Lovin Life

Lovin Life
Chasity, Napoleon, Christian & Cleopatra

Friday, August 9, 2013

A blast from the past? I think not...

This blog, a day in the life well it is just that... I can hope one day the children will relive our adventures to our grandchildren and great grands when we are no longer available too. My hopes that my grands will know the real us, and not  some elaborate made up story from someone whom really didn't.
First off today, my faith in huminity was restored for a brief moment as we are considered "professional drivers", although I am not officially, I still place myself in this category as I am living the lifestyle at present. I will get back to that story in a minute. As we had another late nite, meaning no sleep til 0430 due to a late load out of hotlanta to Jersey, we of course called it a nite somewhere in North Carolina, so after noon thirty today we decided it was time to rise and shine, go get some coffee and a shower. On our way in a trucker stopped us, as we was carrying our shower bags and evidenced we may be heading in to do something other than buy coffee, he stops us in the parking lot and tells us not to use our shower points, as it turns out he works local and used to work OTR and tells us when he sees OTR drivers he tries to gives his showers away because he remembers what it was like. How awesome, he is trying to pay it forward,  and this day we was blessed. He too will receive blessings, I am sure! That is my restoration of hope in humanity...I need explain about the shower thing, all big truck stops like Loves, Travel Centers of America and Pilot give a free shower to every 50 gallons of fuel purchased, so we of course have all of the cards and rewards cards to where we are allowed to fuel and we utilize those free showers as I used to enjoy at least 2 showers a day, I have since been downgraded to a daily shower.

Back to the 0430 mornings, so it seems we are cursed in this area at the moment. We are very much in hopes this too will pass. It started last week but it seemed to have subsided a bit, until I of course opened my big mouth, as last week I was fussing about our new dispatcher and how we had gotten shafted to some late pick up and drop off loads, well he at least got us "home" on time this time for the hubbys appointment with the VA and the pups had to go in for their annual check up and shots too. Every one got a clean bill of health for another year, yahoo..But, the drive in for the second week was equally hell as the appointment s are in Valdosta and our quote home is in Albany which a 2 hour drive, that requires someone... namely April to come and meet us so I can pick up a car and then go meet my hubby where everhe drops the load. Drop truck and then drive back to Albany, yeeeaa so 0430 we crawl into bed so we can sleep fast and hurry up and get things done in order to make those appointments. Which brings me to the next greatest adventure we have mutually agreed to headfast and feet into. Since the last child has decided to move out and head out into the real world, we have decided there is no real substantial reason to maintain a quote home, so that day we decided to be home-less and so here it is all pistons firing as we would say to one another,  lets pack up and put everything in storage, yea sure sounds like  a great idea! HAA, we at least opted to take a nap that rainy afternoon before setting out on the latest greatest adventure... after our nap,  it was well into 8pm, we loaded the trailer, the Smart and Camry to as full as we could possibly stuff them and headed southeast to a place I had never hoped to call home again,  Waycross, Georgia, I had lived here many years ago as a newly wed and a new nurse just getting out of school.  I honestly had hoped to never return to this aweful town, I say its aweful for my own personal reasons, but my only brother and mother and now youngest child consider this place home,  so I will hang our hats in storage here for a little while. At the time of this writing, we are expecting Trenton in about 7 weeks give or take, so this movement will help when I need to go "home" for his birth. With the trailer finally packed at about 1130pm, it looked like we may make some good time to Waycross seeing it is about a 3 hour drive. No lie, I was following my hubby as I was in the Smartand he was pulling the trailer, we knew we needed tires and needed them pretty bad but we had put it off even since our last trip when we took the motorcycle to Nic in New York, back in April, we was going to press our luck as we usually have to, we had looked at Walmart the previous day and no one had the tires we needed. So, we pushed forward on a hope and a prayer. I honestly think we would have made it, until I opened my mouth and posted on Facebook how tired I was of these 0430 mornings and no sleep. Guess what, no joke it no more than posted and boom, a tire blew. Literally, the middle of no where AKA Axson, Georgia. I set out to Waycross to find tires, due to the one driving the Smart would be the goffer in the event anything happened, I am sure the hubby wanted it that way. So 30 miles one way to Walmart get tires, to which are not the suggested size but will get us back rolling,  back to the trailer and well you guessed it, another 0430 morning after it was all said and done. Wheeww, so glad that adventure was short lived!
So fast forward to today, which is officially tomorrow now and back to my blast from the past, usually the past is well in the past where it should be. But I guess I should elaborate a bit on some past aggravations as the go with the story, my reasoning for not caring for Waycross, I once upon a time left the biggest - well one of the many biggest aggravations in my life there, my ex husband. You know they called ex's for a reason, to my thought process is DO NOT bother me for whatever reason, I think this should go for all ex's, all they do when they show up is cause drama and then make light of it. I have my life and you should have yours.  Long story short, they no longer are connected.  But obviously someone felt the need to aggravate me today about some issues that are years old. I won't bore you with the details, until next time..
We are in hopes to make it to the family reunion before Saturday in Manchester,  as it is now Saturday and we are heading to New Jersey, it isn't looking very promising, but we remain hopeful to see some family. So as we head north boundand the wheels go round and round we are heading in the right direction.

Sunday, August 4, 2013

And the adventure, by way of aggravation, continues...

