early morning painting

I've been wanting to paint my dining room furniture for a while now. It's black. Table, six chairs and a hutch. The floors in my dining room are cherry hardwood. It makes it look too dark in there. So, since a new set isn't in the budget....even though I have a thing for buying tables...I'm going to paint it. I went to the hardware store last night and bought primer and paint. A nice greige color (my new favorite). For now I'm just going to paint the chairs and the back of the shelves in the hutch. I might do the table too....but I'll see how it looks with the chairs lighter first. I'm so excited to do this, that I woke up at 5:45 this morning. I'm crazy.

Also, there were these upholstered, tufted dining chairs I loved at Pier One. I wanted to buy two...one for each end of the table, but they were $200 each. Not in the budget. I stopped in there last night, just to look at them again. I thought I'd do an online search to see if I could find something similar for a lot less money. Well, the display chair didn't have a tag on it, so I asked the salesclerk how much it was. She looked it up and it's on clearance for $58.00. Holy shit! The only problem is, they only have one. They checked all the other semi-local stores and no one else had one. So, I bought the one, and I'll use it as an arm chair in my kitchen, until I find something else for the other end of the table. It's a print chair, so I can find something else to make a pair, even if it's not exactly the same....it will give my dining room an eclectic look, right?

Here's what the chair looks like:

Braden diving

Pre dive: Mid dive:

Snow Day!!

Finally, I get a snow day. The kids have had six so far, but I don't get off in the office...until today that is!!
I don't have much to report here. I have the winter feeling I always get....must make changes in the house. I have the itch to paint, rearrange, organize and dejunk. It's always dangerous when I get that way. Just ask Keith! It's a good thing I don't have any paint here today, or who knows what I'd do!?

Pictures

We have had four snow days in three weeks of school. These kids will be going to school until July the way we're going. And, to make matters worse, in my new position, I don't get snow days. Just delays.

Things are going well here. Braden's diving again this year, and is doing very well. He's placed as the top diver for our school in the last several meets. He just has to work on his entry a bit...he can do any dive - doubles, triples, back doubles, but his entry doesn't look graceful. He has to point his toes and he says he just can't remember to do that! For school pictures this year, Braden thought it would be funny to wear an eye patch....here's his school picture:

Urban requested a picture of Gio....here you go. This is from Christmas....all the kids:

And, one more picture, just because he's so darn cute....here's Brighton hamming it up for the camera with Renee:

Why?

Why don't the things in my life ever run smoothly? Why am I destined to have a head full of grey hairs, bitten finger nails and an upset stomach?



After we went to court for Gio on the 20th, and the judge allowed him to come home with us, Children's Home was pissed. Well, one particular person at Children's Home, it just so happens that this person is second in charge there. She wanted Gio sent to a facility for 90 days, then she said they would take him back and we could foster him again through them. Well, the judge didn't see it that way, and allowed him to come with us right away, and be on probation. She was livid. She fired Keith (he's been working there (part-time) helping with transportation for about a year), told us that "this isn't over yet" and we have no idea what we're getting ourselves into.



Then I didn't hear anything for a while and thought it had died down. WRONG.



Gio had court again this past Tuesday, just for a check in with the judge, to see how it was going with us. She wanted reports from school and a report from us to make sure she'd made the right decision.

I got a call from Gio's DHS (Philadelphia case worker) who has known Gio for years, and is really happy he's with us. She said that the pissed off woman from The Home has been on a telephone and letter writing campaign to get Gio removed from our house and put in a placement. And, unfortunately, because of the very close working relationship that DHS and CHE have, she was able to get the higher-ups to listen to her. The DHS worker said that DHS' official stand was going to be that Gio should be sent to a bootcamp type placement out in Pittsburgh. She did say, however, that she will tell the judge that that is DHS' stand, but not hers, and she thinks his best shot is with us.



So....we go to court on Tuesday and when we're called into the courtroom, we see his regular judge isn't there....she's out sick or something and there's a master sitting in. Uhh oh. Also, there's lawyers there representing DHS. My heart sank, and so did Gio's. Anyway....the DHS attorney starts questioning the DHS worker, about DHS' stand and their recommendation. Then starts asking things about his past....it doesn't sound good. But then the attorney asks her what school Gio goes to and she couldn't think of the name (considering she has a caseload of about 100 kids, it's not surprising) and starts looking through his file. I say the name of the school, even though I wasn't addressed by the judge, and I think I'm going to get scolded (Judge Judy would have had my head), but the judge looks at me and smiles. Then the attorney starts asking me questions and he keeps rephrasing my answers, actually making them sound better. What the???? My heart is racing and I'm nervous. Poor Gio looks like he's watching a tennis match. Finally, the attorney says, "Your honor, I think the best solution would be to grant the Koch's legal guardianship of Giovany" The judge asks us how we feel about that, and Keith and I both wholeheartedly agree. Gavel banged, decision made. We are now his legal guardians.



That means no Children's Home, no DHS, no agencies at all. We can add him to our medical insurance so he can stop going to those horrible clinics, I can sign all school papers for him, if we go on vacation, I don't have to ask anyone's permission. His DHS worker was shocked. "I never expected that to happen," she said. She was so happy for all of us. There's only one downside to this...we don't get a monthly stipend now. And, while that's certainly not why we want him here, the small check each month certainly helps when you add a 15 year old boy to your household. Especially since Keith doesn't have his part-time job anymore. But, we'll figure it out.



On the way home from court, he kept saying, "thank you guys" "this has been a great day" "thank you so much" "thank you"



So, he's ours. Officially. Children's Home can kiss my white ass.

Happy New Year

Okay....here's a brief summary of what happened with Gio....we went to court, and met with his Probation Officer, who has known Gio since he's 11. She wants him to come with us, because he's been in placement after placement, but he's never been in a stable home. I have a letter written by his teacher saying the bright moments he sees from Gio when he feels secure and the differences he's seen in him since he's been with us. I also have a letter from our principal explaining the difference she saw in JJ after he came with us. The probation officer gives these letters to the judge.
We go into the hearing/trial and I'm shaking like a leaf, my hands are sweating. I can barely stand there. The judge asks why Keith and I are there, and we explain that Gio was living with us when he got arrested, but not when the incident happened. That we see a lot of potential in Gio, and would like to help him reach it. She reads the letters then addresses Gio...."Young man. These people see something in you. Your teacher sees something in you. When are you going to see something in you?" He shrugs his shoulders. She says, you have been before me four times now...FOUR TIMES. What I'm about to do is virtually unheard of, but I'm going to agree to send you home with the Koch's. I believe too, that a nuturing environment would be best for you. DO NOT LET THESE PEOPLE DOWN!
He smiles from ear to ear and thanks the judge, and his PO. Two things he probably never in a million years would have imagined himself in a position to do before.
And the rest is history. The whole drive home he kept saying, "I got so lucky" "This is because of you guys" "I've never been to a court room and left before. I can't believe this."
So, hopefully he'll use this to his advantage. He's bored out of his mind here, he doesn't really know anyone. So, a kid that's used to hanging on the streets spends every night home. We've played so many games of cards it's unbelievable. But, after he adjusts, he'll be fine, I think. We have to take it one day at a time. He's completely different than JJ. Much harder. Or hardened, I should say. But, sometimes he just gives me a smile, or plops down on the sofa while I'm watching tv and I can see the happiness in his eyes.
Other than that....nothing else is new. Everyone is doing wonderfully, and I'm almost afraid to feel like nothing's wrong. It's strange.

Good news!

The judge let Gio come home with us!!!!!
I'll fill you in on the details later, but suffice it to say, we're all very happy.

We wish you a ..... bah humbug

I can't believe it's less than a week until Christmas. I have so much to do yet. Presents to buy, presents to wrap. Cleaning. Planning the Christmas day meal. Baking cookies. I'm hoping to get the bulk of the baking done today. Cutouts, choc chip and coconut cream cheese are on the agenda.
Gio has court tomorrow. I'm so nervous for him, that I'm practically sick. I've spoken to everyone that I could possibly think of. His Philadelphia PO, who has known Gio for years, agrees that instead of another placement, Gio's best shot at not becoming a high school drop out, felon is to come with us. She said she'll recommend it to the judge. I guess it's up to the judge. I have a letter from our school administrator, saying what a difference being part of our family has made in JJ's life. JJ said he'd go to court and talk to the judge, but that wasn't allowed. I have another letter from one of Gio's teachers saying he noticed a difference in Gio when he came to us, and how Gio avoids classroom drama, and so on..... Who knows what will happen. It will either be a wonderful, happy ride home from Philadelphia, or a miserable silent one. Keep your fingers crossed for Gio.

