Things to look forward to......

.....I think that this is going to be a great week!

*Only a 4 day work week - perfect!!!!

*Softball on Thursday @ 9:30pm...normally I don't like the late game, but with Friday being a holiday, it's a fun way to kick off the weekend!



*Hang out on Friday - play in the pool, grill out, and just play all day!



*Saturday go to Tuscola, IL with Katie & Josh - outlet shopping, a Chuck Wicks concert and a fireworks show!



*Sunday we have a block party at our neighbors with an inground pool - I am excited to meet more neighbors! The people hosting the party have a 2 year old girl, so maybe we can set up more playdates!



*Sunday afternoon......GRANDMA METZLER IS COMING!!!!! We are so excited! She is staying until the next Monday - 7 nights! Justin is very excited and so are we!!! We have not seen her for that long since she stayed with us when Justin was born.



*Sunday evening - Rob has hockey at 8pm and I am supposed to play in a double header at 6 & 8pm for another softball league. Good thing we'll have a baby sitter :)



Hope everyone has a great 4th of July if I don't post again before then!!!

Grandma & Grandpa Brooks Visit

We had a fun weekend with G&G Brooks here to visit! They got here on Friday night and we grilled out and just hung out and played with Justin. On Saturday morning, me, Rob and Kent went golfing - lets just say I got my (Kent's) moneys worth! I had a lot of shots :) Oh well...we had a great time and it was a perfect day for golf! I would have a good shot - not far from the green and hear Grandpa Metzler's famous saying in my head "just a pitch and a putt".....I think he needs to change that to "just a pitch or two and about 3 putts"!

Sunday evening, Rob and I went out to dinner with Katie and Josh. It was wonderful! The food was delicious, the wine was great, the company was even better :) It was so nice not to have to say "keep the top on your drink, sit on your bottom, give that knife to mommy, use your indoor voices, etc". The last time we went out for a nice dinner was back in January with Katie & Josh when Justin was in Vegas!

Here are a few pics from the weekend:

Thanks!

Thanks for all of the advice on the work thing. The problem is that the company I work for is small (ie. under 30 people). The 3 owners are wonderful and have helped out Rob and I when we needed it most, so I don't want to throw too big of a fit - I guess you have to take the good part of working for a small company as well as the bad (no HR department or procedure for something like this).

I was told that Mr. Douche and I would be decoupled in the next 60-90 days - I will have all of my own accounts and he will have his. It was supposed to be me working with him and helping him with orders/submittals/detail work and he in return would help me with my outside sales skills. Let me tell you - that has been a one way street with nowhere to turn! I think my bosses realize that and so now I'll get to be 100% on my own.

I am just in the office when I have to be and try not to talk to him. It's so hard not to throw back all of the stuff that I read in those 26 pages. Ugh!

It's like 84 and muggy as can be and I need to go get ready for softball. We have the early game (6:30pm), so Rob and Justin are coming and so are Katie & Josh - should be fun! Hopefully I won't have any more injuries!!!

I'll take pics this week sometime - I promise!

Oh, and for those of you who have been asking about Grandpa... He is doing better! He got discharged from the hospital and is currently at a rehab facility for a couple of weeks while he recovers. His original surgery (before the seizures) was for back pain, so he still needs to heal from that. If anyone wants to send cards or packages, just drop me an email and I will send you the address!

pics that would not post yesterday....

My work life....

...Let me preface this blog by saying that I absolutely love my job. I love my customers, I love my bosses, I love the factory people I work with and I love most of my co-workers. The guy I work with here in Peoria is the exception to that rule. He is a 51 year old cry-baby who is threatened by my presence down here. I used to work for him and now I work with him and he did everything in his power to get me fired. Below you will find a few excerpts from what I found on our shared server in a folder titled "Brooks" - if you see a folder titled with your last name, of course you read it! It's not like I went on HIS computer - this is a shared database. Oh, and when I brought it up to my boss, this was not new news to him...this has all been previously emailed to him. I am still employed and my boss has found out that it is a bunch of lies anyways (maybe except the "child bearing years" part - what a douche.

It takes all of the strength I have to try to be civil towards him now that I have seen this list. He does not know that I have seen it, unless he somehow knows I have this blog; which is entirely possible because I think he's a stalker and probably has a bug on my car to know where I am at 24/7 so he can tell my boss that as well.... enjoy!