So my last update was about my newby experience on the truck, the hubby getting his new truck and the joys associated with all of that!
Well our last dispatcher had a way of "taking care of us". Rude awakening to us on the following Monday morning after getting our new truck, you have a new message... this means someone from dispatch is making contact.. So long story and email short, we have a new dispatch... well thats just fucking great... I will save all the in between drama, hubby has a VA appointment, which consists of a 2 week process the first week you go get labs, pee in a cup and then wait a week for results and the following week the doctor will see you and then interpret those results to you. It is a pretty important deal, since you only have to do this once a year..Not this year it seems our new dispatcher has no idea what is going on, whether it be with his fleet or whatever.. as you may notice my tone with him is less than pleasant, I haven't enjoyed talking with him, but the husband says he is probably about 20 years old and arrogant as____-you can fill in the blank with any appropriate word.. Had I spoken with him, we probably would be shopping for a new company to drive for, as I do not hold my tongue well especially when it comes to blatant stupidity. The VA appt has been on the board for notice ever since the hubbys date of hire,  so why in the hell was we still driving at 2am on the day that we were supposed to be home AND why was we routed 2 hours away from home. See what this dumbass fails to realize, if there is no one at home to drive 2 hours to get you, how are you supposed to get home. ? Hhmm, well long story short the husband was able to route us through our "hometown" and luckily April was there to pick me so I was able to get the car and of course drive the 2 hours were the husband had to drop a load on the second day of his 3 days he requested off. So I drove to pick him up because once he dropped the load, we had to have a way home. In between dropping me off and dropping his load he made his first appointment,  although he had to drive through Valdosta and park in a no semi lot to run and get his stuff done. Hubby delivers on time and I am there to pick him up and drive home another 2 hours northwest.. So we are supposed to have 3 days off and be back to the truck for Thursday,  by my calculations driving all nite on Tuesday and delivering a load on Wednesday and reporting back to truck on Thursday is NOT HAVING 3 DAYS OFF? So we return to truck on late Thursday nite after having less than 24 hours "off" to find the quallcom has been sending tons of messages, to include a loads we was expected to be at by 1am. Really? How can you assign us a load if we are technically off the truck. Let me explain, if you log off the truck it is like normal people clocking out and going home for the end of their day has come. So how do you/ canyou expect someone to work,  by taking a shift when they are not even there.  Well just like most normal people dispatch only works 8 or 10 hours and then they get to go home totheir husband and wife, kiss the baby and the dog. Unlike us Iif you don't take a load, it is considered refusing a load and that my dear is occupational suicide. ?. So fear of being labeled as refusing a load- because we wasn't even in the truck, we sent a message to nite dispatch who is sometimes wayy worse that your best frenemy, to tell them what the misunderstanding was on "their part" of course in a nicer way than I would have put it, my husband has a was with nice words... We had only hope we hadn't committed suicide,  as the weekend is now passing... it doesn't look real good we have been officially screwed at least twice in the last 2 days, so the odds are not looking like they are in our favor.  So as the new week approaches we are hopeful for some good loads after the second of 2 scheduled appointments.
Which brings me to some maybe good news after all of that bad.. April and Dom, well thats a mouthful its just they had been holding down the homefront, butwith all of the new changes that the husband and I have making, they of course are involved. With the upcoming birth of the third grand, I felt like April needed to be closer to some family, so I suggested she move closer to my mother and brother, especially since we are on the road more often than not. So she did, and Dom was at the house, but he has since decided tomove back to his mothers too. So all is well,  there is no since in paying for an apartment that has little furniture in it and no one living there. We have given most of our worldly possessions away, and what it left at this moment willbe given away too. We have 2 cars to place in storage and whatever fits in our cars, I feel like is all we will keep. I plan to return to school sooner I originally planned,  but it is so I can hurry up and get trained, and we can get on with our future and doing whatever we want to. Midlife crisis- this screams at you.. haa I know, considering we are willing to be home-less, hell most people go spend money on a new home or car... not us I guess we have really never been what they call typical...

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Update on the adventure....

Well, it has been well over a week since my last update and equally the same amount of time since I arrived to take the passenger - co pilot seat. I must say it it different than I might have expected, first off I packed wayy too much stuff!! I also packed according to the size of the truck, to our surprise that too changed this week. Last week I ranted about our breakdown and how we was stuck in Atlanta for several days, thankfully since then we have been rolling with the exception of having to called in to the terminal for the new truck. I don't think usually it would be a big deal to go to the terminal but with the last several terminal incidents,  it has turned out to be a less than desirable outcome so of course we had braced ourselves go be down a few more days this time around too. After our load from Albany to Alachua then to Beech Island,  S.C. we received good news to go to Omaha. We heard that very important message,  somedays it is like winning the lottery when you get that message, we both looked at each other and smiled knowing the SDM, or dispatcher knew something that we didn't know but we were sure hopeful nonetheless.  A load to Omaha could only mean one thing, we had a new shiny truck waiting on us!?!  Hell bent we set out of course there is really no driving straight through,  so we plan our stops that are geared toward fuel stops, as we are only allowed to fuel at approved facilities,  and where we can possibly shower and park overnight. Sometimes we get lucky and get both, sometimes we are literally being chased by the clock and don't have a chance to both. We manage, its kinda like camping EVERY night, something fun and yet mysterious about it.
On the way up, I imagined we would have had a 34 hour reset, that means you run out of hours and your pretty much stuck where ever you are and staying down for what is considered a 34 hour reset, basically your reseting your drive clock. So with my thinking about we would have a reset in Nebraska, I immediately went into looking how far a drive it would be to Mt Rushmore as that is on our bucket list, it turned out we didn't have reset and in turn hageenough time to get to Dallas, which is where we are heading now. On these resets, in order for you not to be in DOT violation the truck doesn't move, so you have to find alternate means of transportation.  Long story short, no Mt Rushmore in the plans this week.
As it turns out, our plans for a load to Omaha was to pick up the hubby's new truck!! It isn't a brand new truck but for what we traded, we are very pleased. Our last truck had an air conditioner in the middle of the sleeping bunk, so it was virtually impossible to get a good nites sleep in comfort.  Our new truck has a solid bed with no ac unit in the way, and the to9 bunk is completely lifted out of the headspace way, no ducking to get around. So in all after the wait and terminal aggravation, the fleet manager did us very well.
In the mean time of trying to find a new adventure along the way, we just keep the greasy side down and the shiny side up and the wheels go round and round...

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Adventures abound?