Pardon me, I'm venting

I need to vent!!!
As I've alluded to, our new foster kid Gio got into some trouble. Before he came here, he and a couple of other Children's Home kids got into a fight with a man, and they beat him up pretty badly. There was a witness, and the guy, and all three of them were brought to the police station for questioning. They all denied what happened. Keith is the one who had to take Gio, and he was disgusted by Gio lying, saying he had no idea what they were talking about, he wasn't there, etc. This is just a few days before he came to live with us, but Keith brought him here that night for dinner, and we talked with Gio. We told him that the right thing to do was to go back to the police and admit what he did, say he was sorry, and cooperate with them. He refused at first, but we told him that if he was really intent on turning his life around, he had to start doing the right thing. After a bit more talking and coaxing, he agreed. Keith took him back down the next day and he talked to the detective, and told him exactly what happened, but only about himself, he refused to say anything about the other two boys....but at least we'd made some headway. The detective told him that he was proud of him and really appreciated him being honest.
A couple of days later, Gio comes to stay with us. He said he wants to change his life, and wants more than a life of getting into trouble and being a street kid. Not his exact words, but that's the gist of it.
He's here for three weeks. In that time, his grades go up in school. He's earning 100's on his behavior points, I have teachers coming up to me saying what a difference they've seen in him. He had many heart-to-hearts with me, where he told me about his miserable home life, lack of any kind of consequences for his actions, and a mother who never really cared at all what he did. He said that he never really felt support until he met us. And, that he really thought that Keith and I were the only two people he could trust.
Then I got a call that I had to take him to the detention center. I took him there, thinking he'd be charged with something, then sent home. Wrong. They kept him. We went to his first hearing, and the bitch who worked at juvey said we weren't allowed to go in, but she'd tell him we were there. At the next hearing, we were allowed in. In the meantime, we've visited him every time we're allowed to (twice a week) and I write him letters several times a week. He writes to us too. At his second hearing, he says that he's going to plead guilty. They drop all but one charge, and he makes his plea. Then the judge asks if there's something he'd like to say to the victim. He looks right at the guy and says, "I'm sorry. I'm manning up for what I did, and I'm sorry. That's all I can say" I was so proud of him.
Now, they've sent him to Philadelphia to their Juvey (because even though it happened here, he's a ward of Philadelphia, so that's where he has to go). Right before they sent him there, he got his weekly phone call and called me. The other two boys still aren't admitting what they did, and none of their charges were dropped, so Gio saw the benefit of "coming clean". But, today when he called, he told me the victim didn't show up for the hearing for the other boys, and he has to come back later in the week and pick them out of a line up. If he can't do that, the other boys get off. Gio would never testify against them, he was their friend. (Even though in my opinion, they're hanging him out to dry). He said to me, "See, I was right. If I wouldn't have gone back, I wouldn't be getting sent to Philadelphia. I would be home by next week. They're beating their charges. But, it's too late now"
God, do I feel awful. I still think it's right that he admitted what he did and pled guilty, but where's the justice? How do I expect this kid to learn a lesson when he's going to serve some time, and the others are going to get off scott free? I know that I wouldn't want him to have lied, but don't you think he should get some kind of break for fessing up? I could just scream! See how good it is to do the right thing, Gio? See how great it will be living here with us, being honest and doing the right thing? Oh yeah, as soon as you're done serving what ever amount of time some Philadelphia judge says you have to serve, while your buddies are free, running the streets. And, I told him that I felt awful about this whole thing, and you know what he said, "Don't worry about me. It's okay."

One holiday down, another on the front

Aaah, Thanksgiving's over. It's great having everyone over.
Thursday went well...the kids from the Children's Home seemed to have a good time. They said it was their best Thanksgiving ever.
Yesterday I had my whole family for our "Thanksgiving dinner". Every family member was able to come this year, that hasn't happened in a while. And, for some strange reason, everyone that came brought pie. For dessert we had a pumpkin pie, a pecan pie, a sweet potato pie, 2 banana cream pies and a peanut butter pie. And cookies.
I cut my finger while peeling potatoes....it could have used some stitches, but I wasn't about to go to the hospital with a house full of guests. It bled almost all day. Oh well, I didn't really want stitches anyway.
Gio has court today. I think they're going to send him to another placement, for a while anyway. Unfortunately, he has a prior record, so he won't just get a slap on the wrist. I hope he doesn't have to go too long.
Everyone else is good. I guess it's time to get in the Christmas mode now. I'll probably decorate next weekend, and get a tree the week after that. And shopping...yuck, I don't even want to think about that. It might just turn out to be an all-online Christmas. The older I get, the less patience I have for crowds and lines.

Hey. Long time, no see.

What's new with me, you ask?
Plenty.
And not much. Work front is still the same. Liking my new job as secretary. The kids are all doing great. Brighton is growing so fast and is so smart. I enjoy every minute I spend with him.
As you might remember, we do our Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday here, which is great. But it usually leaves us bored on Thanksgiving day. So, I've invited a few kids from the Children's Home (kids that either have no home to go to, or no home where they're welcomed) here for a semi-Thanksgiving dinner. I'll rent some movies, there will be football on tv for the boys. We'll play some cards or board games. Hopefully they'll have a good time.
At home, a big change. Gio moved in with us. Things were going great. He's so sweet when he's here. He's good with Brighton when they visit. We went to a boring family get together and he was very good with all the older people there. We've had numerous heart-to-hearts about his future, lifestyle changes I expect from him, making something of himself. He was getting it. Really getting it.
But, Tuesday I got a phone call that I had to take him to the police station regarding an altercation he got in before he came to live here. I took him down there, under the impression, according to the detective, that he would be charged, then released to Keith and I. WRONG. They kept him. Now they're talking about shipping him back to Philly, some other placement. This is reminding me of all the crap we had to go through with JJ. So, I'm back in fighting mode. DHS, Children's Home, Juvenile Justice. And, just think....I didn't even want to get to know the little shit. Then I wasn't sure if I wanted another kid. Then, the next thing I know...I'm in love. His behaviors at school settled down, he gets great reports from his teachers. He's helpful around the house. And, unlike all the other kids I have (And I know this is all normal) he doesn't think that everything Keith and I say is absurd. He hangs on our every word, like we know everything there is to know about everything.
On a selfish note, there is something about introducing a kid who has had a very rough life, to all the normal/dysfunctional things most families experience. Eating dinner together every night. Talking about the future. Planning a little vacation. Talking about decorating for Christmas. Anyway, now I have made it my personal responsibility to make sure this kid doesn't slip through the cracks. He told me that he's never had anybody support him before like Keith and I do. He said it really helps him "chill".
That's really about all I have to report on.

Fall update

Well, I guess it's officially fall. The high temp today is only supposed to be 56. And, it's raining. Yuck.
We went to Renee's for the weekend, and went to the Bloomsburg Fair. It was really nice. Brighton is getting so big, and he's so social. We've started calling him Repeat, because that's exactly what he does. If there's a conversation going on, he'll stand there and repeat both sides. But, he changes it around so it makes sense that he's saying it. For example, if I'm saying to Keith, "I'm hungry, I'm going to find something to eat. You want something?" Brighton will say, "GiGi's hungry. She's going to find something to eat. You want some, Pop Pop?"
But, when we came home, we found that we have no water. Keith thinks the well pump went. So, the "well guy" is coming this morning. I took the morning off, so I can wait for him, and shower!!
On other fronts.....
Last weekend I went away with my bookgroup for a ladies only weekend at the beach. It was such a nice time. Beautiful weather. A whole weekend in either a bathing suit, sweats or pajamas. We played games, ate, slept, talked, watched the first season of SNL on dvd. It was so relaxing.
The boy I mentioned before has been spending more and more time at our house. And, it's happened. I've fallen for him. He's had such a sad, neglectful, abusive childhood so far. But, when he smiles because you do something simple for him (like buy apples at the grocery store because they're his favorite) he lights up. We asked him if he wants to live with us. He said he had to think about it. He's concerned about fitting in in our school system. And, he has a valid point. It won't be easy. So, we'll see where that goes.
That's about all I have.
See ya when I see ya.

Run in with the law

Here's a picture of me with three nice police officers yesterday at the race. I asked them to pretend to arrest me for "speeding" in the walk, but they said they weren't allowed to. So, I just stood there with them and jokingly told people they were lecturing me to slow down!

walking

Today I'm going to NYC to participate in the Susan Komen 5k. It should be a good day, except it's raining. I bought one of those dollar ponchos to throw over my clothes, so hopefully I won't get too wet.
After the walk I'm not sure what we're going to do. We were going to go to Chinatown to shop, but I don't know if we'll do that in the rain. Maybe we'll do a museum instead. I'll see what my friend, and walking partner, feels like doing. We could probably just spend the afternoon in Macy's. If you've never been, the one in the city is so big...they have a whole floor of just shoes!!
I didn't even get to see which celebrities were going to be there this year. Last year Cyndi Lauper and Judge Judy were there.
And, I'm thinking about starting to run. I need to do some sort of excercise. But, who knows if I'll follow through.

