Just a quick note...
Wanted to update my LJ since I haven't done so in many moons. So here goes. Lucas is 2 today, and he LOVES opening presents. Don't leave a gift bag near him. He'll take everything out and move on to the next conquest. The cake was much neater this time. Cupcakes > *
Meghan is eight months old (almost) and she is much tougher than Lucas. She tackles him, takes toys from him, and can pull him down to the ground. She can climb, stand, and crawl long distances. Lucas is walking now of course, but he won't move unless he has to. He is me, and Meghan is Amy. Amazing, we BOTH have mini-mes.
We moved from NSFW to Cleburne back in August. We have this 6 bedroom house with 3 full bathrooms on 8 acres and it came with a TRACTOR!!! So anyway, it costs more to live here but since Amy and I are working full-time, it's all good. More on that in the next paragraph. Since moving here I got my truck stuck in mud, got my tractor stuck in mud trying to free the truck, and almost got my tow truck stuck in mud trying to free both the tractor and the truck but I *DID* get them all out ok. I will no longer drive over where the septic tank gray water line dissipates. Anyway, the house has issues, mostly septic and AC related, but some are fixed and the others will have to wait until Spring. It's all good. We have skads of space and the rooms are huge. We will probably live the rest of our lives in this house, it's that good.
As for work, I am now driving a tow truck and making as much as (if not more than) Amy. It is a labor-intensive and very time-consuming job, but I love it. I work from 8am Sunday morning to 8am Friday morning. Days are busiest, typically I get my first call between 6 and 8am and don't get home until after 5pm, and I get called out in the evenings and overnight, especially every other week when we run calls for the city of Cleburne. But I've made more money in 6 weeks than I made the rest of this year, and until Amy gets overtime at her job again, I'll be averaging more than her and that makes up for her lack of overtime because the last few months with her busy got her 2.5x her normal paycheck working 80hrs/wk.
Uh, and then school, I've been lacking a little bit, missing assignments here and there, and doing poorly on tests. Amy made up for it a bit by helping me out on classes we share, but we fixed the whole problem by buying a pair of new laptops. Gateways, they have Celeron M processors, Vista Home Basic, and a mere 512MB of RAM, but we can upgrade the RAM and Vista is actually pleasant enough to use daily. My fingers still burn as I type on a non-Mac but I'll get over it because $350 would barely buy me a 5-year old Powerbook G4 in running condition. Alex, I'll take "New and Under Warranty" for $350, please! Half off original list, and not the speediest but they do well for what we need. By spring they'll each have 2GB of RAM so they'll run much better. Along with this, we got an account with Wayport so when we're out and about, all we have to do is pull in a McDonald's parking lot and log on. $30 a month for unlimited wireless usage is good enough for me although I am aware there are many free WiFi hotspots in DFW. Not so much in Johnson County so I'll just stick to McD's. I already know which tables in each local McD's has the power outlets and the good reception. Go me.
Thanksgiving and Christmas are still rapidly approaching, and uncomfortably so, so I'm off to find gifts for the missus, a GPS touchscreen thingie for the wife's jellybean car and then a AAA Plus membership since it's worth every penny.
On that note, as a professional tow truck driver, I will say to everyone who reads my LiveJournal, GO GET THE AAA PLUS MEMBERSHIP. It covers jump starts, lockups, tire changes, and towing up to 100 miles. For $100 to start and $80 to renew each year, you only have to need it once to make it worth it. For example, a jump start or tire change will run you $30-$50 from a towing service. A lockout service can run up to $100. Don't tell me you've never locked your keys in your car. A tow can start out at $50 in town but quickly rise into the hundreds if you're far from home. I towed a guy's van from Cresson to Garland, 80-something miles, and had he had to pay for the tow it would have been nearly $300. His AAA card covered it in full. Don't leave home without the AAA card. Now go buy one. 1-800-AAA-HELP.
Meghan is eight months old (almost) and she is much tougher than Lucas. She tackles him, takes toys from him, and can pull him down to the ground. She can climb, stand, and crawl long distances. Lucas is walking now of course, but he won't move unless he has to. He is me, and Meghan is Amy. Amazing, we BOTH have mini-mes.
We moved from NSFW to Cleburne back in August. We have this 6 bedroom house with 3 full bathrooms on 8 acres and it came with a TRACTOR!!! So anyway, it costs more to live here but since Amy and I are working full-time, it's all good. More on that in the next paragraph. Since moving here I got my truck stuck in mud, got my tractor stuck in mud trying to free the truck, and almost got my tow truck stuck in mud trying to free both the tractor and the truck but I *DID* get them all out ok. I will no longer drive over where the septic tank gray water line dissipates. Anyway, the house has issues, mostly septic and AC related, but some are fixed and the others will have to wait until Spring. It's all good. We have skads of space and the rooms are huge. We will probably live the rest of our lives in this house, it's that good.
As for work, I am now driving a tow truck and making as much as (if not more than) Amy. It is a labor-intensive and very time-consuming job, but I love it. I work from 8am Sunday morning to 8am Friday morning. Days are busiest, typically I get my first call between 6 and 8am and don't get home until after 5pm, and I get called out in the evenings and overnight, especially every other week when we run calls for the city of Cleburne. But I've made more money in 6 weeks than I made the rest of this year, and until Amy gets overtime at her job again, I'll be averaging more than her and that makes up for her lack of overtime because the last few months with her busy got her 2.5x her normal paycheck working 80hrs/wk.
Uh, and then school, I've been lacking a little bit, missing assignments here and there, and doing poorly on tests. Amy made up for it a bit by helping me out on classes we share, but we fixed the whole problem by buying a pair of new laptops. Gateways, they have Celeron M processors, Vista Home Basic, and a mere 512MB of RAM, but we can upgrade the RAM and Vista is actually pleasant enough to use daily. My fingers still burn as I type on a non-Mac but I'll get over it because $350 would barely buy me a 5-year old Powerbook G4 in running condition. Alex, I'll take "New and Under Warranty" for $350, please! Half off original list, and not the speediest but they do well for what we need. By spring they'll each have 2GB of RAM so they'll run much better. Along with this, we got an account with Wayport so when we're out and about, all we have to do is pull in a McDonald's parking lot and log on. $30 a month for unlimited wireless usage is good enough for me although I am aware there are many free WiFi hotspots in DFW. Not so much in Johnson County so I'll just stick to McD's. I already know which tables in each local McD's has the power outlets and the good reception. Go me.
Thanksgiving and Christmas are still rapidly approaching, and uncomfortably so, so I'm off to find gifts for the missus, a GPS touchscreen thingie for the wife's jellybean car and then a AAA Plus membership since it's worth every penny.
On that note, as a professional tow truck driver, I will say to everyone who reads my LiveJournal, GO GET THE AAA PLUS MEMBERSHIP. It covers jump starts, lockups, tire changes, and towing up to 100 miles. For $100 to start and $80 to renew each year, you only have to need it once to make it worth it. For example, a jump start or tire change will run you $30-$50 from a towing service. A lockout service can run up to $100. Don't tell me you've never locked your keys in your car. A tow can start out at $50 in town but quickly rise into the hundreds if you're far from home. I towed a guy's van from Cresson to Garland, 80-something miles, and had he had to pay for the tow it would have been nearly $300. His AAA card covered it in full. Don't leave home without the AAA card. Now go buy one. 1-800-AAA-HELP.