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October 31 Baby, you CAN'T drive my carWell, my dear Saturn has bit the dust. The repair place says it would cost way too much to repair it - new timming belt and MOTOR. Ah, yeah okay. So, now what am I going to do? That question had me in tears today. I don't have naything saved up and do not qualify for any kind of loan. The best I can thik of is to have Jamie's Toyota, which has been sitting in the driveway for a long time, towed to the shop and have them figure out what would be needed to get it running and insepcted. Heaven only knows.
Dear Lord, I am teetering on throwing up my hands and just crawling into bed. Not really a viable option. Jamie has been down since even before finding out about her dad being put into jail on Friday. She was very down yesterday and I was worried. I insulted her by looking at her live journal. I know now I was out of line. Wish I had been able to see that before. I didn't and made her feel worse. But, I can say that she is getting better and taking some very healthy steps to get better still. I am very proud of her.
For now, I try to figure out this car mess. Luckily I get to see some cute trick or treaters tonight.
Happy Halloween!!
.....update.... it's 8:11 and I have given out almost 6 bags of candy.... have two more left.... don't know if I will make it til and after the bigger kids come around, but man does my neighborhood have some cute little ones! The kids have been adorable and very nice. Definitely made my day. October 29 my,my My dear poor Saturn putzed out last night. I had just picked up Colleen from work and we were on our way to meet my sister at a pizza/Italian place for dinner. I koncked out just as I was pulling into the parking space at the restaurant. We enjoyed the meal anyway and Debbie was nice enough to take me to do my grocery shopping.
Called my friend at work, Patti to ask for a ride in the morning. Her youngest son answered and took a message. I called back again and left a message on her voice mail sure that she would check that. Then texted her this morning. Here is an account of my morning as I sent to Colleen:
We had our signals crossed this morning and I ended up taking the train to Pennlynn... texted Jerry while I walked to see if maybe he could take me to work - nothing back! ... only the train I got on did not stop at Pennlynn and went straight to Ambler. It was like a comedy reutine... left messages for Patti to pick me up... no Patti by 7:05 so I walk down to the train (I had checked the sched like 5 times) got there 7 minutes before my train... got into the tix window and heard it coming 3 minutes early... got grumpy with the tix lady... got tix and apologized....ran out to the early train.... whew.... stopped at Gwyneddd Valey.... called Glenna to tell her I'd be late and would walk from Pennlynn... she says she'll come pick me up there.... conductor says next stop Ambler.... AMBLER!!!....train shwooshes past Glenna at Pennlynn.... at Ambler I get out and text Glenna... oh shoot she cant read a text and drive at the same time!... I call her.... "hey your train zoomed right past me - I'm on my way to Ambler station but the traffic is all backed up Butler Pike" .....me - "that's cuz they stopped for my wrong train then my right train 2 minutes later!".... Glen - "start walking up Butler Pike and meet me".... me - "ok" ...... I start walking up and looking for Glenna's dark blue Porsche.... don't see it.... walk a little, look a little, walk a little, look a little....honking.... I turn around.... don't see the Porsche.... wait where I am, she can't be any farther up than this.... a grey Jeep pulls up across the street honking, blinking lights and Glenna yells out the window....she never told me she was in a rental!.... get to work... run to class.... 1st period's almost half over.... open the door - the deaf kid is absent!!!!! Oh, geez - apologize to teacher... back to our room... Patti comes in at the end of the period and we tell her Glenna picked me up...."why didn't you call me??????" I love Patti. Then she and I had to figure out a way home... she was going to ask me for a ride home and her older son took the car to his internship.... Andrew, can you come back at the end of the day and pick us both up??? Everything worked out and we have it set for tomorrow.... until something else weird happens!
