I'm at the library and I don't have a lot of time left on my session, but thought I'd leave a quick post.

Trying to get unemployment benefits is a real royal pain in the butt! First off, they need to know about the pension benefits and I guess they subtract any benefits you receive!....so basically, any unemployment benefits ya might get will not be extra money. Then you have to put a resume in on this website, which is what I am here doing for my husband now. Then he has to drive somewhere in this bad Detroit area to go to this place where he has to have everything confirmed or something. And they want to know if there is any vacation pay...any severance pay....Crap....I really doubt if we are going to be getting anything from those bastards. I figure my husband has put in 18 years and gets laid off one year before he can collect a full pension and full social security benefits, so they OWEhim a lousy 26 weeks of unemployment....and he should not have to look for work either!

So now we have all these forms to fill out....health insurance crap...pension crap...etc. He got a check last week and here I'm thinking it was going to be a regular 2 week check, thinking that they held back two weeks at the beginning....and NOPE, it's for the extra 3 days he worked before he got laid off....like Nov 1, 2, 3. They still owe him 5 days of vacation pay....and the severance check. Eventually we'll get everything straightened out....but it's going to be a major cut finances, that's for sure.

Thanksgiving is coming and I do NOT want to do Thanksgiving. I want to go to Caseville and eat out. I don't think hubby wants to do anything. So I have no clue what the hell we are doing. I just know I do not want to cook this year. To hell with it. And I'm still sick with this blasted cold.....

Is this what they call the "golden years"?????

I knew I was "great" at something.....

My cold is worse! It just won't go away. I'm only out and about cause I needed to go to the bank and order a birth certificate online for my son. He says he will need it for the army (I don't want to give him my one and only one), and also he and his girlfriend will get married before he ships out....that way she will be entitled to monthly money. Well, at least they will be married now.

The only thing worth reporting is that I recently found out that I am a great-grandmother! My oldest son has a son from a previous relationship many years ago. My grandson would be 24 now. We haven't seen him since he was 16. Anyway, my son found his "myspace" website with pictures and he has a picture of a little girl about 5 or 6 years old that he refers to as "my daughter"....her name is Kiaya. I was a very young grandmother and now a very young great-granny...haha. It's too bad my mother never knew she was a great-great grandmother before she died. Nobody bothered to let us know.

So that's it for now...

Oops, forgot something....

SATURDAY WAS ONE FULL YEAR OF NOT SMOKING!!!! THREE CHEERS FOR MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

I'm still raking up leaves and decided to take a break. My husband has some papers he needs to sign and send off to his former employer and I am here at the library making copies. Besides, he likes having a few hours to himself now that he is home all day. Yesterday I was suppose to go to the gym and work out and instead I hit the mall and did Xmas shopping for 4 hours.

I finally did a system recovery on my computer at home. After taking months and months of saving things and printing stuff out..... after I did the two recovery disks, all my shit is still there! I didn't lose anything....not a file, not a picture....and even my songs are still there. So does my computer run better??...don't know yet for sure until I hook back up to the internet, but I do know that my CD ROM works now and before it didn't. Before whenever I put in a disk, I got a blue error screen...every time; so now I put in a disk of pictures and the pictures show up on the screen....cool!

Over the weekend, I went to my son's house and he filled me in on his "army" plans. He is leaving Jan 10 for South Carolina for his basic training....then on to Virginia for his Airborne training....then to Georgia. I'm just not going to think about it....I'll deal with it later....

Then Saturday night I went out with my girlfriend. I am still battling this "terminator" cold, as they are calling it....and felt like crap....so I didn't stay out real late.

Sunday, my hubby and I went to my youngest son's house. He bought new carpet and a new TV and wanted us to see it. The TV is great....like 50" and mounted on his wall. He has a great surround sound system hooked up and he put in a movie and blasted our eardrums...haha

I don't want to do Thanksgiving this year. I want to go to Caseville instead, so I'm trying to get the damn leaves raked up so we can go. I HATE TREES!!

OH, yesterday was my little dog's birthday.....she is 7 years old. We had cupcakes and ice cream and she and Lucky had dog treats. So now our house is full of seniors...hahaha

Such is life.....

Okay, so officially my husband is not working anymore. He got laid off last Friday. Not sure what to do now. This is all new to me. He will put in for his pension, I guess.....and social security....and the medical benefits thing is still confusing. I guess we have no dental now. Also, he is filing for unemployment. And there is severance pay....so guess we won't starve.

I got home from Caseville Wednesday. Had a doctor's appointment Thursday. My bone density test results came back and I have osteoporosis in my left hip and Doc wants me to try taking Boniva.

Next Tuesday I have jury duty downtown Detroit.....a real fun place to drive to and park. With my luck, I'll probably get on some year-long trial.

My son has been sworn in with the U.S. Army and will probably ship out in January.

I have a whole back yard of leaves I am trying to rake up while my husband lays on the couch.....he hasn't shaved in a week.

I get up in the morning and instead of having the house to myself, hubby is there sitting on the couch reading the newspaper.....oh well, such is retired life.

I am tring to do a system recovery on my computer at home and getting nowhere. My comp is so fucked up I can't even do a recovery on it. I'll probably have to take it in somewhere.

Later...........I have to go buy more leaf bags.....

Oh, and one more thing.....

My husband said that only 40 people volunteered to leave and so far the company hasn't laid anyone off yet as they threatened to do by 10/20. So he's still working, but taking it a day at a time. I think today is the anniversary of when he started so at least he is getting his 18 years in. But basically, if they lay him off, he will retire.....if not, he CLAIMS he will retire by April 1....so either way, retirement is definitely in the picture.

I've been talking to a lot of people about this health insurance crap and it is just astounding what I am hearing. It is NOT cheap...

ciao....

Happy November....

So what's been going on since the last I posted?? Well, first off the Tigers lost the World Series, but they are still a super team with great players. They just had too much time off and were a bit off their game. It's been a long season. I'm hoping that they play just as well next season and that the fans show up and give them lots of support. It is too bad that the fans only show up when they are on top and abandom them when they don't play so well. My father said to always support your team no matter what, and I remember him saying that you NEVER boo your own team no matter what they do.

So what else?? I've been here in Caseville for a week now. I thought my girlfriend was going to be in Florida with her daughter while I was here, but I got a call from her that she cancelled her trip and is here. Yesterday we went to this antique store in Cass City and went to this cement place that sells those big cement lawn statues....why, I have no idea...it is November and who the hell cares about lawn statues NOW....it was freezing yesterday. The weather has been cold.

Last Saturday they had Karouke at the Eagles so I went up there and partied. Halloween night they served Boo Stew....scary stuff....haha

This weekend is the Holly Berry Fair in Caseville, so there will be craft shows going on and a cookie walk at the stores. I'll leave next week to go home. I have a doctor's appointment. I had a bone density test done and she just wants to talk to me about the results. I'm suppose to be taking Fosamax, but I stopped taking those damn pills cause of the side effects, and I told her I will NOT take it. I'm tired of taking unnecessary medications just to make some pharmaceutical company richer....I'm not putting those chemicals into my body unless it is for a life-threatening problem. Nobody in my family has ever had osteoporosis so I am not a risk for it, and some bone thinning is normal as you get older, just like grey hair.....I will not be intimidated into taking medication I don't need!

Then I got a jury summons! I have to go Nov 14....and it's at the main court in downtown Detroit....a real pain in the ass to get to and park....yuk!

I'm typing at this store in Caseville and it's noisy here so I'm siging off....