Darrell kills me. He cannot stand up to his family for anything. I guess he's just conditioned not to, he's put up with shit from them his whole life. He took in a job at the shop the other day; he actually had two jobs lined up: a transmission replacement and an overhaul. The labor on the first was $1700 and the labor on the second was a little less, but still over $1000. He'd get 60% of each of those amounts. He got the transmission almost out on the first day, before lunch even. He was going to set it out when he got back and then start on the overhaul while he waited for parts. We get back to the shop after lunch that day and what happened? Danny (his brother) had already taken the overhaul job inside and started on it! WTF?? We really needed that money, and aside from that, it was Darrell's job to do. Danny was even already working on something (not waiting on parts but actively working on it), and he pulled it outside to start on the overhaul.

Darrell was highly pissed but of course he didn't say anything! He lets Danny get away with shit like this all the damn time. He lets Danny tell him what job to start on, etc. when there is no 'boss' at the shop, everyone is technically working for themself. There's more, but I don't feel like typing it all out. Darrell was complaining about it again today and I just told him 'He's going to treat you like that as long as you let him'. I think, and I've told him this, that Danny would completely back down if Darrell told him what's what. I've seen people like that, Danny talks big when the person he's talking about isn't around to hear it. He NEVER says anything to people's faces, he won't confront. (on a related note, Darrell's whole family is like that, actually) I told Darrell if he would just tell Danny to lay off and STFU, he'd stop with the bullshit. But in the end, it's Darrell's decision, he'll have to take all he can take and then go off. He's been putting up with this same bullshit since his dad started the business in 1991, so I don't know if I see that happening anytime soon. :/

Ah, Monday again. Except today the kids aren't in school. It's President's Day, ya know, and kids need to be home to celebrate the presidents? Hee. Oh well, I didn't have to get up early this morning, so I'm okay. Hunter went back to work with Darrell after lunch, and Shelby's napping now, so all is quiet. We'll see how long that lasts, of course. :)

We actually got snow yesterday. Crazy, huh? I heard it sleeting around 2 AM Saturday night - Sunday morning, but it sounded like it changed to rain. We woke up on Sunday and I thought I still heard rain. We looked out the window and there was a good inch of snow. It just kept coming like crazy, and we ended up with about 6" total before lunch. Hunter and Mackenzie went out to play in it several times, they loved it. Darrell and I took Shelby out around 10, it was still snowing pretty hard. She had a hard time walking around in it. She was wearing snow boots that she'd never worn before (thanks, Chris!), and the snow was pretty deep for someone her size. It was very wet and heavy too. A lot of it is still out there today. I wonder if there will be school tomorrow. Most of the main roads are pretty clear, but the backroads may not be. If a certain number of kids can't get to school because of bad roads, they just call school off completely. Or if the buses can't get around safely. I'll check the news website later.

I hope they go, because I have a Dr. appointment tomorrow. My OB's office called and asked if I could come in at 9:30 instead of 1:00. Which is great, actually. I can pick the kids up from school (if they go) instead of my Mom having to do it, and I won't have to cut Darrell's lunch short to get there in time. My friend Chastity is going to ride up there with me. I'm glad, I don't know where this place is, and I don't want to get lost by myself. LOL I'm glad to be starting my OB visits. It seems like forever ago that I found out about the pregnancy. It's been 3 weeks, but seems like much longer. At the end of next week, I'll be entering my second trimester. Amazing.

In the next few weeks, I have to get the kids some summer clothes on layaway. I'm also going to hit some of the secondhand stores and see what they have that's in good shape. They'll all need new tennis shoes and new sandals, which I don't buy used. I need to have Hunter try on the shorts from last summer and see if he can wear any of them. I think he's ready for a size 10, and all those shorts are 8s. Mackenzie will still fit into her stuff, I'll just have to see how much she has and what she still needs. Shelby has nothing for summer, so we're starting from scratch with her. I can get lots of the Garanimals shirts and shorts sets for $2.88 each piece. Add in a few pairs of jean shorts and she'll be fine. After I get those clothes bought, I'm going to start layaway-ing baby things. Things that I can buy far in advance like some diapers, sleepers, onesies, socks, towels/washcloths etc. The crib I want is $128 at Wal-Mart, it converts to a toddler bed and has the trundle underneath. Very cute. I'll probably look at consignment shops and yard sales this summer for things like swing, bouncy seat, etc. I don't mind buying some things used, as long as they're in good shape. I've got to make a list of everything we've got to have, and put the less urgent stuff on the end. Some things we can't do without, like a crib, carseat, diapers, etc. Things like a highchair we won't use right away anyway, so I'll buy them last.

