Hi there. Just wanted to see if I could build a new home with some new (and hopefully old) friends. I do not wanna be 'homeless' anymore so here I am! This is gonna be a place for friends to meet (hopefully) and talk about anything & everything.

My name is Tracy and I live in Deer Park, Texas. I have been married for 6 years. I was banded in April '07. Got 4 pounds away from goal, quit smoking and gained 46-50 pounds back so I am on my journey again. This time as a non-smoker :w00t:

This is a life change and with it comes lifelong friends...wanna come along for the ride? :blushing:

Tracy of course I will get you a tshirt, tell me what you have in mind. Color? Size? Girlie, standard mens type tshirt, bike print....mount Rushmore print....they have thousands and thousands of options. Standard mens tshirts can be bought pretty cheap, especially if we wait til closer to the end of the rally--when vendors start worrying about being stuck with product!

There was one concert Rick wanted to see that we will miss, we won't get in until the day after.

We camp at Buffalo Chip Campground which in a matter of days becomes I believe the biggest or second biggest "city" in the state of South Dakota! It is huge! It is broke down in small sections of different groups. It is not laid out precisely, so you can set camp pretty much as you please. There is a group of us going, so we will all set up together, and plan accordingly--one of us taking a table, others taking extra tarps that kind of thing.

Mind you we are taking the bike, and we will RIDE it in, not trailer in. We will however be pulling a trailer!

In the trailer, are all my creature comforts!!

a 10X14 foot tent

Double high Queen size air mattress

appropriate temp sleeping bags (we have like 6 different ones!!!)

my down pillows

lawn chairs

cook stove top

lanterns & flashlights

ceiling fan for the tent

ceiling light for the tent

folding stool to sit on in the tent to put my boots on!!!

coffee pot (drip no less!)

cooking gear

Thats all I can think of, but we are fully stocked anyway! The front of the trailer has an ice chest rack, so it is filled,and kept full, because it keeps the weight on the hitch and tongue of the trailer, and prevents it from wobbling as you fly down the interstate, being passed by the big trucks.

We also have the saddle bags and trunk on the bike, but that will hold our leather, and rain gear, that kind of stuff---because I have NEVER been that it did not pour on us at one point or another! But I have an awesome rain suit!! Problem was the hail! HUGE hail, broke out tail lights, and dented the bike size of hail!!! We used the 10 X10 shade tarp thing and dropped the legs on one side to try to deflect it, and still where Chana's thumb was on the outside of the tarp she got hit by a piece of hail, and BROKE her thumb! It was BAD! Lots of injuries.

Anyway, Buffalo Chip campground, once you buy in, you are good for the nightly concert, and entertainment, which covers all kinds of things, from bike climbs up hills, burn outs, tattoo contests, beauty pageants, pickle eating contests (!) There is a main stage and 3 smaller venues all within Buffalo Chip. They have showers and bathrooms everywhere, so it isn't bad.

We take some of the runs, do the Deadwood museum and Mount Rushmore all the usuals.

Looks kinda eerie to me that they are playing Disturbed on Friday the 13th there. Not sure about some of those bikers on Friday the 13th!!!

There was an entire section, had a private entrance to a camp area, with an overhead sign something aboug Wiccan.....will stay away from there again!! LOL

Anyway----looks like it is a done deal, they have our money!!

Off to take my Mom to town here in a minute, go early and get home early is the plan.....we'll see!!

More snow due tonight. This was the first morning in awhile we have not woke up to new snow.

Supposedly by mid week we will have a deep freeze, so maybe we can get the inlaws car out! What a mess!!

Might think of some beans myself Jenn.....hmmmm wonder if I have time to put them on before Mom shows up????? Gonna Run!! LOL

A lady that comes into workout is the President of the KC Chapter of Project Linus. She somehow talked me into piecing the tops for quilts for them. It's been kind of interesting to do.

Kat

that sounds awesome! I so want to start camping again with the kids, I wish I had friends who would go with me, I would be sold in a minute.

I wanna go with Kat also. I wonder if Hubby would be up to taking the Harley on that long of a ride. It would take us at least 3 days to get there. Not sure but I think it would be about 1,000 miles for us. I'll go chek it out.

Off to go do our shift at hospital.

Quick check in.

All went fine at my physical. The only thing they didn't do was check my hearing. They said I didn''t need to do that this time. They are sending everything in to the labs so it will be a little while before I find out if they find anything.

Glad to hear it all went well.

Yesterday I sewed on the quilt top. I got it ironed out and now need to make some cuts and do a little more sewing. That will make 2 quilt tops that I have made for Project Linus. Just 2 more to go and Hubby and I will have our free admission tickets to Disneyland.

