It's been a while

Life in Dumont NJ is good right now. Brian is doing very well in school and his driving is getting better everyday. He drove on the NJ Turnpike the day before Thanksgiving on our way down to my borhter's house in MD. He scared the bloody hell out of me so I made him stop at exit 9, and he didn't give too much of a fight. Coming home though on Thanksgiving night I was sooo tired I told him I had to stop at the rest area at the beginning of the NJ Tpke to take a nap or I wouldn't make it, and Brian asked me to give him another try, which I did. He actually did very well on the way home other than when at one point my head snapped back and I felt like I was on a rocket ship. I quickly sat up and asked him ever so politely what the f... are you doing? He told me ever so calmly that my car has great pick up and speed and he wanted to see what it was like doing 120mph. Luckily he never made it to that speed, but you better believe I never took my eyes off the speedometer the rest of the way home. I explained to him that it would be very very bad if he got a speeding ticket doing 120 at anytime, especially with only a permit, besides the fact that god forbid he had an accident he could kill us and anyone else he hit. I explained to him that in my 30 years of driving I have never gone that fast and believe me I used to, actually still have, a lead foot, but not as bad. I hope he learned and will never ever try to go that fast again. Anyway, school is going well for him and roller hockey has started. Practices every Monday night and games mostly Saturdys and Sundays. Today was his first game against the other team from Dumont, and Brian's team lost, but it was the first time all of the kids were there. Brian and only a couple of the other kids are the only ones who actually go to practice. After todays loss, hopefully the other kids will see how important practices actually are. They have a game tomorrow in Glen Rock and have to be there at 3:30pm.

Sean and I are doing great. We don't do much on the weekends, just have dinner and watch a movie, but at least we spend time together. During the week I usually only see him once or twice a week, but we spend almost every Friday and Saturday together. Now that his boat is out of the water we will spend more time during the day on Saturdays together. His mom had a mini stroke a week ago yesterday, called a TIA, but is doing fine from it and has no lasting effects. They also found a hole in her heart, so had to do sew that up, but she is doing great after that also and got out of the hospital yesterday, 1 week after she went in.

I am tyring to do my X-Mas shopping, but money is tight, so I am doing what I can. Luckily Brian is not really asking for anything. Why would he - he already has everything he wants. Spoiled child I know.......

I have started another diet and have actually lost 8 pounds. I am trying to lose 20 - 25 pounds by February when Sean and I are going to one of his co-workers wedding. I lost a lot of weight about 2 years ago and had to go out and buy a new wardrobe, which of course does not fit right now, so I am really trying, again. Diet pills are the only things that work for me. I know not the healthiest things in the world, but this time around they are over the counter Xenadrine RFA, and they really work, for me anyway.

That should catch everyone up on what's going on with me. Oh yeah, we are having our first snowfall of the year tonight. No real accumulation, but it is sticking to the road and pavement.

Life is good

Brian's permit has been validated so he can now drive legally with a licensed driver in the car!!! The fun is about to begin. At least he will have 1 year of driving with an adult in the car before he goes for his road test. He drove tonight and actually did very well. I wasn't that nervous at all. His grades are great!!!!! I looked up his final grades for the marking period on line and he has nothing lower than a B-, an A and some B+'s, so I couldn't be prouder of him. He has come a long way since 8th grade which was a disaster. I think he has finally gotten it and he understands what has to be done to get into the college he wants to. This is the first time since 6th grade that he has not failed at least one subject in a marking period. Wasn't sure he would make it out of middle school. Anyway, he's on his way and things can only get better. The yelling and fighting between us has stopped and life in Dumont NJ is a lot happier and calmer now. YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!! More good news, my cat Kira has been adopted. I looked at the Website today and Kira's picture is now on the "I've been adopted" page!!!! I no longer feel guilty.

Brian passed!!!!

Brian passed his written test yesterday and has his driving permit. He still has to have 6 hours behind the wheel training with an instructor before his permit is validated and before I will allow him to drive my car, with me in it of course. He has his first 2 hour lesson tomorrow and then the other 2, 2 hour lessons will be next week after school. The good thing is he will have 1 year of driving before he goes for his road test when he is 17. He also will have drivers ed in school after the Christmas break. I am excited for him but also very nervous. He's growing up so fast.

