The last straw

So Dale learned at his work exactly how precarious his position was. His company just let go a whole bunch of people of the same title as he has. So he made up his mind.

He is going to look into what type of industry he wants to go into as a career. He doesn't want just another job any more. He is now researching what type of career he would like and is planning on going to school in the fall for whatever industry he decides on.

We are going to a job fair in a couple weeks, and he will be gauging his options. I will be exploring what is out there for me as well, but the main purpose is to help Dale set a directions for his future.

Wish us luck!!

Project Progress!

So now that Dale and I are all by ourselves in the apartment now, we can truly make it our own. With the other bedroom available, I have all sorts of ideas and plans for the extra space. It'll be a great place for a workspace for Dale and his R/C car projects, and the extra closet space will house out of season clothes and other clothing that is not worn as often, and even as a guest bedroom!

Well, a few days ago we moved a twin bed into the room and set it up. Today the bedding I ordered came in and Dale made up the bed while I was at work. He sent me a picture and it looks great!

Yesterday I cleaned up a whole bunch of clothes that I had no place for in my room. It made a huge difference in the appearance of the whole room! I overloaded my hamper with all of the clothes that needed washed and hung up a bunch of hoodies and my pants (I haven't had a place for them before) and put them in the other closet. Now I feel like there is SO much less clutter!

I think that mindset is what helps me become motivated to keep the rest of the apartment tidy. I living room is pretty well straightened up and the kitchen counters are all clean, I do the dishes so that there aren't any sitting overnight, I even make dinner more often since I feel less claustrophobic in the kitchen.

It's funny how one thing leads to another. I'm loving this new freedom in my own home. Sure, it's not a house, but it's what I have for now and I like the changes.

Tattoos on children

On my way home the other morning, the radio show was based on a story about a man who, while drunk, tattooed the letters "DB" onto his three year old son. "DB" standing for Daddy's Boy. I was disturbed by this on many levels. Why would you have tattooing needles near your toddler? How could the drunk father be the only person attending his child, and if he wasn't why did nobody stop him?

Then a listener called in with some comments that concerned me further. His five year old son has a tendency to draw on himself. His favorite is to draw the Old English "D" that represents the Detroit Tigers, and many have taken it to represent Detroit as a city. He loves to draw this, as well as a five year old could, on his own chest.

This child's parents are seriously thinking about having this tattooed on the child. The father has the same tattoo and was in a conundrum because he was concerned that he would be a bad parent if he DIDN'T have this tattooed onto his little boy. How does THAT logic go? Think about it, dad, he's probably trying to emulate you. Cover up your own tattoo for a while and see if he stops. He's five and you want to put him through that pain? How in the world could that make you a good parent?

I just got so ticked listening to this show that I had to turn it off.

Great vacation!

I had a week off from work and Dale and I went to Alabama for a get together with a bunch of people from a forum I hang out on. It was a great trip! It made all my crazy running around worthwhile.

On the way down, we stopped at the original KFC location. It incorporated a normal KFC and a mini-museum of the history of Colonel Sanders and the restaurant. It was really cool to see that it started as an addition to a motel.

When we finally got to our destination, we were exhausted and were glad to go to sleep. But since we were sleeping in a car, I kept waking up. Every time I woke up, I looked at the sky and remembered just how much I missed them. Now that I live in a metropolitan area, I rarely see stars any more. I miss them.

In the morning, we went to the Riverwalk in Columbus, Georgia. Last year it was flooded so we didn't get a chance to explore too much. This year, I took tons of pictures. We even went right up to a hydroelectric plant that is right there, and kinda checked that out. It looked really cool, but kinda run down at the same time.

That night, we took the Subaru down the drag strip. I had a blast! Between Dale and I that car went down the strip five times. But watching the MINI and all those big trucks going down the track was fun. We had barbecue there and everything. Doghouse sponsored the whole track even that night, so it was great.

The next day we chilled out and worked on trucks most of the day. Dale even helped one of the guys do ball joints on his truck. We had a date planned for that day, but with it raining off and on, and Dale and Jake preoccupied with working on vehicles the date kinda got canceled.

That afternoon, we had a 'dirty santa' raffle. It was a blast! The alcohol kept getting stolen and that got interesting. I ended up with a new roadside kit for DEX. It's compact, complete, and cute! It has the Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep logos on it. Dale ended up with a car wash kit.

We ended up leaving the following day so as to give us plenty of time to get home and relax. We wandered as far as Tennessee and got a hotel for the night. The next morning, we drove to my parents' house and spent the next night there. I have missed hanging out with my family, so it was nice to see them. The next morning, we drove home, unpacked the car, put most of that stuff away and hung out the rest of the night.

It was great to have time to hang out with all these people, but I realized that I missed hanging out with Dale. With our work schedules, we hardly see each other. I didn't realize that until this trip. I'm hoping to find a way to spend more time with him without us having to work on cars.