Yesterday I had Tastefully Simple party at my friend Jess' house, which meant Justin was home and in charge of the kids here. As wonderful as he is at so many things, sometime being "in charge" slips his mind, especially if there is hockey on or he decides hes going to play WoW. After I left Jess' party I stopped at the grocery store with my mom to pick up some stuff for dinner. I called Justin to see how things were going at home and he informed me that the kitchen ceiling was leaking. Ok, not a big surprise as it has happened before and it WAS raining, so it made sense. Then he told me it was because Alyvia had gone up to the upstairs bathroom, plugged the sink and played in the water as it overflowed. That also wasnt very surprising beccause I know Alyvia. I did get a little full of myself for a few minutes lamenting about how he always forgets how closely she needs to be watched because she is such a sneaky little thing. But life goes on.
That night my mom stayed for dinner and got to witness (again) the spectical that is dinner with the Keeneys. Everything started out relatively normal. We actually all sat down at the same table at the same time (a rare feat for our family it seems). But it didnt take long for things to get weird. First, Natalie said "I think one of the dogs pooped. I can smell it" and Nana agreed she smelled somethign too. We all started looking around and I found it. Somehow, without any of us noticing, my german shepherd had crept under the table with 7 people sitting around it and pooped right under it. In the middle of dinner. How lovely. The shrieks of "cover your nose!" and "ewww momm!" (like I had anything to do with it!) began ringing out as I started the cleanup process. Got it cleaned up, and I sat down to continue the meal, but by now the Keeney Chaos was in full swing. There were girls giggling, butts were no longer in chairs- they had been replaced by the feet of the children standing in them and there were some very odd jokes being told. Kids started getting down from the table, clearing plates and began spinning, flipping, dancing and the general wiggle associated with all the Keeney girls. Somewhere in the middle of all of it Alyvia decided to head into the bathroom to go potty. I looked up in time to see her grabbing at her poop floating in the toilet (dont worry, I yelled loud enough and fast enough to keep her from doing it). Then it really got silly. There was more shrieking and giggling and spinning and dancing than I thought possible. I slumped in my chair and looked down the table. And there at the other end of the table sat my mother, calmly smiling and cutting her steak and finishing her dinner like there was nothing abnormal going on at all.
Oh, and just to put me in my place and make me realize that it can happen to anyone. This morning in the time it took me to pour my cup of coffee, Alyvia let herself into the downstairs bathroom. I walked by and found her sitting, naked, in the sink full of water smiling away like it was the greatest day ever. Oh well, atleast it gave me the chance to wash her up a bit.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Thursday, April 12, 2012
The neighbor that just wont stop
Back in February I wrote a blurb about our neighbor and her frequent calls to my licensing worker etc etc etc (see blog post from feb 29th). We went above and beyond what we were asked to do by the state-we built a pen for the chickens, our dogs have a separate tie out in a separate yard from where we play, we are working on modifying the fencing that we installed to further isolate our yard from hers. We contacted the sheriff to make sure we werent doing anything wrong, and were told we werent. We contacted the town office to make sure we werent doing anything wrong, and were told we werent. Finally, we thought everything was settling and that life would finally resume the peace and quiet we had hoped for living out in "the country".
Now, it seems, we still have to deal with my neighbor and her continued harassment of both my business and our family. I had another visit from my licensing worker today, after she received another complaint from my neighbor. My licensing worker knew that we had made the changed we had been asked to, she knew that we werent doing anything wrong AND she knew it was the same problematic neighbor making the complaint yet again. Knowing all this, she STILL had to come out and check things out because that is the "policy" when they receive a complaint. So there you have your tax dollars hard at work: a state worker being sent to check a home that has already passed inspection, has already made changes as asked and is known to be following the rules and policies. Your tax dollars were well at work as she was sent out here to waste her time, over an hour of it I am sure since her office is in Portland (though, I will admit it from the start, she was here for only a few minutes) and we are a 40 minute drive from there.