Decisions decisions decisions

I have a graduation party to go to later....a friend from bookgroup. Well, actually her son. I'm making "crockpot mac and cheese" to take.
Tomorrow my Jersey brother is coming for the day. I'm making bruchetta (with tomatoes from my own garden), and spiced pretzels to munch on. Then the meal will be: salad, mac and cheese (baked, not crock pot), corn on the cob, bbq beef ribs. Dessert will be strawberries and angel food cake.
JJ moved his bedroom down to the basement ("It's more like an apartment down there"), so now I have an extra bedroom upstairs. I've been looking forward to it. When Joe or Renee comes, no more shuffling people to sofas and such. BUT....Keith met this boy at the Children's Home and he wants him to come and live with us. He's been here a few times and seems nice enough, but jeez Louise. He's 14....so I'd be prolonging my motherhood by two years (since Braden's 16), and there goes my spare bedroom. I'm conflicted. I know he's kind of a high-risk kid...prone to fighting and stuff, so I know that no one else would take him. Doesn't he deserve a chance? Don't I deserve a spare bedroom? I'm sick of feeling like I have to save as many kids as I can. But that's really how I feel. So....I don't know what to do.

Update

Hey everybody! I know it's been forever since I blogged, but someone who shall remain nameless (hint: her name sounds like phlegmabites) has been harrassing me, so here I go.

I changed jobs back in May. The secretary at our school left, and I applied for her postition and got it. It's more money, so I jumped on it. It allows me to not do my part-time job with the autistic boy anymore. I'll miss working in the classroom, but I'll still get to see my favorite students as they come and go. Another plus, the office is much warmer than the classrooms, so I don't have to wear three layers of clothes everyday to work.

JJ graduated in June. He's taking classes at Community college this summer, and for the fall semester, then he plans on going to Moravian College and play football while getting his education....hopefully. He also has a part-time job at Walmart, pushing carts.

Braden turns 17 next week. He's been driving with his permit, but he drives me insane. He either goes way too slow, or too fast. And, he has a hard time staying in the center of his lane. I hate driving with him....but then I feel badly about hating driving with him.

Renee and Joe are both doing great. Joe is running a half-way house in Philadelphia for men just getting out of drug re-hab. He loves it. He's also working part-time at a sporting goods store. He looks better than he has in years - working out and cutting out sugar. Renee has become such a great mom to Brighton. She's going to be starting cosmetology school soon and can't wait to be a hair-dresser. It's what she's wanted to do since she was four.

Brighton is really doing fantastic. He's such a cutie, and so smart. Of course, I'm his Gigi, so I may be a bit biased! Here's a picture from his baptism last week. He's was getting a bit bored waiting for the services to start.

Well, that's about all I have going on. Nothing exciting to report. But, again, I guess that's a good thing.

We got 15" of snow Tuesday night into Wednesday. So, this is my second snow day in a row. HELP ME!!

Why do TV stations feel they need to broadcast nothing but weather/traffic/accumulations when there's a snow storm? ALL DAY??? I was home from school and couldn't watch any of the shows I like to indulge in when I'm off. No The View, No Ellen, No Oprah.

I did, however, make a nice apple crisp (which I'm going to have a piece of shortly), and made a nice dinner for my family last night.

That's really all I have.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

It's snowing here. Schools let out early yesterday, in anticipation of the storm that instead of arriving at 3:00, mosied in around 10:00. I'm not complaining though, I got to go to Tristan's early, and I was home by 5:00. Then Keith and I went out to eat with friends of ours. I had a great cup of pepper pot soup...it made me with I would have not ordered the salad and just gone with a big ole bowl of soup instead.
Braden's dive season is wrapping up. He took a couple of second places and a lot of thirds. Not bad for his first year. He found out this week that he'll get a letter for it, and he's very proud.
Report cards came out, and he got an A in English. This is his first not-learning-support English class. I'm very proud of him. JJ's report card....nothing to be proud about. There's a local college, and a pretty good one to boot, that wants him to play football there. They know his grades aren't good, so he has to do the summer and the fall semester at community college, in order to get in. You'd think he'd try a little harder in his last year of high school, but apparently not. I have serious doubts as to whether he'll be able to cut a college class.
It's going to snow all day here. I don't mind, I like staying in. I'm going to move furniture around in my bedroom, do laundry, read my book and play with my farm. Sounds like a good day to me! Oh, and I'm making meatloaf for supper. I love meatloaf!

More nothingness

I had a bonus day off today. There was a water main break near our school, and we got sent home at 8:00 this morning. It's a shame that I wasted an outfit and did my hair, but I did get a day off. I did some laundry and tried to take a nap, but the stupid phone kept ringing...so much for the nap.

We got a new kid in our class, and he's a duzy. So far he's told us that: He's a two time New Jersey state wrestling champ, that he gets up at 4:00 am for a two and a half hour bus ride to school, that his watch cost $450.00, that he does mental math faster than 90% of the people, and that he's been recruited by the Marines and the Army. He's an 11th grader with a fourth grade Reading and Math level. Oh, he also pulled his mom's car for four miles, on the parkway, when it broke down. So, now we all (the staff in the room) make up ridiculous lies about ourselves all day. It's kind of fun!

Other than that, I've got nothing. Braden and JJ are both doing well. And, Keith is Keith. I'm going to go give another shot at a nap.

Snoreless sleep

Nazareth started a diving team this year. They built a new middle school and it has a pool. They've had a swim team, but this is the first year for diving. They made an announcement at school a couple of months ago saying they were looking for divers, and Braden thought, "Why not?!" He's doing very well. I'm proud of him. I tried to post a video, but it wouldn't work, so you'll have to take my word for it. Any of you on facebook, I posted them on my wall.

Keith's away at a wrestling tournament in Virginia. He'll be gone until Sunday. I love, love, love having the bed to myself, and not having to drown out his snoring with pillows over my ears!!

Jay Jay is doing college tours, but has his heart set on Moravian. I like Moravian best too. It's close and has small class sizes. And, the football coach really likes him. Since he didn't take his high school academics as seriously as he should have, he'll have to do the summer and the fall semester at community college, but he should be able to start in the spring. My fingers are crossed. Since he's realized that college is a real option for him, his grades have gone way up at school.

I almost hate to say this, but everyone's doing very well here. No major issues at all. Now, if only I were happy.

And you'd probably thought you heard the last of me....

First of all....my apologies for not blogging lately. My life has been plugging along. Boring, more boring, and some days still more boring yet. I've been incredibly busy...but not with anything exciting.

My holidays were nice. Hectic, but nice. We went to Afro's for Christmas dinner, as usual. The kids were bored out of their minds, so we left around 7:30 and came home and watched "The Hangover". It was funny.

Brighton was cute opening presents, but only one or two at a time. He got tired of it quickly. He'd rather chase my cat around or try to get Braden to play hide and seek with him. Here's a picture of the little cutie, laying on my lap at Afro's:

Sunday my brother from Jersey came up and I hosted another Christmas dinner. I tried two new recipes from the new Martha Stewart cookbook and they were both winners. Even for picky Afro.

I have things going on for every day of the remainder of Christmas break. I think the only chance I'm going to get to relax and stay in pajamas all day is Sunday. At least there's one day, I guess.

Again, sorry I've been quiet for a month now, but I missed you all!!!

After months on the market, and about twenty showings, we still haven't had an offer on the house. On the advice of our realtor, we're going to take it off the market in November and relist it after the first of the year. People don't normally house shop during the holidays, he says. He also said we listed it at a good price...but I beg to differ.

This Friday is JJ's last football game. It's senior night and the parents walk out on the field with their sons and get a flower. I keep teasing JJ that when they say his name I'm going to give him a great big smooch on the cheek. He's strictly a "do not touch" kind of kid and he knows that with everyone watching he'll have to choice but to let me. I'm thinking of it as payback. Thursday night we're having a bonfire here for the team. They're so pumped up....last night we beat a team that's number two in the conference. We're going to finish the season with five, maybe six wins....that's three more wins than Nazareth has had since joining this conference fifteen years ago.

Braden is still excited about the dive team, and the coach told asked him, "Do you have springs in your legs? You're a natural." Braden replied, "No springs, but I do kind of jump around a lot" That's an understatement, in my opinion.

I have a frying pan that had burnt on peppers and onions in it, and I'm boiling it off in vinegar. It's an old trick tea lady used to use. It works like a charm, but my house stinks!

Well, that's all I got. If I didn't have kids I wouldn't have a thing to blog about this week!