I've always thought about quilting but don't think I have the patience. And right now, no where to lay it out that wouldn't be in the way! Maybe someday.

Jenn, I would love to come and visit you. Hopefully the following summer we can make that trip.

Off to work. See ya later this evening.

Michelle, I'm almost 3 hrs north of the city

Yep, those are some of the parts of NY state that I want to see!

Michelle. Don't know if we will be making it to your area. If it does look like it, I will give you a holler.

Well, it'd be great if you did but the state is so big and there's so much to do, totally understand if we cant meet up.

Headed out the door for the gym. Hubby was nice enough to wake me up at 6:30 so I could go with him. And it's only 3 degrees above zero. Isn't he a great guy. LOL.

Awwww, isn't he sweet!

Michelle-I have back issues to my mattress but I still love it! I am glad you were able to get some rest on your couch!

Back does feel better as long as I'm careful. I'm getting tired of this not sleeping good crap tho. Might head over to the local furniture store to see what they've got and what kind of prices we'd be looking at. If we just replace the queen, might be able to get away with just buying a new mattress and using our box. If we go up to a king, it'll have to be the whole kit and kaboodle, including a frame to put it on! :jaw:

Well, I'm off to dd's school, she forgot her ring receipt and can't pick it up without it. How exciting, my little girl is getting her class ring! Then coming home to make a batch of greens and beans, yummy

Awwww.

Anyway----looks like it is a done deal, they have our money!!

Sounds like LOADS of fun! I've watched the specials on TV. There are A LOT of people!!!

A lady that comes into workout is the President of the KC Chapter of Project Linus. She somehow talked me into piecing the tops for quilts for them. It's been kind of interesting to do.

So is that good or bad? I think it's great that you're doing it!

Kat

that sounds awesome! I so want to start camping again with the kids, I wish I had friends who would go with me, I would be sold in a minute.

We love to go but it's been a LONG time since we've gone. Need to plan that.

I wanna go with Kat also. I wonder if Hubby would be up to taking the Harley on that long of a ride. It would take us at least 3 days to get there. Not sure but I think it would be about 1,000 miles for us. I'll go chek it out.