----------------------------
Her Weakness
Impatient
Does not know as much as she thinks she does
Greedy
Talks down to people
Throws associates under the bus
Does not do as she says
A Know it all!
Thinks completion of tasks makes her a large success
Child-bearing years
Infant to look after
Tells us how busy she is
Does not have answers when asked why a task is not complete
Exaderates her tasks
Forces her way - Agressive
Does not get along with other secondary employees
(The little people in her eyes)
She pushes back tasks if they take any time at all
Horn Blower of her tasks
Name-dropper
Buddy / Buddy stories
Loud Mouth
Tries to be service technician
Likes to say "I Told you so!"
Cherishes authority
Tries to be the boss.
Works completely at the power source - does not pay attention to anyone except the top
DOES NOT LIKE IT WHEN DOCUMENTATION IS KEPT ABOUT HER TASKS!
Thinks her systems are the best ... will blow off any ideas given to her in your face, or will pretend to accept the idea.
Cannot handle unplanned for events
Upsetting her schedule cannot be done.
Not a sincere person. Will make up the biggest stories to accomplish her means.
Will contort what you say and tell the boss.
A very large manipulator
Appears to be busy when-ever you see her


----------------------------
I have lived with a previous "Bipolar Wife"
I have seen the cycles of anger
I have seen the Love Hate times
I feel as though I experience these same cycles with Melissa.
She can act as a Super Task person and then just fall off the map. I have seen this practice over the past 2-years. I cannot live with it any longer.


....And for my personal favorite - a "talking points list" (please keep in mind these were all in bold, underlined all caps font):


I HAVE NO TRUST IN HER!

MY MARRIAGE DOES NOT ALLOW CONTINUEING TO WORK WITH HER

A NEGATIVE PERSON THAT ZAPS ENERGY FROM OTHERS!

TASKS NOT BEING HANDLED

CYCLES OF ANGER – BIPOLAR CHARACTERISTICS

INSUBORDINATION

UNBUSINESS-LIKE BEHAVIOR

LACK OF “TEAM SPIRIT”

The Hills 6-23-08

Hello! We had a nice weekend - lots of fun stuff!

Friday after work we met Katie & Josh in downtown Metamora at Old Settlers Days, the little fair they have every year. We walked around the vendor booths, ate at the Mexican restaurant on the Metamora Square and then let Justin ride some rides...he loved it! There are some pics below.

Saturday we got up and went to the farmers market, but I think it's still too early for the good stuff. It was mostly herbs and baking cherries at every booth. After that we went home and played out in the yard most of the day. For dinner we went go the Gibsons (Rob's old boss) and Justin and Luke played together.

Sunday we went grocery shopping and then to Splashdown Waterpark with Katie & Josh. It was fun; it's a nice park for being a park district run park. They have a lazy river, normal pool, kiddie pool and then a 3 story playhouse with a HUGE bucket of water that dumps every few minutes. Justin didn't really like the big playhouse because water shoots out of everywhere and he does not like getting sprayed if he does not know it is coming! Oh, they have a waterslide too and Justin and I went down on a double tube - he liked that one too! After the park I subbed on a softball team that needed another girl - it was a team that the girl who does my hair plays on so she called me last minute. After the game we went home, had dinner and went to bed - now it's back to the work week grind!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO GRANDMA ROSEBUSH!!!! It's the 20th anniversary of her 50th birthday :) I would post pictures, but as those who know her know, she does not like her picture taken, so I don't have too many! :) We love you Grandma - have a great day!

Pics won't load..I'll try again at home tonight!

