A Trucker's Wife Point of View

2008 has been one tough year.  For myself and my husband we have gone through jobless periods, We have come close to losing our house, our marriage and our sanity.

I am thankful that my husband has a good job with a good company and that we are getting back to the way we were when we first got married. I am thankful that my children have teachers that are patient with them and that my oldest has gotten tougher classes and still makeing the honor roll even with the basketball and choir practices plus honor society meetings. I am thankful that my son has found a group where he enjoys being a part of. He is not a cub scout bear and he is learning alot. I am thankful that my youngest even though always being picked on still loves herself.

I am thankful that I am still owrking at the schools as a sub. I am thankful that my kids are no where close as some of the kids i have subbed. I am thankful that Cleveland has hired some great teachers who make a difference in these little lives of the future.

I am thankful for being a part of a blogging family where we all can be who we are. That we can respect each others opinion and when one is attacking another we can stand beside each other and still call each other friends. I am thankful for the web sites of the day.

I am thankful that the Presidential election went as smotth as it did. That americans came together and everyone voted for who they did. And that the candiates came together afterward to show that even after a touch campaign that they were united in makeing our United States strong again.

So what are you thankful for??????

WHAT a GREAT turnout we had!!!!!! I loved chatting with everyone. I loved meeting the ones I hadn't before and loved seeing those you I have.  I think we all had great fun.
I was going to write something special to everyone but i am afraid to miss someone. I had so much fun I can hardly describe.

http://www.shareapic.net/content.php?gid=470649&owner=
skeasling

Here are the pics I took if you don't want to wait for it to be approved by fox. We had such a great time!!!!!!

Wow I didnt even notice. I have been blogging with FOx for 2 years!!!! This has been one of the best sites I have ever joined.

Some things I have learned from Fox...

1. There are some pretty great web sites out there. Thanks to mytechguy for the great web sites of the day... How could i start my morning without Doug???

2. Even though we all have difference of opinions on all sorts of subjects, we can always get together and have a good time.

3. If you need advice on any thing you can always get it from fellow bloggers.

4. Tv personalities are just AWESOME!

5. If you want unbiased news Fox is the station to turn to!

What are some of the things you like best about being a fox 26 blogger?????????

My roommate is a big girl. She has next to nothing in the line of clothes. She is near a size 50 in pants. If you have clothes in this size range would you please let me know. The charities dont have clothes this big and I cannot afford to take her and get new clothes. my budget has no room for that. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

contact me at

stephaniekeasling@sbcglobal.net

Well how is it going for all of you???????
Well good news-- I am working like crazy at the school, which means bills are being paid, I am not losing my house (big happy face there), my tests results showed my heart is good and strong so the chest pains are either a. a pinched nerve somewhere or b. I pulled a muscle in my chest... I am not doing any more tests and will be working out what ever it is. I haven't had an attack in nearly 2 weeks so I am doing pretty good. My oldest daughter is still maintaining her straight a's in school and my other two are doing much better. Hubby is getting the miles we need on top of that and the company is going to be putting him in a new truck!!! Woo Hoo, hopefully less breakdowns.

Ok Now for my don't be stupid around big trucks rants.
In Illinois I do believe. An individual riding his bike down the freeway. Ok so right there is one big no-no. He tries to switch sides in front of a big rig. Now you all have read my write Trucks cannot stop on a dime. You guess it he did not survive. The driver of the truck now has to live with the fact he uninentionally killed someone. Nothing he could have done. They are going over each little inch of his truck and log books to find him at fualt somewhere--Thank you big lawyers who encourage stupidity. Please keep both families in your thoughts.
2. In Minnesota. Unfortunately this happened to a fellow driver for the same company as my dear hubby. A group of kids run a stop sign doing 60 mph. HIts a big truck in the center between truck and trailor. My husband had to pick it up the trailor from the D.O.T. in MN and take it to the drop. He also had to make sure he got the pics the INsurance company needed. A group of kids lost their lives becuase the figure they could beat the big truck. Trucks are like trains they just cannot stop on a dime.
So please for your safety and the safety of drivers please becareful out on the road and give the big trucks the room that they need.

