I've been gone from blogging for a long time. Basically, it's been about 2 years now. I've checked in a couple of times with updates, but haven't really written anything. I want to change that. I want to get back to letting my thoughts and feelings out.
It's been almost 2 years since Donny died. I miss him all the time still. I really thought that it would get better with time, but I guess I was wrong. I didn't really understand how deeply I loved him until he was gone. We had our good times and our bad times, but I'm choosing to remember the good.
I get to see the grandkids about once a year. I'm friends with both the girls on facebook and we keep up with each-other that way. I love them all and I'm so happy that they have allowed me to keep my role in their family, even though their dad's gone now.
My sister's kids are still living with me. I enjoy having them here, even if they do supremely frustrate me at times. I've learned a lot about them, and about kids in general. The biggest lesson that I've learned though is to back off and let everybody else deal with it. I've had too many people tell me too many times how awful I am for how I handle things with the kids, so now I just let everybody else deal with them unless I am specifically asked to do it.
My sister and her boyfriend lived with us for a while. It didn't go well and it ended with her boyfriend getting kicked out. At that point my parents said that any adults who wanted to keep living in their home would have to submit to random drug testing. My sister got on her high horse about where her boyfriend's not welcome, she's not welcome and she went to be homeless with the guy. We all know though that it was actually a case of she couldn't pass the drug test and she knew it. Now she likes to bitch and moan about how she was kicked out and isn't good enough to sleep in our backyard like a dog. (they were living in a tent in the backyard before, since there was absolutely no room in the house.)
My sister also announced her pregnancy over Thanksgiving weekend. After all the years that I prayed that Donny and I could have a baby, she gets pregnant when she's trying not to. And she can't even take care of the ones that she has now! I know that I sound like a jealous, whining little sister, and maybe that's what I am, but I'm really having problems here.
And to top it all off, since my sister announced her pregnancy, my mom's really been babying her. She's at our house all the time now. And when she's here she complains constantly about the RV that her and her boyfriend live in. Apparently it's too cold and has a leak over their bed. When it rains their bed gets all wet. I'm just waiting for when my mom announces that for the good of my sister and the baby she'll be moving in.
If my sister moves in she's going to bring her boyfriend to live with her. That's when I'll have some major decisions to make. Any time that they come over and it's not their regular Sunday visit I have a panic attack. And when they stayed here for a week I was having nightmares and problems sleeping. I have a really hard time with it, but I have to play nice. For that sake of family peace and harmony I have to pretend like everything's great and wonderful, but it's not.
I started dating again, but I now qualify for the Jerry Springer show. I'm dating my sister's ex-husband, and the father of the children that live with me. Early in their marriage Mike and I realized that we were interested in each-other, but we couldn't do anything about it since he was married to my sister. Over the years we've had as little to do with each-other as possible to make things easier.
Mike moved back to this area to be near his kids. I ended up spending quite a bit of time with him and we discovered that we were both still interested. We decided to see where things would go. So far it's been mostly good. I can't say that I've found forever, but I'm also not ending things right now. One thing that I've learned is to slow down and enjoy the moment that I'm in right now.
Work is revving up again for me. This tax season I'll be working 2 jobs, but after April 15 I'll be back down to one. I still absolutely love doing taxes, and I'm good at it. I'm so glad my friend talked me into doing the class a few years ago.
I guess this post ended up being just another update on my life, but I find those interesting to read a few years later. And maybe I'll be able to be more honest about my feelings when the room isn't full of kids. Now it's time to get them off to bed.
Wednesday, December 08, 2010
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Life
I want him back! I don't care how unfair it is, I want him back!
Today would have been Donny's 52nd birthday. That's really young to be dead. I can't even say how much I miss him. Sometimes it's an actual physical ache in my chest. I thought that I was ready for this, I thought that I had prepared myself. I've never been more wrong in all my life.
I've been avoiding writing, mostly because I've been avoiding myself. I have 4 part-time jobs, 3 kids and a sick mom, and sometimes I feel like I'm not busy enough. If I fill my days with busyness then I don't have to face the emptiness. I miss him so much.
