blessed to have....

     Met up with Ruth today and Elmer went back to his mama.  As time goes on, this has become easier between Ruth and I.  We are free to still care about each other and to chat now.  Elmer started to cry saying "memaw don't leave me" and I was able to smile and tell him - I'm not leaving you silly.  You're going bye bye with mama.  You go have fun.  Ruth was taking him to go meet up with her boyfriend and they were going to take him fishing tomorrow.  Once she said fishing Little Man and I told Elmer- you don't want to miss going fishing.  And LM told him- go eat a gold fish.  He started giggling and went out the door with his mom and a smile.  Ruth gave me her work schedule for the next 3 months to make exchanges easier.

     When I met up with Ruth today, we met at a restaurant.  Well, then my friend Jean showed up and I wanted to stay and visit for a few.  LM asked Ruth if she'd drop him off at Vix and Cal's so he could visit with his aunt and uncle.  Ruth kindly agreed to drop LM off over there so I could stay at the restaurant and visit with Ms Jean some more.  When Cal heard that Ruth was bringing LM, he told Vix that maybe Ruth would let him see Elmer for a few.  She not only let Elmer go visit for a few.... when I got done visiting with Ms Jean and got over to Vix and Cal's house, she was still there visiting.  Vix said that they had a very good visit.  Ruth told me the same thing later on the phone.  It is so much easier to get along than to be at war constantly.  Am I stupid naive enough to think that there will never be issues?  Obviously not.  It's still much easier for me to talk to Ruth than for Ice Cube to do it.  But they still talk at least weekly.  IC still cares for her a great deal and she still wants what's best for him.  They encourage Elmer to talk to whichever parent he's not with.  When Ruth calls to talk to the baby when he's here, IC will chase him thru the house with the phone telling him to talk to his mommy.  Elmer is a typical 2 year old.  Sometimes when he gets the phone - he won't give it back and he'll jabber away for 10 minutes.  Sometimes he's busy with something else and could care less to have anything to do with the phone.  When he acts like that- IC will put it on speaker phone and keep it close enough that he can hear his mama.

    There was the positives for today.  The negatives are so bad that I don't even know how to post about them yet.  Hurricane quit his job and has made some questionable choices.  He had a bad morning and in typical Hurricane fashion, he reacted to things and didn't think his actions thru.  I am upset... torn up... and unable to even think about what all happened let alone make enough sense out of it to post about it.  Donna has emailed me today several times asking me what happened.  I can't even answer her because I don't know.  So excuse my absence (once again) yesterday.  I was dealing with kid drama (again what's new).

     Anyhow, between driving for 7 hours today and the emotional roller coaster that I suffered thru yesterday, I'm feeling a bit battered.  And that might be putting it mildly.  On my way home from meeting up with Ruth today - my social networking status was "Survived yet another trip to the concrete jungle.  Now back home to trees and peace and the world series game"  Yeah- about that.  I got the trees and peace.  And criminal minds and last nights NCIS.  No World Series game.  Apparently, it's raining in St Louis.  About that.... how about sending some of that rain stuff this way?  We need it more than St Louis does anyhow and that's two... 1 - 2 ....TWO post season games postponed by rain this year.  My Rangers are only one game away from their first World Series title.  This has been a series for the record books.  I'm over here dying folks.  Really?  They're making me wait another night to see this?  Cruel and inhumane punishment.   Hmph.  So, if anyone had any doubts as to what I would be doing tomorrow night- erase them.  At 7:05 CT, they will be throwing out the first pitch in game 6 of the World Series.  I will be glued to the tv either cheering or cussing bemoaning how my team does.  :)  Hope everyone has a good night!

the calm

     before the storm.  I feel like things are just going too well.  The boys have been getting along.  Hurricane was able to drop everything to help his brother out when the bike broke down.  B has been working out on his pitching at night and either Ice Cube or Little Man have taken time to go help him.  They've hung out, watched movies together and played video games together.  No bickering, no nit picking, no talking smack about each other's women. 


     Well, I got that sentence typed before the tides began to change.  I went to the school to drop B up some lunch.  I guess IC got a call from Ruth.  Seems that her car payment is past due and she was calling him for help with it.  Either she takes the bank x amount of dollars by today or they repo her car.  Places don't like to take cars back.  So I think someone should probably call them and help her out.  Seriously, she made a double payment less than a week ago.  She can make another one in less than 2 weeks and be caught up.  They will usually work with you under those circumstances.  And her mom- the one that said "move to Austin, I'll buy you this and give you that and you won't have to work because I'll pay all your bills" - yeah.  Told her "tough"  Of course it took longer than I predicted before her mom threw her to the wolves but it happened.  That poor child has jumped thru hoops for years trying to live up to her mom's always changing standards.  Can you tell that I'm not a big fan of her mom?  Never have been.  I've watched her cry over stuff her mom has/hasn't done way too many times.  


    Additionally, I blew a belt in a tire on the way home.  Lovely.  I've been on the phone looking for a tire.  Finding one is easy.  Finding one I can afford- not so easy.  Oh and for those who might wonder, I took B left-overs from dinner last night for lunch.  We had sloppy joes so I made him a couple and wrapped them in foil and took them up there.  Not as healthy as I normally like but it's running towards the end of the month and I'm running low on some of my standard lunch stuff.  


     Well, glad I had a couple of days of peace before the clouds came back.  It's those times of peace that fortify us for the stormy days that come.  So today's advice to you:  Hold tight to those perfect moments.  No matter how small that time might be- grab it and treasure it and hang on for dear life.  You never know when the next storm or tragedy might be.  I have some good memories of times with Tara.  I take them out and remember what used to be.  The walks, the jamming to music in the car, talks we had.  All times that won't come back. Times that I won't have a chance to repeat.  She's taken her life down a different path and it's not one that we could travel together.  I hold tight to those times that we had.  And I do it with the boys too.  Because nothing in life is guaranteed.  You never know when something might happen.  It could be a fight with your teen (and believe me - those come with predictable regularity) and they're not being very loving or actually downright hateful.  You'll have that trip to the store when they gave you the gossip to remember that you're not always the hated bad guy.  Or the movie night when they were leaning up against your chair and just spending time with you to help you remember that you're not always going to be avoided like an english essay.  Or God forbid, you could lose someone important to you - those memories might be all you have to hold on to.  Nanny and I figured it out with the house.  Yesterday was the twins real birthday.  And I asked her how she was.  She said (and this is a sentiment that I have firmly believed in for years) "I didn't get any housework done this evening cause the twins were here.  I figure I can enjoy them while they're here and ignore the house or I can try to clean while they're here and be mad the whole time.  I'll clean up after they leave."  I clean while the kids are playing/in school/ at work (now)/ or busy doing their own thing.  And admittedly, it's easier to take this stance now that they're older and gone to school.  And for me- because I'm a SAHM.  But it was my motto during summers when the kids were home too.  They'd go out to play and I'd run thru the house cleaning like a mad woman.  I have a girlfriend that always stacks her dinner dishes in the sink after dinner and does them in the mornings.  She said - after dinner is my time to enjoy my husband and kids.  I'll do the dishes after they go to bed or in the morning.  Her kids are all gone to college now.  She has plenty of time to do the dishes now.  