Smile, you're on candid camera

Thursday night my niece was being inducted in to the Junior National Honor Society. The whole family went to see her. She has this core group of about six friends that have been friends since kindergarden, and five of them were participating in the ceremony, so I knew quite a few of the kids.
Anyway, as the ceremony begins, the kids all take their places up on the stage, and one of Shay's friends is sitting in the front row. She had on a very short dress and black boots. Let's just say she didn't exactly look like she was being inducted into the Honor Society, more like the dishonor society. So, I lean over and whisper to my brother (afro), who is taking a picture with his cell phone, "wow, Z looks kind of like a hooker up there"....he turns to me, aghast and points to what I thought was his cell phone. Turns out, it was the smallest video camera I'd ever seen. And, I just did a voice over. Great.
I'm pretty sure I ruined my niece's video of her induction. I actually said the girl's name, and it's a friend of hers, so there's no denying it. And, while everyone else agreed, and some commented on the outfit after the ceremony, I'm the only one you can hear on the video, immortalizing it for ever.

E I E I Ooooooo

It's a rainy, miserable Saturday morning. Perfect weather for...you guessed it...moving furniture. I woke up this morning and decided, out of the blue, that my living room furniture needs to be rearranged. That will give me something to do this afternoon.
Nazareth high school is starting a dive team this year. They were looking for kids to train, so Braden decided to go out for the team. He started "dryland" practice this week, and this morning they have an informal practice in the pool. He's so excited. And, you should see him in his swim trunks. They're actually like bicycle shorts...he's so skinny and walks around in them, clenching his butt cheeks. "Look mom"
JJ's football team won their game last night. He had a really good game. A sack, some really good tackles (I love when they announce his name for making a great play), he tipped a ball off, and ran the ball back on a kick off return. It was 35 degrees and raining/snowing, so the stands weren't too full, but it was a good game.
I have book group tonight. We read "The Lace Reader". I didn't really care for it, and the ending pissed me off. You ever read a book where the ending just makes you mad? Well, this one did it for me.
Also, I'm addicted to Farmville on facebook. I need a couple more neighbors so I can have a bigger farm. Anyone else play?

Can't come up with a title

I had a jam-packed weekend.
Friends of ours have a son that started going to a private school in Wilkes Barre, so a bunch of us went up to watch him play. We tailgated before and after the game and had a nice time. It would have been a bit better if the weather would have been a bit warmer, and I could have done without the sprinkles on and off.
Yesterday we went to see Renee and the baby. He gets cuter every time I see him. I know I'm a bit biased, but he's just adorable. At one point, my ex-husband took Keith to his restaurant to get some wings....I would have loved to be a fly on the dashboard of that car. No, on second thought, I probably wouldn't have wanted to.
Thank goodness we're off school today. I have to put four hours in at Tristan's, then go grocery shopping, then I should have some time to tackle at least some of the things I didn't do over the weekend.
Oh, and a student threatened to kill me this week at school. Correction, the kid threatened to fucking kill me. He was smashing on a window, trying to get to me as I stood out in the hallway. Damn me for trying to make him follow a simple instruction like "stop talking". He hasn't come back to school since (2 days), but I'm not looking forward to tomorrow when I'm sure he'll walk through the doors.

Dancing queen

Well, I survived, unscathed!
It went well, I only missed one beat....and I caught up quickly. A friend's daughter's friend told Keith that I was the prettiest mom there. How sweet of her.

Tonight I'm going to see David Sedaris at a local theater. I've read several of his books, and they're always amusing. There's a bunch of us from bookgroup going, and we're meeting at a friend's for dinner first, then going out for a drink after. I'm really looking forward to a night out! I found a recipe for pumpkin brownies I'm going to make to take along for dessert.

That's about all I've got. I'm desummering the house today, and decorating for fall. I hate to see summer go, but I love fall colors and decorations!

Rah rah sis boom bah!

Today's the pep rally.
Wish me luck.
Also wish that no one does anything incredibly stupid and that the video doesn't show up on youtube.

"If you liked it then you should have put a ring on it..."

Since JJ is a senior, there are special things done during the football season. They're all very nice, except one.
During the homecoming pep rally, moms of the seniors have to do a dance. Not a dance of their choice, mind you, a dance that 16 and 17 year old cheerleaders come up with. I'm not especially looking forward to it. I can dance. And, looking around at some of the other senior moms, I'm sure I'll make less of a fool of my self than some of them, but.....I hate performing. I hate knowing people are looking at me. It makes me feel so selfconscious! Last year, the moms had to wear shorts with their kids' names on the ass, and bend over and flip their shirts up at the end of the routine. How humiliating! What teenage kid wants to see the ass of a 40 something?
I'm voting for sweatpants! I'm picturing us dancing to "Put a Ring on it" like they did in Glee last night.
Tonight is my first practice. Wish me luck. And, don't tell me to break a leg, I just might! Or even worse, a hip!

Walk this way

I have been such a bad blogger. I just don't have the energy. Till I get home from work(s), make dinner and clean up the kitchen, I'm exhausted.
Next week Tristan's family is going on vacation, so I can come right home after school. I'm so looking forward to napping every afternoon! What an exciting thing to look forward to.
Last weekend, the walk went well. It was a beautiful day and I walked it no problem. The only problem was how crowded it was. There were over 20,000 walkers walking at the same time through Central Park. It took over 45 minutes just to get over the start line. It's really hard to walk with that many people all around you.
After the walk, we took the subway to Chinatown. There were about ten of us in a group. All of a sudden I notice my sister-in-law starts acting a bit strangely. Suddenly the other women start acting equally weird. Here, sitting next to Denise is Reed from the Bachelorette. Now, I don't watch the show, so I had no clue who he was. But, he was a good sport about all the ogling and talking from a group of 40 year old housewives. He talked to us the whole ride, but I'm pretty sure I saw him running away when we got off!
Nothing major this weekend....and I'm glad. Laundry and cleaning today. Trimming and weeding tomorrow. yay me!

On your mark, get set.....

Tomorrow I'm going to NYC to participate in the Susan Komen Race for the Cure. My sister-in-law (afro's wife) made up a team to enter, and I joined. I'm sure I can walk 5K, although I never have, but I'm still a bit nervous. I bought new sneakers to wear (I'm going to break them in a bit today) and it's supposed to be a beautiful day. Stephen Colbert and Judge Judy (among others) will be there. I wouldn't mind finding Mr. Colbert right next to me. I got some sponsors at work, although they're betting I won't make it in on Monday....hahaha, I'll show them!
After the race, we're going to do some sight seeing/shopping. It should be a very nice day. Two friends of mine are going too, and I'm looking forward to it!

JJ had a football game last night. Keith and I sat there in the pouring rain watching it. It was so windy, my umbrella flipped inside out about ten times before I finally said, "fuck it" and just sat there in the downpour. At least they won!

Today, I'm doing laundry and straightening up the house a bit. It sure does go to pot during the week with all of us in school/work. I have to get in the habit of putting my clothes away/in the laundry each day, but I'm so tired at night, I just drop them in a pile. My bedroom looks like a teenagers!

Bye 47

Here's how my life goes. Maybe I am just a bitch. You decide.

In July Keith and I were in a road rally. We were car number 47. They painted a small 47 on my front and back windshields. After the road rally, I didn't have the occasion to wash my car for a couple of weeks, and everyone kept asking me, "What's with the 47?", "Why don't you wash the 47 off your car." So, because I am who I am, I decided that I was going to leave it on there as long as possible.
I washed my car, but was very comfortable around the 47's. I liked my 47's....don't ask me why. Maybe because it's my age.
Anyway, Sunday morning Keith came in from the garage with a bottle of windex and a dirty papertowel in his hand. "I got that 47 off, finally!" he said, all proud of himself. "WHAT?!" I screamed. I told you I was trying to leave that on there as long as possible. I can't believe you cleaned it off. You never clean my windows, even when I ask you to!" I was miserable. Over something so stupid, I know. But it's the principle. He never listens to things I say, because he thinks all my thoughts are ridiculous. He doesn't pay attention to what I tell him. "What's the big deal?" he asked. "Nothing," I said.
Later that morning, I was talking to my brother and I told him about what Keith did. You know what his reply was? "Poor guy. He can never catch a break."
Seriously? He can never catch a break?
Keith is such a nice guy, and I'm not. So, these kind of things always seem like I'm being a bitch. I know it does. But, I don't think that's really what it is. All I wanted was MY 47 on MY car. It didn't cost anybody anything, it wasn't bothering anyone. It made me happy. Now it's gone and I'm the bad guy for being mad/sad/upset about it.
Tell me honestly, am I a bitch?

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

I just finished reading this book...see title above.
I love, love, loved it.
The little boy is sweet and charming.
The old man is not sweet and not-so-charming.
I bought it because the title reminded me of Braden.
I highly recommend it.