The kids are well. We have our ups and our downs. Last week the youngest one broke his arm. He was such a trooper about it too. He didn't cry when he broke it. His eyes got a little wet, but he didn't cry when he had to twist his arm into a weird position for the x-ray. He didn't cry when he had to sit in the waiting room for a couple of hours, with no pain medicine, waiting his turn. He didn't cry when they splinted it. In fact, the only time he did cry was when a baby in obvious distress came into the waiting room. What a softy.
My mom's in the hospital again. They now think that the reason that she keeps passing out is something to do with her adrenal gland. I guess I know what I need to be googling. The doctor said that she might get to come home on Friday. I sure hope so, I miss her.
That's all the news in my life. I feel a little bit better, having let off some steam, but I sure didn't wait long to focus my attention elsewhere did I? Oh well, it's a start.
Today would have been Donny's 52nd birthday. That's really young to be dead. I can't even say how much I miss him. Sometimes it's an actual physical ache in my chest. I thought that I was ready for this, I thought that I had prepared myself. I've never been more wrong in all my life.
I've been avoiding writing, mostly because I've been avoiding myself. I have 4 part-time jobs, 3 kids and a sick mom, and sometimes I feel like I'm not busy enough. If I fill my days with busyness then I don't have to face the emptiness. I miss him so much.
The kids are well. We have our ups and our downs. Last week the youngest one broke his arm. He was such a trooper about it too. He didn't cry when he broke it. His eyes got a little wet, but he didn't cry when he had to twist his arm into a weird position for the x-ray. He didn't cry when he had to sit in the waiting room for a couple of hours, with no pain medicine, waiting his turn. He didn't cry when they splinted it. In fact, the only time he did cry was when a baby in obvious distress came into the waiting room. What a softy.
My mom's in the hospital again. They now think that the reason that she keeps passing out is something to do with her adrenal gland. I guess I know what I need to be googling. The doctor said that she might get to come home on Friday. I sure hope so, I miss her.
That's all the news in my life. I feel a little bit better, having let off some steam, but I sure didn't wait long to focus my attention elsewhere did I? Oh well, it's a start.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Update
I just looked at my blog and realized how long it's been since I've written. So much has happened, and much of it is crap that I don't even want to think about.
I'll start off by saying that I've been kept on to work the off-season for block. Year round taxes, yeah.
Three weeks ago I came home from work to find that my sister and her fiancee had pitched at tent in the backyard, and were apparently going to be living with us. I was told that it was a one weeek trial. The idea was that at the end of the week my parents, my grandmother, and myself would discuss things, and if it wasn't working out that they would be asked to leave. That has yet to happen. Instead they seem to plan on being here until they find jobs and are able to get a place of their own, or at least that's my sister's plan.
Last Tuesday my mom told me that they'd be here for 2 more weeks. At that time her friend is supposed to giver her his tax refund to repay her for something. My mom said that my sister would be leaving when that money came through. The next day my sister was talking to me and casually mentioned how much of that money she would be asking my parents to hold on to for her to have money to move with when steady jobs are secured. She said that way mom and dad would know that she really is serious about leaving once they have jobs.
Of course, if they're going to move when they have jobs then they need to be serious about looking for work. But my sister believes that she can't get serious about finding a job until her fiancee finds a job, because it would hurt his feelings if she found work before him. And as for the fiancee, he seems to have given up on finding a job. He's mad that everybody is looking for somebody who's bilingual. He also doesn't appear to have any marketable job skills, but that may be just my view of things.
What makes all of this so bad though is the fact that I can't stand her fiancee. I'm tired of walking on eggshells around him so that I don't hurt his feeling on accident. And it doesn't take much. A good example would be today. I was really missing Donny. Mother's Day is hard for me, and he was always my rock during days like this. Mike could see that I was not doing well, and asked me what was wrong, to which I answered nothing. He got his feelings hurt that I didn't want to share with him what was going on. And today wasn't a one-off kind of thing, he gets his feelings hurt about everything. If we're not treating him like the king and telling him that he's wonderful, his feelings get hurt. And I'm tired of tiptoeing around him.