Yesterday, July 15th marked the first official day that I was allowed the chance to finally set sail with the husband in his "office" as he calls it. I had previously booked the entire month of July off work to go out on the truck with him and the four legged children. For whatever reason, it never worked out for several weeks, for when your making plans; life happens. So after a refreshing weekend of trying to move into the truck we left Albany after 1:30pm, the first stop was a "live unload" so after April and I waiting at the truck stop we decided to meet Christian at the drop, still after April dropped us off it was still another several hours of waiting for the unload. UGGH, thank goodness for AC esp, in the south, in a truck and surronded by concrete! Well as I am hoping as soon as this unload we are bound for ADVENTURES!! Well, as they unloaded the trailer- there is damage to the trailer, so that means we have to take the trailer somewhere to be repaired... more time spent wasted. Let me explain a lilttle as I am learning too, once you log on to your truck- literally your clock starts and although you may not be driving or technically working your still losing hours, you are allowed 14 work hours, and 11 hours of driving time. So to help make it make sense, we spent 14 hours while the driving hours where only 4 hours spent. What that means in lay persons terms is, if your not driving- your not making money. They do not pay hourly, it is strictly MILEAGE.. So technically, yesterday sucked. So after we dropped our trailer to be repaired, we message dispatch via Qualcomm, that is another computer generated tracking/ communication device like a little computer in your truck. You cannot surf the web, it is like your life life to the company terminal. So as we set and wait on return communication from dispatch, this takes HOURS- literally! So in the waiting time, we crawl in the sleeping cab and enjoy lying down, eating lunch, walking the babies or whatever we want to do and anxiously await verbal message...insert ding-"you have an important message".. those are the joyous noises! Finally, we have a load.. to pick up in Macon... Great we are moving! Take a trailer from the place that we just dropped a trailer, heading to Macon, hoping for a trip North or West as I had asked to go, not that dispatch listens but they do try to work with you. Heading down the highway....not even out of Dougherty County- insert ding "you have an important message"- so as your driving down the road, the messages are verbal and they will not show typed text while the truck is motion, so we have to stop and this is alot of work. You are not allowed to just pull off and park anywhere, so you have to find a "safe haven" to stop and read your messages, they will read it to you but it literally reads everything like the message and letters and dashes so it is hard to understand exactly what they are saying without looking at the message, you get the just of it that there has been a CHANGE to your load, and oh shit--- so are you now going the right direction? Or picking up a different trailer in a different place... Just crazy change your mind and direction in one simple "you have an important message" So after we are slotted to pick up in Macon, well that load is still on BUT, now the rules changed a little bit.. Go meet another driver at ### this location and swap loads...? WTF, really! Ok, so we make it to Macon to an undisclosed location that was as heavy protected as FT Knox, getting cleared through security.. husband says do not get out of truck<scratch my head> but ok. OH hell it gets better. Get our load and get outta town, dispatch sends another message that he must call and get briefing on load... bottom line, high potential for theft, KEEP MOVING!! NICE, I thought and we are going to where? ATLANTA ugghhh, not what I was hoping for. So we arrive at our "meeting" place to swap loads, the other driver is still outta town for a bit, as we got caught up in traffic from an accident, we are sure either he encountered the same or just hotlanta rush hour traffic, either way... we are screwed. We cannot "sit" we have to keep moving till we meet up. UGGH, so drive in and around Atlanta looking for a somewhat safe haven to kill some time or to pee or do whatever.. Yea right! Not happening. We have 2.5 hours left on clock.. There is no way we will swap loads, deliver this other guys load and get outta Atlanta in that amount of time, we knew we would be stuck there.. Guess what, dispatch doesn't usually answer too many calls "after hours" so trying to get in touch with the other driver at this time seems bleak.. and they won't answer the phone? Continue to drive around.. well lets seek out the local truck stops as we may have to stop there.. WOW, the google reviews say "if you value your life you will not stay" at this one and that one, $15 parking posted on reviews saying it isn't worth it.. We finally find a truck stop.. FULL, slam full of people- trucks- less than desirable people who readily approach your truck asking if you wanna have a good time? EWW, true story one less than desirable approached the truck, jumped up and stuck her head in the window.. I know she was going to offer a good time, until she seen me in the sleeper, HAA, then she just asked for some money "to get the hell outta here", we watched her approach one truck/ person or another. So freaking disgusting. Well after that fun, and numerous messages finally a phone call from the other driver... SCORE, we are making a drop and swap in the middle of a parking lot... QUICKLY! So as it turns out the driver we swapped with, was the first driver of our truck and he asked how it was doing, my husband unknowingly jinked us just then... He said, he hasn't had any trouble..!! BIG mistake, husband. We rush over to drop this load on time, wahoo. But we have about 30 mins left on the clock, now what? Luckily, we are blessed on a REGULAR basis as it turns out, the place where we dropped the load has some property nearby, we are granted access as a safe haven for the night!! First overnight in an 18wheeler, truck shuts off every hour due to the temperatures outside, so I awake the husband every hour to restart the truck, we are also parked VERY nearby the airport, the puppas are bed hawgs, and the bunk is NOT a full size + the non working, non removed air conditioner is in my back on the wall... SO yea! as the husband asks "did you sleep at all" hmmm, well.. doesn't really matter, my job is a passenger and requires no brain cells or sleep!! And its a good thing too!!
So we set the alarm for 0600, in hopes of a load to the North or West this am (as now it is a new day) and we get up and walk the puppas, do some morning ritual stuffs and await the message... lets go back to sleep!!! SO we did get another hour in before the notorious bleep- "you have an important message".. Good news, my adventure is rolling ? Yea ok. Heading to pick up load, the trailer is dragging? Christian gets out and checks the brakes.. hmm, nothing. Get back in and drives, still pulling. Don't know whats going on of course niether of us are mechanics! Get to pick up location, they do not accept empty trailers, you must come in as a "bobtail".. I am learning the jargon! So we head somewhere else to drop the trailer, UGGH.. dealing with fat, lazy security guards all before coffee, REALLY! Finally drop the trailer and thinking we are heading to get some coffee and heat up some breakfast, as our load will be unloaded and ready in 2 hours, coffee, yes! Leaving the trailer yard..the truck is jerking like crazy, hmmm smells of burnt rubber or something of those lines.. Coming to a stop, the truck is smoking? Just get to a truck stop, get some coffee and we will message dispatch of what is going on..Good thing we opted to get some coffee and breakfast all the while. After coffee and breakfast, no messages.. Hell, lets lay down for a bit. Nap thirty. Actually 2 hrs later, we get a message to drive truck to Atlanta terminal for repairs. So an extremely long story short, we are in a hotel tonite, while the truck is undergoing some definate needing services. Husband returns from terminal just before 5pm.. another day, no wheels going round and round. Epic suck. Shop manager is going to try to get us on road tomorrow, prayers he is successfull! Good news is the bed I am sleeping in tonite is a full size, for real!

Monday, July 1, 2013

First day of the next chapter

Sunday embarked another First in our lives, the husband was released from his trainer and set loose in hotlanta to seek out what new adventure awaited him..WOW, that about sums it up. His first truck assigned, had something wrong with it, oh yea... they searched the lot up and down and duh, it wasn't even there. So they assigned him another truck, they found it but might have been better off if they hadn't! It was driven by a smoker and wreeked of cigarettes, nastyness and other stuff, bad news brakes are bad, leaky shocks and some pump not working on top of no fuse for cigarette lighter outlet? So how did he light all those cigarettes? So much for off to a good start, my husband says ww, we will start again fresh in the morning. WW means between husband and I, WHATEVER, WHATEVER!! We use that phrase amongst ourselves when we are talking about something that is usually beyond our control and it consumes more time to worry about it, than it is actually worth. 

So, before my husband set out on this journey- believe it or not- he was doing some research to see what company offered the best this and that and just reading what was on the internet about OTR drivers and their experiences, and we came across someones "blog" that was actually quiet hiliarious it went along the line of describing me and uptight, person with severe OCD as the wife and just like my husband, the man was laid back and like whatever comes his way he was ok with it!. The story was funny and sounded alot like ours whereas the wife was upset that he had been granted a POS truck and the husband was so happy because he actually got a truck, we giggled about that story last night and how it was coming true for us too!

As it turns out today, his truck was fixed last night and he was granted "move in" status! So early this afternoon he was awaiting orders from the fleet manager to get his first load. After I came home from work, I had phoned him with some good news from the mail box, while we are on the phone chatting he gets a beep-beep-beep, he says hold on, .... standing by... he comes back on, he has mutually good news.. his first load, he has orders for his first load to Douglas, GA !! Yea, he says "I always knew you was good karma"
So as I update the blog this evening, I am anxiously awaiting the phone call to meet him somewhere to pick him up, as he has no where to park the truck at the house. He picks up a load in Albany in AM and is set for Ft. Lauderdale, FL. <phone rings NO LIE, after this, and guess what>  SAVE as DRAFT, off to Tifton to meet my hubby because he doesn't have enough hours to drive to Albany tonite. Well, actually that was now a few nites ago, and am picking up where I left off.. BOY, wheew what a last few days I have had...

