WHATS HAPPENING FRIDAY

Dear Jan and OH Peeps~

What a CRAZY, crazy, busy day yesterday turned out to be! I ran from 7a-6:30p, straight through..... On one hand I am so happy that I CAN do that now-on the other hand-I am SO READY to get away, its not even funny. Mike says NO CELL PHONES! They are being brought with us-but not turning any of them on unless WE have an emergency or something. He said ANYONE going with us has the same rules-bummed Stephanie out-LOL....

I left my house right before 7 am-and met Aaron so he could get Megans birthday present (the Dixie Stampede tickets), and then I headed to Mel and Terrys to watch the kids while Terry had his trial yesterday with Mark. It was laid on my heart because the lady he had asked to come watch them-he thought Mel would be home from the hospital-so the lady would just help with Adrian and picking him up etc-since Mel isnt out of the hospital-the lady would be in the house all by herself and they dont know her at all-plus I told Mike that may be the last time I get to spend any time with them before they have to go back, wherever they end up.

Adrian was PERFECT yesterday, he didnt fuss once. He must have just been uncomfortable with all the strangers and the stress in the house of Theresa passing and such. He could sense that everyone was upset-because yesterday he was his perfect, happy baby self~When I picked him up out of his crib, he put his arms around me and gave me the biggest hug I have ever had from a 1 yr old!

The trial went good-they will drop all charges IF there is no more problems for the next year-just like the last case he had last week. Mark AND Nancy were there, starting their crap. Nancy said she was going over to see the kids-and Terry said-as long as you are living with Mark-your not coming in MY house. Is not going to happen-then they started threatening Terry. Well-I had just gotten a call from Mel, telling me to make sure ALL doors were locked and curtains pulled, and that the BACA bikers had called her to let her know that there could be problems. It wasnt 5 minutes later and someone was pounding on the door-and they just kept pounding-it sounded like a big mans knock-I opened the little curtain on the front door, and here stands a lady I have never seen before (I have never seen Nancy-dont know what she looks like) anyway, she asked for Melissa or Terry. I said they are not home, I asked her her name and she wouldnt say-so I told her that I would be calling the police if she didnt leave the property. She left and when I talked to Mel-I described the lady and we believe it was Nancy. THEN...When Terry gets home-I got to leave-and I was parked out front-and there was a really nice black car sitting on the corner, with what looked like one of those tiny camera/camcorder combos-aimed right at my truck. When they saw me, they were parked on the wrong side of the road (opposite of me) and couldnt get out of there fast enough-almost causing a wreck at the intersection. So-I drive to the alley since Terry was in the garage and asked him if he knew of a really nice black car-and I described it to him and he said yes, Marks bail bondsmen has a black beamer-with all tinted windows-that would be the one. So-Now I am just waiting for them to send someone out here or to start crap with us since I know they took down my license number-and will get my address now. To say Im freaked out is an understatement, BUT they wont be able to access my property without being seen or heard, thats for sure. Too many dogs around between Grandma at the end of my driveway and then Mikes parents who have the trail leading up to our house-they have barkers as well. Then there is my two big mouth, mean dogs and I will just let Dozer out. That will take care of that.

Went up to the hospital for a minute. Checked on Mel and then met Megan for her bday shopping. She got a new bathing suit (cha-ching! When did bathing suits get so expensive-even the good ones at Walmart are pricey but the cheap ones dont last a whole summer-have bought them before-LOL) Anyway, then the kids came over for her bday dinner. We bbq`d steaks, I made Megans favorite garlic mashed potatos and brussel sprouts. We ran out of propane in the middle of the BBQ, so I ran in the house and turned on the broiler to finish them up. It was 7:30 before we ate dinner last night. We were running behind because of the trying on 15 swimsuits! Megan didnt have a very good day-she got pulled over yesterday and got a ticket for expired tags on her car! Poor kid. She should know she isnt that lucky-LOL....Her insurance adjuster is going to go out today and inspect her sunroof damage from when I had the car last Saturday. I hope they cut her a check today because we found someone who will fix it for $100, and I told Megan I will pay for it-and she said if the insurance cuts her a check then she will just pay it.

Tonite when Mike gets home from work-we are going over to Mel and Terrys house in Joplin and finally getting my furniture and stuff out of their garage. My dad is taking a load of it to his flea market booth he has in Grove, OK...and I am bringing some of it to the house. I am going to have to seperate some clothing-unless Mel already did it-I dont know. I dont know what I have left over there. This way maybe I can make some extra money from dad selling some of it-and then finally finish and have it out of there so I dont have to worry about it anymore.