Aside from that issue there is the fact that this woman is being allowed to continuously harass myself and my family. Despite being told by several branches of government that we are not in fact doing anything wrong, the word of this woman is still being taken as a reliable source of information. We are STILL being told that we have to change the tings that we do, just to keep her quiet and make her happy. I have to watch to make sure she is gone before I will let the kids out to play in the yard. We wait in the house before leaving if she is outside until she is gone. I cant even put the trash out without making sure she is not there. This is not how my family deserves to live. My children should be able to play outside whenever they want. My husband should be able to leave for work when he needs to without checking to see if she is out there first to make sure she isnt bothered. He deserves to be able to relax on the weekends after a long work week without having a million projects to work on to "fortify" our section of the property and make sure she is happy.We should be able to plant a garden, ride bikes, keep chickens, and even take out the trash without constantly looking over our shoulders to make sure we arent being watched, harrassed or worrying about doing something that this neighbor might not like that will then cause her to take up her harrassment again. I do not deserve to live like this. Like me or not, I am a good person. I put my kids first before all else, and usually put other peoples kids first as well. I served in the Air Force for a year and a half, which is not much I absolutely admit, but got out to make sure that my children would have someone there to raise them and love them no matter what. I volunteer to run the Odyssey of the Mind program at the schools here. This year that meant stepping up and coaching 2 teams when I couldnt find other people to coach them. I recycle. I cook dinner for my family ALMOST every night. I like to help people when asked, and sometimes even when I am not asked. I have a perfectly clean record because I try my best to follow the rules and be a good person. I deserve to not have to worry about being harrassed by an angry woman with a misplaced vendetta.
I am still interested in finding a home to rent here in Raymond that will allow us to continue to live our life the way we do now, minus the harrassment from the neighbor. However, I DO NOT think that it is right that we are being driven from our home by an angry neighbor with no cause or right. We love our house, we love our yard, we love our location. We DO NOT love the constant, unprovoked harrassment. I have consistently turned the other cheek with this woman and tried to appease her and IT HASNT WORKED. I am hoping that someone reading this will be able to offer some sort of advice as to what our options are when dealing with this woman and protect our family from further harrasment. Or maybe someone reading this will know of a property available for a long term rental in Raymond that can accomodate our family and pets and business. Maybe you have some advice on speeding up the credit repair process so that we can qualify for a home loan faster. If you do, you can email me at: ItsOurHome294@yahoo.com
Thank you for bearing with me through that long rant, and I am sure this is a long shot. But maybe someone SOMEWHERE has the key advice we need to hear to help deal with this lady.
Now, it seems, we still have to deal with my neighbor and her continued harassment of both my business and our family. I had another visit from my licensing worker today, after she received another complaint from my neighbor. My licensing worker knew that we had made the changed we had been asked to, she knew that we werent doing anything wrong AND she knew it was the same problematic neighbor making the complaint yet again. Knowing all this, she STILL had to come out and check things out because that is the "policy" when they receive a complaint. So there you have your tax dollars hard at work: a state worker being sent to check a home that has already passed inspection, has already made changes as asked and is known to be following the rules and policies. Your tax dollars were well at work as she was sent out here to waste her time, over an hour of it I am sure since her office is in Portland (though, I will admit it from the start, she was here for only a few minutes) and we are a 40 minute drive from there.
Aside from that issue there is the fact that this woman is being allowed to continuously harass myself and my family. Despite being told by several branches of government that we are not in fact doing anything wrong, the word of this woman is still being taken as a reliable source of information. We are STILL being told that we have to change the tings that we do, just to keep her quiet and make her happy. I have to watch to make sure she is gone before I will let the kids out to play in the yard. We wait in the house before leaving if she is outside until she is gone. I cant even put the trash out without making sure she is not there. This is not how my family deserves to live. My children should be able to play outside whenever they want. My husband should be able to leave for work when he needs to without checking to see if she is out there first to make sure she isnt bothered. He deserves to be able to relax on the weekends after a long work week without having a million projects to work on to "fortify" our section of the property and make sure she is happy.We should be able to plant a garden, ride bikes, keep chickens, and even take out the trash without constantly looking over our shoulders to make sure we arent being watched, harrassed or worrying about doing something that this neighbor might not like that will then cause her to take up her harrassment again. I do not deserve to live like this. Like me or not, I am a good person. I put my kids first before all else, and usually put other peoples kids first as well. I served in the Air Force for a year and a half, which is not much I absolutely admit, but got out to make sure that my children would have someone there to raise them and love them no matter what. I volunteer to run the Odyssey of the Mind program at the schools here. This year that meant stepping up and coaching 2 teams when I couldnt find other people to coach them. I recycle. I cook dinner for my family ALMOST every night. I like to help people when asked, and sometimes even when I am not asked. I have a perfectly clean record because I try my best to follow the rules and be a good person. I deserve to not have to worry about being harrassed by an angry woman with a misplaced vendetta.