OH and with sweeps going on.... Fox keep mytechguy on the air and my TV will stay oin Fox! :)
YOu all have a safe Halloween!!!!!!!!

Hey fellow blogges! I know I don't post all the time like I used to but with working and trying to keep on top of each child's school work and activities it has been getting pretty busy.
Most of you did not know this, but I have been having severe chest pains the last few months. I have started getting them a year ago but it has gotten worse here of lately. I went to my doctor a week ago Monday and which I found out I need to lose around 20 pounds. The doctor would like for me to be here the 150 mark and not 170. So I am dieting again. I am having my blood work done tomorrow and then a week from Thursday I will be able to get to see the cardiologist. I am hoping it is not serious but my dad informed me of the extensive family history of heart related problems. So for me to think positive is really hard for me to do. I know it upset people when they found out but I truly didn't want to bother you all with all my problems. Here lately I just haven't wanted to be a burden on anyone. Lucky thing on all this is that dh now has health insurance on all of us.
I am working like crazy at the school and I am loving it. I do have to watch my level of "excitement" as it makes it harder to breathe. THe school principal had been really nice about handling the major trouble makers.
dh is out somewhere near the north and the company has been truly awesome with the fact that I may need him home at any time. Other than all is been ok. hope to be able to chat with you all very soon.

Howdy! I have survived Ike! Man what a long two weeks! Thank goodness I stocked up on dry and canned foods before the storm. We ended up camping out in our front yard which the kids truly thought was cool. I have an above ground pool which I had filled half way, so I had water for toilets, doing dishes, and washing hair after boiling and cooling down. It was something I will never forget. My hubby was able to come home to help out and my dad sent me money for generators to help get through. We have lights since Sunday but with cleaning up this is the first time being online. My water company was purely awesome though. THey put our water on generators so for parts of  the day I did get good water from the sink.  I am working at the school now and I feel like life is comeing back to normal. I can't wait to be able to read more of the blogs! I missed you all!

It has been a hectic few days. I have stocked up on water. I have stocked up on canned food. I have put metal on my windows. I have listened to people who don't know anything tell e I am over reacting and then holler they are a storm watcher. I have calmed children down. I have gotten doggies taken care of. And the best thing I have been staying hooked to myfoxhoustonlive.com for all the  up to date info. If you haven't been on the chat you can get a lot of info. I have taken and posted some pics of the weather here in Cleveland. I will post more when I take more. I hope everyone stays safe.

Thank you Fox for keeping us updated.

So here are my four tips for all the drivers out there.

#1.. DO NOT DRIVE IN THEIR BLIND SPOTS! do not tailgate behind them. If you cant see their mirrors they cant see you. If you cant see the driver in their side mirrors while you are driving by them, they cant see you!. Please don't drive in the NO ZONES.

#2.. DON'T SWITCH LANES IN FRONT OF THEM. You want to pass someone so you jump in the next lane and then have to slow down because maybe someone had the same idea, well that big rig that you cut in front of CANNOT stop like you can. Who will get the blame? Trust me it won't be none of the small cars. If you want to get in front of a big rig, first turn your turn signal on then make sure you can see their headlights in your side mirror. Over half the time the driver will flash his headlights to let you know you are safe to come over into the lane.

#3..IF YOU GOING TO PASS A TRUCK THEN PASS AND GO! This means don't pass the truck get back over and then slow down. Once again those trucks cant stop like you can! So Pass and GO! Sometimes my husband feels people do this just to be mean. Some big trucks are governed so they cannot just go as fast as others and if they have maintained their speed and someone cuts them off and they have to slow down it puts wear on the truck. Which result in bas MPG which returns means higher fuel costs which means higher prices in the stores.

#4.. WIDE LOADS NEED ROOM! ok so you are driving down a two lane road and there is a wide load. He is taking one and a half lanes. What do you do? PLEASE don't try to get by using that half a lane. It is not safe. Wait till the Driver eases off on the shoulder to allow you to pass.

