Good news! JJ is allowed to come and visit this weekend, all day Saturday and all day Sunday. He can't sleep over yet though. His case worker finally called me back today...after leaving him two messages a day for the last three days. Also, he promised to look into when the fostering will come into effect. They did make JJ promise that he'd go on a home visit next weekend, if he came here this weekend. But, the way it's been going, I'll take what I can get.
Keith and I are bowling tomorrow night in a charity bowling thing. We do it every year and usually it's a fun night out.
Braden has to get up early tomorrow and meet the boy scouts...they're doing community service and cleaning up the road near the ball field. It's sure going to be fun waking him up ~~0~~0~~
Other than that, it's going to be a slow weekend...which is nothing to complain about!

Anticipation

JJ has his meeting today...it's probably going on right now. It's driving me crazy not to be there. I hope it goes well. Shit, I hope it goes a hundred times better than well. His DHS worker is supposed to be there, hopefully to kick some Children's Home butt.

Updating, awaiting and bear baiting

I just came back from grocery shopping. I'm as bad as the kids...I have to eat something I just bought as soon as I'm done putting everything away. Today I was torn between the Entenmann's Apple Puffs or an english muffin. I started with the english muffin.

We went to see Ron White last night. He was very funny. There's something about the way he stands up there smoking, drinking and cursing that appeals to me. Usually profanity doesn't float my boat, but he speaks so well and uses a large vocabulary...it's the way he litters his otherwise eloquent speech with fucks that makes me laugh. There was a guy sitting next to me that was laughing so hard I was worried he was going into some sort of convulsion. You know everything that someone does when parodying someone laughing...snorting, knee slapping, foot stomping....this guy did all of that. It made me wonder what it would be like to find something that incredibly funny and laugh with such abandon.

Braden had his last dance of the year yesterday after school. He lives for those things, and I'm quite sure he makes an ass of himself there. But, as long as he's having fun. He has a big project due on Monday that we haven't even started yet. The whole 6th grade does a medieval times themed unit and they all had to pick an area to write a research paper on and make some sort of presentation. Braden's topic was medieval games/entertainment. Of course, being a 12 year old boy, his favorite pastime he read about was "bear baiting" and wants to make a shoe box model of it. How the hell am I going to make a bear? We bought some fur at the craft store, but that's as far as we got.

JJ is supposed to be going with his Philadelphia caseworker today to see his brother in Philadelphia. The children's home has a new policy, effective Thursday, that the residents can receive no incoming calls with out prior approval. I called the supervisor to get approval, but she didn't get back to me (it's my understanding that they had quite a busy day on Friday...restraints, runaways, etc)...so, I wasn't able to call him to see when he was going. He can't call me either without said supervisor's approval, and naturally, she's not in on the weekend. And, I called his caseworker on Thursday and Friday to get the okay for us to visit him over the weekend, but I never heard back from the creep. So, once again, here we are, hanging. But, for some strange reason that I can't put my finger on, on the way to see the comedian last night, I was overcome with this sense that things are going to work out. It made me look at everything that's happening as minor obstacles that we have to get past, but I have a feeling in my heart that soon enough he'll be living here with us. This feeling is liable to pass, but for now, I don't have this constant "load of bricks" feeling in my chest. My fingers are just crossed for his meeting on Tuesday.

That's about it here. Now I have to go do some laundry and maybe trim a couple of bushes outside.

Pardon me....