    Hope y'all have a great day!

mediation

     Mediation went well I guess.  I really don't have a lot of details because Ice Cube is cool like that.  He's male and doesn't much talk.  I know from Ruth's call that they must have been in there about an hour and a half because she said Uncle Hurricane chased Elmer for that length of time during mediation.  Ruth thought that Ice Cube should have to drive both ways for pick up and return.  She wasn't really thrilled to hear from the mediator that he was supposed to drive all the way one way (about 12 hours round trip) and she was supposed to drive all the way the other.  She asked if they could still continue to meet in the middle and the mediator told her that yes, they could.  I do know this- it was the trip from hell for IC.  


     IC has class on Monday nights.  This is not something that he can miss.  So he had to leave to start this 6 hour journey for mediation after 9 PM.  At 12:36, I got a text from him (or my phone did because I never heard my phone go off) that the chain had broken on his motorcycle.  In Dallas of all places.  So, Hurricane jumped up and started the journey to find him.  Having no time to fix IC's bike in time for him to get to court the next morning, Big brother takes him the other 3 hours in on his crotch rocket.  Now, don't even get me started on how I feel about these boys riding motorcycles.  Gas wise- it makes a lot of sense.  Safety wise however.... ugh is all I can say.  I hate it.  But they're both adults (at least as far as the law says) and therefor, the choice is not mine.  So, 6 hours round trip with IC on the back of that dang death trap.  Thanks to big brother for rescuing him though.  One of these days, these younger boys will learn to appreciate all that the big brother has done for them.  Luckily, it was H's day off work.  Back from mediation, H gets one of his friends with a truck to go pick up IC's bike.  My sister helps him get a chain and H and the friend help him fix his bike.  He heads back home and misses his Weds night class.  Good thing he was there Monday right? 


     Child support set.  Visitation worked out.  Holidays to fall back on the state schedule if they can't agree on anything else.  IC not at all unhappy.  Exact amount of child support?  No idea.  TX goes with 25% of gross income for one child.  That's how it works.  Ruth's mom?  Well now that woman is another story.  She's the one pushing for all the court stuff.  She's even gone on the baby's page and posted mean things about IC on his wall.  Now, IC has the log-in info to Elmer's page so once it's seen, he just deletes it.  And I told him to not say anything mean to Ruth about it.  I mean- it's not her doing it.  It's her mom.  It's not like she can say anything to her mom because she lives with her mom and her mom could boot her out.  Of course, then I guess she could move in with her new bf but...  


     Well, back to the trenches.  I need to get my floors mopped this morning.  The kitties are playing.  Running thru the house like they've had an overdose of catnip.  Right now they're playing king of the couch.  B is ready to boot them both out the door but I enjoy them.  I see issues coming.  Eh, enough playing this morning.  Must work.  Must work.  ;)  Have a great day!  

The rules of the game....

     Hope everyone has had a good weekend.  It got really quiet here.  We were supposed to have Elmer thru Tues.  That's when Ruth's younger brother is going back to their town.  Then Ruth had to make a trip down this way for her dad and said she'd just come and get the baby.  Well, now I understand that she was trying to be helpful.  She was coming right thru here and it would save US a trip.  But it also cut into dad's time by 4 days.  And she couldn't quite figure out why Ice Cube wasn't thrilled with losing 4 days of time with his son.  Which means that she probably didn't spend more than 2 seconds thinking about it from his side.  So, then she was going to arrive between 2-3.  That was bad enough as far as IC was concerned.  Well, instead of stopping and getting some sleep when she got to her dads, she kept going.  And got here just after 9 AM.  Well, several things with this concerned me.  1 - she had been up and going since 6 AM the previous morning and was still a 6 hour drive from home.  2- they were obviously driving well above the speed limit.  When she called me at 9:04, they were on the other side of the big town that's 32 miles from here.  They were here by 9:30.  Flying.  Well, take someone that has already been up for 27 hours and is driving way above the speed limit and still has what should be a 6 hour drive home and then put my grandson in the car, and I'm a bit worried.  Ruth does not always put the baby before her interests.  This is a person who had her mom break her water because she didn't want to be pregnant on her birthday.  A decision she made and had done at home and not at the hospital.  


     Then she and IC have mediation scheduled for a few weeks from now.  So, theoretically, they should have nothing to discuss.  They should definitely have nothing to discuss at an exchange.  Nope, Ruth had both her younger brother (who mentioned that he was losing his license in a few weeks) and her new bf with her.  And still felt the need to call IC over and start screaming and making a scene.  I give props to IC.  I had already told him that he should never ever make any type of scene at an exchange or in front of the baby.  And despite her pointing fingers in his face and being highly irate and the way she was talking at him, he never raised his voice or lost his cool.  Something that had to be very hard to do.  She had the baby upset enough that he had to go over there and see what mommy was yelling about.  He ran over and started hugging on daddy's leg.  I told IC: "IC, your son can hear you, please don't fight in front of the baby" and Ruth said "just a minute" and then kept on going.  IC called B to sidetrack the baby and keep him further away.  Not sure what the point of that was since all of us could hear Ruth plainly over the stereo in the car that was playing.  I felt really sorry for her boyfriend who was obviously uncomfortable.  He and I chatted for a bit about the property and how much we had here and where it went, etc.  I could see he was uncomfortable and was trying to make him feel better.  Ruth got even more upset with the fact that IC wouldn't fight back with her  (so glad he listened and didn't buy into that scene) and she stomped her way over to the car and told her bf - "lets go".  I walked to where she was pouting sitting and said bye to her.  She would have left without a word to me or B or without even buckling Elmer into his car seat (her bf finished that up) out of attitude with IC.  She didn't say what she was mad about (and although I could plainly hear parts of what she said as her voice raised - I'm old enough that I know that part of a conversation doesn't make all the facts....) so I'm not going to speculate on what had her going.  I do know that IC had upset her when he told her that her changing the visit times every time he has the baby was wrong and that he'd just address it all in mediation.  I've learned a lot from all my friends here in bloggy land.  I made sure to pass some of that information along with IC during this.  
I've told him - you never have these types of discussions in front of the baby.  You don't pick fights or talk about issues on exchanges.  
Never say anything not totally nice about your ex while you have Elmer.  
No matter how you feel about Ruth or what she is doing or has done- that is Elmer's mom.  
Don't ever make him feel badly for loving her.  
Hold your tears when he leaves till after he's gone.  Make sure he sees you smiling when he leaves.  
Don't cry in front of him because then he'll feel bad for being happy to see mama.
Play with him right before he leaves- that way he leaves with a good memory of you in mind.  
Make it seem like mom's coming is a happy thing for both of y'all - we always play it up.  "Mommy is coming!  Mommy will be so happy to see you!" 


     IC has done well with staying within the parameters.  When Ruth calls wanting to fight, he takes his phone outside and leaves Elmer in the house with us.  When he's madder than the dickens and ready to blow up, he vents to someone either indoors or out while the baby is in the other.  All major discussions are saved.  Not for when Elmer is asleep but for when he goes back to mom's or he talks to his friends while he's on his way to work or after he gets off.  I can bet you (and win however much you want to bet) that the same consideration isn't given to IC at Ruth's mom's house (or when she's at her dads).  What makes me think that?  Elmer is 2.  He parrots back everything he hears.  He's said some things that he obviously had to have heard from someone at his mama's.  