So for what was supposed to be a nice quiet evening with my husband home after over 6 weeks of him not being home, soon turned into a nightmare. At 3:30 am, Cleopatra is sick, well she has had an upset stomach with vomiting and loose stools for over a day at this point, going into the third day. She loves to get into the trash, eat everything, lick frogs or whatever she can get in her mouth. I swear, if it doesn't eat her, she will surely try to eat it..So initially I did not get alarmed by her sickness, as usually in a day or so she is back to normal. Well, this time its different, she is having bloody stools and she isn't able to control it. Red flags start going off, due to we lost a chihauhau back several years ago and more recently our baby Napoleon contracted Parvo and was successfully treated although both dogs had been previously vaccinated, it doesn't really matter they can still get it. So you guessed it, we was sure that is what was going on. So the first phone call to the vet to see if I could give her some "human" phenergan to hold the vomiting to a minimum. The vet is wonderful as she always is, said yes of course and give it rectally if needed. Done that, no success in either direction. The loose stools are now projectile and its call the vet back or take my husband to Phoebe for a heart attack or stroke, as this is his dog and he isn't handling this stress very well. SO another phone call to the vet at 4:00am, I tell her what is going on and advise her, we are enroute with Cleopatra. So donned in a diaper and so softs and towels covering my car..... off we go. BUT FIRST, I have to take Christian back to the truck in Tifton, because he has a pick up in Albany that morning. So off to Valdosta, its a 2 hour drive one way to our vet from our new residence. We refuse to change vets and few other services due to our loyalty to their great service. Thinking the worst in our minds, both husband and I are literally sick too. Dropped the husband off and of course Cleo is still drinking water and constantly wretching it back up. Thankful she still has the urge to drink in order to attempt hydration. Before 7am, I am at the vets office awaiting the Dr, I have explained to the staff my recent phone convos with Dr Hiers that am. They know our worst fears and come in immediately and start doing tests on her. Thankful that I am there with her and she is going to be taken care of, I am a bit relieved!
Days later, literally.... as I have had some moments in time to update this, Cleopatra is back home and after 5 days of antibiotics and 4 other drugs, she is MUCH better!!!

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Wrap this up

as the title says wrap this up my time with my trainer is just about over. It is been a very long 5 weeks of shitty roads, loss of sleep, shitty food, and in general living with a complete stranger and very close quarters for 5 weeks has taken its toll on not only me but the guy who was stuck with me. thank God my army training has prepared me for this. It was more than one time when I was ready to inflict grievous bodily harm on him and I'm sure he was ready to try and push me out of the truck while it was moving at a high rate of speed. Unfortunately in our travels I am one of those people that want to stop see things and try different things. While in the very heart of Louisiana cuisine I wanted to have some gumbo some boudin andother Cajun delicacies. So after directing my trainers traffic and telling him that next time we are in the area we have to stop because I am going to get said gumbo and boudain. well needless to say my trainer had other ideas. It is damn near impossible to turn an 80's foot tractor trailer around after he passes the only restaurantsof said Cajun cuisine. So after waiting weeks which seems like it was years I was not able to get any. Okay change in plans I'm flexible, I will kill you later, whatever let's keep on rolling down the road. So we got a shipment to West Memphis Arkansas also known as Jonesboro I don't know why the city has two names but it does so what the hell who cares. While driving west into the sunset I realize that there's more to life then being upset over little things. Now I know this I've experienced a lot of disappointments in my life and have had carrots dangled in front of to tote a load that I thought was too heavy but I complished what I needed to. See the sunset, seeing those around me that had less than I do, and watching some of those less fortunate that were around me made me realize that though I didn't get the boudain and gumbo I was going to be OK but I was still pissed off. Now for a change of pace I have to explain to you that West Memphis and/or Jonesboro Arkansas is 1 hell of a prostitute haven. In our trip from Madison Alabama to Memphis Tennessee back to Madison Alabama through Memphis Tennessee again into West Memphis and/or Jonesboro Arkansas we were not going to have enough fuel to make it back to Madison Alabama so we have to stop at certain truck stops that Warner Enterprises authorize. One of those is a loves truck stop. well I like coffee my coffee, Nay I love my coffee, and it is free at loves because I have a professional driver reward card. Professional driver what the hell were they thinking? But I digress, I walked towards the door to go in and purchased coffee. There was a gauntlets of [I'll be nice and call them women others would call them whores] trying to sell their wares to those that dare to venture into the pit of of ill repute.as I was able to fend off the advances of those more worldly than I, I noticed that of the five showers available to truck drivers for a fee or if you are a professional driver you are allowed 1 shower every 50 gallons of diesel purchased. one of these shower rooms are being utilized by the local working ladies. so with my past military training I was able to about face and extract myself from the hostile zone. by the time I got back to the truck my trainer stated the pumps were not working anyways that we needed to go on to a different stop. That is not a problem let us get out of Dodge. so we get back on the highway headed east towards the mighty Mississippi and after crossing into Mississippi we pull off to another Loves .again this is the only place we can stop that Warner allows us to in this area. After seeing the condition of the truck stop I'm ready to go to Home Depot and buy a link of garden hose and start siphoning diesel to avoid this kind of place. But with no Home Depot insights I have to fuel up here. No sooner I get the fuel pump running I get approached but what appears to be a woman? I questioned it is only because as I observed its gait, it almost tripped 3 times on its own shoes. Immediately the hand when up in a stop gesture and I said I am all set go away. Fueling what seemed like 2000 plus gallons ended and I need coffee. If I did not get coffee I'm going to kill somebody. And I can hide the evidence and body. I don't care whose body somebody's gonna get hurt if I don't get my coffee. So again I'm going to go through a gauntlet of I don't know what but I had to make it through this time. I walk into the building this time and my trainer is on my 6. I get asked hey sweetie are you spending the night here do you want company? I looked at said Jezebel and with a straight face pointed back to my trainer who had no idea what the hell was going on and said yeah him and I are spending the night together here.I got my coffee and left without further incident. So if you're ever in the Memphis Tennessee or West Memphis / Jonesboro Arkansas area and you need gas or fuel take your chances and go elsewhere. As of Monday I will be officially on my own tearing up the roads of the 48 States and Canada. Wish me luck and I hope these blogs are as enjoyable to you as they are to me. And as a side note my grammar really isn't this bad, I'm talking to text.

Saturday, June 15, 2013

The first day of the rest of your life, child...