Although, it's not just Mike that I'm having a problem with. I don't like living with my sister. I love her dearly, but I can't handle living with her. A lot of the problem is me, I get that, but I still don't like living with her. The last time that we lived together as adults she steamrolled over me and took over my living space, because she didn't have enough room. (She had more room than me, but that didn't matter to her.) Infact, in most areas of our lives she steamrolled me. She's always been like that. Now I feel as if I have to constantly be on guard to keep it from happening again. I have to hold my boundaries very firm, never giving an inch, and constantly guarding them to keep them in place. That's because she's always been the type that if you give her an inch, she'll take a mile.
This has been really hard on me emotionally. These last three weeks have felt more like three months. I'm starting to fall apart at the seams. I have to solve this problem before I completely fall apart. I've thought a lot about this and the only solution that I can think of is to move. So I've started quietly looking for a job that pays enough to support myself. I know myself well enough to know that I would not do well with a roommate, so I'll have to earn enough to pay all the bills myself. I don't want to leave the home that I shared with Donny. My heart literally, physically, aches every time I think about it, but this may be my only solution.
Getting a job and getting the money to move on may take a while. And maybe in that time things will resolve themselves where my sister is concerned, but I can't sit back and wait for that to happen anymore. I have to be doing something to resolve this, and I can't find any other options.
I'll start off by saying that I've been kept on to work the off-season for block. Year round taxes, yeah.
Three weeks ago I came home from work to find that my sister and her fiancee had pitched at tent in the backyard, and were apparently going to be living with us. I was told that it was a one weeek trial. The idea was that at the end of the week my parents, my grandmother, and myself would discuss things, and if it wasn't working out that they would be asked to leave. That has yet to happen. Instead they seem to plan on being here until they find jobs and are able to get a place of their own, or at least that's my sister's plan.
Last Tuesday my mom told me that they'd be here for 2 more weeks. At that time her friend is supposed to giver her his tax refund to repay her for something. My mom said that my sister would be leaving when that money came through. The next day my sister was talking to me and casually mentioned how much of that money she would be asking my parents to hold on to for her to have money to move with when steady jobs are secured. She said that way mom and dad would know that she really is serious about leaving once they have jobs.
Of course, if they're going to move when they have jobs then they need to be serious about looking for work. But my sister believes that she can't get serious about finding a job until her fiancee finds a job, because it would hurt his feelings if she found work before him. And as for the fiancee, he seems to have given up on finding a job. He's mad that everybody is looking for somebody who's bilingual. He also doesn't appear to have any marketable job skills, but that may be just my view of things.
What makes all of this so bad though is the fact that I can't stand her fiancee. I'm tired of walking on eggshells around him so that I don't hurt his feeling on accident. And it doesn't take much. A good example would be today. I was really missing Donny. Mother's Day is hard for me, and he was always my rock during days like this. Mike could see that I was not doing well, and asked me what was wrong, to which I answered nothing. He got his feelings hurt that I didn't want to share with him what was going on. And today wasn't a one-off kind of thing, he gets his feelings hurt about everything. If we're not treating him like the king and telling him that he's wonderful, his feelings get hurt. And I'm tired of tiptoeing around him.
Although, it's not just Mike that I'm having a problem with. I don't like living with my sister. I love her dearly, but I can't handle living with her. A lot of the problem is me, I get that, but I still don't like living with her. The last time that we lived together as adults she steamrolled over me and took over my living space, because she didn't have enough room. (She had more room than me, but that didn't matter to her.) Infact, in most areas of our lives she steamrolled me. She's always been like that. Now I feel as if I have to constantly be on guard to keep it from happening again. I have to hold my boundaries very firm, never giving an inch, and constantly guarding them to keep them in place. That's because she's always been the type that if you give her an inch, she'll take a mile.