     Despite the fact that they sometimes don't agree or that they don't always see each other's side - I still have hope.  IC is willing to listen and do what's best for the baby.  Even without the mediation, Ruth hasn't tried to keep Elmer from his daddy.  They both love their son.  IC just needs to step up financially (although his recent bit of not giving her money is due to getting the paperwork for the mediation and knowing that any money given her at this point would be considered a gift and not counted towards child support) and she needs to realize that Elmer isn't a possession that she owns.  That he has a daddy that has rights too and that Elmer loves his daddy.  I would say that it's a very real possibility that Elmer will want to live with daddy one day.  A time that will be very difficult for Ruth to handle when the times comes.  Elmer loves his daddy. Tells daddy all the time - "I miss you daddy"  "I lub you daddy" (I love you daddy).  He wakes up in the morning and goes straight for daddy.  "Daddy I up now".  And daddy greets him every morning with a smile.  


     When we went to the pep rally Friday.  Elmer abandoned me.  He saw his friend (male twin) and ran over to sit with him.  He had fun at the football game on Friday too.  Dancing to the music.  

I got ditched....

after this video, he got up with one of his little friends and did more more energetic dancing.  Unfortunately, I didn't catch that part on my camera.  He sure does love the pep band music.  

Hope y'all had a great weekend.  Now off here to get ready for church and then a visit with Nanny and family.  :)

home again home again jiggedy jig

     Tomorrow I head home.  I cannot wait!  I can't wait to see my monsters.  I can't wait to sleep in my bed.  I can't wait to cook.  Yes, I said I can't wait to cook.  I really can't.  I've only gotten two "home cooked" meals since I've been here.  Hurricane made one of them.  He did hamburgers out on the grill one night.  One other night, Ruth cooked and made a roast.   I want meatloaf or bbq chicken or some spaghetti.  I'd be happy with a frozen pizza right now.  Sad right?  I've been taken out to dinner numerous times by friends.  Its not that I haven't eaten.  But I really would love to have something that comes out of my oven.  

     Ruth and IC still at her mom's house.  It sure appears that the trip to my house isn't going to happen.  Supposedly the whole reason that I couldn't take Elmer to the fair was that if we took him to the fair - they wouldn't be able to meet up with her mom till this evening which would mean that they couldn't drive home till tomorrow.  So I gave up taking Elmer to the fair so that they could leave last night.  Supposedly if they left last night, they'd come home tonight so that IC could leave with me tomorrow.  HA.  That didn't happen.  Now, the story is that they're going to meet up with me tomorrow before I hit the highway.  Anyone wanna bet that this never happens?  So basically, I got ripped off.  I didn't get to take Elmer to the fair and I'll be surprised if IC gets to come home with me and see his brothers.  How mad will I be?  Probably not.  Why get mad?  Either he's going to cowboy up and stop giving up things that he wants and stop putting her family in front of ours or he won't.  Its his life.  He's the one that has to be happy.  So long as he's happy and doing well - it's not my business.  All I can do is to be here when he needs me. 

  Fair story of the day:  I had a girl today doing the happy dance in line.  She "had to go"!  Right then.  So by the time we got to the bathroom, she went to pull her pants down and squat and I heard this good large pop and urine went EVERYWHERE.  I mean on the toilet, the floor, down her pants and even all over the wall.  She said " I had been holding it for so long I really had to go."  I was biting my tongue and cheek trying not to crack up laughing in her face.  I knew what had happened.  She had had a balloon or condom with someone else' urine in it and it had broken all over her.  Can you say.... KARMA?  Oh and BTW... She failed.  She admitted to Teri (the lady that owns the company) what had happened.  No pride ethics sense of self worth sense in that girl was there?  

     Teri had a good one late this afternoon too.  He gave her a cold specimen.  For those of you who might not know what this means - it means it wasn't his urine.  There are temperature strips on the cups.  The strips turn blue/green someplace between 90-100 degrees.  No color on the temp strip = specimen not body temperature = someone trying to cheat (or a corpse walking around trying to get a job).  When Teri told him that she couldn't take his specimen, he pulled a wad of cash out of his pocket with a $100 bill on top and asked her if she couldn't .... "change her mind".  Ummmmm - no.  Not a chance.   Like Teri said- big wad of cash probably equals drug dealer looking for a free pass into the fair to deal more drugs.  That would be a bad deal.  


    So, I'm looking forward to heading home.  Homecoming is tomorrow night.  I'll be back in time to watch my extras boys play football. I'm looking forward to visiting with Carol.  Giving Carol, B and Colby their shirts (I'll take pictures of the shirts after I get them).  I look forward to seeing all the kids who will be coming up to me and giving me hugs.  I've so missed getting hugs.  

     Hurricane took care of my car today.  It was running rough.  There was apparently a june bug and a couple of butterflies and some other assorted things in my massively dirty air filter.  He checked all my fluids.  Went and got me a new air filter and put it in and did a few other maintenance type things that really needed done.  He went and did some Christmas shopping with me. And then he put the Rangers game on and watched the last few innings with me. Probably one of the most enjoyable times I've spent with him in I can't tell you how long.  Now we're laying in his room watching one of the stupidest movies I've ever seen.  Well, he and Donna are watching it.  I'm desperately trying to ignore it.  Well, there's a relief.  It's over.  Don't ask me what the name of it was - I really spent the last few hours tuning it out.  It was horrid.  Ok, well off here - it's late.  One more day.  The car is loaded - I'm ready to go.  I'll have to be careful to not speed on the way home.  


*keep smiling!*

Randomness

~  The viewing for my aunts funeral is tomorrow.  Funeral is Tuesday.  It sucks that I am unable to attend.

~  I don't know whether to be absolutely infuriated by these fools who either think I'm an idiot and won't notice them trying to pop a balloon under them with me standing in the bathroom or to just laugh at how absolutely ignorant they are.  

~  I am totally aggravated by Ruth's dad who thinks that because he owns the house, he owns the kids and that just because he wants Elmer to go to his house at 9 PM to stay with his roomie (who is really in no shape to be watching him at all) - that doesn't make it the law.  Especially when the baby is sick and is falling asleep and can be put in his own bed and not moved in the middle of the night.

~  I'm also aggravated by Ruth's dad because when he didn't get his own way and Ice Cube went ahead and we brought Elmer home and put him to bed here- Daddy dearest called Ruth and now the kids are fighting.  And I think that DD (daddy dearest) is going to push and push until he gets what he thinks he wants and doesn't really - cause he's going to be the cause of one fight too many and the kids are going to end up breaking up over his ignorant control freak stupidity.  