Well, I have had one hell of a time the past week. Hunter did indeed come down with what the girls had, only worse. My UTI got extremely worse until I went to the Dr. Then Shelby got "re" sick, puking all night, then came my turn. I am still recovering from being sick yesterday. I will never be so glad to see winter go. We never get sick like this, and it sucks ass in a big way.

I never could get ahold of my previous OB, so I ended up calling a new one. I have an appointment on Tuesday (the 17th). I'm looking forward to getting my visits started. I am almost 11 weeks pregnant now, so almost finished with my first trimester. Amazing how fast it goes. I've started making a list of things we need so I can start buying them. I've also got to get started van shopping. I need to ask Darrell what he wants to do. He said he wanted me to handle that stuff, but I don't know if he wants to get a new van, or a nice used one. It doesn't matter to me, but I do have some requirements. #1, the seats have to have headrests, all of them. Hunter is almost out of his booster, and he'll need a headrest. Also, the kids can both just use their seats without the backs if we had headrests. #2, I want both sides to have doors. The sliding doors, I mean. #3, the seatbelts must lock. This is somewhat negotiable, since both the FPSE and the Marathon I'm buying Shelby have built-in lockoffs, so I won't have to use locking clips. On the other hand, the infant seat I'm planning on (Graco Snugride) will not have lock-offs, and locking clips are a huge pain in the ass. I'd also like to be able to lock the seatbelt on Mackenzie, so she can't lean all over the place.

My house is a wreck again. I got it all clean on Monday, bathrooms, laundry caught up, etc. etc. On Tuesday I vacuumed and mopped the kitchen floor. Wednesday I didn't have much to do aside from a load of laundry. Then I was sick yesterday and the house went to hell. If I don't keep up on the house every single day, it just goes poof. This weekend I hope it's nice, so I can open the windows and air out the place. I'm going to wash all the bedding, and Lysol every surface. These germs are going down! LOL

I've been considering buying some stuff wholesale and opening an eBay store. I'm not totally sure on this yet, it's just a thought that's come into my mind. I know a girl that did this, so I'm going to talk to her and see how hard it is, what kind of profit there is, etc. I want to make sure it's worth my time and investment before I begin. I'm going to try to hit some yard sales this spring and summer and buy things to resell on eBay. I was going to do that last year and I just never got around to it. Brand name children's clothes sell pretty well. I would really like to open a junk store. Those are really popular in my area. They are essentially a yard sale in a store. We used to have a lot of them in town, but now we don't have many. I'd love to own one, maybe one day...

I'm depressed. I've got a UTI, which sucks all by itself. On top of that I feel crappy all the time. I am barely keeping up with my housework, no scratch that, I'm not keeping up with my housework. The house is a disaster, and everytime I get a burst of energy to do something, it doesn't last long enough for me to get it all done. The kids are sick, Hunter's coming down with what the girls have and Darrell's been puny all week too. He's got a toothache, but of course we don't have the money for him to go to the dentist. We have so much to do and buy before the baby's born, and it just seems impossible. We have to get a bigger vehicle, we have to get a bigger house. I have all the baby stuff to re-buy. The kids and Darrell and I are all going to need summer clothes soon. We usually buy them with the income tax returns, but since we have to pay in this year that's not possible. I've been having some slight spotting today, I believe it's due to the UTI though. I just feel like all this stuff is on us now, even though rationally I know it's not and we do have time. But I just feel like crawling into bed and having a good cry. I can't though, because anytime I complain about household stuff I hurt Darrell's feelings. He thinks I'm putting down his ability to provide for us, etc. Or at least I think that's how he feels.

I'm gonna go take a shower.