Mom Wants an Update Posted From Us As Well.

Before I forget, because I keep forgetting-- I have a new e-mail: leighannbatemon@live.com 

I never really check batemon85@gmail.com anymore-- it runneth over with junk mail, that one.

I lost my job at Stainless Fabrication, Inc. at the end of January, and started working at a hotel down the street from where we live because I was tired of being stressed out constantly and felt I should at least be bringing in some sort of income. But working at the hotel is not going to go anywhere because the man I work for refuses to pay his employees any more than $8/hour regardless of the employees performance.

This wouldn't bug me very much, except because of my accounting background, he has been having me doing accounting things like reconcile all third-party accounts, audit statements from his third party vendors, enter the time sheet information for all his employees, correspond with his accountants, etc., and he pays me the same as the person who watches tv all night and doesn't do much else... Also, because he likes my orientation on customer service, he has me respond to all reviews left online, and that can be pretty sad work that makes me sad...

It irks me quite a bit, so I finally mentioned it to him and asked for a raise as I have been there three months and he has me correcting everyone else's mistakes from their shifts so I felt I could ask for a raise. He got defensive and said I should just be grateful for a job, and if I could get my co-workers to do some of that work and train them on it and show them how to do it, I wouldn't have so much to do. ::sigh::

So while it was fun and I really enjoyed helping guests, seeing the inner workings of the hotel business, and interacting with my co-workers, it's time to get back to using my degree and working with professionals again.

I've applied to a few places, and am starting to hear back from some. Any of the places I'm applying to would be an improvement, so that is good :D Please keep me and Peter in your prayers that I will find something to get back into accounting in time before Peter also goes back to school in the Fall. 

Also, I am off birth control and have been for awhile, so we'll see if we become parents any time soon. It hasn't happened so far, and when it does we will announce like Gibbons' always announce and not be vague or weird about it (Looking at YOU, Shannon-- every text you ask me "does this mean you're pregnant?"-- how would asking when you'll pick up the dryer a sly way of telling you I'm pregnant?!? Haha, I kid, and I know I can kid because you [Shannon] are so great. But seriously-- YOU'LL KNOW!! Also, I exaggerate... somewhat).

Also, I really want to get a new job before I get pregnant. If pregnancy makes me super sick, I want to have a track record at a company without me puking every two seconds... here's to hoping any future pregnancy won't be like that, but I'm an accountant, so I plan for the worst. If my employer knows I'm a good employee, then maybe they'll be a little more tolerable of any surprises a pregnancy would bring... My allergies have been horrible, and giving me a lot of grief, and the owner of the hotel is really belittling about it, so I know he won't tolerate morning sickness. In fact, one of my co-workers(she has a record so she can't get hired anywhere else because most places do background checks) told me that when she was pregnant he was constantly yelling at her and telling her to stop throwing up because it grosses out the guests-- she told me she never puked in front of a guest, that's just the type of man the hotel owner is... 

In other news, Peter is working full-time during the summer, and enjoying not juggling a million things constantly. I am incredibly proud of my husband who works almost full-time during the semester and still gets A's!

This past semester he got A's in his computer science coding class,his advanced audio engineering class (see Dad-- he does engineering!), and in his Multi-media design (Photoshop) class. He also took an art class and media production/ digital film class- both of which he doesn't care much about, but they are both required for the college he is in at MSU. He got B's in both those classes, which is awesome seeing as how they both had tedious projects that took forever, and he wasn't passionate about either of them, but they were requirements for his major. All while working 32-36 hours a week at BioLife, and also taking on freelance work for the University (which got us into a few concerts for free as he had to record them). Here is a picture from the date night we had because his professor needed him to record the concert for the university-- this was before the concert, obviously, because it is rude to take pictures during a concern (and not allowed), but it shows our awesome seats:

We also had the chance to meet Lois Lowery!! This was the highlight of my April, because The Giver is one of my favorite books. When I went on a particularly tedious audit when I was still at RAMS, I had picked up Son from a bookshop, and that got us reading the entire series. So Peter and I had read all four of the books in The Giver saga when I found out that the Springfield Library was bringing her to Springfield! It was so exciting, and we had so much fun at the event, and made new friends that evening-- fellow nerds :D I had tried to find a copy of Number the Stars, another favorite, but the whole town was sold out, so we just took our four books from the saga to have her sign.

