Little to no time...

So you know what people that are already too busy do? They get second jobs, or in my case 14th jobs. On top of Verizon, Wishing Wells, Briargate Wellness Center and being the commander of this house I am now gainfully employed by a company called Support Space. They are online and over the phone tech support that companies can use to out source their calls. Currently Support Space's largest client is Geek Squad and who most all calls are routed from. Let me just say this...through a GIANT smile on my face...any one reading this blog right now is computer literate and while you may not think you are, trust me, you are. I spent just over an hour yesterday on the phone with a lady trying to get her to type in a web page address. Just that...just a web page. Bottom line though Verizon is having more layoffs and while I am as optimistic as I always am I would like to have something in the background if I needed it. It would be extremely hard for me to do phone support all the time rather than the kush life I am used to with being a lead engineer, but it's easier than hunting our own food. Helen has a good time laughing at me as I lay my head on my desk and say no ma'am I still don't think you are typing in exactly what I am saying. I'll probably end up drinking more but again it's easier than hunting our own food which is about where we would be if we didn't have my paycheck. I make commission on every call I take and pretty much the instant I go live I am routed someone and then let the hilarity of the situation unfold. :-) So if anyone ever needs tech support you can just click on this link and find me...crazy huh?

http://www.supportspace.com/support/expert/crystalwells

Peas aren't that bad after all...

Someone has decided that peas aren't half bad after all. :-)

The Plane

A picture of the plane Joe took his instruction in.

Look who can fly!

For Joe's birthday I got him an intro to flight lesson. Here a couple of pictures from his flight this morning! I am stoked just looking at the pictures...it looks so freaking COOL!

Joe and his instructor pilot.

The view while flying over Colorado Springs!

Presents and Peas

We held our annual Thanksgiving Dinner and Toy Drive this last weekend. I am super excited to have collected over 40 toys just as we always do. I read in the newspaper that times are so tough this year that our local hospital that runs a toy drive is begging for toys, last year they brought in over $137,000 worth of toys and this year they are only at $7,000. We dropped them off to the Safe House which was ecstatic about the load and I know they will go to families that wouldn't otherwise get shiny new Barbies. :-)

Here's our stack...well after Austin dug through it some. ;-)

We started feeding Lil' Bit rice cereal before Mexico and thought everything was fine but then one day down there she ate, went and took a nap and an hour later woke up puking everywhere. That horrible little kid puke where they cry in between each gag. :-( So we cut out rice cereal down there thinking that perhaps we overfed her or something was wrong with that particular rice. We got home and fed her new cereal and the same thing happened an hour or so later. Did some research and she either has an allergy to rice (highly unlikely since it is so rare) or her system is super sensitive to new foods. We have been making baby food from scratch and feeding her just a few tablespoons of different types of veggies, so far she hasn't reacted like that again but it took at few weeks for her to get sick from the rice so we will have to wait and see. I took this video last night of her first experience with peas...it was just too cute.

Poor Sister

I was brushing Lil' Bit's hair trying to get rid of some of her cradle cap when Austin asked what I was doing. I explained what I was doing and how I was helping sister. Austin at this point shook her head and stated "Poor sister has crabs." I about died laughing.

We've been attempting to get settled back in from all the traveling although I still haven't put up our suitcases. The girls were exactly how they should be on a trip but that sure is challenging for us parents. Austin has this new venom side of her personality where she will scream at you generally some kind of command followed by a low growl. Both of these make me want to smack her in the mouth but since in the fight or flight spectrum she is definitely a fighter I have taken to calmly telling her that she is not allowed to speak to me like that and placing her in timeout. Who's know if it will work, all I know is that what we were doing wasn't working. This new found zen approach gets me some pretty hilarious looks at stores, like yesterday when she was taking off her boots, throwing stuff out of the cart and screaming at me through Walmart. I am pretty sure everyone watching was just waiting for me to hit her...half with their cell phones dialed for social services and the other half (obviously parents themselves) hoping that I would do so. Like I always say this parenting thing is a crap shoot.