This has been really hard on me emotionally. These last three weeks have felt more like three months. I'm starting to fall apart at the seams. I have to solve this problem before I completely fall apart. I've thought a lot about this and the only solution that I can think of is to move. So I've started quietly looking for a job that pays enough to support myself. I know myself well enough to know that I would not do well with a roommate, so I'll have to earn enough to pay all the bills myself. I don't want to leave the home that I shared with Donny. My heart literally, physically, aches every time I think about it, but this may be my only solution.
Getting a job and getting the money to move on may take a while. And maybe in that time things will resolve themselves where my sister is concerned, but I can't sit back and wait for that to happen anymore. I have to be doing something to resolve this, and I can't find any other options.
Mother's Day
I survived another Mother's Day. Barely.
Today was a very hard day for me. A day where I get constant reminders about the fact that I'll never be a mom.
Last year on Mother's Day Donny held me and let me cry. He talked about the fact that we were still hoping and trying to conceive. He called his daughter and asked her to talk to me and try to make me feel better. He was there for me, and he helped me find that little, tiny ember of hope.
This year he wasn't there, and that ember is gone.
Today was a very hard day for me. A day where I get constant reminders about the fact that I'll never be a mom.
Last year on Mother's Day Donny held me and let me cry. He talked about the fact that we were still hoping and trying to conceive. He called his daughter and asked her to talk to me and try to make me feel better. He was there for me, and he helped me find that little, tiny ember of hope.
This year he wasn't there, and that ember is gone.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
OMG
I want to know who fed me stupid pills and where I can get the antidote.
Seriously, what the hell was I thinking in taking on 3 kids with so much emotional baggage? I can't catch my breath between problems.
In all honesty, the kids are great, and I love having them here. I'm enthusiastically greeted when I get home from work and I never lack for somebody to cuddle with. Noah, the 17 year old, has always been my boy, and still is. He's the one that you're most likely to find cuddled up on the couch with me. Kaylee, the 13 year old, has always been my princess, and knows it. She's the one you'll find giving me an angelic smile while she tries to convince me to give her special privileges. And then there's Micah, the 11 year old. He's the baby and has always been treated as such. He's the one that's likely to be in his room pouting about something. I seem to be very good at pissing the child off.
The kids have been her for 3 weeks now and I had really hoped to be settled in to a routine by now. The only routine that we have is going to the ER.
The day after the kids got here Kaylee's ears started hurting. By that evening she was sitting there, hands over her ears, moaning. She hurt so bad that she couldn't even cry. Because my sister, in all her infinite wisdom, failed to send us permission to get medical treatment, the ER was the only place willing to touch the child. So we spent many hours in the ER so that they could tell us that there was fluid behind both eardrums and in one ear it had gotten infected. After Kaylee had been triaged and we'd been sent back to the waiting room the doc in triage came out and started wandering around the ER. He finally came and let me know that he had ordered some numbing eardrops from the pharmacy, but that since that would take a while he was looking to see if anybody had some statshed somewhere on the unit. Eventually a nurse practitioner pulled Kaylee into the second triage room and examined her in there. We were given some prescritions and sent home.
The following day I developed a severe cold. After having to ask my parents to come rescue me at work because I was too dizzy to drive I broke down and went to the doctor. I spent $140 to be told that I was right, it was just a severe cold. I was dizzy because the tubes in my ears weren't draining right. I was then told to stay home for a week. And definitely no doing taxes until my head cleared. So my family took my car keys away and made me stay home.
It was probably a couple of days after I had been to the doctor that we made our second trip to ER. We had just put kids to bed and things were settling down for the night. Kaylee sat bolt upright in bed, grabbed her stomach and started sobbing because of the pain. She said that she was having severe pain in her lower right abdomen. Since my mom and I couldn't remember where the appendix is we decided to let a doctor tell us that she was fine. And that's exactly what happened. The doctor we saw that night thought that the pain was caused by constipation, brought on by the tylenol3 that she had been given for the earache. So she sent us home with a prescription for laxatives and a list of high fiber foods.