I'm sorry for going on and on about the trials and tribulations of JJ, but I need to vent.
Today, I called JJ's caseworker to see if on Thursday, since Braden was going to school with me, if JJ could come home with us after school, stay for dinner then I would take him back by 8:pm. His caseworker called back and said that no, that wouldn't be possible. Not only that, but he can't come this weekend either. I asked if JJ did something that he was being punished, but was told that he hadn't done anything wrong. It seems they're not going to let JJ come here until he does a home visit. HE DOESN'T WANT TO DO A HOME VISIT!!! It would be his aunt they want him to visit (not a blood aunt, just a family friend who is his legal guardian)and he'd have to take about three busses and two subways to get there. All in all, about three or four hours - each way, for a two day visit. Plus, while he was in the detention center, she didn't call him or come to visit him or write him a letter. I spoke with her on Easter and she's thrilled that he's spending time here. She wants him to have a family to spend time with...she even said I hope you adopt JJ. I said to Wally that perhaps if they promised him he could come here this weekend he would go home next weekend...or vice versa. I was told, "We don't play that way. We don't negotiate."
He then went on to say that while it's great that me and my family love JJ and support him, we aren't his family. We're strictly his sponsors, and his visits with us are a reward and he has to earn them.
He also asked if either me or JJ had contacted JJ's DHS worker because she called him to ask why JJ's visits with his sponsors were being canceled. The caseworker told me he told her they weren't being canceled. I lied and said I had only called her while he was in the detention center. The Children's HOme would flip if they knew I called her. Then who knows when they next time would be that JJ could visit.
He told me he was going to try to "force" (his exact words) JJ to go home this weekend but he'd appreciate it if I'd tell JJ that and try to talk him into it. Plus, that way JJ wouldn't get angry at the home and get himself into trouble. I should have told him to shove it up his ass, but because I am more worried about JJ than anything else, I said I'd talk to him.
Needless to say, that didn't go very well. He's refusing to go home. He says they can't force him to go if he doesn't want to. He was nearly in tears asking why they keep doing this to him. "I keep doing everything they ask. I'm trying so hard, and they keep playing games. I don't even care anymore. I give up." So, I tried to cheer him up, tell him it's all a game and we have to be ready with an even better move, but it only half worked. I can't very well keep telling him there's a light at the end of the tunnel if I can't even see the damn light.
I am supposed to call him at 8:00 tonight. I'm hoping that he took my advice when dealing with his caseworker and just said, "I dont' want to go home." and that's it. I'm sure he didn't. I just hope he wasn't too beligerent.

Blah Blah Blah

I have had guests for dinner at my house for the past three Sundays. I'm tired of cooking and cleaning. This weekend, NOTHING. Got it? Zip.

Friday night, Keith and I are going to see Ron White at a local theater. Now I just have to find a babysitter for Braden. Not that I can call it that without offending the lad, but I don't like to leave him alone at night. Hopefully, I'll find a friend's house for him to sleep over.

I heard from JJ's DHS worker today. He has a meeting at the Children's Home on May 2nd, and she's going. Hopefully they'll get some things ironed out. And, she's picking him and his brother up on Saturday, then driving them back to Philadelphia to pick up a brother in foster care there, then taking them to an aunt's house for a nice visit. He's really looking forward to that...he hasn't seen the one brother since last summer. I told him I'd get him a disposable camera so he can take a ton of pictures, then we can get some frames and put them in his room.

Braden has an easy week this week. He has a field trip to Medievel Times dinner theater on Wednesday. Thursday he's going to work with me for Take Your Child To Work Day, then Friday he has his last dance of the year. Except for tomorrow, it will be a piece of cake to wake him up every morning.

One of my students at school told me that my family reminds him of the Huxtables. I told him that he was right except that 1. We're white 2. I'm not a lawyer 3. My husband isn't a doctor 4. We don't live in a brownstone in NYC and 5. My husband doesn't eat pudding.

A little satisfaction

I called JJ's DHS caseworker. I got no reply. However, I'm told these caseworkers from Philadelphia have huge case loads and not to be surprised if it takes a couple of days to hear from her. So, last night, I sent her an email, saying I knew she was very busy, but I had some concerns about JJ and the Children's Home and would appreciate a phone call when she had a chance.
She called me this morning. I explained some things to her...how they only let him visit for three out of the six Easter vacation days, how he's still in the Acopian center, even though his 30 day "punishment" period was over two weeks ago. I told her how some staff, off the record, told me administrative staff are doing things to purposely piss him off, so when he gets angry (For the record, the kid's biggest problem is his anger issues) they can punish him for it. I said that staff has told me that we need to do what we can to get him out of there for his own good. I said that no one ever returns my phone calls when I call about him, and that we can't even get a date as to when he can come and stay with us, and that they won't even let him sleep over when he visits. SHE WAS LIVID!
It seems she called and requested that he be allowed to spend his entire Easter break with us and they said "No problem". She was also assured that he would only spend 30 days in the Acopian Center. She was really pissed about the way they "test" him by doing things to make him angry and said that wasn't the least bit theraputic, in fact it boarders on abuse. She also said their goal is to get kids into foster homes as quickly as possible, and there should be nothing holding the process up. I told her about my warning not to "step on anyone's toes" or else it would get held up even more. She intends to call there today, to check on how things are going. She's not going to mention our phone call. She's going to ask how JJ's making out since he's been out of the Acopian center and how he enjoyed his Easter break with us. She also said she's going to make an unannounced visit there next week...just to shake things up.
She was very nice, very reassuring and SO NOT like dealing with someone from an agency notorious for being bogged down with red-tape and case overloads. She's also going to personally pick JJ and his brother up next Saturday, take them to visit their brother in Philadelphia foster care, then bring them both back to my house for the rest of the weekend.
She told me she'd get back to me as soon as she heard anything from the Children's Home and I should feel free to call her anytime if things like this continue. She also said that she's glad I'm involved in JJ's life, and this is exactly what he needs, someone to fight for him and show him that they're there for him. I'm so glad I called!