Well, it seems this should be the happiest moments of our lives? Our youngest child has graduated high school today. Although we are not there in person to see it through, we are there in spirit somewhat. As we really are excited to see through this milestone in more ways than most people can imagine. Several years ago when the children were approximately 13, 13, 14, 17, 17, of course depending on what time of the year we are talking, we had laughed and talked about how far this day seemed! Well, that has been 5 years ago, and the time sure does fly when you having fun or not necessarily having fun either! As you must know we always try to look on the bright side of things and of course have fun. I started this memoire with some hatred in my heart of what this joyous day means to us, but for the life of me, I cannot let that or those persons steal my or my husbands joy. WE endured a terrible divorce and nasty drawn out custody of who deserved what children, looking back from the end of this very day.... It happened exactly the way it was supposed to and the children are exactly where they are supposed to be too! I am and I know I speak for husband in volumes of this, we are extremely happy to be a part of our childrens lives, the ones that let us "in". And well for the rest, good luck on your journeys as you will need it. True Story, I have always said, you will need me, before I need you.

As for an update on the husband, not much has changed with his life with his trainer, I was able to steal away a weekend with him, not so long ago. WE really enjoyed each others company, as we always do. We actually despise being away from each other. So that in itself has brought about some more changes taking effect very soon. I will be out of work do to some extensive bodily repairs.. endodontist/ OBGYN, funny they are getting me a both ends near the same time. I let myself get wore down until I can go no more and then I must go in for a tune up. Everyone around here gets them, so no surprise its my turn. But as soon as that is done, I will be joining him on his truck as soon as possible. I think we have mutually agreed to put off my training until after we return from Vermont in August after the family reunion. After the "fun" he endured on the truck with his trainer, I have decided if it is at all possible, I want my husband to train me. So for this to happen, he has to be on his own for however long they decide. So after he gets his truck it is the waiting game! As it stands, he will know more earlier in the week, he is supposed to be done training this upcoming week! So in the meantime, just wait for the next update!

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Travels that continue

Well I'm now into the 2nd week of my training with Ron and I have gotten a message from my SDM [student driver manager] that Werner enterprises is taking 40 hours of training off of my schedule. Im racking the miles up [over 6k+] and counting.  I've been officially removed from curfew and can drive between the hours of midnight and 7am much to the shagrin of Ron, who can try to get on some type of sleep wake cycle. I have no problem driving around those times so im trying to literally drive the rubber off the tires. I have to get to 235 hours of observed time before I am cut free to endeavor on my own, and as of last night I have 115, so half way there. Now for the last few days since the last time I blogged I had one hell of stressful situation, Ron tells me that he wants me to back up into a parking space,  oh and it's dark,  and it's late, as in 2am, and ive been driving for 10 hours. Well hes got confidence in me at least,  so after 10 minutes,  it is in there, not straight,  but its in there. Backed up next to another Werner truck,  imagine that accident report had it not gone well for me.  After a break, its back to the distribution center for some much needed rest.  Pensacola Fl and Memphis Tn again, without any mountain driving today.  I'm getting anxious to finish my training so that my Honey can get started on her CDL and I can road trip with the puppies for a few months before she joins me in our adventures.  I so miss her and the puppies.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Equally good news on the Homefront

As my husband has now learned how to post here, he is updating ya''ll on his end of stuff, although I may occasionally put something in too. Well, good news from the hubby indicated he may be getting off the trainers truck and into his own sooner than we expected.. thats what all those crazy numbers of driving time equated too. So as it stands he is looking at the 18-21 of June to possibly being dropped off in ATL for his "test out" and given an assigned truck, after that one load and he is home for several days!!

So good news on the homefront, April & Dom had their not sure 3rd or 4th baby appointment, and as I have hoped all along that we could have a grandson, it seems that may be more possible than it was the day before we got a "looks like a boy". Of course of all the phone calls made to make annoucements to the grands, I was the only one whoooping and hollarring. I think everyone else wanted a girl. I look at it like this, Robyn has a girl, Jenifer has a girl, and they are both currently trying to get pregnant now. So let me have this little boy. As we don't see the grands much, due to the distance, I love them all the same and have plans to take them all to Disney or Universal when they are big enough to enjoy it. Plus, I have to work on the husband- I have put the idea in his head, TRUE Story- when I come up with these crazy ideas like taking the grands somewhere like that, I have to plant the idea and let it simmer. For instance, I have been saying for about 5 years now, lets get all the kids- family together and rent a beach house in like the Carolinas or someplace not so unbearably hot and easy enough to commute for all the kids/family and hang out for a week. I have always wanted this.. But with how the kids constantly bickered between them, he always said NO, it would not be as enjoyable as I think. Well, literally it has been 5 years, and he has finally agreed to try to get them all together sometime and do this. We have no plans in stone yet, but when we do, all will know. My 3 youngest uncles did this with their wives and family, rented a place on the cape? I think is where it was, and years later I seen pictures and videos and they had a blast. Sad part, since then one of them, Mark is now gone as he commited suicide some years back. But thankfully they have those crazy late nite truth or dare videos to share! So the moral of that story is, I have put a bug in the husbands ear to take the grands to a "theme park". But he isn't done simmering yet, and of course while he simmers they get older so it will be more memorable and fun for them!

More good news, Dominique has gotten a job offer... WE are incrediably happy about this. Times are tough and gettting a job is gettting tougher. He starts today for orientation at Wal Mart. April and Dom will be unbeleivably busy as they are sharing a car to get to work for both of them and April is busy back in school too! They can do it. I have always tried to push my kids to do more and do it better than myself. I have accomplished alot coming from my background, so there is no doubt they will make it, given some hard times and alot of hard work.

So good news from my huney maybe coming home earlier than expected. April is back in school. Dom has a job.
So what have I been doing, working, working, working, maintaining the homefront while the husband is away. Oh, yeah Joanns had a big sale and I was able to get to some hobby time!! Before my hubby left he knew how bad I wanted a new sewing machine, so before he left I got one! And just in time for a new baby, so I have had busy spurts of sewing baby diapers, blankets and bath towels. The first set of diapers was monkeys and bananas, April cut me off on the first set, she really wanted to know the sex before I started working on the next size up. Well we already know that the robots and dinosoars are in our future!

All of this good news puts us closer to our goal!! WE have hopes of relocating to north Ga, although recently my hubby has said, look in Tennessee, the land is lots cheaper.. So as a good wife, I have done just that. I submitted to him some properties that have breathtaking views with 1 or 2 bedroom camping like cabins on them! As you may or may not know, our ultimate goal is to have a lil farm family with 10+ acres and try to get off the grid as much as we possibly can. We have had several dates to do this by, but the dates keep getting pushed back for one reason or another. We know, we are taking care of and when it is supposed to happen IT WILL.