~  Little Man in a wreck today.  Of course while I'm here.  He was not driving.  He was a passenger.  The truck - totaled.  The 2 girls - taken to the hospital. Little Man's friend, Jason - 2 cracked ribs and sprained wrist.  LM - stubborn boy who refused to get in the ambulance and now is in major pain and can't move his head.  I think I have him talked into going to his regular Dr. tomorrow.  (Talked into = badgering him until he gives in and goes just to shut me up)

~  Hurricane and Donna decided that while I was here (in OLD town)- it would be a good time to take a trip there (NEW town).  Does anyone see any sense in that?  Yeah - but then Donna wants to say that I haven't tried to get to "know her"  - yep cause after 6 years (or more) of her dating my son, I don't "know" her at all.  *please read with any and all sarcasm intended*  Yep and I only found out that they were even headed there when I called to see if they might want to go to the fair today.  Yep.  So glad I bothered.  

~  Hurricane and Donna still at my house.  Fighting now between themselves.  This is really helping LM's headache (yeah, I know - Again with the sarcasm).  Now Hurricane is talking about driving back to Old Town tonight.  Yes - at 11:21.  This will leave his injured brother at home all alone with no one there in case of an emergency.  All because Donna is taking quite the fit.  Anyone wanna guess just how happy that will make me?  (I know- more sarcasm - it's one of those nights)  

~  I'm a thinking that bed sounds like a good place for me to be right now.  Any place else doesn't seem to be too safe.  I might fall and break something next.  ;)  Y'all have a great Monday.  (I'm really hoping that my Monday goes better than my Sunday did!)

Just me and my....

Grand baby! I got a call from Ruth today. She was asking if B still wanted to make a trip down there to hang with them. I said I didn't know. I wasn't sure how the transportation thing would work. Well, then she said that Ice Cube had mentioned that I might be interested in keeping Little Bit overnight. My ears perked right up. I'm surprised they didn't pop of my head.

Back story here.... A friend of mine popped up on my FB IM the other morn. She wanted to know if the kids had found someone to keep Little Bit the night before. Well, now that was a great question! But I wasn't the person to ask as I didn't even know they'd been looking for a sitter the night before. But now, I'm a ways away otherwise, we all know who would have him whenever they wanted to go out. And they both work evenings so it's not that often that they both have the same night off. Well, when I talked to IC later that day, I pointed out that I would have been happy to keep Little Bit. And he said - but mom, you live 3 hours away. And I said- well, we'll meet 1/2 way to do the trade. And I'll keep him for a day or two or week. Ok, now we all know that the week idea is stretching it. They have never been away from him all night before - let alone a week. The most they've done is let me get up with him in the middle of the night so that they can get a whole night's sleep.

So, Ruth tells me that all their friends are getting their tax returns in. And that everyone wants to party. And they don't want to have folks over with Little Bit there again after the fiasco during Ice Cube's birthday. I agreed that not having the baby there sounded like a good idea. But now remember- this is grandma talking. They could have told me that they wanted to sleep for 24 hours straight and I would have thought it sounded like a good idea if I got to keep the baby. So, we settled on a time and he's coming here.

Before everyone thinks I'm bringing Little Bit here to get him deathly ill. Both boys woke up this morning with fever and cough gone. I have spent the day spraying lysol and washing everything. I sprayed lysol on the carpets, the furniture, stripped the boys beds and sprayed lysol on their mattresses and pillows. I bleached counters. Used antibacterial wipes on door handles. Washed all the lap blankets that live in the family room. It's been a busy day for me. That might be why this post is going up so late. Oh and grandma might also have had to go to the store to make sure that no matter what mommy and daddy send for Little Bit to eat- she has his favorite fruit and granola lunch food. ;)

Well, I still need to mop the kitchen floor as soon as Little Man and Cousin J get done making themselves something to eat. I made taco's for lunch today because I knew Little Man had to work tonight. So it was FFYS (fend for yourself) around here tonight. We had leftover bbq chicken, ham, and tacos in the fridge. Plus I always have lunch meat, those disgusting yummy noodle things the kids eat, canned pasta and assorted other stupid things that my kids find essential. Well, I just got the call from Ruth, my lovely son wants to meet at 10 am tomorrow morning (ICK). So, off here I go to make sure that everything is ready. Night all!

visiting

So, I have had company this weekend. But it's not really "company". Vix and Cal came down for the weekend.

I met Vix back in 1981. Yes, I know, I dated myself. I met her my Jr. year in High school. She was a sophomore in college. Remember I blogged about being into music. The only year I wasn't first chair bass all the years I played, was my freshman year in high school. I got beat out by a senior. This senior and I ended up being friends. When she went to college the next year, she went away to school to live in the dorm but the college was only about 30 miles away. It was great for my 15 year old self. My parents trusted this girl whole heartedly. They thought that she was just the best role model for my little self. Little did they know. They used to let me go hang out for weekends at the college with her. Her sophomore year in college, her roommate was Vix. Vix and I hit it off right away. Of course, it helped that Vix knew where all the good parties with cute boys were. And that she didn't say much when I drank too much. And Vix always treated me like her little sister but yet never bossed me around.

The friendship that started then has lasted thru today. The girl that introduced us? We still hear from her too. Not as frequently. She sends regular mass emails but other than that doesn't have much time to answer an email. And folks, don't misunderstand that statement. I don't mind the emails . I just don't much care for only being recognized as part of a mass email with no personal touches. These mass emails are like those annoying Christmas card updates that people send out. You know, things like Susie is head of the cheer leading squad, dating the captain of the football team and head of the student counsel while Johnny is being recognized by the state for his performance with his volunteer group and has been offered a full scholarship to harvard and they just bought a new vacation home in Hawaii and her husband has been offered a 1/2 million dollar raise and a company jet. And no, I'm not jealous. But no one's life is that perfect. We all have trials and tribulations to deal with. And when her son got a girl pregnant who gave him sex as a thank you for helping her with a homework assignment when he was 16 and they had to do a paternity test to see if the baby was really his.... Do you think that went out in the newsy email? Of course not.

Anyhow, that's how we met. Sorry for the side-track. 28 years later. Vix is god -mother to my monsters. Hurricane has lived with them on and off for the last 4 years. Cal has gotten every one of the monsters a computer when they started high school. And eventually, they will get around to building their house down here on this property. And it won't be visiting- we will be neighbors. Which was the original plan 11 years ago when I moved to Texas. I am the guardian for the property. Cal calls me his protector. My house is at the front of the property. I keep people from vandalizing the property but really what Cal wants me to do is keep the door to door folks from ringing his door bell. They can bother me and not him. Vix calls me her sanity. I drag her out of the house and make her socialize. Because if I didn't, she'd never go do anything. My anti-social buddy. She wasn't like that when we were younger but as we've gotten older, the more she stayed to herself, the worse she's gotten. Not that I am social. But I do better than she does.

How has our relationship survived 28 years? Opposites attract. Where I am anal- she is laid back. Where I am habitually early - she is habitually late. I organize my pantry - she throws it randomly in there. I am a dog person- she does cats. I have a ferret (a predator) - she has pet rats (prey). She has been happily married for 23 years now. I am happily divorced.

I really expected that some of these differences would make for an awkward visit. Especially, as picky as I am about keeping things picked up around my living room. I have to keep the floor area in those 2 area's picked up. Or the fact that while I am a morning person with an internal alarm that goes off around 7 every morning. I don't think Vix knows that 7 has an AM. I think Vix believes that 7 only comes at PM. Just as I don't do a 4 or 5 AM which she regularly sees- from the day before side. I mean our schedules are about as different as they could possibly be. I have been pleasantly surprised at how easy this visit has been. Sitting around the living room like normal folks watching movies together while Cal showed the boys how to properly clean the rifles. Watching Sunday football together which was ultimately weird. (well, its such a "normal" Sunday activity and we really are neither or us much into football). Things that have needed done have been accomplished. Cal and Little Man (and then Little Man got cold and quit but Cal stayed out all night) went deer hunting. No arguing between the boys and Vix. They do love to pick on her and she is just isn't sure how to take them sometimes. The arguing I worried might come hasn't. My anti-social friend has managed to spend 3 days away from home (well tonight will be the 3rd night). She is surviving. And thankfully, the boys have been fairly good with all this. Not too much rough housing. They've been helpful with Cal. All in all, a much more relaxing experience than I expected.

Ice Cube and Ruth both had to start their new jobs this weekend so they didn't get a chance to come visit. I miss seeing my Little Bit but totally understand that they have just moved and needed to start their new jobs and I'm very happy that they managed to get jobs in todays economy. Well, big day tomorrow. Y'all have a great one!

no sense of humor left

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TGIF

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All State Specialty Contracting, parental alienation, and kids

Well, I have no idea if the kids will actually move here or not. They are. They aren't. They are. They aren't. They "have no help there". They "can't make it there". They're "staying". And me? I'm torn. Sure, I'd like them here. Sure, I'd like Little Bit closer. Yes, I'd love them to be closer so that I know that they get to eat every night. Her mom will take her younger brother out to eat and ignore the rest of the house. And when they buy food, her brothers will polish it off in 2 days and then they're back to scenario one. I sent them home with Little Man's baby fridge out of his bedroom (he volunteered to loan it) and enough groceries to hide in it for the 2 of them to eat for a week till next payday. If they're smart, then they'll buy meals from week to week and keep it hidden in their fridge. Although, I don't know that they're smart enough to plan things out like that. I'm going to work with Ruth on it though if they don't move this way. Things like planning meals and shopping on a budget. It shouldn't be much for the 2 of them to eat if they shop smart. They might not be eating steak, but they'll at least be eating. And that's more than they've managed here and there in the past. And I don't quite get it but then like I said, her mom is a busy woman and she's out and about and doing things. She works long hours and goes out when she's not working. She's actively dating too. And she eats out almost every night. But, me? I couldn't let anyone go hungry - let alone kids living in my house no matter how old they are or what choices they made. And yes, they have to learn to budget and shop but someone needs to show them and give them tips on how to live on a budget. And as her mom makes the kind of money that the kids won't see for years and years, a tight budget is not something that her mom has had to deal with. I'm sure her mom just doesn't think about it. When you're making more than $30/hour, getting $500/month in child support and living in a $900/month apartment and another couple is paying you $800/month in rent to live in one bedroom, tight budget is not part of your vocabulary. And since I haven't seen any "extra" money in my budget in more years than I can count- this is something that I can teach the kids. And do it well.

On other notes, NK (new kid) got a great birthday present. He found his dad. I will say here that they more I have to "deal" with the fall-out from his mom. The more aggravated I am with this woman. I read about parental alienation. I hear about crazy women not doing right by their kids or their dads. I am not one of those women. I have worked desperately to keep the lines of communication open with SD's family. Even though not one of them has made so much as minimal effort to reciprocate. NK's mom told him that he dad "didn't want to be a part of his life" The his dad had "sent back the pictures that she sent him". That he "didn't pay child support". For whatever reason, this kid has such a good heart that he still wanted to meet the man that he'd never seen. And folks, I fault dad for this too. He should have fought harder. I watch all the court battles you ladies go thru and I know that he could have gotten something. If not all that he wanted, at least something. But, by his own words, he waited for the kids to go looking for him. So, NK's girlfriend found some numbers that might be his dads. He was too afraid to call them. Afraid of what the reaction would be. So, I picked up the phone and started calling numbers. And I found him. Well, I got his girlfriend who asked me to call back the next day as he was already sleeping. Yeah, bad me. I called at 10:30 at night. So sorry. Wasn't looking at the time, just jumped on that horse and rode with it. So, the next night, I called back and spoke with the dad. Dad was thrilled to hear from me and wanted to talk to the son. Dad has been paying $350/month in child support on a child that got kicked out of the house a month ago. Now, dad doesn't mind paying support. But, he wants the support to go to his son. Its not his ex-wife's pleasure money. And this stuff makes me madder than I can say on this blog. Women like her make us all look bad. Its why my ex throws a fit about giving "me" his money. So, dad asked NK yesterday for his mom's number. Dad already paid child support for Oct and the kid hasn't lived with mom in Oct. So, dad thinks that mom owes the kid the money. So, NK asked me if he did right in giving his dad the number. And he's so worried that he did something wrong. I told him that he didn't do anything wrong. His dad is right. That money is for him and what he needs. She threw him out so she is not entitled to any of that money anymore unless some of it is for back support. Dad did call him on his actual birthday yesterday. We didn't make the initial contact with dad till Friday night so there would have been no way for dad to get a card or anything here even if he wanted to. But a phone call is more than my kids have ever gotten. Dad wants to see him. Don't know if he's going to go to his dad's house (4 hours away) or if dad is going to come here to see him but they do want to see each other. They want to meet which is a positive. I would think that dad would have to come here at this point as NK's truck is broke down in my driveway. He has a leak in his radiator and the transmission is slipping. If mom gave him the child support due to him, he could fix his radiator at least. I'm sure the transmission is going to cost him around a grand. But the truck is drivable with the transmission issue. It still wouldn't make the 4 hour drive to dad's but it would get him to work and around town here. Anyhow, I will end this part of my post by saying that I am extremely disgusted with this child's mom if even 10% of what I've heard is true.

Well, back to fixing things that the movers destroyed. I will say that I have spent no less than an hour a day for the last 3 months working on the damage that they did. They cut my carpet 14 inches from the seam line. Why? you might ask? Don't ask me. Mr. Wayne Gilliland has not answered a phone message in months. He has refused to make good on the damages. All State Specialty is obviously a business doomed to end up in court. Vix and Cal are filing suit on him. We have been putting all the paperwork together that we need for the court case. They have been consulting with an attorney. The sad part is, all of his insurance and bond information is listed in his wife's name so even though this lady has had nothing to do with all of the damages, she will be listed in the lawsuit with her husband. Folks, I'm not talking a few hundred dollars here. I'm talking more money in damages than they charged us for the job. When they cut the carpet 14 inches from the seam line, they destroyed the padding underneath. They shredded the carpet. It is unfixable. Well, it is fixable, but at almost the cost of replacing the carpet. Additionally, they damaged the carpet with their work boots doing the job by tracking wet mud and clay all over the house. People were too lazy to lay plastic down or something. In 3 places, they put the house back together with the carpet between the 2 halves of the house. They shredded the carpet in the back bedroom too. The damage to the ceiling is so extensive that the whole ceiling will have to be scraped, re-textured, and the re-painted. The damage done to the ramp by cutting the 4x4's with a chainsaw is over a grand. The contractor to fix the dry-wall damage that they claimed to fix and never did is going to cost $45/sheet for the contractor to do it. There's 6 sheets that are damaged beyond repair. The tub surround that they broke is over $250 to have installed. It's $89 service call per appliance just to have them come look at the damage to the stove and fridge. That's not counting the actual repairs. They damaged the shed and I am still waiting on the estimate to that. Do you know how this fly-by-night company damaged my shed? Because they took a pick-up truck and rammed the back of it to get it up onto the trailer. Great group of people right? We're waiting on the rest of the estimates and then Vix and Cal are filing suit. Right now, it's looking to be right around 10 thousand dollars in damages. And do any of you have any idea how much I hate the fact that this guy misrepresented himself and his company so much and that he's forcing us to go this route. All we wanted was fair treatment and the house in the same shape that it was in before they started. Just put it back together like it was in a different location. That's what we paid him for.