Back to work

I go back to work today. I really don't mind, I like my job. I just wish I didn't have to get up so darn early in the morning. It should be an easy day too...a lot of our sending school districts are off until tomorrow, so our attendance will probably be about half of what it usually is.

Easter went well. The food all came out delicious. I wish I would have bought a bigger ham, because there wasn't enough left overs. Ham is one of the only meats I like left over...sandwiches, omelets, soup. JJ met my family and said, "Miss, your family isn't as weird as you said they were." I told him to wait, they were on their best behavior. My parents and my siblings each got him an Easter card - he took them all and they're displayed in his room...one on the tv, one on the dresser, and one on the bedside stand. Ask Braden where his cards are. He'll have no idea. At one point, JJ brought me the phone and said, "you have a call." It was his aunt. He called her to wish her a Happy Easter. I had no idea what to expect, and hesitantly took the phone. She sounded very nice. And very young. She said how wonderful it was that JJ had someone looking out for him, and a place where he can feel like part of a family. She said she'd like to get together sometime, and meet.

I called his Philadelphia caseworker, but she must have been out of the office for the holiday. I left a message. Hopefully she'll call me back today.

Did I tell you we're remodeling our basement? Turning it into a rec room/family room. It's studded and the electric is run. We had someone come in last week and give us an estimate on waterproofing it...when it rains really hard and fast we get a little flooding down there (it's happened only twice in the four years we've been here). The estimate was $19,000. WTF? I guess the basement is on hold for a long, long time.

Ah, Easter break

On Wednesday and Thursday I cleaned and shopped and generally got things ready for Sunday. We went to visit JJ both nights. Yesterday, Braden had plans to take his scooter and meet some buddies in town and go on a "scooter tour of Nazareth". It rained most of the day, but they had fun anyway. According to Braden, it was so much fun, they're planning another one.

JJ came up yesterday. The neighbor kids came over and they rode the four wheeler and played a little basketball...in between the rain drops. When it rained harder, they played video games. I was making chocolate chip cookies, and JJ helped me mix it. He never used a mixer before, and was cracking me up by talking to it. Braden came home mid-afternoon with a couple of his friends, so there were kids (and mud) everywhere. JJ asked me, while we were making cookies, "Miss, why is the home doing this to us?" I didn't have an answer for him.
When we took him back last night, the staff said, "Just because you had to have him back early, doesn't mean your visit has to end early. Stay awhile. I'll unluck the gym for you if you want." JJ ran to put his bag of snacks in his room, and the staff had a little talk with us. He went on and on about what a good kid JJ is, and how it's a shame he's stuck in the Acopian center with all the knuckleheads, as he put it. "You gotta get him out of here," he said. "He's one of the few kids here who actually listen when you talk to him. He doesn't belong here. When he comes back from a visit at your place, or after you leave when visiting him, his spirit is so different. He practically floats on air." While it's good to hear these things, it's disheartening to know we can't do anything to speed the process up. But, I've been thinking...I don't care whose toes it would be stepping on, I'm calling his Philadelphia case worker on Monday, and I'm going to see if there's something she can do about it. What have we got to lose at this point?

One of Braden's favorite teachers (his shop teacher) was fired last week. He was escorted out of the building by police. Evidently, he gave a kid a wedgie while fooling around (and I hear he fools around a lot...which most of the kids love). Anyway, wedgie boy told his parents who then went to the superintendent, and now the guy is gone, and Braden is going to be stuck doing "book work" in shop for the rest of the year, because they can't find a wood shop teacher this late in the year. Tracee, do you know anything about wood shop?