Hate mongers

I am a tad bit annoyed. Actually a little more than that...
Braden has been in scouts for several years now, and he's trying to become an Eagle Scout. The "leaders" of his troup are tried and true conservative republicans. To each his own, right? But, it seems that every time any of them gets any kind of political/military/religious emails they insist on forwarding them to everyone on their mailing lists.
I find most of these emails to be the kind that are hate-inspiring scare tactics. They offend me. And, they're are usually from the head of the scout troup, but they can be from other members too. I'm never sure what the emails are...sometimes they send legitimate emails about special meeting or trips, so I open all of them. Then I'm stuck reading nonsense. Well, stuck reading it until I realize what it is and hit delete.
I think it's completely unprofessional for scout leaders to send emails about their personal views to me. In the past, I replied to them saying to please remove me from their mailing list, and to only include me in scout related emails. But, they still come.
Last night I got an email that's first line was:
"I didn’t vote for him either…but it looks like we’re stuck with this buffoon…..even for HIM, this is LOW!"
This wasn't the first line of the original email, but the line that the forwarder added to top. Again, I hit reply all, and asked to please refrain from sending me these types of emails. (so far I got one reply, saying that I shouldn't have "reply all"-ed it, but addressed the sender personally. I replied to her that I would have, but that person isn't the only one who sends these emails.).
I just don't understand people. I would never forward any type of political/religious/military emails to anyone unless I was certain they'd be interested in reading it.
What do you think? Am I right to be angry?

boring, boring and more boring

I have been very remiss in blogging, I apologize. It's just that I don't have much to write about. My life isn't interesting to me, I'm sure it's not to you either.

I go back to work-work on Tuesday. Summer's over.....long sigh. And, our week of trainings seems like a month. Long and drawn out. Yuck!

Here's a cute story (well, I think it's cute), about Tristan (the autistic/MR boy I work with). Itmight be a little hard to relate, by typing, but I'll give it a shot.My supervisor and I have been giving him his yearly testing that's used to do his treatment plan. One of the things he had to do was say his first and last names. I've been working on this with him for months, so I thought he'd do well with it. He climbed on my lap,where he prefers to sit, and I said, "okay, buddy, what's your name?" "Tristan," he answered. "Good," I said, "Tristan what?" He just looked at me. I know he knows his last name, but he wouldn't say it. I kept saying "Tristan....." (Sort of like they do on password, when they want you to finish a phrase), finally he said "Guage"....which is his middle name. I chuckled a bit, since I'd never bothered to use his middle name. Then I said, "Tristan Guage......." and he said,"TRISTAN GUAGE KNOCK IT OFF!" Hahahaha, that must be what his mom says to him when he's up to no good. After I stopped laughing, I finally said, "Tristan Guage knock it off......" and he said, "Smith." So, he got full credit for that one!

"we are family"

I don't have a whole lot to report. My summer has been mostly uneventful...which is a good thing.

August looks to be a little busier. I'm having a semi-family reunion this Sunday...I hope the weather is nice so the kids can swim. My cousin is a great baker, and I'm looking forward to see what she'll bring.

Keith has been working on a big fund raiser for JJ's football team. They're having a concert in a couple of weeks with a Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen cover band. It should be a fun night out. In between I'm filling in for someone in a bunco game, and having my bookgroup friends over for a ladies-only pool party.

I go back to work on the 18th... so my summer is practically over!

I had Brighton last weekend. He's such a cutie and he's very bright. We took him to a local carnival where his pop-pop (Keith) insisted on spoiling him with a pony ride. Brighton was less than thrilled with it. Here's a picture of the little guy (chewing on a page from his favorite book):

"If a picture paints a thousand words..."

This is Keith and me at Afro's wife's grad party. It was a fun night and she loved the gift I got her (a chamilia bracelet with a graduation cap charm).

"How did ya' know I needed you so badly"

I really don't have much I have to do this weekend. I have to grocery shop. Maybe do a load of laundry. We'll play it by ear.
Tonight, as I mentioned in the post on the main page, I have my sister-in-laws graduation party. She wanted me to make something with peanut butter, so I'm making chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting.
And, I know my title isn't a song about chocolate, but the group is "Hot Chocolate".
I remember, before the surgeon general changed the food pyramid around and everyone became health conscience, we had some good school lunches. My school's lassagna was the best. So was the meatloaf and the spaghetti. But, my all time favorite was the chocolate cake with peanut butter icing. The cake was so heavy and moist, it was perfect with the peanut butter icing. I have searched and searched for a chocolate cake recipe that tastes like that one, but I haven't found one. Everytime I make a chocolate cake, I try a different recipe, so far without success. I've tried recipes with buttermilk, recipes with coffee, recipes with mayo...It's just elusive.
What was your favorite school lunch?

'It's, me and I'm back from sea" says Barnacle Bill the Sailor'

Good news!
I just got back from my doctor's appointment. She said I have SEBORRHEIC KERATOSIS. Nothing serious. It doesn't even have to be removed unless it bothers me. And it doesn't. She said she calls them "barnacles of life". I never thought I'd be happy to have a barnacle. I am very relieved!

"Take me out to the ball game...."

Here are some pictures from the Iron Pigs wedding. It was actually much nicer than I thought it would be. We had a lot of fun. Here's also a picture of the favors they used, and the unifor the players wore in honor of the occasion. It even made ESPN's top ten. Not that I'm a baseball fan, but our seats were on field level right behind the catcher. It didn't mean that much to me, but the kids and the men were thrilled!

"This little piggy went to market..."

Tomorrow we're going to a wedding.
The son of friend's of ours won a wedding at our local AAA baseball game. It should be interesting. The team is called the Iron Pigs, and the wedding is going to be broadcast on TV. The kids are excited because there's a chance they'll be on. The players are wearing uniforms that look like tuxes, and the bride and groom get to throw and catch the first pitch. It should be a good time.
I don't know what to take out for dinner tonight. I'm thinking skirt steak, but I'm not sure. All I know is I have some fresh green beans I'm going to saute with whatever I make.

"Who loves ya, baby?

Who loves ya, baby?

I bought a new pair of shoes that I love, love love. Oka B. Their slogan is "Shoes that love you." They're very comfy and you can wash them in the dishwasher. They have ribbon bows on the front, and I think I can go to the craft store and get more ribbon and change them out. Make several pair of shoes out of one.

JJ has been dating the girl-next-door (well, actually she lives across the street) on and off for nearly a year now. He told me yesterday that they've broken up. It took every ounce of will power I have to not jump up and down and clap my hands. I hated them together. She's lived across the street from me for seven years and has never said more than hello to me. I know she's a little shy, but you can't force yourself to say more than hello when you come into my house and go down the basement to "play video games" with my son? I didn't say too much to him, just "at your age, if someone doesn't make you happy, you shouldn't spend time with them"...because if I blast her too much, it will be certain that they'll get back together.

No solid bites on the house yet, but we've had about ten showings. Braden told me he's going to paint "RED RUM" on his bedroom walls so no one will want our house.

"crying, over you....crying over you"

Emma's post reminded me of this. I wanted to post it before, but I forgot.
I think most of you know that I've been working part-time as a TSS for a MR and Autistic boy named T. I started last August. He's six years old and the most beautiful child ever. A head full of blond ringlets...he looks like an angel. And, when I'm not being hit, bitten, kicked or pinched he's the sweetest thing. Anyway....he has the strangest hate for Billy Mayes. If one of his commercials comes on the tv, and T hears it (even for just a few seconds) he starts to cry. And not just "I don't like that man" crying, inconsolable, heart-wrenching crying which can last for hours. His mom told me, "I'd never wish anybody dead, but I can say it will make my life a little easier."

Braden got a new iphone. After much hulabaloo, they finally replaced it. And, for my trouble, threw in a free Shuffle, which Keith quickly snagged.

I have Brighton this weekend. He's adorable and so smart. But, I probably won't get much done. I got up early this morning just so I could have a little "alone" time. We're taking tea lady to lunch today for her birthday, then we have a party to go to later. It should be fun. I'm making baked brie and these adorable cupcakes that you decorate with brown sugar (sand), blue food colored icing (water) a drink umbrella and a round red/white peppermint ball (beach ball). I just have to find the umbrellas.

"Telephone line, give me some time, I'm living in twilight"

Yesterday morning I had the best french toast! Joe came down and he stopped a little produce stand on his way. He bought a loaf of banana nut bread and a loaf of coconut bread. He made the french toast with it. I had the coconut, and I swear it was the best FT I've ever had.
Braden bought himself an iphone and has been having trouble with it. In the last three days I've spent over 6.5 hours on the phone with AT&T and Apple. The end result....I have to drive to the Apple Store and get it replaced. I'll never get those 6.5 hours back. It was very frustrating, to say the least.
Still no offers on the house. It's kind of a good thing, though, because there's nothing for sale right now, in our price range, that we're thrilled with. There is plenty just above our price range, so maybe by the time our house sells, the price on them will come down. We'll see.

"It don't matter if you're black or white"

At this very moment, I could have been a widow. That is, if things would have gone differently about 35 years ago.
Sadly, that's not the way things unfolded.
When I was about 12 I wrote a letter to my love, Michael Jackson. In this letter I professed my undying love for him and my wish to be his girlfriend. At the end of the letter, in a typical teenage angst-ridden tone I confessed that there was perhaps one small problem in our future relationship, and that fact was that I was white.
I never heard back from him. I was crushed.
If only he had.