A few days later Kaylee was having no problems having a bowel movement, but the pain persisted. By this time we had noticed that it moved around some, but tended to be somewhere in the middle of her abdomen or on the right side. Whether it was high or low in the abdomen changed all the time. The pain is real, but we couldn't figure out a cause. It got so bad that we ended up taking her back to ER. They ran some more tests, but still couldnn't find anything. The only progress that we made was ruling stuff out. But my sister finally sent consent for medical treatment.
So we took Kaylee for a follow-up visit at a clinic here in town. The doctor still isn't positive what it is, but she at least believes us that Kaylee really is in pain. My mom and I think that it's stressed induced, and the doctor said that that's a very real possibility. They're doinf an ultrasound looking for ovarian cysts, but at this point it's a matter of ruling out everything else before diagnosing her with stress.
This last Sunday I was sitting in the garage visiting with Noah and he was playing around in my mom's wheelchair that we were storing in there. I'm not sure how it happened, but the wheelchair tipped over backwards. I couldn't get a response out of him for a couple minutes, and then he just groaned. I finally got him to tell me he was dizzy, but he still wouldn't roll over or open his eyes. It took a little bit, but we finally got him with it enough to get up in a chair. I used the wheelchair and got him out to the car, and then it was off to the hospital. They did a CT sccan of his head, and there was no major internal trauma. He was diagnosed with a concussion and sent home. From that trip I learned that you don't have to keep somebody awake after a head injury anymore.
On Tuesday Noah got up, tried to get ready for school, but just couldn't make it. My mom called and talked to the school nurse about what was going on, and was advised that he should see a doctor. The doctor examined him that afternoon and sent him back to ER. She thought that another CT scan needed to be done of his head, since he was getting worse. So as they're trying to explain everything in triage the nurse asked Noah how he got a concussion. When Noah told him the response he got was, "OH! I heard about you!" The guy hadn't even been working on Sunday. We ran into the same scene with the tech who took him for his CT scan. This time it was decided that he has post concussive syndrome and it'll take about 6 weeks for him to get better.
So tonight Noah was asleep when I went in to call him for dinner. I got him awake enough to know that it was dinner time and then I left the room. He came out a little while later and apologized to my mom for denting the speaker on her CD player. He hit it with his head when he fell out of bed.
I put his mattress on the floor and told him that he's to stay at floor level, it's safer that way.
Seriously, what the hell was I thinking in taking on 3 kids with so much emotional baggage? I can't catch my breath between problems.
In all honesty, the kids are great, and I love having them here. I'm enthusiastically greeted when I get home from work and I never lack for somebody to cuddle with. Noah, the 17 year old, has always been my boy, and still is. He's the one that you're most likely to find cuddled up on the couch with me. Kaylee, the 13 year old, has always been my princess, and knows it. She's the one you'll find giving me an angelic smile while she tries to convince me to give her special privileges. And then there's Micah, the 11 year old. He's the baby and has always been treated as such. He's the one that's likely to be in his room pouting about something. I seem to be very good at pissing the child off.
The kids have been her for 3 weeks now and I had really hoped to be settled in to a routine by now. The only routine that we have is going to the ER.
The day after the kids got here Kaylee's ears started hurting. By that evening she was sitting there, hands over her ears, moaning. She hurt so bad that she couldn't even cry. Because my sister, in all her infinite wisdom, failed to send us permission to get medical treatment, the ER was the only place willing to touch the child. So we spent many hours in the ER so that they could tell us that there was fluid behind both eardrums and in one ear it had gotten infected. After Kaylee had been triaged and we'd been sent back to the waiting room the doc in triage came out and started wandering around the ER. He finally came and let me know that he had ordered some numbing eardrops from the pharmacy, but that since that would take a while he was looking to see if anybody had some statshed somewhere on the unit. Eventually a nurse practitioner pulled Kaylee into the second triage room and examined her in there. We were given some prescritions and sent home.