Tomorrow, I'm having 12 for dinner. I'm making ham, chicken francaise, mashed potatoes, pineapple stuffing, corn, greens, and peanut butter pie and a pineapple anglefood cake thing for dessert. My brother is making suppa tuscano for an appetizer and I don't know what my sister is making. Tea lady, in all her laziness, is bring soda. Big whoop! We're doing an egg hunt this year, for the first time in a few years. It will just be Braden, JJ, my neice Shay and maybe James. It should be a nice day.

Please, everyone, join me in my outrage!

JJ called this morning to say that he's only allowed to come up and visit on Saturday and Sunday. It seems his case worker didn't bother to check with anyone before giving the okay for the every-day-during-Easter-break visits. The supervisor doesn't want him to come more than two days...why? I have no idea. And, of course, she's out of the office today. So now, he's sitting there, for the next three days, staring at the walls. In the Acopian center, which holds 48 boys, there are only six that didn't go on home visits for the vacation. So, he and five other boys (who are probably equally pissed off) get to spend three days with nothing at all to do. Guess where that's going to lead? I am so pissed now that I could honestly throttle someone. Oh, but the good news is that we're allowed to visit him between 7:15 and 8:15 each of the other days. Big freakin whoop! I asked him if anything had happened in the last couple of days to lead to this change, and he said no, that it had been a great couple of days...he was being especially careful so he wouldn't get any punishments that would ruin his Easter vacation. I feel like I have to do something, but I can't think of anything I can do.

The scoop

We went to JJ's meeting on Wednesday night. The meeting itself was good, although unnecessary. The meeting was about the sponsoring program. Hello? We've been sponsoring him since the beginning of December. But, we're officially approved to be his sponsors. The man we met with was very nice, and gave us some good advice about fostering. But, he left us with two words...patience and perseverance. How do you do both???
JJ was supposed to have his 30 day meeting on Thursday, to see if he could get out of the Acopian center. Of course, they cancelled it. Of course, that discouraged him. He's slipping and I'm worried about him. He was supposed to come and visit us this weekend, but he called Saturday morning to say he wasn't allowed to come. It seems that on Friday night, another resident there was annoying the crap out of him. JJ told him several times he wasn't in the mood, but the kid kept bugging and bugging him. JJ was ready to fight him, but instead, walked outside to cool off. TO STAY OUT OF TROUBLE! However, walking outside got him in trouble. It's against the rules...so he got two days of punishment. Luckily, the senior weekend staff at the Acopian is very nice and really likes JJ, so we were allowed to visit. He seems depressed, like he's giving up and I'm very concerned.
I don't know how long he can keep his spirits semi-up, with the promise of "things will get better". My hands are tied, and that's the worst feeling in the world.

Grrrrr

I hate the world! Life sucks.

Yesterday was my birthday...

It was so-so. Just like any other day, except people said, "Happy Birthday." I didn't get anything...yet. Keith's giving me money to do some spring clothing shopping, and he invited my siblings and parents over next Saturday for cake. I'm the big double-four. Woo Hoo. Today, I don't feel a day over 42.

Saturday, I cleaned up outside. Trimmed back a lot of my plants, got rid of leaves and dead stuff. Now I just want it to get warm warm warm, so everything gets all green and alive looking.

A couple of kids from Braden's scout troop made Eagle Scout, so we went to the ceremony on Sunday. Can you say B O R I N G. Don't get me wrong, it's a great accomplishment, but the ceremony and following dinner a bit dull. I don't know how you could spice it up, though. Braden says he wants to be an Eagle Scout. We'll see about that. Although, at the meeting, Braden came up to me and said one of his fellow scouts said to him, "Dude, your mom has huge jugs!" I guess that's flattering?!

Tomorrow night Keith and I have a meeting with the vice president of the Children's Home about JJ. I have no idea what the meeting's about. If it's good news or bad news. To say I'm a little nervous would be a huge understatement. I keep going over in my head all the things that would lead me to believe it's going to be good, and the things that lead me to believe it will be bad. So far, it's neck and neck. I know JJ's been behaving himself, doing everything he's supposed to do, but I am never sure about the Children's Home. They're so unpredicatable. I have his room all finished, and the stripes are growing on me. Especially now that there's furniture and curtains in there. I took a picture to show JJ, and he said it looks "hot". The only thing missing in it is him. Hopefully, tomorrow night we'll know a date when he's coming. Hopefully tomorrow night we'll know he's coming.