Update on things in Dumont NJ

Yeah, my car will finally be ready today. I dropped it off Monday morning at the body shop and have been using a rental car from Enterprise this whole week. The car is a Dodge Caliber which I HATE. It is a bright electric blue and small. Luckily I have only had to use it for a week. Brian is 16 now and had a great b-day. Friday night he and a bunch of friends went to the NJ Devils hockey game, Saturday night I had 9 boys, including Brian at my house for pizza & bbq wings and then a sleep over and then Sunday night my family came for dinner. A busy weekend, but Brian had fun. I am surprised though he has done nothing but talk about getting his permit, and I have already spoken to a driving instructor who will take him to get the permit and give him the 6 hours behind the whell driving he needs, but he has not studied for the written test so he can't go. They don't do drivers ed in school until after the Christmas break. I had a meeting yesterday with Brian, his guidance counselor and his geometry teacher. He has an A-/B+ average, but because he does nothing but doodle, he does his initials in graffiti everyday, and does not participate in class, his talking can also be a problem, his grade will be a C for the final grade. It blows my mind that he has done this to himself. The teacher did say that for the past week he has been much better. We can only hope it stays good. Brian plans on going trick or treating today, although he doesn't like candy which is bad for me because I do. Anyway, I do miss the days of him picking out a costume and the parade at school, but I guess that's all a part of growing up. He did go out for Cabbage Night last night with shaving cream and toilet paper. I will not allow him to go out with eggs.

Brian turns 16 in 5 days

Not much is new with Brian and me other than on Sunday he turns 16 and is sooooo excited about getting his driving permit and being able to finally get a job. My parents and Sean will be coming for dinner on the 26th, my sister is busy with her kids and football, so they won't be able to make it and my brother and his family are in Maryland. Brian will hang out with his friends both Friday and Saturday nights, as a bunch of his friends all turn 16 within a week or two of each other, so they will celebrate this weekend. His best friend Larry's b-day is this Thursday. He wants to join a gym so he can start working out all the time, which is great, but I will have to drive him everyday. My car is finally being fixed on Monday, 10/27/08. I received the check from the other insurance company and they are going to pay for a rental car until my car is fixed. Brian and I still miss Kira, but are getting used to her not being there, and I must admit it is nice not to have to worry about anything being left on the floor. I do still check the Animal Shelter's website occassionally to see if she's been adopted yet, which she hasn't, but I'm still confident she will be. Our other cat Roxy seems to be doing ok, but we can tell she does miss Kira also. The weather is definately changing in NJ. No longer going out without a sweatshirt or light weight jacket. Tomorrow is supposed to be very cold and windy. I guess it's time to get my winter clothes from my sister's and put my summer clothes away. Brian continues to do well in school - YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Goodbye Kira

Well I finally did it. Yesterday was one of the worst days of my life. I've been putting up with Kira, our long haired Tabby cat that we've had for 2 1/2 years, peeing on anything left on the floor. She was marking her territory because of the other cat we have, Roxy. I have had to replace 2 carpets, 1 in Brian's room and the other in the living room because of the smell of cat pee. I have been threatening to do this for a while now, but sometime Saturday she peed on Brian's bed and then Saturday night she peed on a throw blanket that had been on the living room floor while Brian was having some friends sleep over. She has peed on more bath mats than I can remember, anyway, you get the picture. After much arguing Brian finally helped me "capture" her to put her in the carrying case. She was running all over the place hiding under anything she would fit under. Finally got her caught and then drove her to Teterboro Animal Shelter alone. Brian refused to come with me. It was horrible, she cried the whole way there and then once there I had to transfer her to one of their cages and after paying $30.00 to leave her there and sign a bunch of papers, it was over. I did not tell them that she pees everywhere, I just said she needs to be in a one pet household. The drive home was horrible. I called Sean hysterically crying. I just hope that she gets adopted by a great family. It was very strange all day and night not having her there. I think Roxy misses her also. Other than the peeing Kira was a fantastic cat. A little shy around people she didn't know, but great with us. She would sit on my lap at night while I watched tv and she slept on the foot of my bed every night. It was really a very difficult decision, but in the long run, it was definately something I had to do. One time Brian went to school with a sweatshirt on and during the course of the day people kept saying, "gross what's that smell?" Turns out Kira had peed on Brian's sweatshirt and he didn't know it. There is nothing worse than the smell of cat urine.