Oh go for it!!!

~~~~~

Well, another crappy night. Two in a row now. DD has instigated both nights. She's decided she doesn't want to sleep! I finally got her out about 11 (bedtime is 8) and only by holding her. She can never resist that! I have ALWAYS been able to knock the toughest of kids out just by holding them! :thumbup: Seems I've got a magic touch! LOL!

So anyway, slept a little, she woke up again about 2. Finally just put her in our bed ( king is looking better and better!) and she went out again. I slept til I nearly fell out of bed, then tried the couch for a bit. Have since given up. I'm sitting here in my kitchen with a cup of instant Mocha Latte and am planning on getting some work done before everyone gets up for the day. Then it's off to take DD to preschool and a date with my pillow for a couple of hours before I need to pick her up again! :biggrin:

Hope y'all have a wonderful day!

hey girls~

A quick check in, I have girls coming to lunch. My Megan, is coming, which is not unusual, but her sister is joining us today with her 2 kids! I love her sister too, but she was 8 when she come to stay with us---and Megan was 5 and a half weeks. Then Liz (sister) qualified for a special tutor program after school as soon as she hit 5th grade, so I only had her sporadically. Where as Megan practically lived with us! I am excited to see Liz's kids again.

Their Mom called a couple of weeks ago, and wanted to know if she could take Rick and I to dinner soon. Rick thinks she is going to ask to leave Megan here, and is going to move with the older daughter to AZ, and divorce her husband. Even Megan thinks they are only waiting to divorce until she graduates. We kind of think the older daughter moving is moving plans up a bit.

We discussed it in depth. Megan is a good kid. She is very involved with her 4H and maintains decent grades, not perfect, but good. They still have me authorized to see her grades!!

If it comes down to it, we will take her, she is too good to let fall through the cracks created by her family. My extra bedroom will just not be extra anymore! She already lives in my heart, might as well move her into my house! LOL

Michelle, kids that age seldom do the sleep thing just to be naughty, they have issues sometimes with sleeping, same as we do. Stress, what we don't see as anything can really mess with a kid! And when I am stressed, I cannot sleep. My BF, when she is stressed, all she does is sleep!

A little girl I had who was normally a pretty good little girl, suddenly was very difficult, she would not sleep, would not eat, cried non stop. She was about 5 at the time. She had a different kind of life, but one she was accustomed to usually. She went back and forth between her Mom and Dad every night! They lived on the same piece of property, and one night with Mom and one with Dad. They began it when Alyssa was small, and she seemed fine with it. She is Megans age now,and goes a week at a time now! Both parents have remarried. It worked for them I guess! Anyway--all of a sudden Alyssa was just impossible, she would not talk to anyone, I spoke with both parents, Grandma called me worried, none of us could figure out what was wrong with her. She would doze off, and wake and within minutes would be crying. She wanted glass after glass of milk but nothing to eat. When I would cook for the kids, you could tell she was hungry....but not a bite, no amount of bribing or threatening, she would only ask for milk!

We conferenced with both parents, and Mom made her a Dr. appointment. We were all REALLY worried. So one afternoon, I sat down with her in my lap while she cried, and the kids ate lunch, and I told her "Lyssa honey no matter what you can tell us, no one will be hurt or mad, we just love you" and she was sobbing....and when she tried to still her lip from crying, I saw when she bit it, her tooth wiggled. So I thought I would change the subject, and let her calm down so I said in a really upbeat way something about her tooth being loose. OMG she was wailing that she was sorry, she didn't know why it was loose, she brushed her teeth, and she kept drinking milk, and it won't get better, and she was so sorry! She kept telling me she was sorry! All this poured out of this little thing, before I could even think!

Finally I grabbed her and told her it was ok, everyones teeth get loose and fall out. She looks at me and says...."fall out?" and the tears come again!

In the end, that is all it was! She had no idea she would lose her teeth! She was an only child, and was one of the older ones I had here--so it had never come up! She suddenly felt her tooth wiggle, and freaked out. She was afraid to eat, but she drank the milk! All the things she though in her 5 year old mind might help!

I called Mom and Dad, and before long they were both here----we all talked and reassured her, and then the after school kids come in, which is when she usually left, Mom is a teacher! They showed her and told her about their teeth! And her eating and sleeping went back to normal!

Long story I know. But if peeing hurt, she might think she can control THAT by not sleeping. Since usually the first thing you do when you wake up....is go pee. Hard to say what is running around in that little head, but I seriously doubt she is just doing it to keep you awake too!!

That doesn't help......I know.....but most of us have been there in one manner or another through the years!

Suzanne, I am not sure how far it is from us here to Sturgis. We usually go to Denver and spend the night, then go on in. This year we are going a different way. Too many of us to barge in on his sister!!!

Well my girls are here!!! YAYA

hi

just had to share with someone... so here goes

my FL trip has been cancelled. My big student loan was apprently in default and not included in the ones I deferred and they had my old po box so i never received notification they were taking my refund, so ... the 8k i was getting that was going to be a nest egg, vacation, and catch up on life is not happening. I will only owe 700 after they take that, which i guess is good, but righ now, i feel like my world is crashing. Kev is not paying me support, taking me back to court to reduce and I am still not working. I hate him, which is probably why the universe is sending me bad stuff right now. He has officially sucked ever ounce of everything out of me. EVERYTHING.

I will never trust anyone every again

I will never really love anyone every again

I will never give all I have physically and emotionally every again.

I am officially drained, did I mention I'm still getting his mail, so I got lots of reminders this week of what he did to me, mentally.

I am shutting down my computer for a few days - it was still up and open so i need to vent.

thanks for listening, or if not... just letting me type

love to you all

Oh Jenn, I am so sorry for you. That totally sucks about your refund.