I am still interested in finding a home to rent here in Raymond that will allow us to continue to live our life the way we do now, minus the harrassment from the neighbor. However, I DO NOT think that it is right that we are being driven from our home by an angry neighbor with no cause or right. We love our house, we love our yard, we love our location. We DO NOT love the constant, unprovoked harrassment. I have consistently turned the other cheek with this woman and tried to appease her and IT HASNT WORKED. I am hoping that someone reading this will be able to offer some sort of advice as to what our options are when dealing with this woman and protect our family from further harrasment. Or maybe someone reading this will know of a property available for a long term rental in Raymond that can accomodate our family and pets and business. Maybe you have some advice on speeding up the credit repair process so that we can qualify for a home loan faster. If you do, you can email me at: ItsOurHome294@yahoo.com
Thank you for bearing with me through that long rant, and I am sure this is a long shot. But maybe someone SOMEWHERE has the key advice we need to hear to help deal with this lady.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Random Tidbits
I realize that it has been quite a while since I wrote last. As those of you who have read my previous blogs can see, we are just busy all the time and it can be hard to find the time. But I have had a few thoughts swimming around my head lately that I just want to get out. Here they are, in no particular order:
I turned 32 last month. That alone was enough to make me not want to get out of bed that day. Right about the same time, my 9 year old daughter came home from school and told me she had to get a costume together for a part she was playing at school. She was going to be a 12 year old girl in the" olden times". This next part I will quote for you just exactly as she said it: "You know, like the 1980's or 1990's". Ouch.
My husband bought me an incubator and I began trying to find some fertile chicken eggs to put in to hatch out. I spent some money (he will tell you too much money) on 6 cochin eggs (http://tropicalchickies.webs.com/cochins.htm this is the lady I bought them from. They are chickens that look like they are wearing pants, and that my friends, is fantastic.) and a local lady was kind enough to give us a dozen from her chickens. Add the one that I tossed in from our own hens as an experiment, and I set a total of 19 eggs in the incubator. I have another 26 to put in the incubator next and will hopefully have a batch of a breed known as Breda Fowl after that. And that leads me to believe that I may have a hatching addiction. Its a fabulously fun thing to do, the girls get to learn several life lessons (birth, death, etc etc etc) and I get a bunch of feathery fluff balls at the end to cuddle and play with. Now before you get all panicky and call the show Animal Hoarders and try to set up some sort of an intervention, there is a plan for all of these chickens (and no it doesnt involve them getting their own room in the house). We will be keeping a few hens to add to our laying flock and the rest will be going to the local farm days to find new homes.
I am searching for an NHL team. I think that after several years as an AHL fan, with a team whos affiliation has changed several times, it is time for me to pick an NHL team*. I have ruled out Vancouver cause they just annoy me, and Philly cause Philly fans of any sport are really scary. Besides that I am open to suggestions, but please support your argument. This is a big decision that will affect every aspect of my life- changing the color scheme of several rooms in the house, naming any future pets/children/vehicles, vacation planning, budgeting to allow for jerseys to be purchased etc etc. As most who know me know, I don't halfway do anything. If I am going to do something, I go all in. So when I pick a team, it will be life altering.