My car and Brian

Well, first off Brian's thumb is fine!!! A lot of drama about nothing, but I guess it's better it was checked out. The girl who hit my car called last night and informed me that she has decided to go through her insurance company, which is fine by me, so I faxed my estiamtes to my insurance company and so now I guess it's now in their hands?. I got a Progress Report for Brian over the weekend and for the first time since before 6th grade, IT WAS GREAT!!!!! Two teachers said great things about him and he's not failing any classes - YEAH! Actually I went on line to look at his grades and he has 1 A, 2 A-, 1 B and 2 B-. I can't be more proud of him. He's still talking about college in California - Cal State. I explained to him that I don't have the money to fly him home everytime he will have time off from school, so I hope he has nice friends out there who will let him go to their houses for various holidays. It is still 2 1/2 years away, so who knows hopefully he will change his mind about California by then. He is taking the PSAT's 1 week from today, in school. The school pays for them and they are just for practice to see where the kids stand. Life with Brian is actually a lot calmer now and he seems to have buckled down and taking school seriously. Now if I can just get him to get out of bed in the mornings, life would be perfect :)

School and Brian

Brian has been in school since Sept. 3rd and when I got home from work yesterday there was a letter from the High School. Brian has lunch detention all of next week because he skipped an after school detention this past Monday. Apparently he forgot a text book for one of his classes and didn't think it was important enough to go to detention. He claims he forgot he had detention - I doubt it. Anyway, as I told him real good impression the first month of school. Anyway, he lucked out, because next week they don't have school Tuesday and Wednesday because of the Jewish holiday(s). Last night was back to school night and it went well. The only problem was that Brian doesn't know the room numbers of his classes, so I had a piece of paper with the teacher's names and what floor they were on. Luckily the school had seniors there to help parents find the classrooms. I only missed 1 of his classes - geometry. I was running around and going up and down many flights of stairs, but I did it. I forgot how confusing it can be. Anyway, all of his teachers seem really nice especially his Biology teacher whom Brian really likes also. I think I will be taking Brian to the hospital tonight. He messed up his right thumb pretty badly - very swollen, black and blue and painful, and I made an appointment at the orthopede, the same one my mom is going to for her broken arm/wrist, but it's not until Wednesday at 11am, and 1 the date is too far away and 2nd I can't take him Wednesday. We are having a big retirement luncheon for a guy at work and I am the one organizing it, so I have to be here, so I think I'll take him to the hospital either tonight when I get home from work or first thing tomorrow morning. Life with Brian is never dull. He makes for interesting times. I really do get a kick out of him and his friends. He has been friends with most of them for so long, since grammar school, that it's fun to see them now as they mature. They still annoy me and do things just to get me going, but for the most part they are GREAT kids/young adults. I still don't understand how in 10th grade he doesn't get much homework, but he's doing well so far, so whatever he's doing seems to be working. We now have our sights set on college and he desperately wants to go to college in CA so I have been busy going on line and getting info about colleges, just so he has an idea of what he has to do between now and college. His first choice, USC is out, he wouldn't get in and it's $47,000 a year, his 2nd choice is also out, I forget what it is, but he wouldn't get in and it's $45,000 a year, so now he/we have our sights set on Cal State, which is about $27,000 a year and definately doable as far as him getting in. It's also good because they have an outline of what classes he should be taking in preparation from 9th grade through senior year and gives him an idea of what his grades and SAT scores have to be. so, at least he's working towards something. The other nice thing I learned last night at back to school night, all 10th graders in Dumont HS take the PSAT's in school to get them prepared and the school pays for it.

Oh my gosh my car - again

Well, I called the idiot who struck my car last week to let her know I got a 2nd estimate from D&C Honda and it's $14 more than the 1st estimate, so she suggested I go to a friend of hers in Closter who fixes cars and does really good work and is less expensive. Well, I lost it on her. I told her I have left work early and arrived late getting the two estimates I already have, because of what her irresponsibility did to my car and now she wants me to go another place, a friend of hers no less. I told her I have already been inconvenienced enough and will have to borrow a car from my mom when my car is being fixed so my mom will also be inconvenienced. I said a lot of things to her and told her that if I had my way she'd be in jail for drunk driving. I was so angry and frustrated I hung up on her. Very frustrating. Also, I'm afraid that if she does say she's going to pay for it instead of insurance that when it comes time to pay she won't have the $ and they won't release the car until payment is made in full - cash or certified check, no credit cards. I have visions of my car being done and this girl not having the money. I tried being nice, but now I'm very frustrated and annoyed. I also picked up the accient report from the police and she was charged with not reporting an accident and leaving the scene of an accident. They couldn't get her for drunk driving because she was already inside her house when they got there.

