I had a strange dream the other night.  Not only did it involve Tom Cruise, Will Smith, Venture, and Uruloki, I also had RL combat pet Porcupine Pigs.  That’s right, Porcupine PigSSSSSSSSSS.  They were pack animals and therefore I got a bonus for having more than one.  These cute little piggies with Porcupine quills were supposed to have been developed by a little boy (who looked very similar t Ash Ketchum only he wore a black shirt and a blue jean jacket).  He supposedly bred the first one, then planted it.  The next day, a pack of others had grown from the original one.  Currently though, they bred like normal animals - you didn’t plant them to get more.  That was just the lore surrounding them in my dream.  The porcupine pigs were always covered in dust clouds too, like Pigpen has in the Peanut strip.  Apparently they’re not clean animals, but would you really expect a pig to be?

This is one time I really wish I could draw.  The picture of the little creatures is so vivid in my mind…cute little pink pigs - round nose, rounded feet - like any piggy bank, only on their backs were quills that would stand on end when they fought…and they had tusks when they fought too, but they generally kept them covered when their owner was petting or paying with them.

I think it would be a great addition to WoW pets…along with Ladybug flying mounts.  =D

For about a month now, when I boot up my computer, it comes up in presentation mode and all my desktop icons go byebye.  I would have to manually turn off presentation mode and then clicky the desktop, change the view, unclick the view desktop icons and reclick it in order to get them back.  I kept searching for a fix, but the only fix I found was to restore to an earlier point in time….and unfortunately, I had no restore point. =(  Every day I would search trying to find another fix without restoring vista.  FINALLY (at 4:45 this morning) I found one a blog where someone had noticed their power mode was changed to quiet mode.  Sure enough, THAT was the culprit!  I changed the power mode and viola!  I’m fixed.  *CHEERS*  Now I feel for all those people that restored needlessly….and now I’ll create a restore point of my own…LOL

Not only did I get a refund check on my electricity bill for the year 2006, work also picked up the tab for my lunch, and the dress Vanessa’s been wanting was put on clearance for $12.  I’m afraid I’ve used up all my luck for the year now though…lol

After being told by the child support office that we were going to have to go back in last week to sign paperwork and then not being called, I called the phone number they give out and got a general help line. I was basically told that the child support office is working well within their time line and I may not get any changes made until June or July. While that may be okay with them, it’s not for me. I’m falling into that late payment trap. “You can’t pay your bill on time? That’s fine. We’re tacking on another $5-$30 to help you out!” Sooner or later, something’s gotta give and I’m afraid that at this point, the give is going to be me breaking. =/

I still haven’t worked on the site issues. I’m getting a header error message continually upon logging in and other things. Maybe you guys are too. I don’t know. Haven’t had any comments in so long. I was going to work on the site spring break week but I ended up being sick. Really sick - the stay in bed and try not to move because my body ached so bad I was sure something was going to break, sick. I thought I had the flew, but it just turned out to be some stomach bug. I never went to the doctor despite TBF begging me to go. I couldn’t afford the office visit or meds. The good thing about being that sick though,when I could finally eat again, even soup tasted like the best food ever created. Every food reintroduced tasted better than the last. I’m also happy to say that I’ve been caffeine free for over two weeks now. =D I figure cutting out the cokes (or actually Dr. Peppers) can’t be a bad thing. Maybe I’ll lose some weight.

Other than that, nothing new to report just trying to hang in there and keep my head above water….like everyone else these days.

This might be the last post for a while. I haven’t received a child support check since Feb 1 and my check alone doesn’t pay all the bills. It’s funny. I set my house up so that it’s paid for the year Ethan turns 18 and I stop receiving child support. I waited to get my certification as long as I could so that the raise I got would help compensate for the cut in child support once Vanessa hit 18. Now though, it seems none of that matters.

When Vanessa went to live with her dad, he called the child support office to have her dropped off. Since Vanessa was turning 18, she was dropping off anyway. The change of custody turned into a freeze on the account as they thought all the children were living with the ex. We went into the child support office on Monday where the lady there completely berated me as being a bad parent for not returning the child support money to the ex for the months Vanessa has been living with him. Then she went on to say that all the back child support will go to him as I owe him for the months of Nov. through June. JUNE!!!!!!!!! At that point, I was having a cow, “JUNE?!?!”

They sent me a letter to fill out about Vanessa still being in school and I didn’t fill it out. I wanted her to drop off quickly and that wasn’t my money. The reason I didn’t try to return the other money is because the court still tried to nail the ex for the money he quit paying me when Rebecca went to live with him. The court lawyer told us not to go against the order as the court doesn’t recognize it. I didn’t want to get dinged twice for that money. The child support lady had assumed I filled out the paperwork to claim the money on Vanessa until she graduated. She was going to award all the past child support to the ex and release the hold on the account. I threw a fit though and she realized I didn’t sign those papers. At that point, she looked at the computer and realized Vanessa had been dropped off - they were no longer taking that out of the ex’s wages.

You’d think at that point, she’d lift the hold, but noooo. We’d both already said we didn’t care about the back child support. We just needed the hold to be lifted so I could get payments again. She said that couldn’t be done until they figured out what should be done to the two months of child support on hold. At this point, I was trying hard not to cry. I’d already written a hot check to pay my house payment and knew I’d have to write another to pay my electric bill. GO GO Bounce Protection! When I told the ex the situation, he said, “Look, give her that back support. I just want Vanessa dropped off. I don’t care what happens to that money, but she needs the payments.” She said she didn’t think they could do that and she’d have to speak to a financial specialist, but they weren’t in this week. In other words, nothing got fixed…and we will have to go back again to sign paperwork once they get it fixed.

So what’s that got to do with my blog? I can’t pay all my bills so I haven’t paid for this site nor have I paid for WoW and a few other small things like that - the first things to have to go. My internet might be next. I’m trying to hold on to my phone as long as possible. I’ll be posting as long as I can and I’ll be back as soon as the child support gets straightened out; however, if it has to go to court, it won’t see a judge until June and I won’t see a drop of money until 4-6 weeks after that.

TBF has offered to help me out…and it’s caused a few fights. If you know me, you know I’m pretty stubborn and proud. He has things he needs to do with his money. It’s important to me to pay my own way…be able to take care of Ethan and myself on my own. I don’t want to become dependent on someone again. I did that once and it didn’t turn out well. I can do without a few things until child support gets worked out. I do wish I was a bank CEO right now though. =/

Since Vanessa went to live with the ex, he began calling the child support office to have her custody status changed so he would no longer pay on her.  They told him that she would drop off at age 18 if I didn’t file for the extension and that would be faster than doing the paperwork.  He didn’t listen though.

Friday, I got no child support.  I kept calling and finally got someone that told me, “Until the hearing on March 13th, all child support has been frozen.”
“I still have another child he’s supposed to be paying on!  What am I supposed to do?  Shouldn’t you have notified me?”
“You should get a paper in he mail stating the hearing date.”
“I did.  It didn’t say anything about child support being frozen.”

So there you go.  I get to go two months withou child support….if I’d known that, I would have put off buying the laptop.  If it weren’t for my income tax return, I’d be sunk already. =(

I had a great Valentine’s Day.  Not only did I get Animal Crossing City Folk for the Wii from TBF, I also bought myself the new laptop I’m currently typing this on. =)  I broke down and bought a new computer after going six months without one - and decided to venture into the world of laptops.  I bought this one.  After searching for a bit, I figured it was a good deal for the price…and so far, I’m loving it!  When I went to Best Buy to pick it up, they spent more than thirty minutes looking for it.  I figured it was lost and that must be a bad sign…loosing my computer before I even have it.  Instead, they’d misplaced it.  The geek squad had optimized it and removed all the bloatware. The sticker on the computer said it was a $39.99 service I got for free. =)

I have a ton of posts to make to catch up on what’s happened in the last few weeks, but tonight, I’m going to finish some downloading and try to catch up on some emails.  I haven’t installed WoW yet, but I did DL Trillian so I now have chat again!!

I’m so excited to be back…and typing at you from the comfort of my warm bed. =)

So the other night I dreamed we were packing up to move into the White House.  I have no idea who - if anyone - was elected president; however, I remember my mom packing Christmas lights.  I said, “Mom, they have those already!  They have people hired to plan out the holidays and decorate.” 

She said, “They never do Christmas right there.  It’s always so formal and stuffy.  Which reminds me, I’ll be cooking Thanksgiving dinner too.”

I remember thinking, “Oh no!  I can hear the White Trash Red Neck White House jokes already.”

That’s the only part of the dream that I remember.  I guess there’s just been too much hype on the whole inauguration thing…lol

I must be insane.  What was I thinking going to SHOP at WM the weekend before Christmas?  I know what I was thinking, “You still haven’t found that movie for the girl at work who’s name you drew!”.  I know better than to procrastinate that long, but I did it anyway. 

You had to be either really lucky or Evil Knievel just to nab a parking space.  I’m not that lucky so after almost getting hit not once, but twice by people that were pulling in the wrong way to park in a parking space while a car was backing out, I actually waited to park in the back of the parking lot. 

I had a mental list I’d been reviewing of what all I still needed to get, but it got lost in mind - replaced by the chattering of my teeth as I hiked from the parking lot to the store.  I got lucky though.  The store was warm AND I got one of the remaining 5 carts.  As if that weren’t enough, the cart worked without squeeking, dragging, or limping! 

As I defrosted, I began rethinking my list and remembered most of it.  First, the movie “Lucky Number Slevin” for the girl at work.  I went to one of the two scariest parts of the store for Christmas - Electronics.   I’m not sure if it or Toys is the scariest…one has people whining, screaming, and throwing fits….and so does the other.  At least with toys, I can give the kid a dirty look and they generally hush for a few minutes.  Adults just get louder.

After some searching, I finally found the movie…on the $7.50 rack!  OH NOES!  Now I have to come up with another gift to meet the $20 mark.  *sigh*  Why couldn’t it be a new release?!?!

Not knowing what else to get, I headed for cosmetics to pick up a few odd and end stocking stuffers I had left to get.  After dodging the old people and getting hit by some guy that was yelling at his kids, I heard some boys singing the oompa-loompa song and turned in time to see the object of their teasing headed toward grocery and realized I needed to go there also.

I find the items I needed and realized thirty minutes had passed.  I headed for the check out line where I watched a commercial showing all of WM’s lanes being open for Christmas.  What a joke.  I watched that commercial no less than four times while my half hour venture turned into an hour venture.

There was a cute little girl in front of me.  Her father gave her a grape to eat.  We soon learned she doesn’t like grapes.  She sucked all the juice out and spit the grape in the floor.  To keep her happy while waiting, he continued feeding her grapes….and she continued spitting them out.  As their grape bill decreased and the janitor’s work increased, my tolerence decreased….and suddenly I realized I was giving the little girl a sour look.  I tried to smile and change the mood, but too late.  She was staring me down.

As luck would have it, a customer service manager came by just as I got to the front of the line, “I need to check your register to see how much change you have.”  *sigh*  Another wait.  Finally, he began checking my items.  Three loaves of bread, two movies, and one of everything else….only I should have had two loaves of bread and one movie.  After arguing with him regarding how many times the machine beeped vs how many movies were ringing up, he finally looked at the slip and realized I was right.  Where was the CSM when I needed him? =(

Finally I was out in the parking lot thinking I was home free, but I was wrong again.  I lost my car.  Eventually I found it and realized my quick trip to WM took over 3 hours (including travel time).  =/  I hate shopping.

You know, it really bugs me that America, land of the free, is #36 on the list for press freedom.  I can’t even turn on the TV or read a news story without hearing a completely biassed report on the presidential candidates.  I despise being fed opinions.  Of course it’s not only the presidential campaign that’s like this.  It’s just so completely obvious.  I don’t think they even try to hide it any more.