This my life - comedy fodder! The car was towed tonight. We'll see when the shop can look at it and how much it will cost this time. Good Golly. October 28 the bad guyFunny, on Friday shortly after Bill's hearing I was talking to Jerry about the whole mess. One of the things he said was "man, his wife is gonna hate you". At the time, I kind of blew it off. Said I didn't really care. I even felt sorry for her. They're being evicted on Wednesday and the man she married and had 2 babies with is sitting in jail. The youngest baby is 3 months old. It was even eeriely familiar when they were planning on her moving to Texas and Bill following once he got permission from his porbation officer. (which might have happened if they had been given the chance - the po's didn't seem to be all that strict with him) In some ways, I saw her as another stupid woman who fell for his lies and everything is the rest of the world's fault crap that Bill shovels. I include myself in that catagory. I believed everything he said. I could not really see what was going on clearly until about 2 months after we separated. Guess I am a bit dense.
I can handle Deirdre baing ticked at me. Why in the world she had to lash out at Jamie I don't think I will EVER understand. Throw whatever you want at me. I could care less. Involve the kids in it? That's just low. Do it on myspace? Shows a terrible lack of maturity, or maybe I just do not get the whole myspace thing. In my view, teens and young adults use it to communicate with friends, broadcast their gripes to the world or to get attention. Grown ups? Mostly I thought to meet new people/date or groom younger folks for less than healthy activities. She's 37 for heaven sake. I sent her an email via my father in law. I have no idea if he will send it on, but I needed to make clear to her that what she did is unacceptable.
The rest of his family probably hates me too. I'm fine with that. He has 2 brothers and a sister that had been able to see things a little more clearly than his mom and 2 other sisters. They have always been able to do the right things for the kids too. I am very appreciative of that.
Being completely honest, yes I have pushed to have the child support enforced. I did not just accept it when the people at Domestic relations did a poor job or nothing at all. I made a pest out of myself with them and have and will continue to send them information about Bill's whereabouts and work whenever I can/could. I didn't just pull up my bootstraps and say ok, well he's not sending child support so we will just continue to have less than the kids need and I will take on as many extra jobs as I have to to make up the difference. I do work extra hours and we still struggle. In other words, I did not let him off the hook. I am having to process that I did have a hand in Bill going to jail, although he mostly put himself there. He is in jail because finally after 11 years, $96000 in arrears, scores of case workers, moves and jobs there were some people at Domestic Relations, namely my hearing officer Brent Clarke, who did their jobs effeciently and conscientously. The judge wasn't taking any more of Bill's excuses - the ones he has used for so long to get away with things with for so many years. I don't know what the ultimate ramifications will be, but I am coming more and more to the conclusion that he had plenty of chances.
Jamie was a little cool on the phone when I called her last night to see how she is doing. She was on her way to work. This is tough on her since she was trying to establish a relationship with Bill. I think she can also sympathize with Deirdre and the new family as well. Jamie is a good person. This is hard for her, but I guess all I can do is be understanding and be there when/if she needs me or anything. Will have to be patient and see how everything plays out. All I can do is keep trying to do the right thing. She mentioned that Bill's parents are trying to get DEP to send proof he is taking the job there. If that doesn't work out, I can see them coming up with the money. That stinks. They are working their rear ends off when Bill isn't willing to. Then again, it's not that unusual for his mom to come to the rescue and think poor Billy any time something happens. (like how she told me we all had to be there for Bill when he went into rehab for alcoholism but didn't have a dry Father's Day celebration right after he got out... can you say enabler?)
Colleen seemed alright with it. She said that Friday night she kind of spaced out a few times thinking about it, but she seems alright. Eddie has been pretty okay. Friday night he talked about it being weird to know his dad was in jail, but he also knows that he has dpone this to himself. Eddie also talked about how he has lived almost his whole life without a dad. He taught himself how to shave and tie a tie. He said that Liam had been as close to a father as he could have, and even though Liam had always been tough on him, he helped Eddie grow up. It broke my heart to hear him say all of that but I am glad he could talk to me. Then he roped me into painting tee shirts for all four guys in his band. They were playing a Halloween party Saturday night and wanted to be the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Next thing I know, we're at AC Moore picking up shirts, paint and Sharpees. I drew the shells on the front and backs of the tees and started helping Eddie and his girlfriend Alyssa paint them. One of the other guys came over to help Eddie finish the backs of three of the shirts. I went to bed about 11:30 and got up at 8:30 to outline the designs. The shirts looked pretty cool. The guys cut up fabric for the headbands, belts and elbow and knee pads. I hope someone took pictures of them.
