Janet, you probably just need to give it up. My son-in-law develops and manages a multi-million dollar budget at his work, but he won't keep a check register for his personal account and neither will my daughter. They just checks the balance online. Go figure. :rolleyes:

I just have to tell you all about one of the evenings in Oklahoma. Gary has two sons, Beau and Keith. Beau has one son (Kaleb) and Keith has two sons (Hunter & Ashton).

Beau's son Kaleb (6 years old) was playing T-ball Wednesday evening, so we went to the game. I just have to tell you who all came to the game, it's worse than a soap opera.

First Beau was there. Well that makes sense, his son Kaleb was playing T-ball. Next Beau's ex-girlfriend (can't remember her name???) who is Kaleb's mom was there (OK - she IS Kaleb's mom). She was there with a 6 month old baby (Tyler) who is Kaleb's half brother - yep, he has a different dad. Nope, none of them have ever gotten married. Beau has full custody of Kaleb and is raising him on his own. I didn't know that his mom ever came to see him, but I guess she does.

Next, there was Keith, Gary's oldest son, and his ex-wife Raegan - well not really ex-wife but they have lived apart for 5 years. Nope, haven't bothered to get a divorce. Fortunately, she only had their two sons (Hunter and Ashton) with her and she doesn't have any more kids.

Last, there was Gary's ex-wife - grandma to the 3 boys (not Tyler of course, since he has a different dad).

OH MY! :eek:

Wow...it would be hard to keep all that straight, but I bet there's never a dull moment. Sounds like everyone must get along really well and that's great!

I have decided to give it up as far as Ricky's account. I have too much other stuff to think about.

Also....I'm thinking of getting Mom's account online....she hasn't balanced hers in years...lol. She use to, but one time it got off by a few cents and she was never able to find it. So she just quit. May have to do that Monday.

I haven't balanced my checkbook in about 35 years! I was sick of doing it so, after my first husband and I split up, I started keeping an extra $25 dollars in there to cover my checks. That amount went up over the years, until online baking came around. You can check your balance very easily online by looking at the "activity." Then. overdraft covered me. Now, overdraft wants $12 for each time they cover a check, so that's not useful anymore. Now, I use a credit card, and pay it off at the end of every month.

I also have my transfers and monthly checks on repeating payments, so I don't have to think about them.

I will be angry though, if I find out they are still being paid after I die!!!

I'm just plumb tired today! We ran errands this morning, and then I did a few things in the backyard, but after that, I had to take a little nap. I still feel like I could go to bed, but I won't because I'd be up at 2:00AM. I'm washing a few clothes and need to do some other things, but they might just have to wait till tomorrow.

Didn't do much today at all. Checked a few things online, but mostly stayed in my room until summoned. Needed alone time, it was nice. It was so nice and the temp was good that I should have been outside. Would really like to plant some flowers, but starting tomorrow the high 80's and 90's are coming back.

Wish I could just check our account online, but I'm too much of a nut case...I have to balance it every month and it better be right....right down to the last penny....lol

This week is the last week of school...yay. We had to go a week later because we started a week later due to construction projects. I am so anxious for it to be over for a few months.

Yay summer vacation Janet! Then you can make your yearly summer to do list. I think you are one of very few people I know who actually gets through the list!

My mother was like you. Her checkbook was balanced to the penny, or she was on the phone with the bank to figure it out. Do you remember those days, when you could call the bank and they would patiently go through your balance with you, check by check, until it balanced? They didn't charge a fee either! I had forgotten about that until you mentioned balancing the checkbook, Janet.

There were people answering the phone, not a menu, and everybody was so polite!

What a different world we live in now. The Internet has really changed us!

Gayle, I bet you are so tired after your trip!!! You'll need a vacation from your vacation!!!

Janet, I'm glad that school's almost out for you.....You work so hard and deserve a rest for the summer!!!

Judy, I think that our bank will still help you balance your checkbook if you go in. There are some advantages to living in a small town, I guess!!!

We're home!!! The wedding was beautiful!!! My neice's dress was just beautiful and she was a lovely bride!!! A lot of Glen's family was there so that was really nice!!! Karley and Kiley were servers at the reception....one served coffee and the other one punch. They are such beautiful girls!!!

We went out to Brenda's house for awhile before we came home yesterday. She has such a beautiful yard!! I think that she's going to bring me a couple of starts from some of her outside plants. We ended up leaving late so we were late getting home. Besides the twins....we brought home another neice that had to go to work today and a great neice that just wanted to ride with the other girls!!! So we had a car load coming home!! They were so good and mostly watched dvd's.....which was a good thing because I don't travel well with a lot of noise and acting up!!!

It's so good to be home!!! I'm not usually like this but for some reason I was ready to be back home!!!!

We went to the farmers market in my little town, Pflugerville - isn't that a FUNNY name for a town. Or maybe I should say it is the perfect name for a HICK town. LOL!

Anyway, I bought tomatoes, summer squash, cucumbers and onions. I had a tomato, squash, and my new red potatoes for dinner tonight, along with some watermelon. Oh My Goodness! The tomato was the BEST BEST BEST. It tastes like it has sugar poured over it. YUM YUM, so good! The squash was great and the potatoes are really good too. What a delish dinner!!! Good for my diet too - I'm still 350 calories under my daily allowance. I'll have some more watermelon later.