The following day I developed a severe cold. After having to ask my parents to come rescue me at work because I was too dizzy to drive I broke down and went to the doctor. I spent $140 to be told that I was right, it was just a severe cold. I was dizzy because the tubes in my ears weren't draining right. I was then told to stay home for a week. And definitely no doing taxes until my head cleared. So my family took my car keys away and made me stay home.
It was probably a couple of days after I had been to the doctor that we made our second trip to ER. We had just put kids to bed and things were settling down for the night. Kaylee sat bolt upright in bed, grabbed her stomach and started sobbing because of the pain. She said that she was having severe pain in her lower right abdomen. Since my mom and I couldn't remember where the appendix is we decided to let a doctor tell us that she was fine. And that's exactly what happened. The doctor we saw that night thought that the pain was caused by constipation, brought on by the tylenol3 that she had been given for the earache. So she sent us home with a prescription for laxatives and a list of high fiber foods.
A few days later Kaylee was having no problems having a bowel movement, but the pain persisted. By this time we had noticed that it moved around some, but tended to be somewhere in the middle of her abdomen or on the right side. Whether it was high or low in the abdomen changed all the time. The pain is real, but we couldn't figure out a cause. It got so bad that we ended up taking her back to ER. They ran some more tests, but still couldnn't find anything. The only progress that we made was ruling stuff out. But my sister finally sent consent for medical treatment.
So we took Kaylee for a follow-up visit at a clinic here in town. The doctor still isn't positive what it is, but she at least believes us that Kaylee really is in pain. My mom and I think that it's stressed induced, and the doctor said that that's a very real possibility. They're doinf an ultrasound looking for ovarian cysts, but at this point it's a matter of ruling out everything else before diagnosing her with stress.
This last Sunday I was sitting in the garage visiting with Noah and he was playing around in my mom's wheelchair that we were storing in there. I'm not sure how it happened, but the wheelchair tipped over backwards. I couldn't get a response out of him for a couple minutes, and then he just groaned. I finally got him to tell me he was dizzy, but he still wouldn't roll over or open his eyes. It took a little bit, but we finally got him with it enough to get up in a chair. I used the wheelchair and got him out to the car, and then it was off to the hospital. They did a CT sccan of his head, and there was no major internal trauma. He was diagnosed with a concussion and sent home. From that trip I learned that you don't have to keep somebody awake after a head injury anymore.
On Tuesday Noah got up, tried to get ready for school, but just couldn't make it. My mom called and talked to the school nurse about what was going on, and was advised that he should see a doctor. The doctor examined him that afternoon and sent him back to ER. She thought that another CT scan needed to be done of his head, since he was getting worse. So as they're trying to explain everything in triage the nurse asked Noah how he got a concussion. When Noah told him the response he got was, "OH! I heard about you!" The guy hadn't even been working on Sunday. We ran into the same scene with the tech who took him for his CT scan. This time it was decided that he has post concussive syndrome and it'll take about 6 weeks for him to get better.
So tonight Noah was asleep when I went in to call him for dinner. I got him awake enough to know that it was dinner time and then I left the room. He came out a little while later and apologized to my mom for denting the speaker on her CD player. He hit it with his head when he fell out of bed.
I put his mattress on the floor and told him that he's to stay at floor level, it's safer that way.
Sunday, March 08, 2009
Chili
Yesterday my parent's church had their annual chili cookoff fundraiser. Last year there had been about 5 or 6 entries and about 30 people had shown up for the chili dinner afterward. I won second place in the category of hottest and first place in the category of best tasting last year. I had a blast doing it too.
This year I decided to enter again, and I was discussing it with my mom. She pointed out that she'd be babysitting "Michael" that day. Since he enjoys cooking with me mom pointed out that I'd probably end up with help. Then my mom said that she thought it'd be cute for Michael to enter the cookoff. I loved the idea and ran with it.
I realized that if I helped with Michael's chili too much then it would taste too much like mine, so I had to figure out what to do. I sent my dad to the store to buy what he thought should go in a pot of chili. I got some stuff from my mom that she bought when she had been considering entering in the cookoff herself. And then I raided the cupboard for stuff that I thought might go in chili.
Thursday night I put some beans on to soak for the 2 pots of chili. Friday I cooked them off and put my chili together, since it needs to cook for a full day before it's done. I set Michael's beans aside for him.
On Saturday morning I set out everything that we had for Michael's chili, and then I put the boy to work. My dad had bought one of those big, horseshoe shaped sausages to use for this, so I gave it to Michael to cut up. He can only use a butter knife for now (I really need to go get a safety knife), but he's getting pretty good at it. I then sat Michael on the counter next to the stove and let him start putting stuff in his chili. He's getting pretty good at helping open cans, and his stirring skills are greatly improved.
When all was said and done Michael had a decent looking pot of chili. We took his and mine to the church and dropped them off for judging while we went shopping. We went back to the church for the dinner. When it came time for the awards I got some funny looks as to why I was dragging a 3 year old up for them, but it was worth it. Michael got third place in the category of best tasting. It was so much fun.
This year I decided to enter again, and I was discussing it with my mom. She pointed out that she'd be babysitting "Michael" that day. Since he enjoys cooking with me mom pointed out that I'd probably end up with help. Then my mom said that she thought it'd be cute for Michael to enter the cookoff. I loved the idea and ran with it.
I realized that if I helped with Michael's chili too much then it would taste too much like mine, so I had to figure out what to do. I sent my dad to the store to buy what he thought should go in a pot of chili. I got some stuff from my mom that she bought when she had been considering entering in the cookoff herself. And then I raided the cupboard for stuff that I thought might go in chili.
Thursday night I put some beans on to soak for the 2 pots of chili. Friday I cooked them off and put my chili together, since it needs to cook for a full day before it's done. I set Michael's beans aside for him.
On Saturday morning I set out everything that we had for Michael's chili, and then I put the boy to work. My dad had bought one of those big, horseshoe shaped sausages to use for this, so I gave it to Michael to cut up. He can only use a butter knife for now (I really need to go get a safety knife), but he's getting pretty good at it. I then sat Michael on the counter next to the stove and let him start putting stuff in his chili. He's getting pretty good at helping open cans, and his stirring skills are greatly improved.
When all was said and done Michael had a decent looking pot of chili. We took his and mine to the church and dropped them off for judging while we went shopping. We went back to the church for the dinner. When it came time for the awards I got some funny looks as to why I was dragging a 3 year old up for them, but it was worth it. Michael got third place in the category of best tasting. It was so much fun.
Monday, March 02, 2009
Changes
Okay, everything just got crazy here. We'll start with a little background.
I have one sister, she's older than me. She llives in Arkansas, and we haven't been able to see each other since my wedding. We keep in touch, but not a lot of contact. We've always been close, but she tends to fill her life with drama, and I just haven't been able to deal with it. There's no huge disagreement, just I don't need the run down on who's sleeping with who, or which boyfriend (since she kicked her husband out to move a boyfriend in to help pay the bills) is currently in residence.
I've known that my sister was facing a lot of hard times, but I haven't really realized just how bad they were. She has 3 kids and has been working her ass off trying to provide for them, but nothings really coming together for her. The kids are 17, 13, and 11 and they happen to be the closest I come to having kids of my own. I love them more than I could ever say. They've turned out fairly well so far, especially considering the home environment that they come from.
A few days ago the cops showed up at my sister's house because they'd had a report that my niece (the 13 year old) was being molested by one of the people that she babysits for. They needed to take her to the station to question her about this, and my sister went along. Why, I don't know, but my sister was tested for drugs while she was there. And she failed. She tested positive for marijuana and meth. She swears up and down that she only uses occasionally and my mom belives her. The only thing that I know for sure is that she's willingly taking part in a drug rehab program.
Apparently one of the boyfriends that my sister had living with her for a while is a known drug dealer that the cops have been hot to get for a while now. So they're trying to get my sister to give up her dealer(s). They told her to tell them everything she knows. She asked about what. They said just tell us everything you know or we'll take your kids away. Now, my sister has no problem giving up everybody if it will help her kids out, but she's afraid of causing more trouble for herself.
Also, on Sunday my sister was served with an eviction notice. She's been renting a house from my uncle, but there's been a lot of problems. I guess she's been without hot water for more than 6 months now. The eviction notice was her 30 day notice, but the letter that my uncle gave her said that all her stuff needs to be out by the 15th, since that's when he needs to move his stuff in. Also, as of the 15th he's changing the locks and her and the kids can only come and go on his schedule. So basically, she's got less than 2 weeks to find a new place and move.
The eviction notice, on top of everything else that's going on, is the final nail in her coffin. She's sure that she's going to lose the kids. So that's where I come in. A couple of hours ago I bought three one way tickets out here. The kids will be here next week on Wednesday. A final decision hasn't been reached, but it's looking like the kids will be signed over to me. I'm becoming a mom. Or something like that.
I live with my parents and my grandma, so I'll not be alone in caring for these kids. But I already feel a great responsibility for them. I know there's a chance that the responsibility won't be mine after all, but i can't help that I'm already gearing up for it mentally. And i can't stop the tape in the back of my head going, "HOLY CRAP!!!"
I have one sister, she's older than me. She llives in Arkansas, and we haven't been able to see each other since my wedding. We keep in touch, but not a lot of contact. We've always been close, but she tends to fill her life with drama, and I just haven't been able to deal with it. There's no huge disagreement, just I don't need the run down on who's sleeping with who, or which boyfriend (since she kicked her husband out to move a boyfriend in to help pay the bills) is currently in residence.
I've known that my sister was facing a lot of hard times, but I haven't really realized just how bad they were. She has 3 kids and has been working her ass off trying to provide for them, but nothings really coming together for her. The kids are 17, 13, and 11 and they happen to be the closest I come to having kids of my own. I love them more than I could ever say. They've turned out fairly well so far, especially considering the home environment that they come from.
A few days ago the cops showed up at my sister's house because they'd had a report that my niece (the 13 year old) was being molested by one of the people that she babysits for. They needed to take her to the station to question her about this, and my sister went along. Why, I don't know, but my sister was tested for drugs while she was there. And she failed. She tested positive for marijuana and meth. She swears up and down that she only uses occasionally and my mom belives her. The only thing that I know for sure is that she's willingly taking part in a drug rehab program.
Apparently one of the boyfriends that my sister had living with her for a while is a known drug dealer that the cops have been hot to get for a while now. So they're trying to get my sister to give up her dealer(s). They told her to tell them everything she knows. She asked about what. They said just tell us everything you know or we'll take your kids away. Now, my sister has no problem giving up everybody if it will help her kids out, but she's afraid of causing more trouble for herself.
Also, on Sunday my sister was served with an eviction notice. She's been renting a house from my uncle, but there's been a lot of problems. I guess she's been without hot water for more than 6 months now. The eviction notice was her 30 day notice, but the letter that my uncle gave her said that all her stuff needs to be out by the 15th, since that's when he needs to move his stuff in. Also, as of the 15th he's changing the locks and her and the kids can only come and go on his schedule. So basically, she's got less than 2 weeks to find a new place and move.
The eviction notice, on top of everything else that's going on, is the final nail in her coffin. She's sure that she's going to lose the kids. So that's where I come in. A couple of hours ago I bought three one way tickets out here. The kids will be here next week on Wednesday. A final decision hasn't been reached, but it's looking like the kids will be signed over to me. I'm becoming a mom. Or something like that.
I live with my parents and my grandma, so I'll not be alone in caring for these kids. But I already feel a great responsibility for them. I know there's a chance that the responsibility won't be mine after all, but i can't help that I'm already gearing up for it mentally. And i can't stop the tape in the back of my head going, "HOLY CRAP!!!"
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