Well, back to work ~ hope y'all have a great day!

questions...

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update on All State Specialty Contracting and Wayne Gilliland

So, a couple of guys from All State Specialty contracting showed up yesterday afternoon. They had the shed. Now, in spite of Wayne Gilliland's excuses that the reason that the shed hadn't been delivered in the last six weeks was that he didn't have a trailer to haul it, they showed up with the shed on the same trailer they've had here the last 2 times. With a 4x8 section of the back of the shed broken out. They also tore up the corner trim on the front of the shed. Wayne didn't come with them at all. At this point, he hasn't answered his phone or returned a call in 10 days. Both Vix and I have left him no less than one message a day. Well, they managed to unload the shed. They took my fencing out of it and threw it out in old town at the old property. So, then when they get here, the 2 guys open the shed again. And Little Man came in and said - "mom, the fencing is gone." Well, I had already heard from my old neighbors that the guys had opened the shed and dumped the fencing on the property. So, I walked out and asked them what happened to the fencing. They tried to play dumb with me. They tried to tell me that they didn't know what happened to the fencing. Well, I had to call them out on it. I told them that I didn't appreciate being lied to. That the neighbors had watched them unseal the shed and throw the fencing out. Then the 2 idiots still tried to lie to my face. Bad. Idea. I have raised way too many kids and these 2 young guys are younger than several of my old foster kids. And I ended up talking to them like I would have one of my kids. "No. Sir. I have witnesses who watched you open my shed and remove my belongings. I do not know who you think you are talking to but I do not appreciate you standing there trying to lie to my face. You can let Wayne know that he will be held responsible for the stuff that you un-nailed the shed to remove also. " I believe that dumb and dumber were a bit taken aback by my bluntness and lack of fear to call them on their lies. Well, dumb and dumber spent yesterday afternoon putting the right tie downs on my house. Yes, you read this right. For the last six weeks, I have not had the proper and legal tie downs on my house. And I seriously believe that the only reason I have the right ones on here now is because I emailed Wayne to let him know that I intended to call the state and go after his state bond. I still intend to call the state and file a complaint on him. And the BBB. So, dumb and dumber thought that it was ok that they had put one of their jacks thru the back of my shed. They weren't real thrilled when I informed them that I expected them to replace the section of wood that they had put their jack thru. Tough.

So, after a few hours here, in which they accomplished nothing more than putting the correct tie downs on the house - something that legally should have been done six weeks ago - they left to "go find home depot". And never showed back up last night. They told Little Man that they would be here by 8 this morning. They didn't make it. They finally showed up just before 10. I will say that they spent more time eating, joking around and looking stupid while they tried to figure out what went where than actually doing anything. They did slap the trim and door jams back up. They didn't FIX anything. They didn't replace the broken trim with not broken trim. they just slapped the broken pieces back up there. They didn't replace the broken drywall. They just put the broken pieces back up there. It. Looks. Horrible. Around the edges of the trim, it's ragged and white where they peeled the paint off. The paint and paper is pulled off pieces of drywall. Where they had ripped the center trim down off the ceiling and tore the texture off - they slapped mud up there but no texture so I have white smooth places sticking out horribly on my should be textured ceiling. I would post pictures but my satellite internet connection is not very good and the last few times I've tried to post pictures, I've been unsuccessful at getting them loaded. I'll be back staying with a friend next week and I'll upload some then. All I can say is - you wouldn't believe how bad it is without seeing the pictures. You would never believe how unprofessional this whole job looks. As for the shed, they did replace the wood. Of course, they left all their garbage and mess for us to clean up. However, they didn't bother to fix that right either. They put untreated wood on it so now I will have to repaint the whole shed. The chances of me matching up the paint color on a 8 year old shed is none to zero. So, more work for the already over-worked Amy.

As for my friend that was seriously PMSing last week.... She has seriously apologized and is back to acting like the lovable sweetie she usually is and not the throwback to the wicked witch of the east that she was acting like last week. I was pretty forthright with her when we spoke about it after the fact. She said she'd been having a "bad day". I'm pretty blunt and told her that she ruined about my next 3 days acting like that.

On the plus side, the kids 2 cousins (girls -age 8 and 11) have been here the last few days. These are Tia's girls. They are absolute sweeties. They have also been no end of help. They helped me move most of the stuff from the house that needed to go to the shed. They helped me pick up a bunch of garbage out of the yard and move some things around. They are good girls and my 2 boys dote on them. The 11 year old has some serious health issues and actually acts like the younger of the 2. She was born with only 1 kidney, 1 eye, and a heart defect. She acts like she's about 7. She has some neurological issues that make her act a bit younger than she is. The boys think she gets annoying from time to time but they love her to death. She's very tiny for her age and actually she and the 8 year old wear the same size clothing. The 8 year old on the other hand is absolutely beautiful. She's won several beauty pageants. The 2 girls are as different as night from day. They are actually Tia's nieces too. They are her sisters children but Tia and her hubby adopted them after their mom passed away when the girls were 2 and 4. They are both loving, sweet girls and we love to have them here. And Tia is most grateful for the break.

Ice Cube and Ruth are bringing Little Bit to old town to see us for several days next week. So, I will get to spend like 3 days with the baby and the kids (his parents). We leave Tuesday to go watch the Rangers play Detroit. Thurs the kids are coming in with the baby. I'll have internet for the week we're back at old town so I'll get some pictures posted of Little Bit and the house damage then. Take care all and thanks for all the support.

Now, can anyone tell me where to find a money tree so that I can get these boys some new clothes to start their new school with? Yeah, I know - wouldn't we all like to find one....

home again

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He's here............

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Happy 4th!

Well, no baby yet. Ruth is miserable. She has been having contractions every 4 minutes since Monday. They have had minimal sleep. They could do the labor induction today - but today is SD's birthday. And Ice Cube did not want his son born on SD's birthday. For some reason, Tia, keeps thinking the baby will come today. This is something that we're hoping doesn't happen. Ice Cube really doesn't want his son to share a birthday with someone that he has so many hard feelings about like he does SD. I think that if that happened, it would cause more problems. SD would try to use it to claim a connection that he doesn't and won't have with the baby. Ice Cube is adamant that he does not want SD to even see a picture of his son. Now, I'm not sure how we're going to avoid that, but whatever he wants, we'll try to respect his wishes. This, of course, means that Tara will not be given a picture of her new nephew.