I made something my mom called Dutch Mess - it is diced up tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and green peppers, covered in half apple cider vinegar and half water with some sugar to cut the sharpness of the vinegar. Of course, I use splenda instead of sugar. It is not nearly as good until it has soaked for about 24 hours. It will keep in the fridge for days and days. I just love to eat it in the summer when it is hot - such a cold tasty treat. It's good for my diet too! I used fresh vegetables from the farmers market, except for the green peppers - didn't find any of them.

Our neighbor works for a home repair company so we asked him if he would install some new outdoor lights for us. The bulb on the porch light (flush mount to the ceiling) burned out and I swear to you that neither Gary nor I could figure out how to get the glass cover off to replace the bulb so we had to break out a piece of the glass to get the bulb. It was very old and needed to be replaced anyway. We have a spotlight way up on our chimney in the back of the house that was supposed to (I assume) illuminate the back yard, but it did NOT! Gary had a spot light like the one we had used at the camp house at the deer lease so we knew it put out a lot of light. Also, it is dark on the east side of the house and there is no light over there, so we got a solar light to put there.

Gary can install lights, of course, BUT, he has a pacemaker with an internal defibrillator in it so if he gets shocked, it could cause his defibrillator to fire - not the thing you want to have happen while standing on a ladder! :D Also, it is DAMNED HOT here, another reason Gary doesn't need to be outdoors installing lights. Lastly, the spot light is at the TOP of the chimney - waaaaaay up there.

Anyway, the neighbor came over yesterday after work and installed them for us and YAY - all of them work GREAT! The porch light is a motion light so it is great to have the light come on when you step out on to the porch. The spotlight illuminates the whole backyard - it is GREAT! It also illuminates the shop too so if we have to go out there after dark, we can see where we are walking and see to unlock the door.

We also talked to him about replacing the kitchen counter tops and putting tile in the backsplash. We are going to do that in July and he seems to be able to do the job. YAY again!

So you are all lit up now!!! It is so great to find someone competent to do work around the house, isn't it? Another load off your shoulders, Gayle! I agree that Gary should not be doing these things!

I'm going to the pool today. We are having a mini heat wave. It's supposed to be in the 90's, and I think being in the water is the best solution of all!

Jess is really upset about her neighbor whose dog was killed by Jessie's malamutes. The neighbor isn't talking to them, is bringing them up on criminal charges, and has told people that Jess and Steve have a million dollar umbrella insurance policy for the dogs, so she is doing this through legal channels so as not to have Jessie and Steve pay out of pocket. They do not have this! Jess and Steve emailed her several times offering to pay full vet and medical bills, to replace her dog, and to give them one of their Japanese Chins. The legal system up here is really awful too. They will put you in jail for a bad check. I am used to NYC where the cops do not get involved in these issues because they are too busy.

Farmers Markets are so fun Gayle....the one we have in town also has crafts. The market is up on our town square every Saturday morning. It's also nice to see people I haven't seen for awhile. Haven't been up there yet this year.

Not sure what kind of lights you're describing, but I was wanting some of those solar lights to put along walkways. Everyone told me though that they don't put off much light and I'd be better off with electric ones. Haven't bought any yet....not sure now I want them....lol. We do have one of those spot light things you're speaking of only here we call them Mercury Lights. The one we have lights up the whole side yard. We also have a motion detector light in the doggie area, that way when they go out they have light. Only thing is...if a leaf or something moves in that area....the light comes on...LOL. One time a rabbit got back there, I was here by myself, saw the light on and it scared me to death wandering who or what was back there....lol

I feel so bad for your daughter Judy....that would be enough to make anyone worry. I hope something can be worked out and I also hope they either get rid of them or make it escape proof.

Judy, I too, really feel badly for your daughter. It will probably be OK though, when they find out there is no BIG insurance policy. I imagine though, they are going to have to pay for all the bills and for the replacement dog. I definitely would be insisting that the dogs GO - but that's just me. I couldn't take the stress of worrying about if they might get out again. Also, after my daughter's lab killed her pug, the vet said that once a dog kills it will do it again, given the chance. They had a 2 year old, so they got rid of the dog.

Hi everybody! I'm just getting a chance to catch up with you all, and I have so enjoyed it! Sounds like everybody is busy as usual.

I am enjoying having my son Michael and his family here this summer. It's been an adjustment for them, since they have been living in the Philippines for the last year. Caleb, my 8 year old grandson, was so excited because he can drink water out of the tap! He also loves that nobody stares at him here. Blue eyed blondes attract a lot of attention over there, lol! Mikey will be 12 this month:eek: He's such a sweet kid, and we have always been especially close. Raelyn has decided she loves me, too:p It's so different for me to have a little girl around. I LOVE it! Michael and Rachel are a joy to have in the house. Thank you God for giving me such sweet wives for my sons:D

Mike has been healthy lately, thank goodness! He has been relocated to the bedroom with a full size bed, but he doesn't mind too much, lol!

My house is a wreck. I have already spent a fortune...groceries, etc. But let me tell you, I don't mind if they live here forever:thumbup::thumbup:

Oh Betsi, I know you love having your kids there. You are such a wonderful person with such a great family. Enjoy it, as I know you will!

I'm glad to hear that Mike has been doing well - that is such a relief!