Speaking of hockey. I am pretty sure we have made a die-hard fan out of miss McKenzie...only not of the entire sport. She has chosen to put her support behind a specific player (I would like to take credit for her undying loyalty, she totally gets that from me!). She has been a fan of one particular player for 2 seasons now- Igor Gongalsky (known in our family as Migor). He played for the Pirates last year and for the first part of this season. After he was released by the Pirates this year McKenzie lost interest in hockey. I didnt really connect the 2, shes 4 and has the attention span of your regular 4 year old, so I just chalked it up to that. When the season ticket holder party came along, which all of the girls usually get really excited for, she didnt even want to go. I finally asked her why she didnt feel like doing any of the hockey stuff anymore. She said "Well, Migor isnt even going to be there, so why should I go!" and gave me the typical McKenzie attitude to accompany her exclamation. But wow, that is some love from a 4 year old!
Natalie just recently had her school play in which she played Snotty Sneech from Dr Seuss' Sneetches (and other roles in their variety-style show). When the curtain went up and my baby girl was up there looking stunning and all grown up I about lost my mind. I was ready to storm the stage and demand that the make up come off and she immediately put her hair in pigtails. But instead I took a deep breath, wiped off the stray tears (pretty sure I had something in my eye, yeah...thats what caused it!), and sat back and watched as my little girl suddenly found her niche. She had such presence and poise and expression and she was FUNNY! I was so proud of her. And as today is the day after her 12th birthday, I would also like to take a moment to say I am just proud of the person she is becoming. Smart, funny, a good heart and a good head on her shoulders. She is comfortable with herself and wont let anyone dictate how she should be and I love her for all of it (even the parts that result in eyerolls and arguments here at home).
Leah is a girl constantly on the go. Her regular hockey season just ended and now she is starting both Lacrosse and a hockey clinic. So what is normally a pretty calm part of the year for us (relatively speaking of course) is turning into a regular whirlwind again! But it makes her happy and she is good at it all, so we keep going. She is not afraid to try anything and jumps right in with a smile on her face. I love how brave and happy that girl is!
No blog entry would be complete without mentioning the littlest Keeney- Miss Alyvia Jayne. She is growing like a weed, dishing out the Keeney girls typical attitude way earlier than any of the others have, and goes out of her way several times a day to ensure that we dont even consider having another baby. She pushes me right to the very edge of sanity and then melts my heart. She loves to say "i love you", she gives the BEST hugs I have ever received from such a little girl and she has a killer sense of humor already. And it really helps that she has the cutest little baby butt and thighs when shes running away from me.
What on Earth were we thinking selling the 2nd car last year?! Seriously, we must have been temporarily insane!! We have 4 kids, multiple activities and we thought 1 vehicle would be enough to get us all everywhere we need to be??? UGH!! Between Lacrosse, Hockey Clinics, Tastefully Simple, and summer break coming up (which hopefully means a couple of daycare fieldtrips), we definitely need to look into a 2nd vehicle!
I think that might be all for now, but maybe this will be the inspiration to be back in the blogosphere on a more regular basis.
*please note that this does not mean I will be abandoning my beloved Portland Pirates. That wont happen any time soon!
I turned 32 last month. That alone was enough to make me not want to get out of bed that day. Right about the same time, my 9 year old daughter came home from school and told me she had to get a costume together for a part she was playing at school. She was going to be a 12 year old girl in the" olden times". This next part I will quote for you just exactly as she said it: "You know, like the 1980's or 1990's". Ouch.
My husband bought me an incubator and I began trying to find some fertile chicken eggs to put in to hatch out. I spent some money (he will tell you too much money) on 6 cochin eggs (http://tropicalchickies.webs.com/cochins.htm this is the lady I bought them from. They are chickens that look like they are wearing pants, and that my friends, is fantastic.) and a local lady was kind enough to give us a dozen from her chickens. Add the one that I tossed in from our own hens as an experiment, and I set a total of 19 eggs in the incubator. I have another 26 to put in the incubator next and will hopefully have a batch of a breed known as Breda Fowl after that. And that leads me to believe that I may have a hatching addiction. Its a fabulously fun thing to do, the girls get to learn several life lessons (birth, death, etc etc etc) and I get a bunch of feathery fluff balls at the end to cuddle and play with. Now before you get all panicky and call the show Animal Hoarders and try to set up some sort of an intervention, there is a plan for all of these chickens (and no it doesnt involve them getting their own room in the house). We will be keeping a few hens to add to our laying flock and the rest will be going to the local farm days to find new homes.
I am searching for an NHL team. I think that after several years as an AHL fan, with a team whos affiliation has changed several times, it is time for me to pick an NHL team*. I have ruled out Vancouver cause they just annoy me, and Philly cause Philly fans of any sport are really scary. Besides that I am open to suggestions, but please support your argument. This is a big decision that will affect every aspect of my life- changing the color scheme of several rooms in the house, naming any future pets/children/vehicles, vacation planning, budgeting to allow for jerseys to be purchased etc etc. As most who know me know, I don't halfway do anything. If I am going to do something, I go all in. So when I pick a team, it will be life altering.
Speaking of hockey. I am pretty sure we have made a die-hard fan out of miss McKenzie...only not of the entire sport. She has chosen to put her support behind a specific player (I would like to take credit for her undying loyalty, she totally gets that from me!). She has been a fan of one particular player for 2 seasons now- Igor Gongalsky (known in our family as Migor). He played for the Pirates last year and for the first part of this season. After he was released by the Pirates this year McKenzie lost interest in hockey. I didnt really connect the 2, shes 4 and has the attention span of your regular 4 year old, so I just chalked it up to that. When the season ticket holder party came along, which all of the girls usually get really excited for, she didnt even want to go. I finally asked her why she didnt feel like doing any of the hockey stuff anymore. She said "Well, Migor isnt even going to be there, so why should I go!" and gave me the typical McKenzie attitude to accompany her exclamation. But wow, that is some love from a 4 year old!
Natalie just recently had her school play in which she played Snotty Sneech from Dr Seuss' Sneetches (and other roles in their variety-style show). When the curtain went up and my baby girl was up there looking stunning and all grown up I about lost my mind. I was ready to storm the stage and demand that the make up come off and she immediately put her hair in pigtails. But instead I took a deep breath, wiped off the stray tears (pretty sure I had something in my eye, yeah...thats what caused it!), and sat back and watched as my little girl suddenly found her niche. She had such presence and poise and expression and she was FUNNY! I was so proud of her. And as today is the day after her 12th birthday, I would also like to take a moment to say I am just proud of the person she is becoming. Smart, funny, a good heart and a good head on her shoulders. She is comfortable with herself and wont let anyone dictate how she should be and I love her for all of it (even the parts that result in eyerolls and arguments here at home).
Leah is a girl constantly on the go. Her regular hockey season just ended and now she is starting both Lacrosse and a hockey clinic. So what is normally a pretty calm part of the year for us (relatively speaking of course) is turning into a regular whirlwind again! But it makes her happy and she is good at it all, so we keep going. She is not afraid to try anything and jumps right in with a smile on her face. I love how brave and happy that girl is!
No blog entry would be complete without mentioning the littlest Keeney- Miss Alyvia Jayne. She is growing like a weed, dishing out the Keeney girls typical attitude way earlier than any of the others have, and goes out of her way several times a day to ensure that we dont even consider having another baby. She pushes me right to the very edge of sanity and then melts my heart. She loves to say "i love you", she gives the BEST hugs I have ever received from such a little girl and she has a killer sense of humor already. And it really helps that she has the cutest little baby butt and thighs when shes running away from me.
What on Earth were we thinking selling the 2nd car last year?! Seriously, we must have been temporarily insane!! We have 4 kids, multiple activities and we thought 1 vehicle would be enough to get us all everywhere we need to be??? UGH!! Between Lacrosse, Hockey Clinics, Tastefully Simple, and summer break coming up (which hopefully means a couple of daycare fieldtrips), we definitely need to look into a 2nd vehicle!
I think that might be all for now, but maybe this will be the inspiration to be back in the blogosphere on a more regular basis.
*please note that this does not mean I will be abandoning my beloved Portland Pirates. That wont happen any time soon!
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