Wow... quite a vent. Reading did not work yesterday. I was hoping it would work as it did right after my proceedure in August. Maybe I just need a different book. Am looking forward to going out for a bite with Colleen and my sister when Col's done work today. Think I'm going to try to stay busy. October 27 woahSince Bill and I separated, and later divorced money has always been an issue. When we first split, he used to send a grand total of $175 a MONTH to support the kids. When an official child support order was put into place, the court decided monthly support was to be $1000/month. This was based on the four children and both of our salaries. The order was issued in March, 1996. Since then, Bill quit or was fired from his NYC job at DEP where he was earning about $65-70000 a year - about 1997 or so. Adding only a cola increase every year, I figured out yesterday that he would be earning about $88-900000 a year if he had stayed there. He didn't.
Instead, he began a series of moving from job to job and place to place. He and his new wife now live in Nassau County, Long Island in a $1600/mo house. There are two step sons and a new son and daughter - both under two years. Since 1996, I just wanted Bill to be a good dad. Fine and dandy that we no longer can stand each other and the marraige failed. There are four awesome people we brought into the world. You do NOT walk away from your kids, regardless of how you feel toward your ex. When we first split, I sent Bill school schedules, half the school pictures, sports schedules.... trying to keep him involved. He semed to resent when the kids had something to do on HIS weekend. It is constantly about how he feels and how things effect him. As time went on, his visits became far less frequent and when he did pick up the kids, he was often hours and hours late. The kids were always supposed to understand. They tried. Then it got to where he didn't even try anymore. No cards or calls on birthdays or Holidays. He was evicted from an apartment here when he told the kids he moved down here to be closer to them. In the apartment was furniture he bought for the kids to use when visiting, savings bonds in their names, framed pictures of them and to me most damning - the teddy bears they had been giving him for his birthdays and Christmases. That was when I stopped trying so hard to keep him involved.
For years, I contacted domestic relations to encourage them to keep on top of child support enforcment. At one point, I counted up that I had made over 250 contacts. These included letting them know where he had moved to or was working. I had some friends in our old neighborhood who would tell me. Little or nothing was ever done. I was told the only way to pick him up in NY would be to hire a constable at my own expense. I finally got to a point where the $500 would be worth it and called the sherrif's office. They told me they couldn't do it unless they had a warrant number. Called domestic relations - they would only give it to someone from the sherrif's office if they came over in person... constable would only act if they had a warrant number... round and round we go. I sent letters to all of my elected officials. Santorum and Spector sent form letters back, nothing else. Joe Hoffel called, appointed someone on his staff to work on it and the case was referred to the Federal Save the Children Task Force. This is for some of the worst offenders. You have to owe more than $5000 in child support and show willful actions to avoid paying. Our case was taken and Bill was charged under Federal law. He plead guilty on May 3, 2003. He worked for a while and child support was garnished. It was nice to have some help. Since then, he has gone back to not working much. He and his new family live off welfare, food stamps and the step sons' Social Security disability. They're not making it though. Will be evicted on Weds. Still, neither Bill nor Deirdre see the need for either one of them to have and keep a steady job. Bill quit the last two jobs because one had over night hours (which I thought would be perfect he could help with the boys during the day) he said the hours did not match up with what he needed for his family and at Jiffy Lube he said he was getting hurt too much. Ahem.... my 22 year old son works 2 jobs. What the heck?