Holland, MI

What a week. I got a call from Mikey on Monday afternoon and he told me that him and Ry were on their way to Holland because Grandpa Metzler had 3 seizures that morning (he was still in the hospital recovering from his surgery last Wednesday). I was on the phone from then on trying to figure out what we were going to do. It ended up that my dad got a flight into O'Hare later that night and was going to rent a car to drive, but instead Justin and I picked him up and we all drove to Holland together. It was nice to have a few hours to chat. We got to the hospital at 3am and it was really hard seeing Grandpa laying there like that. He was not awake and joking around, so it was not him! He had just had another seizure not long before we got there, but luckily has not had any since! I can't tell you on this blog that he looked bad, because when he gets home and reads this I don't want to lose my spot as favorite grand-daughter :) Anyways - we went home to get a nap and shower around 3:30am and when we got there Gramma was up and showered and ready to go! I ended up sitting and talking with her for a few hours and then I showered and we went back up to the hospital. Luckily Ry and Manda kept Justin for me so he could sleep in (and so could Ry!)- thanks guys! When we got there and she started talking to him, he turned his head towards her and lifted his hand to her too - that was very promising! I went back to the house later that morning to try and get a nap in and then when we got back to the hospital at 3pm he was sitting up more, he knew us when we came in and was starting to try and talk. He had some applesauce with his pills crushed up in it and said "this tastes like shit" so we knew he was feeling a little better! Tuesday was a good day - if you would have told me at 3am that we would be talking to him in 24 hours I would have said you're crazy, but we prayed and had hope and it worked. After dinner and the beach (see below), me, Mike and Ry went up around 10pm to say goodnight to him. He had just gotten a bath and looked really good! Funny story - we walked in and Mikey said "You look good Gramps" - grandpa said "it's hard not to compared to the other day"...well, his oxygen mask was on and he mumbled the compared to the other day part and I thought he said "compared to your other grandpa"...they are always ribbing eachother back and forth! We started laughing and when grampa realized what we thought he said he was smiling too :) We told him we went and saw his boat and talked about fishing and the bet him and Mikey have going about if the Tigers will make the playoffs...it was a good night. Yesterday he was on more meds and they said he was a little confused, but when I walked in he said "there's my favorite grand-daughter" - I looked at the doctor and said that I don't think he's confused at all :) Justin and I left yesterday afternoon. There is not much we can do and Grampa needs his rest. There is a blot clot on his brain, but it's not big enough to operate and right now they are waiting for his body to clear it on it's own. They also have him on drugs to fight any potential infections and are trying to make sure he does not develop pnemmonia (he had a little big in one lung, but not bad). Justin got to see him too - and blew him kisses bye when we left. I talked to Dad today and he is still awake and talking; they are going to do another scan today to see if the clot is going away. They are also going to try to get him sitting up in a chair if his headaches don't get too bad (caused by the clot). Please keep him in your prayers! I know that most of the "fans" of our blog don't know Grampa, but a lot of you do! He is an amazing guy - him and my Gramma have been happily married for 60 years so far! What an inspiration :)

Here are some pictures from Holland when we were not in the hospital....

Here is a link to the rest of the pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/brooksfam.blogspot/Michigan

Everyone at Aunt Joy & Uncle Jack's house for dinner - they live right on Lake Michigan...it's beautiful!
However, not so kid friendly!!!! Glad Aunt Manda followed him into the kitchen :)
Great Gramma Metzler and Justin - he helped her smile the last few days....
Papa and Justin - I love this one!

Mommy and Justin
My Daddy and my baby - I love this one too!
Justin playing on the beach
"Red" - me, Mike, Ry and Manda don't think it deserves the name "Big Red" - it's not very big at all :)
My little angel at sunset on Ottawa Beach
I love this one too. :)

The Hills 6-16-08

I'm busy at work today, but here is a quick run down of our weekend!

Last week we were sitting at dinner and Justin kept saying "Cassie"...our next door neighbors dog; then I look outside and sure enough I saw more dogs than we should have on our porch! She digs holes and bends the fence and finally got in our yard. She is one of the worst behaved dogs ever - digging, barking, destructive, etc. I know she's just a puppy, but she needs discipline! Oh well....
Speaking of needing discipline - I told Justin to sit on his butt and this is what I got...smarta$$.
He wanted to drive his build a bear car :)
Here is the $5 easel Katie & I found at a rummage sale - score! Notice Tucker looking on...he is never too far from Justin...best buddies!
Like I said...best buds!
Friday night we went to a Chiefs game - perfect night! It was in the 70's and so pleasant! We left in the 11th inning with the score still at 0-0. It was WAY past J's bedtime though!



Saturday morning we went to the zoo before it got too hot out! We had a good time; Justin loves the animals - especially the petting zoo. I have videos from that to post, but I have to upload them first.




Justin and Daddy on Father's Day morning when we were heading out to buy a new grill!(pics to come later!)

Happy Belated Fathers Day to all of the dads out there, especially my own dad - I love you so much more than you will ever know! I hate the miles that separate us, but the times we get to see eachother are that much more special! I love you :)

And to Rob - you are such an amazing daddy to Justin...we love you so much!

Fathers Day Pictures

Justin and I went and got pictures taken for Rob for Fathers Day and they turned out too cute not to share :) There will be some in the mail (or hand delivered....Katie & Josh!) for a lucky select few!!! :)
I loved the place we went - it was a place where you got them back in 15 minutes...we were in and out in about an hour! Enjoy :)