We have been staying at Vix's house. They do not have a big house. 2 bedrooms. Hurricane lives here so he has one room. Little Man and B have been camping out in his room. I have been sleeping on the couch. I will say that Hurricane offered me his bed. I turned him down. I can sleep thru most any noise that is not kid related. If I hear a door open in the middle of the night, I'm up like a shot. If I hear a window open on the opposite end of the house. I can process their conversations that they think to have while I'm asleep. But Cal blaring the TV till 4 am - I can sleep thru. Cal on the PS3 till 4 am - I can tune out. And with Cal's MS - his schedule is all messed up. He tends to sleep away the heat of the TX day and then be up at night when it's cooler. This means that we're trying to be quiet all day long so he can sleep. Then he gets out of bed at 9 PM and wants to go all night and not let anyone else sleep. B is not happy. I finally got him to start crawling in bed with his brother where it's not as noisy and he could get some decent rest before he ends up sick. Vix and I are at opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to cleaning house too. And don't get me wrong - my house is by no means ever spotless. I have never owned a new piece of furniture. Most of my wall decorations are pictures of my kids. But, I vacuum every day. My dishes stay done. My laundry is clean if not always put away promptly. You're not going to walk into my house and get eaten by a 3 year old dust bunny. Vix and I cleaned her desk off the other night. I kid you not, I was throwing away coupons that expired in 2007. Now, I might put something in a drawer and not find it for 6 months to a year before I clean that drawer out again. But, not on a counter or my desk. But then, Vix says I'm anal because I put my cans in the cupboards all together. How else are you supposed to know how many cans of corn or peas you have? We're just as opposite as night and day. She has pet rats - we have a ferret. She does cats (which I cannot do! Having a cat climb on my counters just bugs the daylights out of me!). I have dogs. She sleeps till 2 pm every day. My internal alarm goes off around 7 and it does not matter what time I went to bed the night before - or the morning of as the case may be. She is laundry helpless ( I've done no less than 10 loads of clothes since I've been here) - don't let me loose with any type of electrical saw I'm prone to chopping my fingers off (she builds beautiful wooden furniture). And yet, this woman has been my best friend for 30 years. Now, if I can only drag her out of the bed and house today to actually DO something for the 4th.

Have a happy 4th y'all! I will continue the sage of what happened when Hurricane called SD later. I will let you know that the boys escaped unscathed - they were mostly amused by it all and the emotional damage from the attempt to make contact seems minimal to none. Enjoy your fireworks, bar-b-ques or vacation plans!

drama with the SD .... part 1

Tara went back home from SD's house. They did not end things in the best way. Sd punched her bf in the face. Tara got into it with SD's girlfriend. Tara told me that SD's girlfriend was an idiot. Just sits around with an idiot look on her face. The 2 of them (Tara and gf) about got into a few disagreements. They are apparently a physical bunch. Me? I'm glad to be 1000 miles away from all the drama. Once Tara got back to their place in "another northern state", things went from bad to worse between her and her dad. SD didn't answer or return her phone calls for days. He finally called her back and she made arrangements with him to go get her stuff and her dog. She was most worried about her dog and for good reason. When she got there, despite knowing that she was coming, he wasn't even there. His girlfriend was and they had another difference of opinion. Tara says she left without even bothering to tell the girlfriend goodbye. I think that out of common courtesy, she should have said something. Once they got the dog home, Tara had another go round with SD over the dog. Something about the dog cringing whenever anyone goes near him and him not wanting to play anymore.

Tara has emailed me upset by everything she went thru while she stayed with SD. I'm afraid that my return email wasn't as sympathetic as she might have wished for. I told her that she was old enough when we divorced to remember what life with SD was like. Everything she complained about were things that he did back when she was a kid and lived with him. She tried to tell me (via email) that she hadn't remembered. She was pretty shocked by the amount of drugs that he's still pushing out of the house and in front of the kids that live there. He keeps no less than 2 oz of marijuana in the freezer she says. He goes to multiple doctors for pain pills and sells those. There is more marijuana in the freezer than food. The kids are neglected and filthy. They smoke marijuana with the 2 older girls who are 14 and 16. None of this surprised me. I don't know why it surprised her. For all of you who are dealing with crazy, psycho ex's and worried that the kids will never see thru the BS - Trust me. The time will come. For years, I have been dirt on the bottom of the dogs feet in Tara's eyes. Nothing I have ever done in life was right in her eyes. Nothing. I was the worst parent. I ruined her life - ask her. I was too strict, too involved with the boys, etc... She would call her boyfriends mom "mom" and then call me Amy just to be a smart ass. Just to be hurtful. 2 weeks with SD is all it took. I am "the best mom in the world". She is texting me and emailing me telling me how much she loves me constantly now. Of course, in the world of bi-polarness, all of this could and probably will change in the blink of an eye. But, I'll take the emotional kudo's that are coming right now. It always makes for a good mommy feeling when they actually appreciate anything you ever do.

Of course, being the good sister she is (read with all sarcasm intended) she decided to share SD's phone number with her brothers. She knew that they didn't want it just to call and say "howdy". UGH. There are days that you just wish you had stayed in bed. I'm sure every parent out there knows what I mean. But, no, she gave the number to Little Man and B who of course took it straight to Hurricane.

Next up: Hurricane's phone call to SD and more hatred spewed from the crazy sister.....

PS: Ruth has been having contractions since Monday. If she has not had the baby by Sunday, they are going to induce on Sunday morning at 5. I will be leaving old town for Austin Sunday morning to be there for the birth (or shortly thereafter) of my grandbaby. Happy 4th of July all!

Monday notes

Good Monday morning! We're settling in nicely here. The boys still aren't thrilled with being here, but they're not actively complaining as much either. They're finding alternative means of entertainment. And we're going back to old town to stay with Cal and Vix for several days next week so they're happy about that. Actually, Little Man will probably stay for a week or so. They're talking about doing a labor induction with Ruth on the 13th of next month. We should hear something else when she goes to the Dr. this week. If so, I'll be going to Austin for that. B will most likely come with me and Little Man wants to stay and hang with his friends for his birthday. He'll be 17 next month. I might leave him there for a week or so. I'm not really sure. He wants to stay with Tom and I'm just not into that idea. Tom uses Little Man. The day before we left, Tom and his gf stopped by. They didn't come to say good bye. They didn't come to visit with Little Man. They wanted Little Man to go do something for him. Well, at that point and time, we were knee deep in loading the truck to leave. Little Man told them that he was busy at that point. They didn't offer to help. They didn't stay and chat. They didn't bother to say good bye. They just left. And Little Man commented on it at the time.

Now, myself, I'm the type of parent that knows that I taught my kids right from wrong and I'm there when they want me or need me. But with some of this stuff - I don't even want to be involved. B is friends with a little boy that he's played ball with since they were 5. Great kid. Nice parents. The dad coached B's team for years. But the mom is right up in every bit of the kids business. He gets in a fight with another kid- mom is on the phone calling the other kids mom. And none of it is ever her child's fault. None. Of. It. Just ask her. That poor child is the most over-scheduled child I've ever seen. The poor kid never has time to just ... be a kid.