Good news for me

So there I was hauling for Target en route back from Memphis Tn to Madison Al. Madison Al?!?! Dont bother looking it up, it's as my bride would say tee-nine-nee... aka very small. So again im headed east in nowhere northernmost Mississippi and my trainer Ron tells me that of the mandatory 275 hours I need to complete training,  I have driven 77 hours. Ok, now that doesn't sound like a lot of driving time right?  Well to put it in to perspective,  I got on the truck Friday morning the 17th of June.  Now, I have had 4 days off and one day with only 5 hours of drive time.  Figuring out the the average milage I came up with just about 638 miles a day.  Still doesn't sound like a lot to most huh? Well my drive day is 10 hours and 45 minutes. DOT doesn't allow for anything more than that.  Now this also includes traffic `drop and hook` the trailer and drive through cities. Now my `home`is just about 200 square feetof shared living space.  Including sink less kitchen,  and a bunk bed. At least the commute from work to home is short.  Bbbaaaahhhhhaaaaaaaa. But yesterday the size of the of the truck came into perspective.  I parked on the side of a store and a Dodge Ram pulled along side. Well it went from being a full size,  to a Tonka toy. Damn,  what a wake up call.  80 feet long and 80, 000 pounds is a LONG and HEAVY vehicle. Now after careful consideration and deliberation I have named this beautiful beast Monique.  Idk why but it seems appropriate a name as ever. Im getting ready to stop and shower at the Love`s truck stop in Falkville Al, again do not look for it on a map. Its not but a one horse,  45 truck type of town. I must bid you a good morning/evening,  and close encounters of the 4 wheel kind is a preview name of the next blog.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Midway through hell week

So it is now midway through my first week of training. The first thing that can be said is that  my trainer is just like me. If you can forgive his southerness, and his warped sense of humor.  We started the week on a high note, making excellent miles and earning hime a decent amount of money,  well then Mr Murphy showed himself and his cousin Karma had stowed away with us. Now I had forewarned Ron of the dynamic duo and their insistence on keeping me company. As the miles rolled on under my big tires, I realized that I may have been wrong about Mr Murphy tagging along for the adventure.  NOPE!  WRONG AGAIN.  I ran over a re-tread in the parking lot, and sliced an 8 inch hole in the sidewall of the trailer tires. Thankfully Karma lent me a hand preventing a blowout on the highway.  Gettin the next run proved to be a chore in itself.  Off to Baton Rouge. Baton Rouge means gumbo, boudain, and jumblia. Well I found it, but I also found it at a bad time. Couldn't stop to partake in the culinary delightfulness, dammit.  Got a promise that next time we will find the time.  SOLD! !! Next trip headed down, Ron is hauling .... well going fast as truck will allowed and as we get to wherever it is we are the alternator locks up ?!?! Andthe serpentine belt snaps.  Hey look who it is, Mr Murphy has reminded me that he and I are inseparable buddies.  So we return to the distribution center after a 9 hour delay and find out that the load for Baton Rouge has been taken by another driver. Chalk another one for Murphy.  But wait there's more.  Do you know that it's HOT in these trucks without any air conditioning? do you know that it's HOT in the south right now? So NOW IM CRANKY. Oh and I have no COFFEE either. Alright,  acceptance of changes that you can not control is part of the job.  So im going to continue to practice backing up between parked trailers. Ron enjoys the additional stress added to an already stressful day of trying to not run into or over other vehicles on the road. I am headed to Memphis tn and I will be there just about lunchtime.  Can you say BBQ? Oh I can and will. I told Ron that I am a stomach thinker.  If we are able to, I want to participate in the culinary delightfulness of some backwood, off the map, known only to the local restaurant that will blow my socks off with how good their food is.  I have until the last weekend of June and I will be done and off of Ron's truck readying myself and my very own powder blue Werner for my love to join me. The road calls me and I am not able to ignore the gypsy that runs through these veins of mine. Seeing as much as I have and what little time I've spent driving,  I've found that little bit of happiness that will be a lot better when Chasity gets her bum in gear and gets her license.  I will post some pics from my adventure as soon as I can figure out how to do it.  As I have learned a new mantra `keep the greasy side down and the shiny side up`
Christian

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Third Rate Romance..

I am trying my best to keep this blog updated, as I am aware that I have directed the kids and families attention to it in order to keep up with us and "dad" for some... But I declare war this week! If it wasn't for bad luck, I swear (and I do that ALOT), I would have no LUCK! Thankfully, I was tempted into a little indiscrection with a "third rate romance" with the hottest man around! I won't give you all of the details, but I will tell you this, he called me at work on Friday AM and told me he and his trainer were bound for Cornersville, TN and due to his trainer being "out of hours" he was going to be in a hotel for 2 days while his trainer was home. So that was the GREEN light, I left work early, as I usually do when I am caught up. Packed the pups, and off we went to what was supposed to be a 6 hour drive one way. UGGH, and the rain and traffic and idiots among us... So through Birmingham I go.. The weather was terrible, but nothing was gonna slow me down. Seven hours later, I arrive at Cornersville, TN with my husband anxiously awaiting our arrival... Well the rest you know how the song goes....
Saturday morning, we are determined to get some coffee and breakfast. It wasn't going to happen where we were staying, only thing here was several gas stations. Nearest civilization was 12 or so miles up the road, so we head off to Lewisburg. Get breakfast at the local Shoney's and of course all the local, late nite, early am drunks join us too. To our right, we have a "couple" fine upstanding persons with hickies the size of Texas on both of their necks, still wearing last nites juking shorts and neon tops with the typical "I just got fucked" smile. I know the look. To the rear is the "couple" where the guy says really "you gonna wear that" we are just going to Shoneys, and the gal looks as she belongs of the cover of Vogue, she spent that much time on her hair. You know those kind too! And of course my husband and I, in very comfortable shorts, tops and famous flip flops! Gotta love those southern folks!
Oh, let me not forget the part about the tires... OH MY, so in the rain and traffic the car (I took the big car, not the SMART) hoping for a good ride, because the SMART isn't for long rides, especially with the lil dogs. Well, so much for the good ride, the roads were terrible- hell I felt like I was back in New England with how bad the roads felt. I even got out and looked at the tires a few times, I felt like I was skidding several times. So after breakfast, husband needed some things before heading back out on Sunday so we decided to head to Wal Mart and get an oil change and pick up his "to do list". He is walking around the car with guy and says "yeah Honey, I guess the car was acting up" UGGGH, he advises we need 2 new tires... NICE, is my southern "bless your heart" or others, not another damn thing! So here we are in who the hell knows or BFTennessee, getting tires so I can get home on Sunday. So another long story, ends with we literally drive the tires off our vehicles...
So on Sunday... the end of my third rate romance with my infamous husband as he and his trainer set their sights on Baton Rouge my husband would say with his freeench accent, low..