I came home from work yesterday to find the dog had a huge chunk of shit hanging from his ass. When his hair grows in, this sometimes happens. I had to give him a bath, and get him all clean, then cut the hair around his ass....I feel like Blu here. But, after I shampooed him, I gave him a little conditioning treatment with my conditioner, now his fur is all soft and smells great.

I painted stripes in JJ's bedroom, like he wanted. I think they look awful. He has to look at them on Saturday, but I don't think he's going to like them either. I have no idea what I can do to doctor them up. And, when I pulled the tape off, it pulled the drywall paper off the walls, so now I have to touch up the base color too!

Braden has decided he wants to go out for lacrosse. He hasn't played a team sport since he was about eight years old. I just know he's not going to like practicing every day, rain or shine, and getting up early for Saturday games. But, he's so excited about it. It costs $150.00 to join the team, plus he has to get a physical, and we have to buy all his equipment. This is probably going to run us about $500. He better like it.

The girl in my class, who is a big giant thorn in my side, is leaving on Monday. She's going to a residential placement. I can't wait to be rid of her - and I've never felt that way about a student. But, everyday all I do is prevent other students from beating the crap out of her. Even though I'd like to see it happen. Oh, and Monday is my birthday. Her leaving is the best birthday present I could ask for. Well, almost the best.

One for the memory book...

What a great weekend I had. Friday night, Braden slept over at a friends and Keith and I went grocery shopping...I know, oooh fun! Before we went, I swept and mopped my kitchen floors.

Saturday, I painted JJ's room and cleaned all my upstairs windows. We went to that banquet...it was at a firehall. I hate firehall food. Chicken, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn and gravy. But, the stuffing was really good. I had thirds. The comedian was so-so. I laughed pretty good at a couple of his jokes, but I can't remember a single one.

JJ came over on Sunday, and we'd made his arrangments to have his older brother Andrew over too. What a great time everyone had. Braden had a friend over, and the four of them played video games, shot each other with airsoft guns and rode the four-wheeler. It was really cute to see JJ and his brother together. They don't get to see each other too often. We did have one little mishap. Andrew accidentally drove the four-wheeler into the side of the house, and broke the frame of the basement window. I have to give Keith credit...he remained calm. No yelling, no swearing. And Andrew felt so bad. He must have apologized fifty times. He and Keith spent about a half an hour in the basement trying to fix it. We all had a nice dinner, then we had to take them back. I sent everyone back with some homemade oatmeal cookies. It's nice to have a housefull of happy kids. It reminded me of a Sunny D commercial.

Do the cha cha

We've been without heat for two days. It's been freezing in here. Last night I sat with gloves on. We've had two people come to fix it, and it seems to work, but then it shuts down. Today, someone finally came and fixed it right, now I'm basking in warmth.
Last night, while I was doing dinner dishes, Braden came to me, all serious. "Mom," he said, "I need to know some things. Tell me about those cardboard pointy things girls use. Why do you put them up your butt?" I said, "Sit down, we need to have a chat." I proceeded to tell him, as generally as possible, about how the female body works, what a period is and why we get them. When I was done, he said, "But, I still don't get why you use those things up your butt." So, I was explaining to him that women have several holes...one to pee, one to poop and a third one where they have babies. I told him that you put the tampon in your "Cha Cha", or vagina to keep the blood from coming out. He looked at me and said, "Oh, you mean in your pussy?" What the??? I said that yes indeed that was a word used to describe the vagina, which I like to refer to as a cha cha, but that it didn't sound good, and I would appreciate it if he didn't use it. He agreed, but for the rest of the night, he kept saying (while chuckling to himself) Cha Cha! I really expected to get phone calls today from irate mothers because I was sure, in spite of repeated warnings not to, that Braden would go to school and tell everyone all about his new found information-with his own spin on it, of course. So far, my phone's been quiet. If only Braden would be.