Yesterday they showed up and started putting my ramp together. The owner, Wayne, was very apologetic. I think it's a great case of him covering his tail. He did take a walk thru the house. He did agree that a lot of the damage could have been avoided. He's supposedly sending a drywall man out here next week to fix it all. My ramp is usable. The steps still aren't attached to it yet but that's ok. He's going to have to put some lag bolts in it instead of screws though because it's not holding together right. His guy that took the ramp apart tore it up. He's done an admirable job putting it back together but screws aren't going to cut it. Not with the weight of the chairs.

So, moving 190 miles from one town to another hasn't stopped the influx of extra kids. We ran back to old town yesterday and picked up a couple of young ladies. These girls are friends of Little Man. The one young lady has been friends with him since they were 6. She keeps telling me that she's moving in with us as soon as she convinces her parents. I'm thinking that she's never going to get away with that but in the meantime, I'm sure we'll see a bit of her. We took a short walk thru the woods last night. The girls loved it. Stopped at Vix's house while I was in town and got all my freezer stuff from her freezer. We also dropped off a box of Ice Cube's clothes so that I didn't have that extra stuff to deal with when we go down for the 4th. I am going to try to get all of my boys together for pictures while we are in town. Either with a photographer we know or in for professional portraits. With or without the girls. We're leaving Weds to go back thru the weekend. Ice Cube and Ruth are coming in from Austin too. I can't wait!

I'm sure this will be the last time I see Ice Cube and Ruth before the baby comes. They have talked about doing a labor induction on her around the 13th. We'll know more on Weds when she goes back to the Dr. Well, I'm going to close off here before another storm rolls thru. The satellite internet goes out faster than satellite tv when storms come.

Moving right along in search of.....

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moving update #9737 (just kidding....I think)

looking thru the doorway with the new doors open from what was Little Man's room into what was B's room.  Don't you just love the romex wire running thru the openings?  Most of that has been closed up now.  The top from B's side and both the side panels were hung last night.  They are now awaiting trim.  (the head is Little Man's)

This is the piece of drywall that has to come down completely.  I'm good but not that good.  The hole to the left actually went all the way thru to the hallway.  I'm still not happy about this.  

This was the doorway going from the hall into Little Man's room.  It is now going to be a built in shelving unit.  Yes, those are real guns leaning up in the corner.  Remember, this is the child that wears cowboy boots with shorts.  The 2 blocks of wood randomly sitting on a shelf were not attached to anything.  And yes, that is an Indianapolis Colts pillow.  My boys are all Colts fans.  Don't ask....

Another wall in what was Hurricane's old room.  This one has the first coat of patching done and sanded and is awaiting my lazy tail to get the next coat done.  This is the wall that I got to pull many many little metal bb's out of.  How fun!

From the hallway looking at the shelves in what was Little Man's room.  What you see in the rest of the picture....  The love seat in B's room where he was playing Call of Duty 4 on Xbox 360.  Random remodeling stuff on the floor.  And to your left, a sheet of drywall.  Yes, my house is a mess.  I really need to get this all done so I feel better....

Have I mentioned how much I adore my son, Ice Cube?  If not, it's time to bore you silly.  I really do love that young man.  He stepped up to the plate yesterday and really helped me out in a big way!  He came home from work yesterday and started packing his room.  That's to be expected as he's got to get his stuff packed to move too.  But then, he started hauling things out to the garbage from his room.  Things that he didn't want to take with him.  That was appreciated too.  Then I asked him to check the shed to see if there was any dry wall out there that I could use for a few small pieces that I had to cut.  He went out to the shed and found the dry wall I asked for, then asked me if I wanted him to haul some of the stuff out of the shed out to the street.  When I said yes, he and B went out to the shed, back his truck up to the shed and hauled a load out to the garbage.  Now, was everything that went out necessarily "garbage".  No.  I threw out a perfectly good stove.  One of the cousins gave it to me for Hurricane when he was moving into an apartment.  It's an electric stove and I have a gas hook-up.  Hurricane never took the darn thing and it's been out in my shed ever since.  The appliance man that drives around will pick it up before the garbage guys come thru.  The appliance/junk man always comes thru the night before the garbage runs.  He'll get quite a find in my garbage tonight.  I also had him take out the old dishwasher that I had.  I have a brand new one installed that sits in my counters.  The one he took out was one of the ones that hooks up to the sink.  I brought it with me when I left SD.  Do not ask me why I haven't thrown it out long ago.  I kept it for "emergencies".  Cause don't you know I'm just too lazy to hand wash a dish?  So, those are the type of things that went out to the street.  He also took all the regular trash out.  It was all much appreciated!   Especially, since Ruth was here at the time and usually we can't pry the 2 of them apart long enough for him to do anything.  

I got most of the 2nd doorway closed off last night too with Little Man and B's help.  So, all in all- a productive day.  I'm getting ready to go in there in a few and tear out the one sheet of drywall that's not patchable and has to be totally replaced.  But first, I'm watching the end of the Ranger/Yankees game.  The game is tied up and I'm still a baseball fanatic.  And Vix just asked me to find someone to do the garbage for the new place.  So, I add that to my to-do list.  

I ended up with all the kids out here last night.  They were supposed to all be here together but as it ended up, Ruth was leaving as Hurricane and Donna arrived.  Tuesday was Donna's birthday so I got a french silk cream pie.  And congratulate me folks - I didn't eat a single bite.  Not one taste!  I'm so proud of myself!   Also, Ice Cube and Ruth are going to stay in this area for one more week.  Ruth's boss asked if she could work a full-time next week while another girl went on vacation.  This will basically give her about 3 weeks pay in one week and really help them out financially.  And I'm glad that they'll be here for another week.  Her dad does not know how to not make matters worse.  He told her that if she left to move with Ice Cube that she should not consider his house her home any more.  Also, if she ever wants to come back - it would be under the condition that she was not allowed to so much as talk to Ice Cube anymore or she wasn't welcome there.  This man is an idiot.  Seriously.  I realize that no one is happy when 2 young kids make a mistake of this magnatude.  Really.  This is not where my dreams for my son were headed.  But, as Ruth's mom told him- why does he want Ruth to fail?  His terms and conditions set her up to fail.  The baby is not just Ruth's responsibility.  It's not her mom's responsibility to take care of.  It's Ruths and Ice Cubes.  And I don't mind helping with whatever.  If it's buying diapers or giving them a night off- I'm game.  And so is her mom.  We want them to succeed.  We want Ruth to be able to go to college and get her degree.  Her dad, well, he's a nice guy- he really is.  But he's holding on too tight.  There comes a time when you have to throw on your big boy/girl panties and let go.  I've mentioned this before.  I would love to hang on to Ice Cube and keep him with me.  It's time for him to fly.  It's the right thing to do.  So, we smile and kiss them goodbye.  Although,  I told the kids again last night that if they ever need me.  I'm here and my door will be open to them.  

Well, off to get some more work done.  Y'all take care now!