Thursday, May 16, 2013

What a week

So my 'orientation' is over. I leave Hotlanta at 0700 for parts unknown.  My trainer Ron states that I will be driving an 80,000 pound 73 foot truck out of town and onto the back roads of Georgia,  Alabama, Tennessee and wherever he wants me to go. Whenever we get to wherever it is we are to go, I am going to be dropped off for a 2 day rest in a hotel. Where this hotel is I dont know, hes southern,  and I didn't see him talking.  So I call Chasity and tell her the goodnews. So there is a hope that maybe  just maybe we can meet up for a few days.  As it stands now, I have to drive 275 hours with Ron, return to whatever terminal I am close to and test out of training phase 2. There are 11 different terminal locations I can test out. So I wanted this adventure to start and the good Lord has smiled down on me and said, that Hewill give me exactly what I wanted and then some.  After this weekend,  I am going to be able to see the majority of the rest of the 48 states AND whichever Canadian Providences I can get to. So pictures will be forthcoming,  descriptions of the hilarity, misery,  and everything in between.  I cant wait to share it with you.
Chris

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

A lil ranting...

Husband off and gone since Thursday, I guess its about time to do some fussing? I am about overdo, I guess this is manic side of bipolar. Which I think everyone has a touch of, regardless of what all the psycho-babble bullshit people try to push down your throats about what "normal" is supposed to be.
So what set me off, well I had to tell you that my husband was gone like not home, to tell you this!! I called in sick to work on Monday- NO LIE, I have been sick with something allergy related, well its in my chest on Monday when I get up, too exhausted to do much more than flat iron my hair. That is usually not me, I am generally full of piss and vinegar by 6am. Called and told 'em all, told 'em even to tell the big shot boss to call me, she is cool and I have an amazing nurse manager. Well she called we chatted, life goes on. EXCUSED. Well, she calls back at noonish and questions some orders I had written, no problem.. ANSWERED, oh, and Criminal Minds was in the background as I was laid up in the bed with the laptop watching my favorite show.. LOVE, me some Morgan! Don't worry the husband knows, too! SO what sets me off is a friend calls that evening checking on me, she says GURL, your not gonna believe this.  Long story short, some of the folks I work with.... I had respected them enough to NOT come  to work and spread my unknown funk, hacking and coughing and stuff and someone has the audacity to say "she ain't sick, she is home with her husband".....GRRRRRR great gripes my ass. I bust it around there and you wanna talk trash about something you obviously know nothing about... YEP, I am all done with you! So after speaking with my husband last nite, who isn't here, I tell him.... hmmmm, I don't care how bad I feel, I am going to work just to infect all them blanky, blank, blank..not so nice by this point. However, I started antibiotics Monday AM, just incase. SO the tossing and turning in my head half the nite, surely paid off!
Especially when I show up to work this morning, and the haters are present, the boss (I will call her) says, your going to wear a mask? Right? Here it was, kind revenge... "NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT, I take a day off sick and ya'll talk trash about me, so here I am to infect all ya'll", she gave me a half crooked smile, she knew what I knew and she chuckled...she said with a wink, 'we would never talk about you" as she knows they are only a few in that department to be trusted and then its iffy.  I reassured her, I wasn't wearing a mask, I have 24hrs worth of antibiotics on board and life is good!
Oh, I'm not done yet, so I get up, before I even get to work I have another can of worms on my (home office) desk and the daughter that is back home, April, has left me a note to wake her when arrive at my usually first destination of the morn. This cannot be a good sign, as it usually isn't. Of course, not she has a flat tire, well change it, duh... I don't have a spare...?? Ok, so going to try to get off work early to get this child a tire, literally she and dom called all over Albany looking for a used tire. NO good, they said no one has one. So, pppppwwwweeeehhh, pppppweeehh, pweeeehh this is my blowing noise of my superman (women) costume when me or the husband, set out to save one of the children... It is a small inside and very funny joke between us, the other starts blowing up the costume and of course we bust out in a riot usually. Well he wasn't here to blow up my costume today, so I had the moral support of Dom, the baby daddy, as April refers to him, I am not sure what to call him yet, son, son in law... I just don't know, so we leave it alone for now.. Back to my rant, so the purpose of this tire story too, is April is "grown" well, you know she is 19 and expecting her own bundle of joy, so you know as grown as you get at this age. Well, my kids and my husband will tell you, I have a very hard time letting grown children be grown! So of course I called and found a tire in Albany. Well, here's what I mean, so this is the SECOND tire that has been replaced on this car, WHY? Well you guessed it, this uproar I'm in today, I'm gonna tell you. So April and Dom was in a car wreck some 30-45 days or so ago, she went to the adjustors and got a quote, well they gave her some money, she spent the money, car still broke.. HMMM, maybe it isn't cosmetic, maybe its something serious like the looks of a bent axle? I ask he about fixing it? They want some money, it wasn't her fault, hmmm things still aren't adding up.. Let MOM, call! Yep, So the body shop is telling me that she owes them $500, WHAT are you kidding. Nope, I call USAA, tell them the story, guy on phone scratching his head I am sure. Yea, isn't understanding either.. THE INSURANCE COMPANY isn't understanding... Something isn't adding up. Well, no that supermom is on the scene, guess what... YEP, April is pissed at mom, but the car will be fixed. Tomorrow we are off to the body shop, this time Mom is going.
So, obviously the moon is full tonite and I just needed to fuss. But on a side note I have some good news in the "adventure".
Hubby finished his "computer based training" modules and was advised he was being picked up by a owner- operator trainer either late tonite or early tomorrow, he is waiting on truck to be fixed at the teriminal at present. While he has been there, he as been learning lots of stuff, like why are all these people here still, no trainer? Not totally, they didn't finish there CBT's or like a female that is there, she has no available female. Huumm, thats not good for me in the very near future. Maybe my husband will have to train me. He has been getting me prepared, like bring breakfast and lunch because although they offer both, he knows I will not eat mystery meat sandwiches or hot dogs or most everything he has seen and eaten. He has eaten bugs before, so mystery meat sandwiches are nothing to him!
So another, sight into a memoir.. and hopefully a chuckle or two at our expense!! A day in the life...

Saturday, May 11, 2013

It's Officially, Official!!!

Two days ago the husband and I set out bound for Atlanta with the newest adventures in mind! Text messages this AM, confirmed all the hard work will have surely paid off.. Of course in weekly increments. Werner and husband are now one, and I couldn't be a happier girl, of course the bill collectors will be a tad happier!

What some would say as a nitemare in the making, as we made our way up to Atlanta on Thursday was, as we see all the Werner trucks at the hotel and people, lots of people standing around smoking. Unlike any hotel I have ever seen, course it could have been that we are not the BIG city kind of folks and generally do not like people that much to just hang out. We really didn't know what we was getting into. This company sends you a preemployment offer, hell we was thinking the offer was on our end. AS it turns out we was wrong the offer was on their end, after they get you up there and look you over with a microscope, then they determine if your Werner Worthy and you either get a STAY/ HOLD or your HIRED!! My husband proudly accepted the your HIRED badge today!

So we have had alot of officially the adventure begins today... BUT this time its really Officially, Official! He is supposed to be picked up by a trainer on Tuesday AM, fingers crossed and tons of prayers that it really happens that way. As I am anxious to get his phone of his happenings as each day passes.