Work

Well, here it is 9:14pm and I am at work doing drug testing. I will be here until at least 11:15pm. I was able to leave work at 5pm, usual time, go home, make dinner for Brian and me, sit down and relax for a little bit and then left the house at 8:20pm to come back here. Brian is at home playing video games with his friend Larry. I don't quite understand how he very rarely has any homework, but he doesn't and he's doing well in school so far, so..... I am a salaried employee, so I don't get paid overtime for this, but I can come in late if I want tomorrow, but I still have to get up anyway to drive Brian and his 4 friends to school at 7:40am. My boss is giving me off the day before Thanksgiving as we are going to my aunt and uncles in Washington DC for Thanksgiving. Brian and I will spend Wednesday night at my brothers house in Maryland and then go to Washington DC for Thanksgiving dinner (late lunch/early dinner) and then drive home Thursday. My brother and his family live a little under an hour away from Washignton DC so it's not bad at all. Very hectic, but it's nice to be with family. So I do get days off here and there for the time I put in doing drug testing. My boss is actually very good to me, so I'm not complaining. I am bummed though because I am missing the season premiere of Dancing With The Stars and I forgot to tape it, but I saw the 1st 2 before I left tonight. I am also missing Gossip Girl, but they replay tonights episode on Sunday at 6pm, so I'll watch it then.

My Car

Well, I got 1 estimate last night to repair my car and it seems it's a little more damaged than I thought - it's dented in more than 1 place and the estimate is for $1400. I called the girl who hit it and told her and after she started breathing again, I told her I'd get 1 more estimate and then she'll have to figure out what she's going to do, pay for it herself or go through her insurance. I don't really care just as long as it gets fixed.

My Car

Well, after "all the dust settled" yesterday and I had a good look at my car, it's not as bad as originally thought. There are no dents just a couple of small scratches and some paint missing. I reported it to my insurance company, but the girl who hit it came over last evening to apologize and ask if it was alright if she pays for the repairs out of pocket instead of going thorough her insurance, which I have no problem with. So, I have to take it to get an estimate and then based on how much it's going to cost, she'll make a decision on whether or not it goes through her insurance. The rest of my day yesterday went well. No other incidents to report. Brian was very concerned about me and the car, so he called me yesterday at lunch time to check on me which I thought was very nice of him. He is really a very considerate person and has a big heart.

My poor car

Good way to start your day - your car being struck in your parking lot by a drunk girl. This morning I awoke at 7am to my alarm and 2 girls, 1 my neighbor and the other her friend screaming and cursing at each other outside. I went out about 10 minutes later and told them to be quiet and stop with the language. One thing led to another and a lot of neighbors coming out telling them to be quiet and the sister of the drunk friend showed up to drive her drunk sister home. Well, that didn't work out too well and the drunk girl got into her car, that was parked illegally next to mine, she flew into reverse and struck the side of my car and then took off, while we all stood there in amazement. I immediately called 911 and in about 5 minutes 5 police cars showed up at my apartment, and luckily the girl drove home to her house in Dumont, so they got her at her house. There doesn't seem to be a lot of damage to my car, which is only 8 months old and only has 4600 miles on it, really nothing that some paint won't take care of, and if the girl had stopped after she hit it, we could have talked and I wouldn't have called the police. But now, she was drunk driving and left the scene of an accident. So that is how my day started.

Hair cut

Hi there, it's been awhile since I've written,but today I finally got a haircut that I like!!! It's short, for me anyway. It's neck length and a little layered, but I actually love it and so does Brian. Sean hasn't seen it yet, but I think he'll like it too. He likes long hair, so we'll see. So far so good with Brian in 10th grade. He is having regrets about not playing football this year, 1st year since he started in 1st grade that he's not playing. A lot of his friends didn't play this year either. In 10th grade they are on the JV team and not many schools have JV Teams so there are only 3 games the whole season and the rest of the time they are bench warmers for the seniors. Brian is going to play roller hockey again this year though, so at least he's doing something. Also, he will be 16 October 26th, so he is planning on getting a job after school and on the weekends. Things at work are going well, a little slow, but I still love going everyday. The weather in NJ is getting cooler and great sleeping weather, but it's still in the 80s most of the days.

School Started

Yesterday was Brian's 1st day of 10th grade and he said he was happy with all of his teachers and has a lot of friends in all of his classes. I don't think that's too good, but he's happy, for now, then again today is only the 2nd day of classes. Hopefully this year will be his turning point and he will actually try to do well.

UGH Computers

Our computer has been down for a week and finally DELL fixed it today, but had to reboot it - I was actually speaking to someone in India, anyway, to reboot it we lost everything in it. I did not realize Brian, my son, had deleted all the pictures from our trip to Italy and his trip to Spain from the camera when he downloaded them on the computer, so now our trip are just memories we have within ourselves. Also, all of our ITune songs are gone, I think. Brian will have to try and figure that one out for me. At least I have the songs already on my IPod.