Well, I went to the sex toy party. Braden wound up going to the movies Saturday night, so it was either stay home and have sex or go to a party and buy something to have sex at a later date. So, I procrastinated. I know, either way I was having sex, but at least this way I got to buy something! I bought some sort of "cream" that is supposed to make me "turned on". We'll see if it works.

Friday night, Keith and I went to the mall and did some shopping. JJ said he needed some undershirts and beaters. One of the stores had plain T's on sale 5 for $19.00, so of course I bought five. I got him three whites, a black and a red. He wore the red one to school yesterday, and I was teasing him, "That's a nice shirt. Is it new?" His reply was, "Yeah, my future mom bought it for me." It almost brought a tear to my eye. I talked to the "powers that be" at the Home, and they're going to check on him going on the camping trip with us. She did say that he's been doing a great job of doing exactly what's expected of him, and that she's very happy with his behavior.

We got an estimate to put dry wall up in the basement....$2500. That sounds like a lot of money to me. But, then again, I have no clue about things like that.

I told my students that I belong to a gang. The BKT gang. (It stands for Bush Kill Township), and that our flag colors are sage green and ecru, and our symbol is a minivan. I also told them that you don't get jumped into our gang, you have to be able to shave half off your grocery bill using coupons. So now they all yell things to me like, "BKT in the house" and "BKT Hollah." I told them if they tick me off, I'll get my peeps after them, and we'll feed them cookies and make them pull their pants up where they belong.

I have nothing big on the agenda for this week. Saturday night, Keith and I are going to a banquet with another couple. There are going to be comedians there, and hopefully they'll be funny. I'll let you know.

It's Thursday night, Keith and Braden are at scouts. I have a few minutes of peace and quiet. Ahhh, it's nice. I've decided to type this entry in the Emmerica-ransom note-style of different fonts and colors.

I'm stuck on playing mah jong (Thanks Emma and Res you bitches). I wanted a hand held version, but they don't make one. I guess that's a good thing, or that's all I'd ever do.

My sister-in-law (Afro's wife) is having a sex toy party tomorrow night. She keeps bugging me to go. I keep giving her the same reply, "like I want to buy something to make my husband WANT to have sex with me!" She suggested I buy a little something just for myself, but he'd just want to watch.

JJ came back to school and is handling everything very well. His attitude is amazing, and the Children's Home is so impressed, and realize what a positive influence we have on him, and is allowing us to visit him, even while he's on his "lock down". They said if he keeps it up, he can come to visit in a couple of weeks. Now I just have to try to convince them that he should be allowed to go on a boy scout camping trip with us to Washington D.C. I'm going to tell them how wholesome the trip will be, and how much of our nation's history we'll be visiting, and hope they agree to let him come with us. Cross your fingers.

Braden has a birthday party Friday night at Planet Trog. It's an indoor laser tag place near the mall, so Keith and I will go do a little shopping while he's at the party.

That's about it for me. Maybe something exciting will come along, and I'll be able to share it with you.

Good news and bad news

JJ's hearing was today...he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit theft. They let him off with a consent decree, which means that he'll have a period of probation, and when that's over, it will be erased from his record. He did me proud in the court room, yes sirring and no sirring the judge.

Now, as far as the Children's Home goes, he's on lock down for 30 days. He can go to school, then he comes back to the home and has to either be in his room, or one-on-one with staff. That's it. He's not allowed to come to our house, and so far, we're not even allowed to go visit him. (it's a good thing that I'll get to see him in school everyday) I think it's a bit much. We'll see how it goes for a bit, but I don't think coming to visis us, or us visiting him should be taken away from him. I may just have to call his DHS worker and see if I can get her to pull some strings.

Early Bird Specials

Ah, it's the weekend. No plans, really. This morning, I opened my tired eyes, and the sun was shining so brightly in my windows that I thought it had to be about 9:00. So, I got up, made myself a cup of tea, then looked at the clock. 6:30! Damn you sun! You all know what this mean, don't you? It means I'm getting old. Old people wake up early even when they don't have to. I'm getting old.

I might go to a basketball game this afternoon at the Children's Home. One of the kids at school asked me to go, and while I don't really like watching sporting events, I feel badly that these kids probably have no one watching their games, so I'll probably brave the cold and go. What's a couple of hours of my time, really?

