Tag: seniors

Deadlines met, more money spent, Senior assassin plans, and work.

Deadlines met, more money spent, Senior assassin plans, and work.

Shel R.2 Comments

You have to have humor in life, right?!

Good morning and let me make you laugh a bit.

I dropped off my little guy at school this morning and as I was driving around the block to drop my daughter off at the high school, she said her friend wanted a ride. I swung around to get her friend and parked in the high school parking lot.

Me: I am absolutely down to look at LIFE 360 and do a drive-by or five on the days that I don’t work.

My daughter started naming her friends, and says, “We can all jump out of the car, do our thing, and jump back in. You’re the get-away driver!”. We laughed about it, and we laughed even more when my daughter’s friend says, “I feel like I’m listening to something I shouldn’t be involved in. I’m out of here!”. Her friend was laughing as she got out of the car, knowing what I was talking about.

We were talking about SENIOR ASSASSIN!

The class of 2026 has been planning it the last few days, taking votes on if they want to do water or gel pellet guns, and my daughter is so excited to be a part of this. 🤣 This is a game played in many states all over the world – where Seniors go around shooting their fellow Senior classmates with either water or gel pellet guns – in order to “assassinate” or eliminate each other.

There are only two rules.

They can’t get each other on school grounds, or – at one of their places of employment.

Anywhere else – is fair game.

They are currently voting on if they should all download LIFE 360, add each other to it, and have fun knowing where certain classmates are – to go get them.

When my daughter went on her Senior class trip a few months ago, she brought herself a very small water gun to have fun with, and I looked at her funny when she said she’s going to use that if they decide on water guns – for Senior assassin. I told her she better let me take her to the store and buy her a couple of huge SUPER SOAKERS! We both laughed and I told her, “Go big or go home!”. 😁

In all seriousness, my daughter hates social situations, and she doesn’t like to be around a lot of people because of her anxiety, so I am so happy she’s excited about this, and plans to participate. I was totally joking about the “getaway driver” thing – (unless other parents are participating as well), and then I’m totally down for it. ha. She’s been talking about it for days now, as all of the Seniors try to figure out what they want to use, when they plan to start it, and how it’s going to go.

We also just turned in all of her Yearbook deadline stuff.

The photo of her when she was little:

This will be in the Yearbook I believe, but also on the screen at graduation as they show the “then and now” photos of the class of 2026.

We turned in her Senior photo she picked for the Yearbook – after taking tons of photos the past few weeks. She and I both loved this one:

She turned in her Senior wills, which says what she’ll leave behind and to whom.

She said she was going to leave her Sassiness to her best friend, Riley – and her Silliness to her good friend, Logan.

She turned in her 10-year prophecy, which is where she sees herself in 10 years, and she said in 10 years, she’ll be saving lives as a Paramedic, living in California – hopefully with a few dogs. 🥰

She also had to turn in a Senior quote that goes under her Senior photo in the yearbook, and as we sat at the kitchen table searching for the perfect quotes or one that she liked, I cried like a baby.

I’m not ready for this! 🥺🤣

We went through many quotes, and each one just made me cry more.

Hers is, “We leave behind a trail of laughter, love, and a little bit of craziness”, and then she added, “Thank you for all the laughs“.

It was cute. It was simple. It works!

With everything turned in and deadlines met finally – I THOUGHT I was finished, but parents of Seniors know – that we are NEVER finished when we think we are. Yearbooks have to be paid for, and class rings have to be picked out and purchased.

Graduation outfits have to be shopped for – be it a tux for the Senior boys, or for us girl parents – dresses.

More money is involved, and it’s never ending – all the way up until graduation day, when we can finally sit back – relax and watch all of our hard work – pay off – as our Seniors walk the final walk – and get their diplomas. ❤️

AND THEN – IT’S MORE MONEY and it doesn’t end there because most of them will go on to college and need all kinds of new things. lol. Are we ready Senior parents?!!!!!!!