Mike is counting down the hours before his vacation starts. He said this morning- 9 1/2 hours.....Jonathan is so excited, that he cant even see straight. I have been saving ALL of my change since Feb, was going to use it to do something with the kids this summer, like 6 flags or something-but then Jon started putting part of his allowance in there and then change that he would beg his daddy for (LOL)....anyway, we counted it all last night and rolled it up and Jon and I have 118.24 to do something with the family. We are going to go on the go-karts again and then we are going to see how much one of those old-tyme photos would cost for the whole family-you know, the ones where you can go in and dress up in the old time clothes and etc? We had one taken when I was pregnant with Jon and he is so disturbed that he isnt in the picture and the rest of us are! (well, except Aaron-)

So-I have some laundry to get done today and then I am going to unload the Suburban-still has a bunch of hunting stuff in there-and then get it ready to go get the stuff out of the garage. Then tomorrow Mike is going to change the oil and air filter and also put a new windsheild wiper motor in it-since the wipers have stopped on us a couple of times when they run on high-and it gets hot or something, they stop working-but as soon as its cooled down, they will work again. We dont want to get stuck with no wipers or trying to work on it while were camping. That would be a drag.

I saw the weather-and YAY...its suppose to be nice all week-but since we arent going to be here-mom and dad are on their own with the pool. That stinks-I may try to squeeze in some time to help with that tomorrow. I am going to be making a macaroni salad, italian salad and potato salad for the camping trip-and all of that tomorrow, so I gotta dig out the coolers too and get em cleaned out. My mom is going to be out here at the house, sitting for us-because we just have too many animals not to-like the bunny and kittens and the dogs-ecspically when its warm out-they will need fresh water. I know they will both be in the kiddy pool we have for them-one of those big plastic ones with a built in slide-they sell for 39.00 at walmart-I got it at a garage sale last fall for 3.00, so the dogs have a slide-LOL....I wonder if they will use it.

Mel looked incredible for having a huge surgery. I wasnt expecting her to look or sound so good-but of course-the last time I saw her she looked like she wasnt going to make it, so anything was an improvement over that! She should get out tomorrow or Sunday. Hopefully tomorrow-but they let her eat normal food-and she was getting up and going to the restroom-and she is in the new addition to the hospital and they are private rooms- REALLY REALLY nice!!!

**Jan-I do plan on going to the funeral. The girls and I will leave from the campgrounds and take Megans car. Its still the same amount of time in the car, mile wise-but Megan can help drive if my back starts giving me fits. Have been trying to take it easy this week so it would be good-but just have run too many days!

Im sorry to hear about Joes family. It reminded me of Aarons family. Hillbilly Hell is what I call it when we have to be around them! For real. When they had their wedding reception out here, I was so happy that Aaron decided not to have his family there. They have family members who have pulled knives on other family members and one in particular that is a known druggie-has done hard time-and is still doing drugs and stealing-I sure didnt want him out here. The ones that arent too bad like that-they were overalls and no bras, and big enough "girls" that you swear they are gonna pop out the bottom of the shirt *EW, I KNOW!* Could you just go for an hour or so? Are they good to Joe? I will pray that it goes well and the neice you like will be there.

**Angy-I miss you too. I cant wait to get away and then come home and organize and spring clean my house from top to bottom-THEN I should have some time to get back on and email. I just want to get all this crap all organized now-I let it go for way too long when I COULDNT do it-and now that I can-I have been so busy that it still gets put on the back burner-so No More-I cant handle clutter-so its getting de-cluttered, come hell or high water! Take it easy and I will talk to ya soon.

**Sugar-well, I havent seen you since December-but I know your taller than me-so I KNOW you ARE SKINNY!!! Are you planning on losing more? Or are you happy with where you are? Im not asking you to tell me what you weigh, because I know you used to be protective of that information, I just wondered. I would love to lose more-but if I dont, Im okay. I can and do shop in the junior section at walmart. Its awesome to be on that side instead of the plus size! I tried on some swim suits-but my thighs have so much hanging skin that I looked like a shar pai dog! I will have to get like those boy shorts that at least go half way down my thighs. I cant go anywhere with a normal suit....Yuck-I scared myself-I know I would scar people if they had to look at it. I found a pr of jeans on clearance, they are brownish/tan for $5 and a really cute pair of green khaki color for $7-and they go half down my calf, and have cute little buttons on the cuff. Megan said they were cute on me-and then I got a pair of shorts that were on clearance for $3. I asked Mike if we could go to the outlet mall in Branson- he is scared. I LOVE the disney store-and I heard they moved to Branson Landing-so I am going there, no matter where they are located now. Good luck at your sale-would love to come, but cant-at least the weather is suppose to be nice-so you ought to do really good!

**Vesta-you are such a doll.....Thanks for the arrangement-I know Mel and her family will appreciate that much. Since your sending it to the house I dont have to send you the church address-right? I will find out when I talk to the family or mel today. Anyway-how thoughtful of you. We love and appreciate you too-and I want the name of your surgeon who fixed you all up-I will send you my email address-k? Love ya.

To everyone else-have a good Friday and a wonderful weekend-I hope you get a chance to be with your loved ones and enjoy the wonderful weather we are finally having!!! I gotta run so I can start the laundry and get to the bank with Jonathan so we can cash in all of our coins! As always, your in my thoughts and prayers. Janet