But plaese don't give up on us. We will always be here for you to vent too. Pop in when you need. Take good care of yourself.

Awww Jen...that BITES! I am so sorry for all the crap you are dealing with!

I am sorry I haven't posted yet today but I haven't had time AND now I am wore out. I will post in the morning.

:scared2:

Off to bed. I know Hubby will be waking me up early to go to the gym. Ughhhhh. But I'm glad he does. It's good for me.

See you all tomorrow.

Back from the gym and I really worked it out this morning. Now I'm gonna have a cup of hot cocoa and then get my houseowrk done.

Today looks like a good day to work on the quilt. I'll be able to work on it again Sunday and hopefully finish it up.

We are so excited because tonight the Openeing Ceremony for the Olympics is on. Hubby and I are huge followers of all the sports. We try to watch as much as we can. We are so in awe of all those kids. The determination that they have. I hope you all get a chance to watch them.

Busy Saturday ahead of me. If the weather is ok, I will head to the Support Group meeting. I haven't been since October. Just seem something always comes up. I either had to work or it was snowing. Then we have a bunch of running around to do.

I'll check in soon.

Jenn, if you stop in to read, I agree with the others, I am sorry this happened to your refund, I think it is pretty common with student loans.

We paid off Rick's school loans, paid them just exactly as they sent the paperwork. Paid them early etc. Then like 5 or maybe even 7 years later, we went to buy a car, and just a couple months before that they had sent a loan to collections! We had no idea! We had moved, but had not "hidden", and had never seen anything involved with this loan. We contacted them, and it was for the right school, and they provided the paperwork, but had NEVER attempted to contact us, NEVER sent anything in regards to it. We found out then, they can sue you for payment, and are not required to have you served, nor required to make any contact whatsoever. We were going to get an attorney, as they had added an additional $800 some dollars in court costs etc. But they deferred all but the original amount, and we paid it---but it sucked!

If we had not went to buy the car, the same thing would have happen, and our tax refund would have been taken.

They have a statute of limitations in everything else, why not this? If you had defaulted on all of them I can see it, but if others are paid, they should see that, and HAVE to at least make contact so you know you owe it!

The paperwork with school loans is unreal, so to personally know exactly which goes to which is impossible, and I am VERY organized in my bills. Makes me mad to know they are still doing it.

Sorry Jenn, I know where you are at. In the end Kev is not helping, and he hasn't been, so that has not changed. This is the way the gov't. offices do business with school loans. Look around you will find countless stories just like yours. The complaints yearly are astronomical! And the ability to get that info back when we were dealing with it is nothing like you can search for now. I bet you would be shocked!

Taking Mom to town today. Then I am supposed to donate blood. But I am not feeling good. Stomach is queasy, glands in my throat are swollen, and I could have slept another 6 hours. Went to bed early.....not sure I will do the blood, might wait til next week. Will see as the day progresses.

Well I am off to see if a shower will perk me up. LOL

Suzanne, I am a slug----I am so proud of you for hitting the gym like you do!!

Don't be proud of me. If it wasn't for Hubby, I wouldn't go. LOL.

I have 20 ounces of water down and working on my next 20. Really going to try to get my 100 ounces in today.

Watching Oprah and she had Lionel Ritchie on. Oh MY. I love his music.

Got all my pieces cut out for the quilt and need to peice them together. Also got both fleece blankets cut. Now just need to show Hubby how to tie them. That's his part of this.

Now to get ready to watch the Olympic Opening Ceremony. Can't hardly wait.

Have a great evening.

hey, back home, getting ready to go to dinner with Becky & Gary.

Had quite a time with my blood donation. I had a massive headache all morning, I thought it was caffeine withdrawal, I had not drank any DP or anything caffeinated in 36 hours or so, so I slammed the DP---thinking the caffeine would help. It did not. It did raise my pulse I noticed tho!!

I do a double donation, a unit of blood and a unit of plasma, or platelets or whatever. Anyway it takes awhile, they bleed ya, then put your fluids back in, remove more blood, then back in, etc. I thought I was gonna pee my pants I laid there so long. Seriously was hurting by the time I finally finished!!

Got done, headed STRAIGHT for the bathroom, and was crossing my legs I kid you not! I breathed a sigh of relief as I sat down, and suddenly I feel wet, and my arm is pouring blood around the bandage... I cannot stop peeing! So I am applying pressure....and trying to figure out how I am going to stand up and pull up my pants and button them, while holding pressure on my arm. So I sat.....and sat....and bled and bled. Finally someone come in, so I have no idea who it is, I ask them would you please ask the woman sitting outside in the blue shirt to come in here please, I need help. I am sure she was surprised, I heard her speak to Mom, so Mom come in! I had her hold my arm pressure while I redressed! Went out, showed them, not to mention, half my clothes are covered in blood. They laid me back down and had pressure on my arm, straight in the air. Everytime I put it down, the bleeding started. The one woman wanted me to go to the hospital! I laughed, and said unless they were paying, there was no way in hell I was going to the hospital! After half an hour or so it quit, we waited another 20 minutes or so and finally left. Come home, Manda and Kinsey come by.....we opened it to look at it, and up it raises, ready to bleed again. So now it is pressure wrapped again....and it hurts it is tight, but my fingers and all are normal color and size so it isn't too tight, but I guess it just likes to bleed!

LOL I look down to see if my fingers were normal before I typed that, and my rings are blood caked.....guess I should go clean them before dinner!!

Got our Valentines Day shopping done. Just bought for the kids. I got large boxes (selling this year for $16.99 a piece) of Russel Stovers candy at the outlet in Abilene, buy one get 7 free!! Yep buy one get 7 free!! Bought them and Easter Candy, and have it stored in the cool garage. So the kids get candy, and the grandkids balloons, candy and bears.

Done deal.

Well that is about it for my day...I really wanted to stay home and watch the opening ceremonies, but DVR will have to do....will watch it during one of the events I don't care so much for.

Still have my headache........gonna lay down for awhile before dinner.

See ya laterz