If everyone keeps these tips in my mind, It will help me know that my loved one will be able to come home to me.

I figure I will come on here and just type away a blog but now I am on and my mind has gotten completely blank on me. There has been a lot of things going on in the world that I have so many thoughts about.
It is election year and many know I support McCain. I have been called numerous names on the account of it but I believe what he has to say and I like what he stands for. I do not believe he is just going to push the Bush Agenda  seeing he ran against Bush and of course he is his own person and has his own thoughts. I know our military wont be down graded if he becomes elected. I know my grand father would have voted for him if he was alive and my grandfather was a very smart guy. I love the fact he has chosen Palin for VP. Washington needs the inexperience and a fresh new look on things. Who better than a working mom who supports her children no matter what mistake they make.
There has been more children being locked in cars. I still cannot believe why this is happening. Are we so obsessed with ourselves and our world not to remember we have a human in our car. I still just shake my head in disbelief.
My husband is back on the 48 state route. So look forward to some driving around 18 wheeler blogs in the traffic section. I love my man and I want him to come home safe and sound.
So i guess that is it for now. toodles everyone and see ya in the chat :)

My oldest daughter is joining the volleyball and basketball teams. So we went to get her sports physical and come to find out she has 200/20 vision. I was beyond shock as she has never mentioned having eye sight problems. We got her an eye appointment and have her glasses ordered. The dr said that she most likely had the poor vision for awhile. Last year she did good in school and now that she can see I know she will do even better this year. Just a tip for other parents if you can get their eyes checked each year.

When I heard that the web cast was being done with I was soooo disappointed. I mean how can you not be knowing your 30 minute fix of the tech guy was over. I jumped into the chat for the 5 and 530 show and I loved it. Brought my love for fox back :) The 9 pm show was even better and I love Melissa and Mike. You guys do such a great job. I will try to be on even more and be more active with all the chats and blogs etc. I so enjoyed it.
Thank you Fox for doing this. I love being able to interact with the different anchors.

This may be odd but I don't worry about flood warning/watches. I figure if it gets too bad we will be ok. I don't panic. I keep an eye out on what the weather forecasts are saying and I go from there. My roommate on the other hand seems to panic every time the NWS issues a watch or warning of some sorts. I was wondering what do you do when that little buzzer goes off while watching your favorite program?

     Wow I know I haven't been on like I used to. I do watch I promise. A lot has happened lately and I haven't even been able to keep up with friends on myspace, yuwie or any social site for that matter.
     Kids are just about ready for school. For the first time we just about have everything. This is something I am very proud of because years past hubby and i always seemed to wait for the last moment to get the school supplies. Not this year WOO HOO!
     Hubby is still trucking. Thank goodness he is a company driver. We are very happy with the diesel prices going down though because that means the company won't turn down his truck in order to save fuel. Do you know how dangerous a truck can be if he can only go 60 MPH???      Then I got me a new fur baby. I am hoping for the best hoping no one steals her from mew. She is part chihuahua and weenier dog. I have named her princess. The name just seems to fit.
     Here is the most insane stupid thing we could be doing. As many know hubby and mine luck has pretty much gone down hill when we decided we had enough of people taking advantage of us for money, and everything else. So for us to "turn our luck around" we have opened our home to a girl in need. She is 22 year old who was kicked out or was requested to leave because she is pregnant. I am hoping things will get better for her and us as she is still not quite following the rules of the house. I  know most people think we are nuts for this but maybe we can help her get on her feet. And maybe just maybe things will get better for us as well.
    I hope to be on more often as I truly miss chatting with the finest group of people in Houston. PBmom I still looking forward to us having lunch one day
:)

Ok i know some stations are franchised and owned by different people etc. So the prices will be different. But why and I will mention names. Flying J on 242 is 3.85 for unleaded but the Flying J in Baytown is 3.68! WoW almost a 20 cent difference. I know the gas comes from the same place. They have the same overhead cots etc. Both stations are from the headquarters in Ogden Utah. How can they have such different prices for gas? You telling me that baytown can afford to give 3.68 gas and the 242 location can't????? whats up with that.