In all seriousness, I'm very saddened by his death. He was a musical genious. I know he had issues, but to me his talent outshined all that.

All the book group food was a hit. They were all new recipes, and they came out well. I thought the baked onion dip was a little salty, and the lime cheesecake I wasn't thrilled with, but others were. The corn dogs were scrumptcho-banumptcho! But, the pumpkin cheesecake muffins were my favorite!
Our house went on the MLS on Wednesday and the sign went up on Thursday. We had four showings this weekend. That's a good sign. (it sure is a pain to have to evacuate the house, especially getting the dog out as that limits where we can go for the hour the showings typically last. - It's not supposed to be as rainy this week, so hopefully when there are showings we can just go for a walk)
Other than that, I got nothing. But, that's a good thing, I guess.

Yummy

I'm hosting bookgroup tonight.
I have a fun afternoon of cooking planned. I've recruited JJ to help me (It will help work off his punishment for his grades). The book had a Japanese/baseball theme
The menu I've planned is:

Bleu chees/bacon corn dogs
Roasted spicey nuts
Baked onion dip
Wrapped asparagus
Egg rolls

Desserts:
Lime cheesecake
Pumpkin Creamcheese muffins
Raspberry filled chocolate cake

Oh, and a sparkling peach punch.
Personally, I'm looking forward to the corn dogs (new recipe) and the muffins.

Lights, camera, action!

Well, the list is finished.
The real estate agent is coming tomorrow and we're listing it.
My neighbor doesn't want us to move so she said she's going to do strange things so potential buyers are afraid to move here. Like get a bunch of old cars on blocks in the front yard, hang a rebel flag, etc.
Keep your fingers crossed.

"One small step for man...."

Well, I was pleasantly surprised at yesterday's meeting.
It was JJ's and Braden's school caseworkers and the Director of Special Ed. and me.
First we went through JJ's IEP, and she agreed that the goals were irrelevant and non-measurable. But, she did say that if he has any interest in college at all, a 504 plan is better than an IEP. I don't know if that's true....I can't find any information that says one is better than the other.
Then we went through Braden's. She helped his caseworker rewrite all his goals. Then she said that she knows the school was totally wrong with not sending reports of progress but that she had no idea. She just assumed they were since the middle and elementary schools were sending them. She also said it looked like IEP's needed to be looked at in general and more training was needed for her staff. She said they're using a new computer program next year that will automatically generate the reports, which will be tied right into report cards. She going to implement a plan where the report cards of student's with IEPs will be generated separately and the reports will be attached and mailed together by the main office, who will notify her if reports aren't done.
She thanked me for calling her and said that believe it or not, I'm the first high school parent to ever call and complain about IEP's or lack of progress reporting and if I hadn't called, she would have continued to assum that things were being done the way they were supposed to be.
I didn't particularly care for her....he attitude was a little, "I'm way better and smarter than you'll ever be", but I made my points clearly and she took care of all my concerns. Now, we'll just wait and see what happens next year. But, she clearly knows that if these issues aren't rectified, I will call the state.

IEP SchmIEP

About a month ago I had to go to the school for JJ's IEP meeting. The school says he doesn't need an IEP anymore. Last year he had two goals on his IEP and at the meeting one was classified as "not introduced" and the other showed "minimal progress". In math, JJ tests at a 4:7 (high fourth grade level). How can they say he doesn't need an IEP when they haven't met the goals of his existing IEP??? Unfortunately, I don't have Educational Rights for him, and Children's Home doesn't want to fight it. My hands are tied.
Two weeks ago I went in for Braden's IEP meeting. He has three goals. Two were marked "moderate progress" and one was marked "significant progress". However, the school has no data to back up these statuses. When I requested it, they said there really wasn't any. Braden went from a tested sixth grade level in math at the end of 8th grade, to a 5th grade level at the end of ninth grade.
Also, according to all IEP's, there are supposed to be quarterly IEP progress reports sent home...I never get any for either boy. I talked to my neighbor, whose son has an IEP, and she doesn't receive the progress reports either. And, all three of these kids have different special ed caseworkers at the school, so it's just not one person not doing their job....it's standard operating procedure.
I called the Director of Special Ed yesterday and she wants me to come in today for a meeting at 9:am. I know a lot of you aren't familiar with IEP's, but Nazareth is being non-compliant. That's against the law. I know it. They know it. She said the meeting was going to be with her, and JJ's and Braden's caseworkers, but, I know I'm going to walk into that meeting this morning and have to face about 8 people with various degrees. I'm very nervous. I'm so pissed about this whole situation and I'm going to forget all the logical points I have made in my mind. I'm going to come off as a stark raving lunatic....but, holy crap, this is about the education of these boys. And, if the three kids I know with IEP's are having this problem.....what about all the other kids with IEP's? It just can't be a coincidence that these are the only three problems.
Wish me luck!!!

listless

My list finally has more things crossed out, than aren't crossed out.
Thursday we're getting the carpets shampooed, then we'll be ready.
I was going to buy new bedding for my room....so my curtains and bedspread match...but, I don't want to spend the money. I just have to plant some flowers in the window boxes out by the pool and we're done!
I'm glad, yet sad.

"No more pencils no more books...."

Today was the last day of school this year for me.
So, I'm off for the summer....except for the part-time job I do. But, 15 hours a week is better than 50. I won't have to set my alarm for two months!

extra extra read all about it

I got a call from the Children's Home yesterday asking if I would be able to go there for a meeting with JJ, his caseworker and the campus supervisor.
So, I left work early and went to the meeting. I got there before JJ, and reiterated my points with the supervisor, and explained how important I think it is to stick to my guns here so that JJ learns responsibility. To my relief, she completely agreed with me (I had my doubts, because of how things tend to run at the Home).
When JJ arrived, I asked to speak with him alone for a minute. I gave him a hug, told him I loved him but then told him that I loved him too much and wanted too much from him to not hold him accountable. He didn't smile or really say anything. I was very concerned at this point, and, to be honest, a mess. I didn't think this was going to go well.
We went into the meeting, and surprisingly calmly talked everything through. He was respectful, apologetic and said he just wanted to come home. So, I brought him home. On the way home, he apologized again for what he'd done and for being disrespectful when he was angry. I think he wanted me to know that it wasn't just for show in front of the staff from the Home.

Sidenote: On Thursday, he had gone to his football coach (a man, who up until this point I had mixed feelings about) and explained what had happened. After practice, the coach took him out for pizza and talked with JJ. Then he took him to the Home and asked to see JJ's brother. He told his brother, under no uncertain terms, that JJ had the best world with us and that if Andrew wanted what was best for him, he'd do everything he could to make JJ realize that. The football coach called us after he dropped JJ off and told us everything. He also told me that if JJ's punishments for grades don't seem to be working....and they don't, perhaps he could help me with some creative punishments that, while they wouldn't be unhealthy for him, would make him uncomfortable. I told him I really appreciated it and it was great that JJ has another positive male role model in his life. Let's say my opinion of this man has gone way up.

So, as of now, JJ's home and last night we had a nice time together. I have Brighton this weekend and we were outside playing with him in the driveway when a couple of JJ's friends pulled into the driveway. Right away he looked at me and said, "I didn't tell them to come. I know I'm grounded." I knew he hadn't, just by the look on his face. I also know how worried his friends were about him and how stressful the week was for JJ, so I ordered some pizza and let them hang out for a little while. (making sure JJ realized why I did it, and that he was still grounded). He looked me in the eye and said, "Thanks miss. Really, thanks."

Title-less

Holy crap, I need a break!!

JJ left last night. He had his caseworker take him back to the Children's Home. She came up to talk to him about not following rules, lying, etc. I guess he thought it would be better to give up all the love he gets here, all the friends he's made, his high school and his football team instead of agreeing to admit fault and start living by the rules of the house. I'm in shock. I don't know how this will all pan out. He might call in a couple of days, or he might never call. He's so angry with me. Yeah, only me. The enforcer. As he left, he said, "sorry Keith. I didn't want it to turn out this way." I feel like a failure with him. I took the day off today, needless to say, I didn't sleep very well last night.

I went to my doctor's appointment. He recommended a dermatologist and told me to call to have it biopsied. I called the dermatologist, and they don't have an opening until the end of November. So, I have to find another one.

Today would have been my dad's 80th birthday. Happy birthday dad!