So, we’re almost done with Senior year, and all the madness and fun that comes along with it, and I’ve started getting emails for colleges, scholarships, grants, different financial stuff for her when she does go to college. She’s been getting different college packages in the mail as well – with colleges wanting her to come check out their schools.

She has decided on the University of Michigan, but I told her not to limit her choices to just one, and to check out multiple colleges before making any decisions, depending on if she still wants to do Paramedic or not – next year.

*****

My little guy just also had his Christmas concert, and it was only 20 minutes long.

I was surprised because in the recent years, it’s been longer, but it was still cute and fun.

He was one of the dancers, and he danced with a little girl. I wish I could upload videos here, but I would have to upload them to YouTube and grab them from there – and that’s a whole headache. He did a great job, though!

It broke my heart a little because it was his very last Christmas concert at this school, and I believe if all goes well – we’re moving next year, so it’s bitter-sweet to see my daughter almost ready to graduate from this school, and my son do his last concert here.

This school has been wonderful, and it’s sad to leave it, but we’re on to new adventures next year.

*****

As for me, I’ve just been working and enjoying my down time when I can.

I love my job!

Despite working in a facility that houses some of the roughest people and helping them get through some of their toughest times, I enjoy it and anything I can do to put a smile on their faces, or make them feel like someone cares – I’ll do it.

The amazing and popular rapper (Eminem) has a song called “Houdini”, and in the middle of it, he says, “F*** my own kids! They’re brats!”. His daughters are grown now – (one his own and the other two being adopted by him when they were little), and I thought it was the cutest thing when the video shows them on the phone / Facetime – acting shocked when he says that. It was pretty funny.

After that song came out, the internet and TikTok went crazy with his daughter, Hailey Jade – and others doing the sound that says, “I’m like, what’d he say F*** me for?”. It came from 50 cent from what I heard, but everyone used it as a joke to the Houdini song.

So, at work last week – I walked in super early and one of the older guys who live in the facility (Donny) I’ll call him – wanted something he usually gets at 8 AM – earlier. Sometimes, if I’m there early, I don’t see a big deal in giving it to him early because he’s a good guy and he behaves well. Sometimes – if one of our picky lead staff members are there, I just can’t do it. So, on this one day – he was down there, and he was yelling about how he’s tired of being treated like he’s a kid, and he was angry that one lead staff wouldn’t give him what he wanted, so he threw a fit.

He yelled, “F*** ALL OF YOU!”. I was working. My son was working. The one lead staff we try to avoid – was working. Later on, she walked away, and I called him downstairs to get what he was looking for and told him that he knows I always give him what he asks for, as long as I’m there and I can do it. I told him he didn’t need to yell at me when he knows I do what I can for him, and he apologized, so – I made him laugh when I said, “I’m like, what’d he say F*** me for?” – in the same tone TikTok uses for that sound.

We both laughed as he walked away.

We have another guy I’ll call “Bobby”. Bobby can be tough to deal with if he’s not sober, and sometimes he’ll listen, sometimes – he’s just ready to throw insults, punches, whatever he can. When he’s sober, he’s a decent guy to talk to.

At work a few weeks ago, my boss asked me to hand out Christmas wish lists for our tenants to fill out – for things they want for Christmas. Everyone turned theirs in over the last few weeks – except Bobby, so I planned to chase him down a few days ago – to see if he could turn his in. I didn’t have to though, as he came to the front desk and handed me his.

I opened it and it said he didn’t want anything for himself. Just a 1/2 dozen roses for his lady, Mary.

I thought that was the cutest, sweetest thing – but then again, there’s time where one of us staff members have to go break up arguments between him and Mary, and they have this weird, funny Love / hate relationship. Still, they both make me smile when they’re together and they both pick on each other and have their little arguments.

I don’t have favorite tenants, but one of my funniest ones – is a guy I’ll call Tony. He’s hilarious. He’s full of energy and I think I talked about him before. The one who made me my flower vase when I first started at this facility. I forgot what I called him back then, but for this – I’m calling him Tony.

I watch the cameras sometimes, and I’ll see him on one – and then next thing I know – he’s 10 cameras over, and I’m wondering how he got to the other side of the building so fast.

The other day, he had me laughing – as I watched him do laundry for FIVE entire hours. FIVE – because he was taking his sweet time folding his clothes so carefully, hanging them, cleaning the washers and dryers, and doing other things in the laundry room. Trying to fix the sink, picking things up from the floor, cleaning the floor, and things he didn’t go in there to do.

Not to mention that he left his breakfast on the water fountain, and someone else started eating off of his plate, so I had to bring it into the office to hold it for him, while Mr. “Take other people’s food” – walked around looking for where the plate went – that he was stealing off of, and I watched that on the cameras as I giggled to myself.

I love these people.

I’ve grown to know all of them. They’ve grown to know and trust me, and also my son when he’s there on the weekends, and I love working in this facility. Every day brings new laughter, new adventures here, and a lot of times when I’m looking for ways to make their life easier, their days brighter, and joke with them to give them laughter.

They’ve been through a lot!

In a world where society and the town judge them and knows all of the negative things about the people who live in this facility, I like to find the good in all of them, see the positivity they hold, and get to know them on a personal level. My job isn’t just for a paycheck. It’s to show these people that in a world full of hate and judgement, I’m not one of those people who do that. I care.

I will say that I pissed off one of the tenants yesterday and I can cross that off my “to-do” list. lol.

Just kidding. I don’t have a to-do list that states, “Piss of a tenant”, but I thought it was a funny thought.

She was angry that she felt like someone stole her laundry, but upon checking the cameras, I didn’t see anything and asked if she is sure she didn’t grab her laundry on another day and forget. I can honestly say that I was NOT her favorite staff member – as she screamed at me the 4th time she came and told me about her clothes missing, and that someone in the building stole them.

After she screamed at me and walked away, I knew I just had to let it roll off my shoulders, and that it was nothing personal. I knew that I wasn’t the first staff member she had went off on, and I won’t be the last. She’s one of our very much louder tenants, and when I’m at work, I try to be as polite with her as possible, get her whatever she needs, and call it a day.

I’ve learned all of their personalities, their flaws, their likes and dislikes, the ones you can joke with and the ones we kind of just have to say, “What do you need?” – take care of and keep it moving with.

On the plus side, I just found out that one of our other tenants that I’ll call Bryce – knows how to play songs on the Harmonica. That was pretty cool, and while he was a little tipsy yesterday, he knew I had this big project I was working on for my boss, and he stood by the front desk, played songs on the Harmonica, and it was actually nice.

I enjoyed listening to him as I did this project, and it was soothing.

Everyone I deal with there on a daily basis – I have grown to love, care about, and respect because they’re still standing. They still keep going, and they try their best to get through another day – no matter what cards in life they’ve been dealt. ❤️

*****

In other news – my car is an a-hole, and I’ve been trying to see if I can trade it in for a family SUV.

There’s something going on with my throttle, or sensors – whatever I’ve read on it, and I’ll be taking it to the shop next week to see what’s going on. I joked that my car is going to throw me into a brick wall – because it keeps doing this thing where it feels like it wants to accelerate by itself when my foot isn’t even on the gas, and sometimes – it feels like it wants to give up.

I did call a dealer this morning because I used to have a Ford Explorer and I absolutely LOVED IT, so I did tell the guy if one comes in – let me know. He gave me his cell phone number and told me that when I have a down payment ready, to come on in and he’ll take care of me. We ran some numbers, and he asked if I was looking for a Tahoe, Escalade, etc. I did tell him I don’t want anything huge, but I do need something bigger than what I have now, and I am looking to trade in my a-hole car. 😁

Christmas is almost here. I still have to buy gifts from Santa to the little dude, and hopefully early next year, I can trade this car in for something else. Until then – it’s going to keep being an a-hole, and I’m going to keep buying scratch-off tickets and hope I win big on one of them.

haha. Joking.

Love ya!

❤️Shel❤️

Because – Snow.

Because – Snow.

Shel R.1 Comment

I’m beginning to think God has a timer up there, and at 4 PM exactly – every day – it goes off and releases SNOW!

I swear – the last week or so, every day like clockwork, same time – it’s snowing.

Last night was no different. It started snowing as soon as I headed to Target at 4 PM.

It got bad really fast, and the drive home – 30 minutes back to my little itty-bitty town – was awful.

This is the time of year where Minnesota people get to play, “Hey, where’d the lines go?”, or “Am I on the right side of the road?” – depending on what you want to call it. ha.

Today, was a little better – since crews cleared the roads pretty quickly for the AM drivers, and I got to work with no issues.

What I didn’t know – was that more heavy and nasty snow was expected today, but this time – it started around 1 PM or so. We had a meeting at work, and after the meeting, I sat at the front desk – looking out at the snow as it started.

Around 1:20 PM, my boss sat next to me and we were chatting, as I told her my kids are getting out of school early due to the predicted snowstorm getting worse, and my older son was picking them up. She asked if I knew anything about the other schools up by my job closing early, and I told her I just knew the school in our town was letting the kids out early, but that I didn’t have to get them because my son was.

I got the email, the call, and the text for it.

She suddenly said, “Let me go make some calls”. I thought she was going to call and see if schools up that way where I work – were closing early because maybe she knew kids who go there or adults who work in those schools, but 10 minutes later, as I stood in the middle of the office – she came and stood next to me and said, “I called Jayla. She’s coming in early, so you can get out of here. I know you’ve got a long drive back and the roads are getting nasty. I want you to get home safe”. Jayla is one of my younger co-workers, and she came in for me.

I didn’t even ask my boss if I could leave early, but the fact that she thought about me driving all the way back to my little town in this weather and released me early – shows what kind of boss she is and I’m so grateful for her. 😊Another one of my co-workers took off as well, and I believe my boss did some of her work and was planning to leave early herself – since she has a pretty long drive home.

I will say that the ride home wasn’t too bad, and the plows were out doing their jobs, but the fact that I feel “snowed in” – sort of sucks. I wanted to be out and about doing Christmas shopping, and getting some errands done, but it is nice being home relaxing at the same time.

The school is starting two hours late tomorrow if nothing changes, but of course – the kids are praying it just closes.

I’m off the next few days, so I don’t have to worry about traveling.

I thought the snow was going to miss us this year or that we’d have a mild, chill winter because as of late November – we didn’t have much snow, but I guess that’s changing. 🙄

So, I plan to maybe get my little dude off his video games the next few days – for once and go use the sled I got him a while back – that he hasn’t touched. Snow angels? Yes. Snowman? Yes. I want to do it all. Heck – maybe a hot chocolate run and photos by the lake where the beautiful Christmas lights are all up and the area near the lake is all decorated. Why not?!

*****

My daughter and I were there yesterday – where we planned to take some of her Senior photos because the deadline is fast approaching and we have to get these done, and one turned in for the yearbook. We took some really cute ones, but she didn’t like them, so we have to go do them again.

I absolutely love this one:

She does, too! Unfortunately, we need a photo for the yearbook – where she’s looking up, and she didn’t like the ones we took.

It started snowing bad last night, so we just came home and decided to try again this week.

Plus, this was inside one of the decorations, and I’d like to get the outside during dusk – where we could make it a little “nicer”.

Just when I thought we were about to get these Senior photos done, Senior quote, Senior wills, etc. – turn those in and be done with everything, I got an email about the Senior class rings. Those are $400+ depending on designs, etc.

When they say Senior year is expensive – they’re not lying!!!!

******

If you want to giggle though – my daughter has liked this boy that I’ll call “Kyle” – for the longest.

She decided to take Psychology this year just for fun. Maybe not just for fun – because she plans to become an EMT / Paramedic in the future, and sometimes they deal with mental health and things Psych related, so she will probably use what she learns one day.

This boy Kyle joined Psychology recently, and she doesn’t know why because she says all he does is play around, sleep, and doesn’t pay attention.

My daughter actually likes this class, and when she found out a few days ago that this boy Kyle is now dating a girl she used to be friends with, she dropped Psychology. She felt like if this girl joined Psychology to be in class with this Kyle kid – my daughter didn’t want to deal with that.

I thought it was goofy that she was dropping a class because of a boy or some girl he was dating that may or may not join the class, but she said she was going to join the Yearbook committee instead. She gets a free yearbook if she’s on the committee, so I was all for that. One less cost I have to pay. So, I supported her decision to drop Psychology and go be on the yearbook committee if it made her happy, less stressed out over this young man and worrying about his girlfriend joining that class.

I supported her wanting to make the change of classes.

I told her do what she felt she needed to do – even if I thought letting some girl run her out of that class – was insane. The girl hadn’t even joined the class yet, nor did we know if she was going to.

Last night, my daughter was upset that she dropped that class without thinking. She said when she found out Kyle and her old friend were dating, she just felt sick, and didn’t want to see them together if this girl did join the class, but now – she could care less and she feels like she’ll miss Psychology. She said she’s not going to let Kyle or her old friend dating – run her out of a class she loves, and she’s just going to deal with it if this girl joins that class.

After her going back and forth about if she should just stay in Psychology or not – especially after her main teacher switched her to the yearbook committee when she asked the other day – I looked at her last night like:

“You need to make up your mind, kid!”.

She decided to stay in Psych, and I was so proud of her for not letting this boy she likes or the girl now dating him – keep her from a class she truly does love and enjoys learning in.

Today, she told her main teacher she’ll just stay in Psych, and I’m sure she’s driving him crazy, too! Still – he’s amazing with her and he switched her back to Psychology.

I giggled about the whole thing.

I did tell her that when she graduates – she may look back on these few years and wonder what the hell she was thinking when it comes to this kid, Kyle. I told her about some of my crushes back in high school and how I look back now and wonder the same.

People change. Feelings change, and years from now – this boy Kyle and this girl he’s dating now – may not even remember each other’s last names and they may go their own ways after graduation, so I’m truly happy my daughter didn’t let this class go – because of them.

I think it’s good for her and her future career.

Teenagers make me laugh with their little puppy love relationships.

I remember those days back in high school.

Matter of fact – one of my really good friends from high school and I – we were talking the other day about guys we had crushes on in high school, and when she heard I had a crush on this boy Anthony back in high school, she laughed at me and did the whole, “Ewwww. What was wrong with you?” (Shame game). lol. I look back now, and I laugh about it myself.

I found out she had a crush on this one guy we went to high school with, and I did the same. We totally had different taste in our guys, but we laughed about the guys we once crushed on in high school, and I hope my daughter can look back and do the same – with laughter and humor about it.

There is one really good young man at the school that I wouldn’t mind my daughter dating.

I’ll call him “Brandon”.

Brandon has really liked my daughter since she started there in 8th grade, and every time school let out, he’d be outside yelling, “BYE, KAILANI!” – so loud – that everyone heard him and looked at him. Daily. It was the cutest thing and I’d tell her, “Say bye to that boy!”. She never wanted to. 🤣

He still likes her. He still talks to her. I still wish she’d give him a chance.

A few days ago, when she was telling me about this boy she likes – dating her old good friend now, she looked up at the sky and said, “God, if you have another guy up there who is good and will treat me right, please send him my way!”. I laughed and told her, “HE DID!!! YOU KEEP FRIEND ZONING HIM!”.

(I was talking about Brandon).

She’s 17. She’s allowed to date now, as long as it’s the right kind of boy and he treats her right, but I’m also not in a hurry for her to date, and I told her to make sure that her graduation is her main focus. She’s a great kid, and she has all her credits so far, and she’s so close to finishing the last ones she needs – so, I’m not worried. Still, I want her to make dating a last priority.

In other news –

We’re almost through the holidays and Christmas will be here soon.

I’ve been finishing up Christmas shopping for the kids. I’ve been trying to figure out what I’m doing for dinner Christmas day. I’ve been trying to get cute little goody bags together for Elijah’s class and putting together gifts for his teacher. I’ve been trying to save for and plan a trip back home to Illinois for Christmas to see my aunt and uncle, and possibly one of my cousins, his wife and son – at the end of this month.

I can’t wait until Christmas is over and I can sit down with a glass or two of wine – relax and wait until New Years eve to get this year over with.

I’m counting down the days until we can pack up the moving truck, turn over the keys to the apartment we’re in now, and leave this small town.

Will we miss it? Sure. It’s been home for the last 5 years, but it’s not really “home”. Illinois is.

While we don’t want to move back to Chicago, we’ve been looking at some places at lease closer to it.

Closer to civilization, more varieties of stores and food places. Closer to friends and family we left behind when we moved to Minnesota years ago.

I’ve been looking for houses in Wisconsin – close to the Illinois border, and some houses in the suburbs of Illinois.

I think when we move, I’ll most miss the very little traffic we have here. I’ll miss the amazing people I’ve met here in Minnesota. I’ll miss going to have coffee with one of my good friends who I’ve become close to here. I’ll miss the school for sure and everyone in it.

I’ll miss the residents I have gotten close to in the facility I work in.

I’ll miss the beautiful night sky that shows the stars so brightly because there’s no tall buildings and no streetlights to stop them from shining brightly.

I’ll miss all the beautiful lakes.

I’ll miss all the good times we had in this apartment and around Minnesota.

So, yes – I’ll miss this place, but I’m also okay if I never see it again. ha.

I won’t miss how gossip spreads so fast here and how everyone is in each other’s business.

I won’t miss the lack of food spots, or stores. The dead mall where nobody goes anymore.

I won’t miss the 30-minute drives to the nearest bigger city and home, or how everything is miles or hours away.

I won’t miss struggling to not hit the deer on super dark roads with no lights at night.

I won’t miss the snow that falls in October sometimes.

I won’t miss the -30, -45-degree weather.

I won’t miss this building I live in, and all the craziness that comes with it.

I will miss the fact that this is the last place I saw my oldest child alive and well, but other than the things I will miss here – I’m ready to get the hell out of here once my youngest daughter graduates.

ESPECIALLY – for a better chance at my dream career.

I’ve been looking and I’ve found some amazing houses – but who knows if they’ll be available when I’m ready? Part of me wants to try to buy a house in early February / March, so when we’re ready to move, we have somewhere set already, but part of me can’t afford rent and a mortgage.

This economy has me walking around like:

haha.

Seriously though – part of me feels like I need to start investing in something, and part of me feels like this economy is NOT “single mama friendly”.

I trust God, and his plan and that’s all I can do.

Ah. I just felt like writing tonight, and I’m about to head to bed because it’s only 8:30, but this mama is tired.

Maybe I’ll go finish reading CAUGHT UP.

If you haven’t read that book yet, it’s great, but you have to read – (LIGHTS OUT) – first, so you can understand (CAUGHT UP) and the relationships between the characters. Both books are by the amazing author “NAVESSA ALLEN”. ❤️ I’ll write about them as soon as I finish Caught up. I’m in the middle of it, and just haven’t had the time to finish because I’m always at work, or running errands, etc.

I just found out from a friend that Navessa now has a 3rd book, “GAME ON!”. Hold on girl. Let me get through the 2nd book. 😁

I like to buy and read books off of Kindle. It’s just easier.

So, let me sign off for the night, open my phone and try to finish this book.

I love you all. Stay warm if it’s cold where you are. Be safe. Behave, and Goodnight.

❤️Shel❤️