This week at school, I was working on the crossword puzzle in the newspaper. The kids like when I get stuck and ask them if they know the answers, even though they very rarely know them. Here's a classic example: I need a five letter word horse. They'll say pony, colt, mare, etc. So, I'll say, "no, five letters and it begins with an S." Then, they'll only concentrate on the five letters and the S part and start yelling out any five letter words they can think of that start with S....speed, sugar, sassy...it's usually good for a laugh. But, this week, I needed a six letter word for a group of rabbits. I had no clue what the answer really was, and this one boy in the class raises his hand and says, completely deadpan, "jerk off!" "What?" I asked. "Jerk off," he repeated, totally seriously. I knew he wasn't just being a wise guy, and this poor kid really thought the term had something to do with rabbits, so I handed him a dictionary and told him if he could find it in there, he'd be able to prove it to me. Obviously, it wasn't in there and he sheepishly came over to my desk and said, "Sorry, Miss, I must have been thinking of something else."

I'm still loving my new car, even though my husband hasn't gotten the ladder out yet so I can program the garage door opener. I can't wait till the weather gets nicer so I can wash it out in the sun. It's one of my favorite summer activities. Well, that's about all I have. I have to go apply for my AARP card, and look into condos in Florida.

We have a snow day today. Where I work, we have a snow chain, where each teacher calls the next teacher on the list, and so on until everyone is notified of the day off. The problem is, once I get the call and then I fumble with the light and my glasses to make my next call, it wakes me up. Then I have to pee, so I have to get out of bed. Then I get back in bed, snuggle under the covers and ... start thinking. Then, I can't fall back to sleep. It happens every time.

JJ had his hearing on Monday, kind of. It was supposed to be a hearing for all four boys involved, but three of them plea bargained, and admitted to their parts in the van-taking and crashing. (they're getting probation, fines and they've been given thirty day notice that they have to get out of the Children's Home) JJ says he was never in the van with the boys, that all he did was find the key, then wrongly gave it to another kid instead of turning it in to staff. However, originally, one of the boys said that JJ was indeed in the van with them, just not when it crashed (which never made any sense to me). Well, at the hearing on Monday, the other boys said they were the only three in the van, and that JJ wasn't with them. So, JJ's lawyer said his best bet was to have a contested hearing. So, that's what he's doing. The hearing is next Monday. The bad part is that JJ has to stay in Juvey until the hearing. I did get to meet JJ's brother, Andrew at the hearing. He looks just like JJ, only bigger and older. He's very quiet, just like JJ. I was so nervous about the hearing that I talked the poor kid's ear off. He's probably wondering why in the heck JJ would want to come and live with me. Although, when it was all over, Andrew asked if I would do him a favor and call his DHS caseworker and see if I could arrange a visit with his brother for him. Imagine being in a situation, as a kid, where you have to turn to a stranger to get help with seeing your own brother. My heart goes out to all these kids.

The Children's Home told me on Friday that due to this situation, and JJ's involvement in it, they're postponing his fostering for a few months. That's going to be thier own punishment for him. When they first said it, I understood. But, the more I think about it, the more I disagree. Sure, he should have turned the key over to staff, and he should have come clean about everything he knew right from the beginning, but he didn't. He made a bad choice. But, isn't serving three weeks isolated from everyone he cares about, not going to school, not playing basketball, not having any visitors, three weeks in the juvenile detention center punishment enough? Is it just my maternal feelings toward him that make me feel this way? I think much more harm than good can come of having him stay at the home. And, on a practical side, I can keep a much better watch on him here than the minimum wage paid staff can at the Children's Home. I don't want him to think that I think what he did was nothing, but for crying out loud do we need to make this poor kid's life any worse? Oh, and here's a picture of JJ and Braden playing video games. Aren't they both cutie patooties?


On to other things...Braden has to take a sewing class at school this semester. His teacher is always yelling at him that he goes to fast, he needs to make eye contact with her instead of staring at what he's sewing...he's a wreck that he's going to flunk sewing. Anyway, on Wednesday after being told about the eye contact thing, he was trying to look at her while he was sewing with the machine, and accidentally sewed his finger. It's not too bad, it didn't need stitches or anything. In fact, Braden thought it was pretty cool that the school nurse had to pull the thread out of his finger.

My sister-in-law is having a lingerie/sex toy party next Saturday night. I'm not sure if I want to go or not. I wonder if they sell flannel pajamas?