The pups and I are sad to have to sleep alone, but they had no problem keeping me on my side of the bed last nite. We are in hopes that the tons of paperwork piled on my desk from KSU and VA will surely keep me busy for the month of May, not counting my regular work schedule, as I am still training to which I am sure is my replacement! It is all good, plan B is in full effect!

Fingers crossed still, that all works out and by the end of the year our dream of relocating to North Georgia in the mountains will be a reality! Until then, back to reality of what the northern family would say as "flatlander" living!!

Saturday, May 4, 2013

The adventures of....

I think the title should say Chasity & Christian's newest adventures/ blog, as I log in and it says only my name. Not really fair to my husband because without him, there would be no us!
Today was a HUGE success, actually worth getting out of bed for! My husband, Christian had his driving test in Columbus with DOT. This is HUGE, due to in fact we cannot start our next adventure without this part. He has accepted employment (for as much as accepted gets without being there yet) he leaves May 13th for HOTLANTA and will be gone for 2 months, give or take training. From there you will be living vicariously... I say that with the deepest love in my heart, we have facebook friends whom have told us, they love to read what we are doing on facebook, where we are going and what we are up to next. As facebook has alot of our friends, I think it has some of our enemies, drama kings and queens who just like to be in our business. SO, with this blog, I invite all who want to follow us on our adventures to please do so... We openly accept all types of friends!! & frenemies!!
So as you will see my posts and within my posts are just as random as my thoughts in my brain. Probably more than anything this blog will accomplish is so I am able to re read back through it in future years to tell the stories, I want to tell but have long forgot due to my senility. I have a story to tell about that, our current neighbor, I will call him Mr Jack- NO LIE, upon introduction of meeting this ole man he introduces him self and his wife and tells his age as 76, then as the introduction goes on he tells us he is 74 and it changes again quickly and says "well I have had a stroke or 2" so "I don't really know how old I am" so not to fault an ole man, everyday without fail he brings his dogs into our front yard to take a shit, of course out our front window we can watch him and the dogs. He frequently wanders around our side of the house with his dogs, initially we often wondered and talked between ourselves about it and how it aggravated us. Until one day, as we are too in our front yard and his dogs wander over to take care of business, as he has trained them to do, he yells at the dogs and demands them back to his yard and isn't understanding why they would be in our yard. Well lets see.... scratching our heads... we used to pick (between ourselves) but we have decided it, that we are not getting any younger and I often ask my husband, "who are you, what are you doing...? huumm, what... shiny..." we have decided that this blog is a great idea to tell what ever we want, while we still can train our dogs to shit in our own backyard!
I told you all of that to tell you, that Christian has permission to post as he is out on the road and update US, on his adventures while I am still here on the homefront for a "bit"..So more on this recent adventure undertaking and it coming abouts..
Did I say that we BOTH had original plans for nursing school and upon graduation of nursing school, we were planning to travel the country as traveling nurses... that is how we met originally, I was traveling in Vermont and he was a correctional officer II in the prison I was sent to. That should be its own blog all itself... I should name it, KARMA, there is an untold story there as well.. But back to the current blog, so Plan B was that if we didn't make it through nursing school our other option to continue to travel was to go to truck driving school and travel that way.
Well, you guessed it... one of us didn't make it.. actually both of us. After Christian what they call double D'd out, which means he cannot progress on for another 5 years. He pursued me to continue on, and I did for another semester. But my heart wasn't in it. I did not want to do this without him, that was not our original plans.
Hell, if you knew we do ALMOST everything together. Like that time in New Hampshire, I always wanted a purple motorcycle after my first graduation in nursing school as an LPN, I always said once I got through that (and it was complete HELL) I would have a purple motorcycle. Two small problems, I had never driven my own motorcycle and after graduating nursing school then, I had married an idiot who said I would kill myself on it and he would never agree to me buying a motorcycle. Good thing, I divorced his ass. So as Christian and I was dating, we drove down to Manchester, that was the nearest "happening place" in New England from where we both lived and we happened into a motorcycle shop, and we mingled around and looked at some stuff... I'm really not sure why on earth we was in there, but of course I said "yea, I would really love to have a purple motorcycle", well long story short, we ended up buying a purple motorcycle that day and a white one too!! So for the man who won my heart, taught me to ride a motorcycle too. And so the adventure... BEGAN
Our motto was while we was dating... this isn't JUST a relationship, its an adventure. The same holds true only now we say marriage!

Monday, April 29, 2013

Typical Day, NEVER!

I am determined to continue to update this blog, I may think it will possibly kill me. Today is looking like one of those days. The eve of finals for both the husband and I. I have an Adult Health I and Abnormal Psychology exam in am and the husband has his driving exam for Georgia Driving Academy. The timing for the updated blog couldn't have come at a better time as we embark on our next, newest adventure + change of career and academia!
April and Dominique had baby appointment #3 and we was hoping for a sex of the 3rd grandchild. No luck today the lil booger was being stubborn and would have none of it. So we hope and wait unitl next month, all else fails we will know for definite approximately the first week of October!
So on the eve of finals, I was hoping for some down time at work (I usually skate out before 2pm when encountering downtime) of course of all days.... We have a nurse break her leg and going to be out for some time....??? As if we had a nurse to spare..
Home late, ATI and Evolve stuff to post to discussion boards... Just in time, I ran outta wine! Good thing I got all of those posted just moments before.
All the while in the midst, Kennesaw Admissions called to check on me!! Yeaa, they were calling to congratulate me on acceptance to the Sociology Program and see if I had any questions prior to registering, boy did she get an earfull of questions.... of course the bottle of wine helped bring them out! I bet she was wondering why she hadn't called sooner..

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Purposed beginning?

Okay, Wheeew it took way too much effort to get here today! I had a blog spot some time back when we had a business and thought it a good way to keep up with my online efforts. To my demise, for the life of me I obviously had way too many email address and passwords to keep up with. So here we go trying to start all over again. Some people would consider me techy. Today isn't one of those days. I actually phoned Verizon trying to get some information on "tablets", how they work and what to they actually do that my smart phone or computer cannot? That was an interesting conversation!

So the reasoning for this "blog" as the last one, I never was able to keep up with is... Someone once told me, of course after telling them a short tidbit of my life story-history, was to write a book! HA, I have no desire to write a book but, I could easily see my self posting to this blog on a regular basis to share with my children and grandchildren some memoirs as time goes by! And boy does the time sure fly!

I find that this "clipping" couldn't have come at a better time, as my husband and I are about to embark on on a new challenge and change of careers. We have heard lots of negative comments about leaving the fields of nursing and security to challenge over the road truck driving and we of course are super excited, others on the other hand are not. We have simply not gotten this far in life by living what others feel we should be doing. Although we might have been what others seem to call more stable, ahh to hell with that, "lets feed the cat another goldfish" as my husband would say!