"All in all it's just another brick in the wall"

I'm still on strike. Well, semi-strike.
Both of the boys made dinner for me on Monday and pledged their undying love and gratitude to me. They promised to accept consequences for their actions and to be more responsible. Keith still thinks I'm being a jerk and thinks his end of the strike will be over if he keeps trying to kiss my ass. Think again. He needs to start stepping up to the plate as far as the boys are concerned.
So, the beginning of my week went well.
Then came the end of the week.
I found out that JJ has been lying to me all week. He offered to give up his phone in exchange for being able to go out after the prom. (we, oops, that would imply that Keith took an active role in this, I told him that since he was grounded because of his very poor grades that he couldn't go hang with his buddies after-prom.) I agreed to the switch. However, that sneaky, cheating, lying kid took the sim card out of his phone on Sunday and put it into an old phone of mine...which he took without asking and replaced it with an old sim card he got from a friend)so, he has not been phoneless. When I found out (something told me to turn his phone on) he lied about how it happened. He had plans to go to his Aunt's in Philadelphia this weekend, so I told him to leave the phone he'd been using and his driving permit on the counter before he left. He didn't do it. Now he's in Philadelphia until Monday and I get the stew over it all weekend. Yay me!
Also, on a completely separate note, I found a huge spot on my back that is certainly some sort of cancer. I have an appointment on Tuesday at the doctor's. There are some sorts of nearly-harmless cancer, but this is my life we're talking about. I'm sure it's melanoma. Plus, I've been doing some research and the little bugger fits all the criteria for melanoma. I'm sure I'll be okay, but what will I do if I can't sit out by the pool and read books every weekend in the summer? That's what I look forward to most.
Really, can one more bad thing happen to me? Mortgage crisis, idiot husband, disrespectful kids, bad economy....let's see, what else can we give her?? Oh yeah, how about cancer!

Strike

I'm on Strike.

Come Sail Away

That was the theme of JJ's prom. Here's a picture of him and his date:

Isn't he handsome?

?Happy Mother's Day??

I am so angry and disappointed in my kids right now, I literally am using every ounce of strength I have not to hop in my car and drive as fast and far as I can.
Neither Braden or JJ is a great student...they don't have it in them. But, they know I expect at least C's on their report cards. Every single report card comes and they get grounded for D's. Occasionally F's. Every single one.
They got grounded again last week. One is handling it better than the other, who shall remain nameless (Braden). He's been nasty and rude and disrespectful ever since he got his consequences. And, since they've been grounded, their grades have gone down. Yes, I said down.
Keith was planning on taking us out to dinner for Mother's Day, but I told him to cancel it. I really don't feel like sitting around a table with a couple of kids who could so blatently disregard what is expected of them, and pretending to be a happy family. I'd go without them, but I don't trust them to stay home and not use the entertainment (computer, video games, etc) that they've been grounded from.
I told them this and all I got in return is blank stares. No remorse. No apologies. Who are these people?

Brighton

My list didn't shrink at all this weekend...but for a good reason. I had my grandson. Not to sound like one of those boasting, stereotypical grandmothers...but he's adorable. And so bright. I took him grocery shopping with me, and of course everyone we passed was ooohing and aaahhing him, which he accepted with graceful smiles in the direction of the flatterers. When one man passed us, and had the audacity not to talk to him or smile at him, Brighton grabbed the man's shirt as he walked past us and when the man turned around Brighton dazzled him with his best smile and wave. The man laughed and laughed.

Here he is, judge for yourself.

"she works hard for the money"

With everything that's going on with my family (financially), you'd think I would be aware of how shitty the economy is, right? Wrong.
We had our house appraised in November by our realtor. Now that we're ready to list it, he "ran the numbers" again, and it went down twenty thousand dollars. In four months!!!! I'm flabbergasted. I'd better get my list crossed off quickly or it will go down again!

lists

It was report card time this week. Just once I'd like to get my kids' report cards and smile. But, noooooo. They're crappy. So, Braden and JJ are both on my shit list.

Last weekend I cleaned out the back flower beds and dejunked the basement. This weekend I'm doing windows and the front flower beds. Two more things crossed off my list.

We have our next three books picked for book group, so, for once, I'm going to plan ahead and order the whole list at one time. Save some money on shipping. Here's what we're reading:

"Gifted: A Novel" by Nikita Lalwani

" The Housekeeper and the Professor" by Yoko Ogawa

" The Story of a Marriage" by Andrew Sean Greer

"you've got to move this, you're doin' fine...."

Well, the decision has been made. We've decided to put our house on the market and to find a less expensive one.
Now, there's so much to be done! I have to paint the whole upstairs. I have to have the carpets upstairs shampooed. The garage has to be de-cluttered. I have to dye my living room curtains. There's an interior door that has to be replaced. Oh....and clean! Not that I'm not clean, but I'm not "show-your-house-to-complete-strangers-hoping-they'll-love-it-so-much-they'll-want-to-buy-it" clean. Plus, outside there's a ton that has to be done.
But the hardest thing of all is that we're going to have to agree on a new house. I might need to get a professional mediator.
Part of me is overwhelmed thinking about all this stuff....I'm starting this weekend on my list, but another part of me is relieved that we're going to take some action. It took a lot of persuading to get Keith to take his head out of the sand and agree to this.
Braden's upset, but kind of excited to move into town and be closer to his friends. JJ's just upset.

Ugghhh

Back to work tomorrow. It was nice having a couple of days off from school. I still did my other job, but only working one is better than two.

Easter dinner was a success. The crown roast was delicious and moist. The roasted vegetables were my favorite...and I even tricked Afro into trying them. The banana cream pie was just so-so. I'll have to look for another recipe.

I've made my decision

I'm going with the crown roast. I found a recipe in a Martha Stewart magazine. With it, I'm going to serve roasted root vegetables (fingerling potatoes, parsnips and turnips). I'm not sure what vegetable yet...something green.
Banana cream pie and strawberry shortcake for dessert.
If anyone doesn't like it, they can go hungry.

Suggestions, please?

Life around here has returned to semi-normal....not that normal is so great.

I'm trying to decide what to make for Easter dinner. We always do a ham, but we just had ham and since I'm not really in the mood to do Easter at all, I thought if I mixed it up a bit, I'd get into it a little more. I have to cook for 12, so it has to be something not too expensive. At first I thought a beef tenderloin...but that would cost me a third of my weekly grocery budget! Now I'm thinking maybe a pork crown roast. Any thoughts or suggestions?

My dad

To get ready for my dad's services, we all went through our old pictures. Here are some of my favorites. The first one is he and I this past Christmas. The middle one is him with Afro about three years ago. The last one is him in his 30's on a fishing trip. It's funny, looking back now, I see how he aged. But, if you would have asked me two weeks ago, I would have said he only aged in the last six months.

My father passed away this morning.
He was having difficulty breathing...but nothing terrible bad.
He told my mom, "I don't think I can do this much longer" and died within a half an hour.
I'll always miss him, but glad his revolving hospital door experience is over for him.

sleep. hospital. weather. real estate. I've got it all!

What a week!
I'm so tired. It seems I can never get enough sleep. I even fell asleep during 30Rock last night.

My dad is in the hospital...again. He's been in at least six times since Thanksgiving. This time he has an infection in his lungs. Last time it was in his arm, where they have the port for dialysis. Apparently it moved to his lungs. They expect him to be okay, but he has to stay in there on IV antibiotics until it's completely gone. I feel so badly for him...he hates all this attention. He hates that we take time out of our schedules to go visit him. But, on the good side, he loves the food at this particular hospital. Brags about it all the time.

Let's see, do I have anything else to report? Not really. It's starting to warm up a bit here. It's in the 60's today. It was two weekends ago too...but then dropped back down to the 30's. I'm anxious to get the yard cleaned up and looking nice.

I'm also trying to talk Keith into putting the house up for sale. He wants to "hold on for one more year". I'm sick of holding on. I want to live again. Although, I don't want to do all the painting/fixing up we'd have to do to have our house on the market. I've watched too many episodes of Designed to Sell to not do some things. Things that are perfectly fine for us to live with, but not for perspective buyers.

Isn't it ironic?

Sometimes the way businesses run just amaze me.
As I said, I sent out a bunch of letters regarding our mortgage. One of senators had me fill out a form saying they could contact Chase (the devil) on our behalf. We did that. They called the devil and sent them a letter, enclosing a copy of the letter I wrote.
I got a phone call yesterday from our contact at Chase. He said that they still couldn't do a loan modification for us, but they could do something. They said that if we pay only $x for the next three months ($400 short), at the end of the three month period they would reconsider and possibly we would qualify for the modification. I replied:
What about the balance for each of those months? (he said it would go into a suspended account)
Will Chase report the short payments to the credit bureau? (he said they're obligated to by law)
Will it negatively affect my credit rating? (he said of course)
Even though I'm paying the amount you're telling me to pay? (yes)
Can you assure me we'll get the modification? (no)
To sum it up, I said, you're giving me permission to short pay my mortgage, but you'll report the short payments, negatively affect our credit rating, and then MAYBE we'll get a lowered mortgage payment so we don't lose our house and ruin our credit? (yes)
I said, your bank has received over $25million in bail out money, yet you won't work with me unless I ruin my credit rating first? Even though the only thing I did wrong was get my mortgage through a crook who has been found guilty and is sitting in jail? He said, we have to make sure you're serious about this, not just looking for a lower payment.
I told him no thanks.