FF to now. Bill has had 3 contempt hearings since July. He has a probation officer from the federal charges who I guess just asks him what he's doing once in a while - hasn't made him work. He has been saying he is going to take a job back at NYC DEP since at least July. Has made two small payments. There was another contempt hearing set for yesterday at 8:30 am before a judge this time. I took off work and went. My hearing officer who has been working on the case told me Bill called and said he would be there about 1:00. I just looked at Mr. C. He said, "yeah I know, incredibly stupid". Mr. C let me know that when he did finally show, he would be held until Monday and would appear before the judge at 1:30 Monday afternoon. I waited for the case to be read to the judge. When they read the case and Mr C said Bill called that morning and said he would be late, she responded with a resounding "BENCH WARRANT!" I spoke briefly with Mr. C and left. He said he would call if anything changed. Finally got to work at about 10:35 am. Had my lunch at 11, as usual and went to class at 11:31. I made some calls and let my boss know I would need more personal time Monday afternoon to go back to court. What a pain. I was interpreting class and felt my phone vibrate at about 12:10. As soon as class ended I listened to my voice mail. It was Mr. C's office saying Bill would be appearing before the judge FRIDAY afternoon at 1:30 and could I please come back. Uhhh... darn. I let 2 of my co workers know and booked out of work. Stopped at home and changed back into appropriate clothes. (it was college sweatshirt day at work) Zoomed down the Norristown and walked into the courtroom at 1:15.
It gives me no joy to see Bill in handcuffs. He was lead in while I was talking to the hearing officer and I guess a prosecuter. The judge was very much less than happy with Billy boy. She reemed him for being 3 hours late to court. She and the prosecuter asked him questions about working. He used the above excuses - hours not matching his family's schedules, getting hurt... the DEP thing he said the title kept changing and the most recent delay was that he asked for a waiver to be excluded from the residency requirement - the 2 step sons could only get their special education in Long Island. (huh? Special ed is a Federal adnd State requirement for EVERY public school) The judge reemed him for putting his step sons' needs before his ORIGINAL OWN children's needs. She stated that in this year alone, he had worked only 4 weeks since January. By her estimation, in the 11 years the child support order had been in place he had only worked and conrtibuted cs for 2 years. Good Lord, I hadn't even figured that out.
The next thing I knew, it was over. The judge sentenced Bill to 6 months in jail. He will be on work release and his wages from that will be garnished. The county has contracts with companies in the area here. (not in NY) So he will be a guest of the county for 6 months, will work five days a week untill I guess 6 months are over or he comes up with $6500. (less than 10% of what he owes) After all this time, I am still stunned. I almost feel bad for him, EXCEPT for the fact that there is no reason why he should not be working and he has been given chance after chance after chance. It finally caught up with him.
It was no fun having to tell the kids. It was pretty sobering news for them. Not because he doesn't deserve it, but now their dad is in jail. It's a strange thing knowing your dad is in jail. Liam was the only one who didn't seem to be effected much. He has been disconnected from Bill completely since he was about 16. (6 years) It feels crappy that the kids have to feel bad about this.
My friends and siblings were all pretty happy about this development. In some ways I feel validated. Still, it pains me to know how many other people will be effected by this. Why in the world couldn't he have just done the right thing?
Never a dull moment.
Update:
Saw this on Jamie's myspace. A comment from Bill's wife Deirdre - "I hope your mom is finally happy she got your dad put in jail. He was trying so hard to straighten everything out and now he can't. Thank her for me." Ok, I expected her to be pissed. But to leave a comment like this on one of the kids' myspace pages? The woman is supposed to be 37, not 17 for Pete sake. Don't mess with my kids. I'm going to go read. Pompeii sounds more serene right now.
October 24 Home again, home again Had to pick a sunshine icon as that was what we had most of the trip. How lucky is that? Anyway... Jerry came by about noon Saturday to pick me up. He had one smallish duffle bag... man, sometimes I think it would be far less complicated to be a guy! Me? oh I had one adidas bag, on the large size and a bag for my hair dryer and such that wasn't as big. I over packed.
To avoid a play-by-play, which is what I usually end up doing I will list the days and what we did:
Saturday: drove from here to Johnstown, PA. Got a nice room there, went to the restaurant downstairs for a lovely dinner, waited for a crappy Sinatra impersonater to start and had a few drinks.
Sunday: drove to Cleveland. Tried to go through Akron to see the Goodyear museum but got turned around a bit. Checked into the hotel in Clelveland, admired the view from our room facing Lake Erie, went to a free appetizer/drinks floor, took a walk at sunset (sigh) out by the Rock and Roll Museum and pier (very lovely), back to the free appetizers and drinks.
Monday: Walked around the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. (about 3-4 hours) Drove to Erie, PA. Once again, got turned around a little because of a highway being closed and no clear detour signs. Drove through Pesque Isle (I think that's the spelling) State Park, which is a peninsula. Very pretty. Got out to stretch and went out on the beach to look at Lake Erie. Pretty cool. Drove around Erie itself for a little bit, then pulled over to make reservations. The Holiday Inn wasn't too far away. We got a suite that I guess is meant for families - kitchenette, bunk beds, nice bathroom - with a big jacuzzi bathtub. Relaxingggg!
Tuesday: back in the car to drive either to an Inn his buddy owns or home depending on the weather. It went back and forth between light rain to outright downpour. Stopped at the PA Grand Canyon. Beautiful.. until a cloud settled into the canyon and the rain opened up. Decided to just drive home. Got home about 9pm. Slept in my bed all alone :-( ...guess that had to happen eventually!
Plus, 2 stops at Harley dealerships along the way. Jerry tried to haggle them down on a bike they had had in the showroom since May. Interesting. Bought him a shirt at one of the stores.
Low points: (that really aren't even all that low) passing so many motorcycles on Sat and Sun, Getting soaked at the PA Grand Canyon and the rain cutting us short one day. Feeling weird about Jerry silently insisting on paying for everything.
High points: the museum (I love museums!), walking on the pier the night before, just getting in the car and driving... figuring out the route along the way, having a nice dinner together, walking with him and having him pull me back when I wasn't paying attention and nearly walked into something, having him notice if I got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, listening to him fall asleep, reading a map and having him be surprised, Jerry offering to go get another salad when I had trouble picking off the melted cheese in my Wendy's salad (I forgot the hot chilli would melt the cheese), never carrying my own bags even though I knew I could, Jerry changing his usual eating habits - 1 meal a day so I could have regular meals and not fall over!, him being willing to stop at 2 different stores so I could get chapstick, talking when we felt like it or just being comfortable with quiet together, being silly together, seeing how he dealt with unsatisfactory service and asking for a correction but not getting it.
Hmm most of them have to do with the relationship stuff. I did learn that sometimes he talks to himself when he is figuring something out. Cute geting used to being together stuff - like not wanting to pass gas and figuing out how to deal with that. (laugh)
My back is still not 100% better, so have to limit computer time. It very well may be my bed as it is worse today. Dropped off the pictures today to be developed. Will post as soon as I can. October 19 packing!Well... I am almost completely packed. Have to put in a few things tomorrow morning after they are used and just get some cash. I had no idea that I really do not know how/what to pack. I have some shoes, all the things I can think of that I might need.... it just feels like I havent done enough to be prepared. I really wish I was a guy sometimes and could just throw stuff in a bag and be done with it. I'm sure that I put in too much, since Jerry told me this morning that we are taking the car. I was a little disappointed to not be taking the bike. There has to be a first longer ride sometime and it would have been nicer to see any leaves that changed and the world for that matter. I like riding with him.
The plan for now is very loose - we leave sometime tomorrw after noon. There are 2 funerals tomorrow in places about 30-40 minutes from each other. So many people Jerry knows have recently passed away. There was a mother of a classmate of ours, the sibling of one of our classmates, and the president of a notorious biker club that is a decent guy. There has also been a co-woker and a co-worker's dad. I think this is a good time for him to go away. Oh yeah, the plan... so we will be leaving sometime after noon, depending on which services he goes to. We will be going north and west from here... staying over somwhere.... then on to Cleveland on Sunday. We spend the night there Sunday and Monday nights and go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum on Monday. We're supposed to be going out to a nicer dinner but somewhere we can both wear nice jeans to one night. The rest of the time, I guess catch as catch can. Tuesday we will head back along Rte 6, see the Pa "Grand Canyon" find another place to stay over night then head home on Weds. One of the two nights we are not at the hotel near the museum, we wil be staying at an inn a guy that Jery knows owns. I need to search again and see what's around the museum hotel we're staying at for cheap eats and maybe a Whole Foods. I wish there were some things I could do to help out. It's enough that he's springing for pretty much everything. Kind of feels weird... but I know it is cuz he knows how money is for us.
Gotta go do a few more things.... and my back is bothering me - so extended time on the computer is not a good idea. October 17 1st Trip in a Dog's AgeWhat exactly is a "dog's age" anyway? Darned if I know.
After some uncertainty because of a death at Jerry's work, I believe our trip is coming together for this Saturday. I was very surprised when he called and said it was a go. Pleasantly surpriised for sure, but it's good. We are leaving Saturday afternoon after a funeral for a friend of Jerry's. Actually a guy I met last February, who is the president of one of the more notorious clubs. He seemed a very decent guy to me. He will be missed. His family is in everyone's thoughts and prayers.
We will be going up to Scranton, spending the night there and then traveling along Rte 6. It is supposed to be a very scenic trip. Right now it looks as though we will be taking the motorcycle. I am pretty excited about that. Just hoping I can be a good traveler. The weather is going to be (or is suppsoed to be) unseasonably warm. Thank goodness. Our ultimate destination is Cleveland, Ohio. We will be seeing the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum on Monday and will be staying about 2 blocks from there. I sooooo excited. I am looking forward to us having time together and just having fun. Jerry called Sunday night and told me he was already done packing. Huh? Wow... I'm not quite that on top of things. I have started, and will be done by Friday night I am sure. It wont be all that difficult as I cannot bring all that much on the bike. Tuesday we will be on the way back and will stop at the PA Grand Canyon. (which I am sure is WAY smaller than the real one, but beautiful in its own way) That's pretty darn close to my brother, Ron's house. I need to contact him and see if he wants to meet up somewhere. I haven't seen Ron since 2001. Wow, where did that time go? I am very psyched!
Only monkey wrench so far is that my car decided that yesterday would be a good day for the gas to start leaking from somewhere. I was getting a migraine and thought I was just being ultra sensitive to smells from the school bus exhausts around me driving home. Then a corrections car pulls up next to me and the driver tells me I'm leaking gas. What the heck!!!! Scared me senseless. Didnt know if I should drive home but I did. Made it while leaving a trail of gas on the road. I kind of feel luck I work close to home and that there wasn't all that much gas in the tank. Haven't had it fixed yet. Need to get off here and call a repair shop.... grrrr. Hope it won't cost a whole load of money to fix. If I am lucky it will just be a hose. October 12 too close to homeMy darling nieces (a freshman and a junior) attend this school. It's nice to make the national news, but geez do I ever wish it was for something good. The school is in a fairly well off neighborhood. My younger niece attended classes with the boy who was obsessed with Columbine. (he is homeschooled now) From what Haley says, the boy was overweight and have health issues and yes was picked on. What's so distrurbing to me me is that it is said the mom bought at least one of the auntomatic guns. many of the weapons were in plain view in the kid's bedroom. What in the world were the parents thinking?
My nieces are intelligent, funny, wonderful and beautiful girls. I haven't talked to them yet - they were at their mom's house yesterday. I did talk to my brother Jim. Glenna had gotten an email sent out to the staff at the school and she read it to us during a break. Our program used to be housed at that school, and we still know or are friends with staff there. I called Jim and asked if he knew anything about it. He didn't. Apparently when I talked to him, the school's notification system had not kicked into gear yet. The girls' mom picked them up at school and I believe they closed for the day at noon or so. I forwarded the email we had to and a little more info I had heard to Jim. I guess I'll feel better after I get to talk to the girls myself. I was planning on taking some of my mom's stuff down there this weekend but I definitely will now. I need to see them.
Some things went right here... when the homeschooled boy tried to enlist a friend into his plan, the friend went and told his dad. Yay for students doing the right thing!!!!! It is so hard for a kid to make a decision like that. Hooray for the dad going with the friend to the police!!!!! The plan was stopped before he even had a second to help him. The superintendant was open about what was happening as soon as he safely could be. (he was my kids' building principal when Liam was in hs) The mom is being charged. The system can work when someone is willing to speak up.
I wish the homeschooled boy never felt the way he obviously does. I wonder how many times the family was offered help. Schools and all their personnel are mandated reporters when they see a child in crisis. If parents refuse help and pull their child out of school, what then? I know there are regulatations for homeschooled kids and I know there are families who are doing a wonderful job with it. I feel bad for this kid and his family. I do have to be honest and say I am not I have biases and am too close to this to be objective.
On a much more light note - I have a day off today. It is an inservice day for the district but since we (the special ed service providers) went back a week or more eariler than the district, we do not have to report. Woo hoo! So far I am just being lazy. Maybe a bit later I will get some things done.
It actually feels like Fall. The weather broke on Thursday. We went from mid 80s Thursday to 60s today. I like how it feels. May see if I can wlak again, it felt so good the other day. I have a christening to interpret on Sunday. Will see a former student. (the baby's uncle) We haven't seen each other for probably about 2-3 years. It will be good to catch up with him. Have to find a little gift for the baby. Last time I interpreted for the family, I offered my services as a gift to the family. The insisted on paying me and had me come to the luncheon afterward. Stuff like this I would do for free in a heartbeat. It's sweet to be so well treated, but it is also an honor to be asked to interpret such a special event.
October 11 book groupI guess I am becoming a stereotypical 40 something year old woman. I went to the first meeitng for the book club my friend Patti convinced me to join. Nice group of ladies, and I think I had some good things to contribute. We actually talked about the book for about an hour or so, then decided on the next book, Pompei. It was fun to have some place to go and have have a good discussion. There's a varied group there, which makes it interesting.
Tonight is Open House at Eddie's Tech school. Really hope I hear something good there... my dear youngest is pushing my buttons lately. I know he is just doing the goofy teenager thing but it is bugging me.
I cannot remember if I mentioned it before or not, but I had a really nice walk in a local park the other day. A good 2 miles and it was gorgeous out. It made me feel great and there was so much more to look at than when I walk around the neighborhood. For me, I guess I can only look at how everyone else has their house but so many times. It was refreshing to have trees, leaves and other stuff to look at. Seems I need to vary things every so often.
Have to go check on the chicken and get some things done before tonight. October 07 ufe success!I am soooooooo thrilled! Guys, you probably have no desire to hear any of this unless you have a lady in your life with uterine fibroids. I've had my second period now since having the uterine artery embolization proceedure done August 2. (well 3 actually but the first was too soon after to see a difference plus I didn't know what was from the period and what was from the ufe)
This month, I have had a 5 day period with little cramping, clotting or extra heavy flow. The heaviest it was was comperable to what used to be my medium days. This is so awesome. I don't have to make sure I make it to the rest room between EVERY class at work or that I have a veritble drug store in my purse or work bag at all times. And to think, this thing will still shrink for another 3 months or so. Definitely worth having the proceedure done and any discomfort I had after. If you have uterine fibroids, consider having this done - and ask your doctor about participating in a study using steroids after. I think that was a big part of why I did not have alot of pain afterward.
