe". In retrospect, it seems like she was gone for days.

When she got home, she was completely unaffected. She was mad b/c we didn't have a drink waiting for her, but that's about it. We all gave her a stern talking to, and her response was, "Eat." Trey asked her why she did it, and she said, "Shoe". My guess is that she saw a kitty cat and chased it. I can't imagine why she would be so set on running off like that. Don't get me wrong, she loves to run off, but usually she only goes far enough to get you to have to chase her, then runs more for the fun of it. There was no one chasing her this time, and she was hauling ass! It scares the bejeesus out of me that she managed to get far enough away to not be found in just a couple of minutes. I always knew kids were capable of crazy stuff, but man! What's funny is that the day before Trey and I had been arguing about putting up a gate in the back. I told him that as long as we keep an eye on them we don't need one. I lost that argument yesterday, and this weekend one is going up. TJ was always too scared to go more than a couple of feet away from us, so I'm not used to Taryn's see-ya-later ways. She sure found a way to get us used to it fast, though, eh!

Anyway, that's the big news around here lately. We're bad parents, and we're being forced to learn our lessons the hard way. Thank God, though, that nothing happened to her. I am blessed in that respect. I have other news about the job, but I'm waiting to find out something first, then I'll tell all. I hope you have a great day, and I'll see you later.