We also were in the first 100 people, so we got a free, cheapo shopping bag :D We were amazed that despite being pretty old and having to travel a lot, Lois Lowry stuck around afterwards to sign books. We were toward the end of the line-- I guess people were leaving her presentation early to get in line to have her sign their books, but I was enjoying her presentation so much, by the time we got in the line, it was at the end. Also, at the end of her presentation they did a Q & A, and my question was the first one read, so even more happy we stayed all the way through! It was about her writing process. It was SO COOL!! 

We didn't get to the signing table until almost 10 pm, and she was still there, signing away! I was so grateful because if I had missed the chance to have her sign our books, I probably would have been super upset. You can see me fan-girling out in one of the pictures. I cracked a joke, and Lois Lowry just stared at me. I should've realized how tired she would be, haha. Here are some pictures from that night:

Peter got to throw the first pitch at a Springfield Cardinals game for his work. He did a really good job, despite having to wear the BioLife Plasma Mascot costume and having little T-Rex arms. Here is a picture of him before the game in the mascot costume, with a bunch kids, and with the ball he threw:

Also, just a few weeks back, I was working and checking in some people that looked like punk rockers. One of them was wearing a Doyle shirt (Doyle is best known for being the bassist for The Misfits, a band I used to listen to a lot back in high school and subject Mom to before I was driving myself, haha). Anyway, I commented, and they told me that was who they were with-- turns out I was checking in Doyle's tour manager and his driver! It was super cool, and I got super giddy, even though I don't really listen to that music any more. So later, Robyn (his manager) came and gave me a signed CD and tickets to his show the next night. She also told me to bring my Misfit CDs and he would sign them for me, and she'd get us backstage to meet the band.

So the next morning I showed up to work, and ran into Robyn as I was out on the property doing something. I told her I had dug up my CD cases, and had them ready, so she met me in the office and took the CDs. Then Doyle himself came and gave them back to me! It was kind of a huge deal because no one really sees him outside of his on-stage persona make-up, and I have seen him without it! I posted it on social media, and it blew up because everyone was so jealous :D The Misfits are considered Horror Punk, meaning they sing about things like Halloween and death and stuff. Real upbeat, happy stuff. (That was a joke). Doyle's band is more Metal, and I'm not sure I'd want my nieces and nephews listening to it, but it was still a pretty cool and surreal experience...

Anyway, he and all his crew are incredibly nice! We had a blast at the show-- I realized when we got there that I had forgotten ear plugs, so I texted Robyn when we got there as she told me to do. She brought us our back stage passes, and ear plugs so we weren't deaf the next day, haha. Then, their merch guy gave us t-shirts. It was a very wonderful date night again as Peter also listened to The Misfits a lot in his youth. :D He always says the fact that the first time he met me we talked about The Misfits was a big reason he became interested in me, because not many LDS girls even know who they are and it surprised him that the then RS president would know them, haha. So you could say that The Misfits kind of got us together! Here is a picture of us with Doyle's band in their trailer after the show-- their drummer was particularly thrilled (he's the one with no shirt on):

Peter and I also were super excited to go see the band Less Than Jake. Some of you will know they are my all-time favorite band, and they came to Springfield on tour with Reel Big Fish. I know almost all of Less Than Jake's songs by heart, and was really, really looking forward to the show for a long time-- after the experience with Doyle, I was secretly hoping those bands would be staying at my hotel, also, then I could meet Chris and Roger again-- I got a picture with Chris back when Mel and I went and saw them in Utah after EFY back in 2002... 

Anyway, turns out I had to work the night of the show, so Peter took his little brother, Hunter, with him instead. It was a good bonding experience for them, and Hunter's first time seeing live music. I couldn't imagine a better show for someone to go to having never seen a band live before! Lucky Hunter! :D 

Oh, on that note, Hunter is living with us. It was only supposed to be for three months originally, but now it will probably be forever :( C'est la vie. In all honesty, he'll most likely be living with us until he goes on a mission, but he isn't very proactive about getting ready for a mission, so... there is no end in sight, and our children will probably be teenagers before he is out from under our roof. Magi-- now I get what you mean about having siblings and siblings-in-law live with you!! 

That is everything going on for us that I can think of at the moment! Love you guys, and hope that life is treating you well! I'm grateful for the blog-- even when we don't really post much, we still love hearing what is going on with the rest of the family. 

Sorry for the long post-- here's a potato: