well, its been since may that i updated, and not much has changed.  i've looked for jobs..probably not hard enough.  the problem is finding a job with benefits that pays anywhere near what i get paid.  not that i get paid tons, but i definitely can't afford a pay cut.  and i have so many bills right now that i will probably have to stay at dq part time anyway, which will make them very happy.  i got offered a job, but its in jeff city and i don't really want to move.  if i take that job it will mean i'm moving long term, and possibly forever.  joe can't move away from his children, and so that would mean i would not only be moving from my life here, but throwing away a 2 year relationship with someone i love and hope to marry someday.  i didn't apply for this job, it just fell in my lap and actually has been trying for at least a year now.  its still at a dq (which to tell you the truth i don't mind the place, i just don't necessarily like the people i work with now) and i can make more than twice what i make now + benefits.  sounds perfect right....and i even have an old friend from highschool that lives there and is looking for a roomate.  plus, scott cooper, who used to be the youth minister at carterville is now a minister in jeff city...and i love that man.  but in all truth, i'd rather be struggling in the money department and with the man i love than have all the money in the world and be without him.  i have told my boss that i will be here until oct.  so towards the end of september i will be putting my job search on double time. 

enough about work.  things with joe are good.  we had a bit of a rocky month in july, but things are much better now.  i've never had someone that i can talk things out with, and i have that in him.  he works at sams now, selling cell phones.  i guess he loves that business.  but there is very good chance for advancement there. 

his kids are good, and cuter than ever.  they just keep growing.  and they are getting so good at forming sentences and talking clearer.  they LOVE to talk and the LOVE to tell stories.  they have the most amazing imaginations. 

other than that i don't know what to tell ya.  hope everything is well out there!

meri

well...i went home last weekend for mothers day.  had a good time.  last year my grandmother died on mother's day, so it was a tough one this year.  i felt bad for my mom...who had to deal with her first mother's day without a mom and it being a year since her death all at once.  i felt like i couldn't do anything to console her.  but i know these things take time, and i know my mom is just fine and it is completely natural to miss your mom, especially only a year later. 

anyways.  on the way back my car gave out on me again.  apparently the battery i put in it was bad.  luckily i got a new one for free.  and actually it was one that cost less, so i got $10 back.  yay!  and thanks to AAA i didn't have to pay an arm and a leg to get it towed.  so it could have definitely been worse.  hopefully this is the end of my car problems. 

on another good note...i'm in the process of getting back in school.  something i've thought about doing for a long time.  i had decided that if the jobs i applied for didn't work out, this would be the time to go...and i found out yesterday that the last one i had hoped for didn't work out.  so....here we go.  i'm planning on going to MSSU for psychology.  something i've actually wanted to do for a long time, and i just found out this weekend that that is what a lot of people who know me well also thought i should go into....if only they had told me sooner.  well, anyways, if they had i probably wouldn't have gone until now anyway.  so everything happens in its own time.  especially since now i am officially off my parents taxes, and i make not so much money, so that means i can get quite a bit of my school paid for...and that means less stress for me.  i'm excited, and very motivated at the moment, so hopefully that feeling will stay.  you guys should help me out with the motivation part...cause i'm not so good at that myself.  anyways, it feels good to be looking at my future and seeing a rainbow...it may not be the end of the rainbow yet, but at least the path is in sight. 

well, i'm headed to bed.  DQ has been crazy busy lately, and i need as much sleep as i can get if i want my crew members to continue claiming me as their favorite manager.

goodnight...love you guys.

yeah yeah yeah...i haven't been on here in a while.  mostly cause nothing much has changed. 

i had an interview at galena highschool a couple weeks ago...probably won't hear anything until after their board meeting on the 14th...you should keep that in your prayers.

still working at dq until then.  our other shift leader quit, so there's just three of us that can run the store.  kind of stinks, but i'm used to stuff like that.  and it will pretty much gaurantee hours...so yay.

joe got a job, working at the mall.  and he hopefully has a few more possibilities also.  so things are looking up all around.

going home for mother's day weekend.  it will be a year since grandma went to heaven, so it will be an emotional one.  my mom's first mother's day without her mom.  i can't imagine being in her shoes.  but i'm glad i get to be there for her.

hoping to get at least one trip lined out for the summer.  maybe just to st. louis again (that one will happen no matter what...gotta get at least one cardinals game in).  hopefully i'll get a trip lined out to cali to see my kelly.  i miss that girl like no other.  have two weddings already...but only in one, thats a relief.  and they are both in june...gettin those done early.  hopefully i'll have a pretty eventful summer.  gonna help joe's parents set up their house, hopefully gonna have a rumage sale also....good for me, cause i have a lot of crap i need to get rid of.  and i'll hopefully get to spend a lot of time with joe and his kids...cause i like those kids.  and of course, time with friends i don't get to see that often.

i got my hair dyed the other day...its pretty freakin sweet.  i hadn't done anything different in a while, and its quite different.  hopefully i'll get a pic on here soon.

well, thats about it folks.  love ya!

meri