The only thing I would really change is how long I waited to have this done. A much more normal, less "schedule your whole life around your period" life could have been mine at least two years ago! Then again... pretty much everything is done when the timming is right, so I'm glad I got it done regardless of when it was done.
Babbling done! October 05 MoliereAlmost forgot! Last night, my friend Patti and I went out to the local theater - a little renovated community place that shows indie movies and foreign films. We saw Moliere. I wasn't quite as please with this one as I was with The Golden Door. Seems the goody goody in me cannot get past the idea that so many authors and movie makers have to use an affair as a means to teach a lesson or have a source of conflict in the story. I enjoyed the costumes and scenery... it's amazing the detail that has to go into a film like this. And yes, I could appreciate what Moliere taught the family in the end. Following your passion in life is the key to happiness and I get that as well. I guess you cannot love every movie you see or book that you read.
Patti also got me to join her book group. We are meeting Tuesday night to talk about Water for Elephants. I liked the book well enough. It was a nice diversion for me. I am trying now to finish To Kill a Mockingbird,which I am reading for an Englich class I'm interpreting. I'm finally getting into it and enjoying it.
Tomorrow I get to go out and see Jamie perform with her girls' barbershop type group. Lucky me, they will only be about 15 minutes away from here! I am so excited to see her again. Will be taking pictures, and hope to have them developed and up soon.
Jerry has to be at a funeral tomorrow. Unfortunately, one of his co-workers passed away. So sad for the family and friends, although not unexpected. He had to work alot of extra hours this week. Selfishly, I feel a bit bummed as this may effect our plans to go on a trip later this month. If it does, it does. We'll plan something else soon. I'm looking forward to seeing him soon - I miss him. But I can do what he needs for now. I hope all involved are doing alright and finding strength in each other. bloggingTime and extra jobs have caught up with me! I realize my entries have dropped off.. guess It is with the back to work aura and having a few extra jobs a few days a week. It's all just enough for me to be a little off my schedule. I've been a ltitle more tired than I think I should be. Then again, I am fairly tough on myself.
There's not really that much happening. Busy with work and the one kid left at home. He's really not here all that often, but we have been communicating pretty well. He's a good kid... yesterday in the car he started talking about how material most people are and how messed up our priorities are. I was surprised... and I hate to say it but I didn't realize how "deep" a thinker he is.
Back to School night was last night. Eddie's teachers seem like a good group. Of course he has the health teacher I specifically asked the school not to place him with. I could barely sit through her 8 minutes. I was fuming that he was in that class. The teacher has made comments about the only functional family can only ever be a two parent family. She has also said some things about homosexuals deserving aids. Uh, yah. I've worked in public schools on and off for 26 years and have no idea how she has not been fired yet. All I know is Collen had her. Col has the sense to debate someone when she disagrees and can make a good point without getting in trouble. I'm not so sure Eddie will be able to do that. He has matured alot in the past year, but I'm afraid he may forget some things just aren't worth it and lose it with her one day. I have never requested that any of my kids not have a certain teacher before and Eddie's assitant principal seemed pretty good about the whole thing. The letter I sent him was well writen and made valid points. I was completely surprised last night when I sat in his homeroom and saw this teacher's name on his schedule. Anyway... I will be getting some info from Colleen this weekend and calling or emailing the school on Monday. At the very least I will be getting his schedule changed at the change of semester. (I'm pretty sure they discuss relationships and "healthy" families 3rd quarter. ) I told Eddie to do his best in the class, not over react to anything she says, but tell me what she says if something happens. With any luck, this will be straightened out. Lord knows he doesnt need to hear alot of this crap. Don't mess with my babies.
Same ole same ole otherwise. Am loving this warmer weather we've had for so long, but am almost looking forward to the first frost to kill off some of the allergens. It's been brutal. |
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