"Give me three steps..."

Last night, I got a phone call from my brother. He and his wife, my sister and a couple of her friends were at the legion. Come join them for a beer.
So, I ran up there and my cousin Kirk was there. He's my cousin third removed, or something like that. More like an uncle....a lot older than I am. Growing up, he and his wife lived right next door to my family.
Anyway....he was two sheets to the wind and telling stories about when we were younger. He was thrilled to see Afro, Susan and Me in the same place. So, he proceeds to tell this story of how he came home from work one day with a huge bag of peanuts and threw them all over the yard so us three would keep his very young son busy outside. "Ha ha," we laughed, now having kids of our own and knowing the feeling. He goes on to say that he was so horny, he wanted to "give it to" his wife. They couldn't even make it up the stairs, he said, he, and I quote, "nailed her on the third step."
How is that for a nice family visual.

"I am barely breathing...."

I'm still alive, but very, very busy. I haven't had time to post.
However, at the risk of completely jinxing it, I may have Saturday and Sunday completely to myself. Stay tuned for the update.

Once bitten, twice shy baby

My book group picked "Twilight" for this month's selection. I was a bit disappointed. I didn't want to read the teen vampire book.
I borrowed a copy and started it yesterday. I finished it yesterday. It was addicting. I want to meet an Edward. He's smart, funny, handsome and he can't have sex!

Today is my anniversary

Big fuckin whoop!

"So take a letter Maria, address it to my wife"

Ala Emma, I wrote a letter about our predicament and sent it to all our local government officials, the President, The CEO and all board members of JPMorgan Chase. I'll see where that goes.
If I get no response, I'm going to do a press release, like Bert suggested. Not only did he suggest it, he wrote one up for me. I have to change a couple of details, but I like it.
Hopefully this will get us somewhere!

There was a farmer had a dog....

To copy from Emma, I had a GNO last night....sorta.
I went with my sister to the local legion for bar bingo. Yes, that's right. I played B I N G O with my sister, her roommate and about ten other crazies. There's the old woman that plays with her false teeth and holds her ears if anyone yells, there's the funny guy that yells, "That's bullshit" if anyone but him yells, BINGO!, and there was the bingo caller who looks like a member of the Grateful Dead. A dead member.
It was a lot of fun though. I won three separate games...including the coverall. I paid for my games, bought the bar a round (I've always wanted to do that) and still came home with an extra $25.00.
I had a blast. Oh, and I was home by 10:15 to read and watch HGTV.

Time keeps on slippin, slippin, slippin

I have Brighton this weekend. He's still as spoiled, and adorable, as the last time I had him. I haven't showered or made a bed since he got here!
Not that I'm complaining...there's plenty of time for all that other stuff...
He'll be a year old next month. Where did the time go?

"This is how we do it baby"

Back to the never ending saga of our mortgage situation.
Chase has offered loan modifications to customers who are having difficutly paying their mortgages. Not just the ones involved in the Wesley Snyder debacle, but those in trouble because of the economy/ARM's, etc. We filled out oodles of paperwork. Sent it in. About eight weeks later, they requested more paperwork, we sent that in. We waited.
And we waited.
Then, we waited some more.
Last week, "our guy" from Chase called. Unfortunately they wouldn't be able to offer us any type of loan modification. Keith took the call, and of course didn't ask any questions. I called the guy back and here's what he told me. We don't qualify for the loan modification because....get this....we DON'T make enough money. Huh? He said that they don't think we can make the payment even if they lower the amount. I told him that we've been making the higher payment for the last six months and he said, "but you won't be able to keep doing it." "So," I asked, "Instead of giving us the opportunity to make a lower payment, and keep our house, you're just going to write us off?" There was nothing he could do, he said. I said, how did we qualify for this loan in the first place, and he replied that Chase didn't approve the loan, it was originally with Suntrust. I asked him if when Chase aquired the loan from then, didn't they have to meet any type of criteria, and he said yes. So, apparently at one time, you thought we could make the payments and now you don't? Our income hasn't gone down, it's gone up. I work two jobs now. He said he apologized, but they couldn't do anything.
Have you ever heard anything so ridiculous? I'm flabbergasted. I keep waiting for Howie Mandell to pop out and say, "That's howie do it!"

fractions

The other day, I was having a discussion with a girl in my class. She's a senior with far too many absences. I had to tell her that she couldn't have one more illegal absence or they would not let her graduate. She didn't think she'd missed that many days. So I laid it out for her. We've been in school for 93 days so far this year and she's missed 33. I told her "That's a third of the time. You've missed one third of the school days of this year." She replied, "But I've been here the other third."

"You light up my life...."

Something happened to my computer, and I had to do a system restore. Why did I keep ignoring the Norton suggestions to back up my files? I've lost nearly every picture of the baby, and a ton of other stuff. Oh well, at least it didn't cost me anything.
Everyone's still getting on my nerves...it's a good thing I don't pack heat.
I'm reading a great book right now...."The Hour I First Believed" by Wally Lamb. It's great...it got me hooked the second I picked it up. I'm glad it's long, because I'd be disappointed if it was over already.
A couple of weeks ago, I bought one of those book light things at Dollar Tree. I got it home and it wouldn't work. It was only a dollar, what did I expect. I just never got around to throwing it out. Last night, after dinner, we were sitting in the kitchen and Braden was playing with it....he dropped it on the floor and I yelled at him..."Leave it alone, it's not yours. Why do you feel free to touch things that aren't yours....etc, etc" (remember, I'm miserable right now). He felt pretty bad, yet continued to play with it. He switched it on, and IT WORKED! He looked at me and said, "You're welcome!"

Blah

I'm feeling very blah. I hate everything/everyone.
I need something to excite me. Get my blood flowing.
I plan on cleaning out closets today. That oughta do it. ~~0~~0~~

The best week ever...

That's what Braden has to say about this upcoming week.
Monday there's no school and 24 is on.
Tuesday is Barrack's inauguration.
Wednesday he gets his braces off and Lost starts back up again.
What else could you ask for in life?

"Sitting on the sofa with a sister or two"

My furniture came and I love it. It completely changed the look of the living room, and it's so comfortable. It's amazing how much more enjoyable sitting is without springs poking you in the butt.

I don't really have much to report here...which is probably a good thing.
I have book group on Friday night. We read "Loving Frank"...it's fiction but based on the relationship between Frank Lloyd Wright and the wife of one of his clients. It was pretty good. I really didn't know much about him, and I got curious while I was reading. I started looking online at some of his designs and reading a bit about him. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who might read the book, but something devastating happens, and I saw it on one of the websites....and it compeltely ruined the end of the book for me. I was so mad at myself.

I had Brighton for the whole weekend. I'm exhausted. Now I remember why people don't have kids at 45. Well, a few weirdos do, but I don't think I'd survive it now. It was enjoyable though. He's at such a cute age...nearly 10 months. Toddling around, making funny faces, playing peek-a-boo. It was a nice weekend.

Now I'm going to go sit on my nice, comfy couch.

"and no one heard at all not even the chair..."

I'm glad the holidays are over. Too much family time. Except for the getting-up-early part, I was glad to go back to work.

We have been scrimping and not spending for a year and a half now. It's driving me insane. We need new living room furniture so badly....the springs hit the ground on one of the chairs, the sofa has a huge rip in it that I keep trying to cover up with a throw, the ottoman is all misshapen. Plus it's big and ugly. A large furniture store here has been running a sale...no interest for three years and no payments for a year. (I figured in a year from now we'll either have had to sell the house and be living somewhere cheaper, or some of the lawsuits will have been settled.) So, I made Keith go with me and we picked out furniture. A sofa, loveseat and chair. I'm so excited! They're delivering it on Friday. The sofa and loveseat are tan...but a bright, golden shade of tan. They're corded microfiber. So comfy. And the chair is a brown suede recliner. But not your typical, bachelor style recliner. It looks like a regular chair. I can't wait to get it...and sit on it....and rearrange it! The pillows that come with the sofa/loveseat are brown with a faint design in them with tan/green/orange.

I have an antique chair that Keith's mom had reupholstered for us. It's a nice chair but the material she picked out is pink and blue flowers. It matches nothing in my house. A friend of mine from book group is going to bring her sewing machine up, we're going to pick out material and make some sort of slipcover for it to match the new stuff. She's going to try to teach me how to sew. I've never learned. I can do some hand things....buttons, hems, rips...but I've always wanted to learn to sew with a machine. There are so many things I can make...curtains, pillow covers, matching outfits for Braden and JJ.

For Christmas, my kids arranged to go have a family portrait taken. I've been wanting an updated one for a long time, but with our schedule...and certain children's escapades, there is never a good time to get everyone together...and not wearing an orange jumpsuit.

Here's a look at my favorite: