Big Head
Monster, has learned how to knock. When he goes outside, and comes back, instead of standing on the stairs patiently until someone notices that he is done, he bangs his big head on the door. He knocks.
Here is a picture of his big head.
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He goes about 200 pounds now. Think as tall as your hips, and bulky. Real bulky. Think when he runs into you, it hurts. Think when he decides he wants to give Mommy (and that would be Moi...) a kiss, and hops up onto Mommy's lap with his teacup sized paws, he squishes the heck out of Mommy's poor thighs. Think a head the size of well, I am thinking female lion here. And, I am SO not kidding.
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Also think of the slobber. I despise wet mouth dogs. DH on the other hand, while not thinking it is cute necessarily, is not bothered by the slobber.
DH does not have to wipe it off the walls, get children ready for school avoiding the slobber monster, slimer, or big head (some of the more socially acceptable names I call Monster in the morning.)
Think of a dog large enough to simply reach his neck a tad to steal food off the kitchen counter.
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Sigh.
Think when you get up and have to have a wee in the small hours of the morning, that your feet have to know there is a rather large obstacle that your feet must negotiate in the middle of the darkest nights. I cannot tell you how many times I have been saved from deep and lasting injury only by the fact that our bedroom suite is slightly larger than the space in our bedroom...and so betwixt my side of the bed and the large oversized man dresser with entertainment center on top is about 18 “. So, when I trip over Monster, who insists on sleeping on MY side of the bedroom, and instead of taking the nice more than Monster size carpet area near my bedside table, sleeps in the 18” area, stretched out to his full SEVEN foot length, tip to tail, I am saved because I either fall into the TV, or back onto the bed.
Cursing right along at the Monster, I continue my nocturnal journey around the end of the bed, past the cardioglide aka clothing dump...(does anyone actually USE the exercise equipment in their bedroom for something other than to put clothing on?), around DH's side of the bed, past the 900 + DVD collection, which fortunately has small and not very wide shelves, to the bathroom door, which as the crow flies, is a mere 6 feet away from where I sleep.
Then think of the joy of finally making the journey to the toilet, only to realize as I sit down in my sleepy state to relieve my overfull and bursting midnight bladder, that I had forgotten to put the top toilet seat down, there is no water in the toilet anymore, and there is very COLD slobber tracks on the seat....
Yes, there are untold joys in owning one of the largest dog breeds in the world. For those of you who might have forgotten, he is a South African Boerbeol Mastiff. He is quite beautiful. Dark though, very dark.
Just one more of the joys.
Calamity got her water turned back on, but her washer and dryer is getting repossessed cause Drunk (BF and ¼ Pint's father) who is still on house arrest, did not make the payments as promised.
She wrecked her car. She let her insurance lapse.
The electricity is facing disconnect because the landlord didn't make the payment. She called electric company, and got it put in her name, but they want a $160/deposit within 10 days or they will shut it off. They want a deposit because she has unpaid previous electric bills with other electric companies.
This is not looking good. The baby was sick and she had no way to get her to the Doctor. Sometimes, it is very hard to sit back and not run in and rescue this child. But, we did that over and over before. We had to stop. Now there is another child involved. This is hurting me a lot. The baby was taken to Drunk's house for the weekend. Drunk is on house arrest at his mother and stepfather's house.
I don't like that part. I have offered to watch ¼ Pint on the weekends when Calamity works, however, I was booked solid through this weekend and so couldn't take her. Starting next weekend, I will be having ¼ Pint, along with ¾ Pint every weekend, joing the other Pint's whom we have custody of.
The only problem I can see is that my car will not hold that many children all at once. I have air bags which do not shut off. Pint is 4'4” and weighs 80 pounds. I have to check, but I don't think that is big enough to ride in the front seat???
I really need a minivan, Too bad our credit is in the toilet from Calamity stealing all those credit card offers out of the mailbox and getting the credit cards and converting them to cash without our knowledge. Now, we cannot obtain a car loan to save our lives LOL. Such is life.
Here is a pic of the girls last night at the rehearsal dinner. I have to go get them showered and do their hair for the big wedding.
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And, the house needs readied (pronounced redded) up. For those of you not from the tri-state PA/OH/WV area, that means a superficial cleaning to make it at least LOOK presentable.
Coming home tonight at 10 pm with two tired and probably cranky kids, an hour and ½ drive home, and way past bedtimes, I am NOT gonna want to see a dirty house.
¾ Pint's dad Cop is coming to get her. She will spend the rest of today and tonight and tomorrow with him, which will make her deleriously happy, as well as make my weekend easier, which I could certainly use this weekend **smile**, then her dad will pick up Baby, and take them to Pittsburgh, back to the apartment.
Here is 3/4 Pint, being silly on the couch. She has lost her two front teeth.
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We still have yet to get Baby's truck fixed. It still needs a new fuel pump, but that has to wait until the 1st. Nothing is allowed to break down mid month, or it just sits till the next month when we get DH's VA disability and SS disability. There is no savings anymore. Dang it !!
Good Saturday all. It is bright and sunny. Spring is here.
::::singing::::::It's a nice day for a white wedding........
Odd Ramblings.
Odd ramblings.
Not too bad of a morning. Kids didn't fight. Got dressed by themselves. It's 9 am and I am sitting at dining room table, laptop going. (this is MY dining room table. I LOVE it)
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DH still in bed, not sleeping, but doing his morning routine which includes sitting/laying in the bed for a couple of hours, doing nothing.
Floors are clean because I got a burst of energy last night and ran the sweeper in self defense..they looked rather like a grubby two year old. Basically clean? But with area for small improvments. LOL
Today is Baby's 19th Birthday.
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When she was little, I called her “princess maniac”. It fit LOL.
She has been known to do some pretty weird things. Once, she hit her brother over the head with the little wooden hammer that comes with those stupid colored pegs that you hammer down and then turn the wooden thingy over and hammer them again? And she said...
Ah, honey, did THAT hurt?
ROFLMAO
she was 4. And the youngest of four kids. I quit worrying long about then (smiles). This little tiny girl could take care of herself!!
She is the favorite Auntie. There is no one on the earth more loved than Auntie Ween. I also called her the 'little Ween thing” when she was little, she was so tiny and petite (still is) and the nickname stuck. So to family ONLY, she is Ween !!
She is a bit irresponsible, and gets away with it totally. She leaves a mess whenever she comes over, and gets away with it.
Once, during a sleepover at age 11, with several friends, she actually got me to GET OUT OF BED at 2 AM, and go outside the kitchen door with a flashlight to pick tomatoes so she could have a tomato sandwich.
Now, THAT is loved. And, a bit spoiled. LOL.
I used to sing her to sleep every night. A very old song, sung by Lady Jane somebody or other, called Scarlet Ribbons. To this day, if I sing it, she will get teary eyed. I love that in her. She is very sentimental, or at least mental.
Her very first concert ever was me taking her to Pittsburgh to see Peter Paul and Mary LOL. Her BF didn't even know who they were, and she was APPALLED !! the other songs I sang her to sleep to, as with all the kids, were any song I could remember. And, since I was a hippie from the sixties, it consisted of PPM, Beatles, old english folk songs etc.
The favorites were of course, Puff the Magic Dragon, Lemon Tree, Blowin in the Wind, Stewball was a racehorse......they each had their favorites. Hers was Blowin in the Wind. She still listens to it today when she is down.
When I finally got to old hymns, they knew I was at my wit's end.. Amazing Grace will immediately put any of my children to sleep, because they know the NEXT thing is that I am gonna start saying the Rosary!!
I don't feel particularly old today. Funny, cause I thought I would. I think it was much rougher when Nursey (the oldest) turned 18. I sat and played 'Wild World' over and over all day long and cried and cried and cried. What a SAP !!
Nursey texted me the other night and asked (it was a FWD text) What song do you think of when you associate a song with me?
I immediately texted back Wild World, Cat Stevens.
She texted back.....”I KNEW you were going to say that!!” LOL.
I am complimented. She texted me and said that MY song is Let it Be. I can live with that.
I have been truly, TRULY blessed in my life.
That's what I am today!! Maudlin, LOL. Memories.
A weird thing happened. Another blog I read, by endoftheearth , a guy who works on a cruise ship and posts really cool blogs, well, anyway, he did a thing where he asked all his readers to identify where they lived? So, I did. And being bored last night, I was scrolling through the pages...(he has a lot of readers) and found a post from someone who lives in the town I grew up (well, anyway, where my MOTHER grew up LOL) in. So, I messaged her and said “Wow, you are from my home town, how weird that I noticed your comment.
She posted back and so on and so on, and turns out she went to school with my cousin, and knew my Aunt and Uncle !! Small world. So I made a new friend !! I have very good memories of that town, even though most of it was a blurr.............(it WAS the seventies).
This is where I spent most of that time, we called it the Upper Park, and we cut school and bought a 10 dollar bag of weed and a $.99 cent bottle of Red Mountain Wine and well, just spent the days up there doing things we shouldn't have been doing......
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I still graduated with a 4.0 though ::smile::
I'd best get off my butt and go do something constructive, or at least something!! Otherwise, there are too many memories and I will get caught up in them.
Tonight is the big REHERSAL dinner for the BIGGER wedding tomorrow for Mr. And soon to be Mrs. Kung Fu. You know, the one where ½ Pint is the flower girl.
I promise to take lots and lots of pics of ½ Pint in her fairy princess dress and also of her sister Pint, who will be wearing either her Easter dress or another dress in her closet she is trying to talk me into.
Good Day all.
Why, in trying to teach a child to plan ahead and keep track of things...
Do we do REALLY stupid things like...
Helping them to do the project at the literal last minute to keep them from flunking?
Why can't I just bite the big one and let her fail?
Last night, after she was kept home ALL day from a bad cough....at 6:30 pm, with bedtime a mere 60 minutes away....Pint tells me that her Biography doll is due. Well, past due actually. It was due Tuesday, she stayed home sick Wednesday and if she goes to school Thursday without it, she will continue losing a letter grade a day.
Which means that if she had an A on Tuesday but didn't bring her doll in, then the doll would automatically be a B, and if she doesn't bring it in on Thursday, Wednesday being a bye since she was sick..then her grade will be a C....
And yes, dearest readers, I have in fact, known about this damn doll for a month. And, I have reminded her twice in a month. It was in the nature of an experiment, which I flunked. So did she LOL.
Now, she could have done it while being home sick, but Calamity showed up.
So, at 6:30, with impending showers and bedtime..she starts whining.
The 'Biography Doll” is to go with her biography paper. She picked, of all things, a famous person she really likes. Elton John.
And do I sit her down and tell her, well, then you will just have to take the C, D, or F depending on when you get it done.
I do not.
Instead, I whip out my bin of leftover odds and ends.
We take the 2 foot paper cutout, grab a piece of cardboard and cut it to fit. Pappy looks on the internet for a full face shot of Sir Elton, which is around the same dimension as the cardboard head.
I look in the bin.
Green felt, white felt with sparklies...green glittery cord, white glittery cord, gold glittery cord, (can you tell it was just St. Patrick's day??) some big showy fabric rosettes, some brown pipe cleaners, three glue sticks...and a container of gold glitter.
THANK THE LEPRECHANS!!
We have enough stuff to create an Elton. At least she didn't pick like, um...George Bush, or Aristotle, or you know, someone HARD to dress....
15 minutes later, I have created an Elton. Green felt pants, white glittery felt shirt, long green felt sleeveless coat, brown platform shoes with white sparkle shoelaces, white sparkle stripes running down the pants legs, lots of embellishments on the long sleeveless coat, and a big ugly, gauche white rosette on the lapel of the coat.
There are times it is wickedly cool to be a mean Meemaw with a glue gun, as well as an old hippie from the sixties who can remember what the Elton John of back in the 80's looked like.
No research needed.
But now, I have to reconcile the whole “dang it, I bailed her out and that's what I did with her Mom, and look how she turned out...” dichotomy.
SHIT BALLS. I did it again. Next time, I have to let her fall flat on her face. And that is gonna hurt me. But, it's necessary. I have tried and tried to get her to pay attention and keep track. Since she won't, she is gonna have to fail to learn.
I made it. 9 minutes to spare. Both girls are dressed and ready to head out the door to the bus when my phone alarm goes off, singing my alarm song....which is ½ Pint singing the Toby Keith song – Huckleberry.
I didn't think I would.
Trust me on this one.
The alarm went off at 6:30,,,,I finally got up at 7:27. Pint was in bed. I kept her home yesterday, even though they are both on antibiotics, they are both getting progressively sicker with nasty nose syndrome.
I called Dr. and made an appt for today. I could have for yesterday, all absences need a Dr.'s excuse now, but we already had an appt this afternoon, and I am NOT making a trip into town two days in a row, barring emergencies.
Such is high gas prices.
Pint was starting out the day badly. She didn't want to get out of bed. She was still sick. She was whiny. I explained that while she MAY still be sick, she is STILL going to school today. She didn't like that.
Tuff Shitiski kidlet. You weren't all that sick after 10 am yesterday. So you can, in fact, go to school.
The big WEDDING is Saturday. The wedding that ½ Pint is a flower girl in. She is stressing over it pretty badly. Tomorrow is the rehearsal dinner. Her dress, tights and shoes are all ready to go.
Mr. and Mrs Kung Fu are getting married. Well, as of right now they are Mr. Kung Fu and Ms. Kung Fu to be.
Last night, Baby and BF came over for a visit. Baby will turn 19 years old on Friday. Geeezz, where DOES the time go? My oldest will be 31 this year!!
Calamity came over yesterday. I had to go get her. I made her give me $10 for gas. She seemed to be okay all day, no nodding off or anything.
She called, got her water squared around, called the electric company, got that taken care of...She is in a pickle.
I don't know. That's the part of being the mom of a junkie. Sometimes, they look and talk perfectly normal, other times, they looked really messed up. It was really fun though spending the day with little ¼ Pint who is toooo funny. She walks around and every time she see's one of the dogs or cats, she says “UH OH.” She was playing in the dog food, and scattered a bit of it on the floor. Some two hours later, she picked up a piece and tried to give it to Monster. Pretty good I think, two hours and 20 feet away from the bowl, and she still realized it was the dog food she had taken out of the bowl. Not bad for a year old. (proud gramma).
Pint is getting much better around her Mom now. She has started learning to just accept the way she is, and still love her. ½ Pint still acts out after Mom visits. She has a way to go.
Our goal is to bring Mom to the point where she is rather like the 'weird Auntie' or whatever you call it in the eyes of the girls. So that she has the least amount of impact on their little lives and psyche's.
A bit hard to do when you want to grab her by the throat and shake her till her head pops off, but hey, I am trying !!
I had to threaten to take the TV's away to get the girls moving this morning..... ARRRGGGHHH
I hate it when that happens.
Last night, after Calamity being here all freakin day, which does stress me out quite a bit, then Baby and BF coming over right at bed time....
at 10:57 PM, I was digging in the girls Easter baskets looking for Willy Wonka Nerds. I am addicted to those little pink, red and white suckers.
I headed to bed to recover. Wine glass. Check. Cigs. Check. Book. Check. Lemonheads. Check. Whoppers. Check. Nerds. Check. Xanax. Check.
Shit. You can get through anything with that !! And, I didn't even need to finish my glass of wine or take the xanax.
Maybe it wasn't such a bad day after all.
There is no way I can name this Blog
Calamity.
And how.
Man is that an appropriate nickname for my second born child.
Having been forced (by me) into a methadone treatment program when she was four months pregnant with ¼ Pint (after I walked in and found her shooting up pregnant with my unborn granddaughter), who just turned One in Feb, then getting an apartment with Drunk (BF) who has a long history of binge alcoholism, then having the baby, who was in NICU for 3 weeks due to withdrawals, then their van that I GAVE them broke down and we paid to have it fixed...
Then they were getting evicted from apt. every other month, then he got arrested, and arrested again, and arrested once again, and finally sentenced to house arrest....to be served in his mother and stepfather's home in nearby state.....
Then she actually DOES get evicted.....and gets a new place (nice trailer) in a shitty part of town about 20 minutes away from where we live, gets a new job (working for her new landlord who also owns an assisted living center), doing nurse's aide care at an assisted living home for the elderly..works three 12 hours night shifts on Frid, Sat, Sun nights...has the rest of the week off.
After van finally blew up, they went to JB Byrider (chain of automotive used car dealers that charge twice what a car is worth, and finance it at a ridiculous rate of like 20% interest – BUT anyone can get a loan just about), and buy a Pontiac something or other.
So, she has car, which almost gets repossessed about every third week because if you don't make payment, they send out repo order immediately....
She has trailer....
She has job.
She still has methadone. Goes to clinic (104 mile round trip journey each and every single day) and welfare REIMBURSES her at $.34 a mile.....which is like almost $1200 a month !!
And, yet, I have this feeling in my gut that she is back on heroin.
Now there are a few things that I wonder about. IF you are in a methadone treatment, HOW do they tell if you are using? Methadone and heroin both break down chemically into the same substance in your body. So what good is a pee test?
If you use on methadone, then there wouldn't be any withdrawal drama on your body would there? Because any withdrawals you might have would be compensated for by the methadone?
If you are working, and taking home about 160 a week, and getting almost 1200 a month in travel expenses, and only pay 50 a month for rent, and your utilities, and you get 100 a month in food stamps..and you get WIC for the baby's formula.....
Why are you always broke?
And why are you still falling asleep in the midst of conversations.
Why, when you come over to visit your children at my house are they constantly saying..”Mommy, stay awake when you talk to me !”
Then, two days ago, she calls to say she wrecked her car.
She is driving home from clinic, fortunately on a day when the baby is with the dad/s mother, after working all night, and falls asleep in her driveway after she gets home.
She sleeps for an undetermined amount of time, then wakes up in a panic, thinking she is supposed to BE somewhere..and starts driving.
Gets to the end of her road, and realizes she is supposed to be HOME sleeping. Goes to turn around, and hits a parked car.
Cops come. No problem. Report is given. Exchange insurance cards. She goes home to sleep.
Problem. Insurance lapsed two days previously.
Problem. No money to pay insurance. No money to pay car payment.
Then, her water gets turned off. Supposedly, landlord is including utilities in with rent. Water doesn't get paid??? They shut it off.
She calls yesterday, talks to DH whilst I am at karate with Pint and ½ Pint. Asks to come take a shower. Has no car, and no money for gas.
Sorry cupcake. I don't have the gas to come get you.
Says her electric is due to be shut off as well. For the same issues, that landlord had it in landlords name and didn't pay it.
::shaking my head:::
Says she hasn't gotten a travel payment since november. That they owe her like $3,000.
Says she is trying really hard, that she is not using.
See thats the thing with an educated junkie. They can lie very convincingly. VERY. They can make every single thing that results from their usage and mismanagement of their lives, sound totally and completely plausible. Makes it really, really difficult for those who love them as well. That is exactly how we got wrapped up into allowing them to get away with all that crap when they first started. The lies are so very believable, that if you don't have EXPERIENCE with a junkie, you would NEVER realize they are lying through their teeth. So we paid rent for them, bought them cars, bought diapers, formula...clothes....paid utilities....totally supported them because, unbeknownst to us, all their money was going up their arms.
And, we didn't want Pint, who at that time was just born, to suffer from what SEEMED to be a strain of really bad luck by two 20 year olds who APPEARED to be trying really hard to make a go of it against odds that seemed stacked against them.
Back to the present, has been wearing long sleeved shirts. It IS winter here.
Has lumps on her arm, allegedly from a cat scratch from a semi wild cat that adopted her trailer. Both her arms swelled to alarming proportions. Swelling finally went down. Says she went to hospital and had it checked (we told her to go immediately, took her two and a half weeks to allegedly do it) and they have no clue what it is, but they did an ultrasound. Says she is to return if no improvement. They give her no meds. Sounds a bit fishy to me. But, I suppose, possible.
Took the shirt off to show Dad last time she was here. Shows him several lumps she has on her arms.
They look like track marks to me.
He says no. But he always says no.
double sigh.
¼ Pint HAS appeared to be fine every single time I see her. Calamity was always a good mother, just couldn't function when on heroin, a common problem with addicts. Heroin sends you into a zone in which you are totally apathetic to what is going on around you.
And, you cannot take care of children. You keep falling asleep. Dangerous. Very.
F U C K
Is this just a run of incredibly bad luck?
Or has my baby daughter who is almost 30 now, slipped back into shooting up heroin again. This would make failure number 9 or 10, I have lost count.
Do I take this baby away also? Do I hold off and let CPS do it? I cannot afford the attorney's fees this time around. We have no money left for things such as that.
Will she kill herself when she loses this child?
I think I absolutely hate today. And I have one cigarette left. I am committed to quitting however.
But I feel rather like the guy in the movie Airplane.
I picked the wrong day to give up sniffing glue, LOL.
Nonetheless, I shall persevere.
Be well my friends. Hug your children.
There is no way I can name this Blog
Calamity.
And how.
Man is that an appropriate nickname for my second born child.
Having been forced (by me) into a methadone treatment program when she was four months pregnant with ¼ Pint (after I walked in and found her shooting up pregnant with my unborn granddaughter), who just turned One in Feb, then getting an apartment with Drunk (BF) who has a long history of binge alcoholism, then having the baby, who was in NICU for 3 weeks due to withdrawals, then their van that I GAVE them broke down and we paid to have it fixed...
Then they were getting evicted from apt. every other month, then he got arrested, and arrested again, and arrested once again, and finally sentenced to house arrest....to be served in his mother and stepfather's home in nearby state.....
Then she actually DOES get evicted.....and gets a new place (nice trailer) in a shitty part of town about 20 minutes away from where we live, gets a new job (working for her new landlord who also owns an assisted living center), doing nurse's aide care at an assisted living home for the elderly..works three 12 hours night shifts on Frid, Sat, Sun nights...has the rest of the week off.
After van finally blew up, they went to JB Byrider (chain of automotive used car dealers that charge twice what a car is worth, and finance it at a ridiculous rate of like 20% interest – BUT anyone can get a loan just about), and buy a Pontiac something or other.
So, she has car, which almost gets repossessed about every third week because if you don't make payment, they send out repo order immediately....
She has trailer....
She has job.
She still has methadone. Goes to clinic (104 mile round trip journey each and every single day) and welfare REIMBURSES her at $.34 a mile.....which is like almost $1200 a month !!
And, yet, I have this feeling in my gut that she is back on heroin.
Now there are a few things that I wonder about. IF you are in a methadone treatment, HOW do they tell if you are using? Methadone and heroin both break down chemically into the same substance in your body. So what good is a pee test?
If you use on methadone, then there wouldn't be any withdrawal drama on your body would there? Because any withdrawals you might have would be compensated for by the methadone?
If you are working, and taking home about 160 a week, and getting almost 1200 a month in travel expenses, and only pay 50 a month for rent, and your utilities, and you get 100 a month in food stamps..and you get WIC for the baby's formula.....
Why are you always broke?
And why are you still falling asleep in the midst of conversations.
Why, when you come over to visit your children at my house are they constantly saying..”Mommy, stay awake when you talk to me !”
Then, two days ago, she calls to say she wrecked her car.
She is driving home from clinic, fortunately on a day when the baby is with the dad/s mother, after working all night, and falls asleep in her driveway after she gets home.
She sleeps for an undetermined amount of time, then wakes up in a panic, thinking she is supposed to BE somewhere..and starts driving.
Gets to the end of her road, and realizes she is supposed to be HOME sleeping. Goes to turn around, and hits a parked car.
Cops come. No problem. Report is given. Exchange insurance cards. She goes home to sleep.
Problem. Insurance lapsed two days previously.
Problem. No money to pay insurance. No money to pay car payment.
Then, her water gets turned off. Supposedly, landlord is including utilities in with rent. Water doesn't get paid??? They shut it off.
She calls yesterday, talks to DH whilst I am at karate with Pint and ½ Pint. Asks to come take a shower. Has no car, and no money for gas.
Sorry cupcake. I don't have the gas to come get you.
Says her electric is due to be shut off as well. For the same issues, that landlord had it in landlords name and didn't pay it.
::shaking my head:::
Says she hasn't gotten a travel payment since november. That they owe her like $3,000.
Says she is trying really hard, that she is not using.
See thats the thing with an educated junkie. They can lie very convincingly. VERY. They can make every single thing that results from their usage and mismanagement of their lives, sound totally and completely plausible. Makes it really, really difficult for those who love them as well. That is exactly how we got wrapped up into allowing them to get away with all that crap when they first started. The lies are so very believable, that if you don't have EXPERIENCE with a junkie, you would NEVER realize they are lying through their teeth. So we paid rent for them, bought them cars, bought diapers, formula...clothes....paid utilities....totally supported them because, unbeknownst to us, all their money was going up their arms.
And, we didn't want Pint, who at that time was just born, to suffer from what SEEMED to be a strain of really bad luck by two 20 year olds who APPEARED to be trying really hard to make a go of it against odds that seemed stacked against them.
Back to the present, has been wearing long sleeved shirts. It IS winter here.
Has lumps on her arm, allegedly from a cat scratch from a semi wild cat that adopted her trailer. Both her arms swelled to alarming proportions. Swelling finally went down. Says she went to hospital and had it checked (we told her to go immediately, took her two and a half weeks to allegedly do it) and they have no clue what it is, but they did an ultrasound. Says she is to return if no improvement. They give her no meds. Sounds a bit fishy to me. But, I suppose, possible.
Took the shirt off to show Dad last time she was here. Shows him several lumps she has on her arms.
They look like track marks to me.
He says no. But he always says no.
double sigh.
¼ Pint HAS appeared to be fine every single time I see her. Calamity was always a good mother, just couldn't function when on heroin, a common problem with addicts. Heroin sends you into a zone in which you are totally apathetic to what is going on around you.
And, you cannot take care of children. You keep falling asleep. Dangerous. Very.
F U C K
Is this just a run of incredibly bad luck?
Or has my baby daughter who is almost 30 now, slipped back into shooting up heroin again. This would make failure number 9 or 10, I have lost count.
Do I take this baby away also? Do I hold off and let CPS do it? I cannot afford the attorney's fees this time around. We have no money left for things such as that.
Will she kill herself when she loses this child?
I think I absolutely hate today. And I have one cigarette left. I am committed to quitting however.
But I feel rather like the guy in the movie Airplane.
I picked the wrong day to give up sniffing glue, LOL.
Nonetheless, I shall persevere.
Be well my friends. Hug your children.
I hate E85 and biofuel made from Corn
I am sick and tired of BioFuel technology. Okay. not a true statement. I hate CORN BASED BIOFUEL technology.
I hate it with a passion, an overwhelming passion.
I am tired of paying $3.50 for a gallon of milk. I am tired of everything in the store having it's price raised.
Do you have ANY idea of the many many thousands of products we eat every day that contain substances derived from corn?
Do you realize the reason all the food products have gone up so dramatically? It's not recession.
It's FUCKING CORN BASED BIOFUEL. And Biofuel can be made from many other food products, easily and cheaply grown, and the conversion process is the same. Multiple countries use sugar beets to make their biofuel. We use corn.
Cows eat corn. Cows give milk. Milk goes up because the price of corn went up when they started making biofuels from it. Farmers, who are in this for the money....now grow corn for biofuel, instead of feed. So corn is more expensive.
Cheese is made from milk. See how expensive cheese has gotten? Notice the price at your favorite pizza place?
Corn Syrup is one of the main sweetening ingredients in our foods. Everything that uses it has gone up in price.
Medications contain corn. It is used as a filler in the pills. Medications have gone up. Even the generic prices are rising.
Infant formula is ridiculous. Cookies, crackers, noodle products, it just goes on and on.
And there is a rumor that biofuel doesn't help the environment any more than just burning plain old petroleum based fuels.
It does however, in theory, reduce our dependence on OPEC. I am all for that.
But for pete's sake, use something ELSE to make the biofuel.
of blogs, labels and name calling
I hate labels. I love blogs.
The two seem to go together, hand in hand. LOL.
The world of blogging expands my horizons. Stuck here in NE Ohio, with the cows and the corn, there is just not a lot of um, exposure? To anything other than local people, local news. I do watch the national news networks, but they each have their bias's, and I don't feel as though I can really trust anything I hear on those networks.
Fox News is definitely conservative, regardless of the airtime given on Hannity and Colmes to Colmes. CNN is undoubtedly liberal, as are MSNBC and CNBC. Yet, they too give airtime to their conservative contributors.
I have many blogging friends here on the blogosphere. They range from the extremists to the ultra conservative. They are many different religions or lack thereof, and outlooks.
In the past few days, I have been called a Nazi, a conservative, deluded....LOL. Two of them are probably right, I will leave it up to the reader which two.
But I did learn a lesson. Communication is important.
It is easy to comment on another blog, easy to zip off a testy and quick answer to another's thoughful and well prepared blog.
Part of that is my lack of concentration, and time.
I think I could have been an ivory tower academic, if given half the chance. Last night, I mentioned to my husband that I would really like to learn ancient hebrew and arabic. He said, well why don't you.
um. well.
Because it would entail literally HOURS of solitude. With no interruptions.
Since I sat down at the computer this morning to read my email, check up on my blog friends sites, and do my daily morning computer routine I have had seventeen trips to the Pint's bedroom where ½ Pint is on the Ty dot com electronic beanie babies web site, which is slow this morning. ½ Pint, being five years old, gets frustrated when she clicks and there is a lag between the click and wherever it is she wishes to go on the site. She doesn't read well yet, and so doesn't get the 'waiting' notice. I mean, the notice is DISPLAYED, she just doesn't get what it means.
DH and Pint were sitting at the table having a conversation about walruses. Loudly. Neither of them seem to be able to converse in a normal voice. The Peanut Butter (Nursey's stupid chihuahua who embodies everything there is to hate about chihuahua's – and is the daughter of MY chihuahua Spikey) is barking randomly at the horses next door who have finally come out to sample the sun. Monster has had to be let outside twice, and then has spent the time back inside barking at Peanut Butter barking at the horses.
Spikey, who is so fat now she cannot hardly do anything at all but walk, and has been on a diet for the last two years to no avail, is digging her claws into my knees, trying to get me to pick her up and put her little cement self on my lap.
I have started the dishwasher.
Answered the phone when DH was sitting closer than I was. Wiped one butt. Had two arguments with an 8 year old.
Given two doses of Amoxicillin. Taken two extra strenth Tylenol. Listened to the breakdown of a phone conversation I didn't want to hear.
Yah. So, when exactly would there be, in my life, the quiet time necessary to learn an ancient language.
From the other room..again...”Meemaw, Pint is looking over my shoulder again and it's MY turn on the computer.”
sigh.
So, for all my blogger friends. IF I comment on your blog, and it seems rather a barking mess, it may contain parts of what I wish to say, but it may NOT be in a cohesive, well thought out form.
Because I didn't choose the ivory tower academic life, where I could throw myself into work. Perhaps, if I had a wife such as myself, to keep the kidlets away, bring me hot cups of coffee, make my meals, wash my clothing, rub my back when it becomes tense....perhaps then, I could write answers that are well thought out, on point the entire time, organized in such a manner that my thoughts come through in a manner which is easy to digest.
But, alas and alack!! That is not to be. Till then, if I do fire off an answer, and it seems a big abrupt, before you jump down my throat, ask me what I really meant. Or not, if it makes you feel better to jump down my throat. It's all good in the blogosphere...
Peace.
Easter Vigil
Warning. More on Catholic celebration of Holy Week.
Tonight is my absolute favorite. Easter Vigil. Liturgically, it is the most important day in the church.
Traditionally, the girls will wear their last year's Easter outfits to this Mass.
The actual day starts in the religious calendar at sundown. We get this from Judaism. So, the Easter Vigil (waiting for the Resurrection of Christ), begins at sundown on Holy Saturday (or in practicality, as soon after sundown as the Priest can arrange, given the schedule and how many churches he serves.)
The church which is completely dark. There is no Holy Water in the fonts. Everything is bare to the bone. There are no vestments on the Altar. There are no flowers. The church is laid bare, as was Christ.
We all stand quietly, outside the church, where a fire is blessed by the Priest. This new fire symbolizes the radiance of the Risen Christ dispelling the darkness of sin and death. The Paschal Candle is then blessed, and lit. The Paschal candle will be used throughout the season of Easter, remaining in the sanctuary of the church or near the lectern, and throughout the coming year at baptisms and funerals, reminding all, that Christ is "light and life."
Once the candle has been lit there follows the ancient and dramatic rite of the Lucernarium, in which the candle is carried by a priest through the nave of the church, itself in complete darkness, stopping three times to chant an acclamation such as 'Christ our Light' or 'Light of Christ' . He is preceded by any Altar servers who are assisting at the Mass, and we all responds 'Thanks be to God' or 'Deo Gracias'.
As the candle proceeds through the church, all present (i.e. those who have received the "Light of Christ") receive candles which are lit from the Paschal candle. As this symbolic "Light of Christ" spreads throughout those gathered, the darkness is decreased.
Once the candle has been placed on its stand in the sanctuary, the lights in the church are switched on, dramatically, one at a time, and the assembly extinguish their candles (although in some churches, the custom is to continue the liturgy by candlelight until the Gloria).
The priest, deacon or a cantor now chants the Exsultet (also called the "Easter Proclamation" or "Paschal Praeconium"), after which the people take their seats as the liturgy of the word begins.
The Priest then does the seven readings from the Old Testament, which are both important and symbolic.
After these readings conclude, the Easter Vigil proper is finished, the celebrant removes his cope and puts on a chasuble and the candles are lit on the altar, the altar vestments are returned and the Mass of the Resurrection begins. After the singing of the Kyrie, the Gloria is sung for the first time since before Lent, and the church bells and the organ, silent since Holy Thursday, are sounded again. The Alleluia is sung for the first time since the beginning of Lent - however, it is a very solemn alleluia at this time. The Gospel of the Resurrection then follows, along with the sermon.
After the conclusion of the Liturgy of the Word, the water of the baptismal font is solemnly blessed and any candidates for full communion are initiated into the church, via baptism and confirmation, if there are any. (in the Church, we do not do ANY of the sacraments except Last Rites, during Lent. No marriages, no baptisms, etc.) After the celebration of these sacraments of initiation, we all renew our baptismal vows and receive the sprinkling of Holy Water.. The prayers of the faithful (of which the newly baptized are now a part) follow.
After the prayers, the first Mass of Easter Day is celebrated. During the Eucharist, the newly baptized receive Holy Communion for the first time.
It is quite dramatic, quite Holy and quite beautiful. It signifies again, each and every year, of the Death, Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus.
The kids love it, and so do I. Like I said earlier, some people make fun of the rituals. I like them a lot. This one particularly reminds me of how lost we would all be without the Grace which Christ's death gives us.
I have been to other Easter services, and they are beautiful as well. Many churches celebrate sunrise service on Easter. They are profound services and very special.
I do like the fact that we do Easter Vigil Mass. I love the darkened church which reminds me how dark our lives would be without Christ in them. I like the lighting ceremonies which symbolize for me, how the Light of Christ makes such a difference in your life
I really do feel badly for atheists and agnostics. How dreary it must feel to think that THIS is all there is? I cannot even imagine dying with the thought that it was over.
They say that we are all delusional. LOL. That's okay too. I like my delusion. I think I would probably be a lot more inclined to suicide if I thought there was no God. I mean, if your life is going to shit, and you don't have the knowledge of God in Heaven, what is there to make you continue?
I know, (nodding), that is the delusional and easy answer. But hey!! It works for me, and this is MY blog so there PP:PppppPppPpP.
Then, the following morning is the traditional Easter Mass, which is the second Mass of Easter. That;s the one where the girls wear the new clothes, to signify the beginning of the new life, the life with Christ.
Peace to you.
Good Friday. BEWARE !! Religious Post...
Well. For those of you not religiously inclined, you might want to skip this blog today. Warning.
I did get out of bed this morning. Welcome Good Friday.
Morning Good Friday Prayer was at 9 am. I awoke begrudgingly at 8 am. Seriously considered not going, and simply turning over and going back to sleep.
Then, guilt clicked in. The really funny thing about guilt and Catholics is that no one actually makes you feel guilty. The guilt comes from inside yourself. I am not sure how the Catholics do that, but it is very effective LOL.
The Catholic religion is good for guilt. Actually, that's one of the things I like best about Catholicism. How weird is that?
We have Holy Days of Obligation. Holy Days of Obligation are, well, obligatory. And, Good Friday is NOT one of them.
However, Holy WEEK, is. I know, that doesn't make sense, but you'll have that. I really like Holy Week, it grounds me back into the reality of the sacrifice that Christ made for me and for all.
Two days ago is known as Black Wednesday, (the day Judas betrayed Christ) Holy (Maundy) Thursday, the Last Supper, then Good Friday the Crucifixion, Tomorrow is Holy Saturday, the Easter Vigil, and then we have the Resurrection of the Christ, on Easter Sunday.
I do try to make them all.
A little journey here.
In college, I minored in religion, majored in pre-law. Minoring in religious studies led me to agnosticism, where I stayed for many, many years, only ending with the birth of Pint, 8 ½ years ago.
They call that an epiphany. What happened to me.
So anyway. Here we are, age almost 52. Life in chaos most of the time, by my own hand, as it were. I did take the girls away from Calamity. But life changed dramatically for me and DH. As most of my readers know.
Why the religion? Witnessing a miracle helped a lot. Being a total and complete skeptic, I did rather need to be knocked over the head. And, I was.
Why Catholicism? It makes me feel comfortable. I don't have anything against any other religion at all. I have many friends or acquaintances of different branches of Christianity, Paganism, Islam. I don't for the most part, indulge in theological debate (okay, except on Tblog LOL).
But, as a personal matter, I like Catholicism. It answers my questions. It gives me a straight and secure road to walk. It offers prayers for when I can't think of the words to use. It offers meditation. It offers peace for me. It gives me an up close and personal relationship with God.
There are many times during my day, when I am stressed. I find it comforting to say a quick Hail Mary. It calms me to think that the Blessed Mother is up there, listening. When I need more, I say the Our Father. It comforts me to know that I am praying the way Jesus said I should. I appreciate the fact that there are many Saints whom I can ask to pray for me, or for something important to me. I always pray to God, but I do ask the Saints to add in there a bit. I do believe that the Saints are special to God himself, and that He listens to their petitions on my behalf.
I don't feel near as alone.
When I go into church, it is as though I am the only one approaching the altar. Catholics are rather singular people in a way.
One of the things I didn't like about other types of churches, was the fact that everyone was looking at me to see if I was listening. What I was doing. If the kids were being too loud. (I don't understand 'children's room's) in churches where the children are kept away from the main worship. How else do you teach them? I like the fact that there are babies crying during Mass. Children whispering to their parents, asking for explanation, or even whining. That is LIFE.
Everyone approaches the altar differently. Some just do a quick cross and sit. Some kneel and cross themselves. Some just simply walk in and sit.
Entering the pew, some kneel and pray, some just sit, restlessly until the service begins.
Boys look around to see who among the girls is there.
Girls look around to see who among the boys is looking to see who among the girls are here.
No one looks at me to see what I am doing. No one looks to see how devout my prayers are, or aren't.
Being somewhat old fashioned, I bow when the Cross comes down the aisle during the procession. I think I may be the only one who does, but I couldn't honestly tell you, because I don't look.
Good Friday is just simply prayer. The Altar is divested of everything. The Priest doesn't even go up to the Altar. He leads the prayers from a pew.
It is a time of reflection, where we think about the Passion of Christ, the crucifixion, and the death. Then, we start keeping the vigil, for the Resurrection.
Today at 3 pm is the Stations of the Cross, where we follow around the Priest at the Church, stopping at each plaque which has a particular Station of the Cross depicted. The Priest announces which Station it is, then we pray. Tonight is the Solemn Liturgy of the Word. Tomorrow is the East Vigil, which starts at sundown, and continues to Easter morning.
It is my favorite week of the year.
More special than Christmas.
And, I am glad I got up.
Dawn's Credo
Pd got me started I think.
I often find myself reacting to another's blog. I have numerous RSS feed's which go straight into my home page, so that I can keep up with those who's blog's I read.
It's a nice feature.
I sometimes get fired up. Sometimes cry. Sometimes comment. Sometimes think.
I like PD's blog because it can evoke all of the above in the same blog. LOL. So can Surrogate. This makes for good blogging.
I like blogging. I like reading other's blogs as well. And, LOL, I absolutely LOVE a good argument.
This whole Obama/Clinton/McCain presidential race has woken up the old dissident hippie that gave birth to what/who I am today.
How weird is it that a 13 year old girl who protested the Vietnam war, was put on the FBI's list of dissidents, was a 'known' (by the police department) protester in Honolulu in 1968 would grow up to be a (take your choice here) conservative democrat or liberal republican?
College gave me an education and a mind capable of logical thought. The two do NOT go hand in hand.
Life gave me the seasoning to take what education had offered me and turn it into my personal belief system.
These are some things I now use in everyday situations. They have been worked on through years and years of learning.
I guess, this would be Dawn's Credo, if I was stupid enough to think I knew it all, and vain enough to want followers, neither of which describes me.
Never be in the company of someone you wouldn't want to die with. (translation – don't waste time on spending your time with those who do not matter. Empty friends are like empty cups. Empty.)
Bad things happen to good people. Move on.
You can let life control you, or you can control your life. Your choice. Make it and shut the fuck up about it.
Jealousy is a total waste of time and makes you look like an ass.
God is real. I have had it proven to me. You don't have to believe it and I don't really care either way.
People who talk too much have way too little to say.
Children may be the wisest life form on Earth.
I believe in the death penalty. Maybe because I believe in God. I don't think death is the end. But it IS the beginning. And some people need judgment. I don't believe I am capable of doing the judging, but God is. The death penalty gets them to God faster so they can't hurt anyone anymore. Doesn't have to make sense. It's just the way I believe.
Excuses are your way of justifying something you did that is incredibly stupid. Stand up to the plate. Just say, Wow!! That was really stupid. What can I do to fix it. How hard it that to do?
Sometimes, Love is just simply NOT enough.
Consequences are what happens when you don't think your way through something.
Sometimes, consequences go on and on, even after you have seen the error of your ways. This is called life. Even after you have seen that you were wrong in your actions, you may still have to pay the price for what you did.
Every single day, every single choice you make, can have the potential to alter millions of people's lives. It may not seem like a huge thing to you, but YOU won't know. For instance, Adolph Hitler's mother could have chosen to NOT have sex with his father. Little choice for her, BIG choice for millions of people.
Life. It is not like the brochure. Quit expecting it to be something that will fall into your lap. Life is what you make of it.
Okay. Off the soapbox now and returning to human condition.
Have a nice day folks. It's a beautiful sunny and not warm day with snow on the ground, but it IS the first day of Spring and I am loving it!!
Getting girls ready for school. Not too bad this morning. Has certainly been much worse in recent memory.
I woke up before the alarm again. I certainly hope this is not becoming a habit??? How totally unnecessary to do something like that!! Please let this be a temporary abberation...
½ Pint woke up in a good mood, she always does. First thing out of her mouth is “do we have a two hour delay?”
No, baby, we don't. The snow periods are over. She cries for a minute, then brightens up when I tell her there could always be a flood....
Strange kid.
She runs in and tells me the radio station on her sisters alarm clock said it was flooding in OldTown.
I checked my email. It isn't. But I will check the River Flood Stages to make sure.
OldTown has flooded twice in recent times. Once when Baby was five years old, and then again when Pint was five years old. They are 10 years apart, both Baby & Pint, and the river floods LOL.
Old Town sits on the banks of the Mighty Ohio. Most of the inhabitants of OldTown live high enough up the banks that the flood doesn't affect them in any way. The only part that actually gets flooded is the sewage treatment plant and the City Park.
The caretaker of City Park lives in a mobile home. The fire department comes and pulls it out before the flood stage is reached. One of my best friends was the caretaker during the last flood. It was a bit dicey that time, since I actually knew the occupant, and was worried about her and her daughter.
No matter. We live quite a ways from the river now. There are no creeks close by to flood.
There is, however, a river in our back yard. Down about um...a football field away from the house, there is a low spot between the Angus pasture and the horse pasture. Our property is between the two. During heavy rains or snow melts, we get a bit of a stream crossing our back yard. DH wants to gravel it in and put a pump at the lower end, then put a bridge across it. The pump would be to keep the water flowing back up to the top and make a loop.
Nice idea. Maybe we'll do it. Maybe not???
I am thinking that when we get the motor for the go kart we bought the girls, it would be a hazard, or at least a lot of fun to drive the gokart right through the stream....flooding them with little bits of mud and muck?
See, guys don't think of those kinds of things. Women do. Still, if I was a kid, and had a nice little wet and mucky stream in my back yard....I would drive the go kart right through, laughing my head off the whole time.
I just put them on the bus and walked through the house and turned of 12 lights. Sigh.
Little Fishy looks dead again. We have three fish. Angel, big fishy and little fishy. Big and Little are sucker fish. They are the exact same species, purchased at the exact same time, and were the exact same size.
Big Fishy is about 7 times the size of Little Fishy.
I walk by the aquarium maybe a hundred times a day and think Little Fishy is dead. He gets in some of the worst possible configurations. Like, hanging off the top of the wall, body contorted, upside down and his body curled in a death throe.
But he isn't dead.
Today, he is hiding under the breeding grass, body contorted, twisted. One eye visible. I tap the glass. He doesn't move. I say “are you REALLY dead or only ALMOST dead?” (princess bride movie, one of my favorites).
He doesn't move. I tap the glass again. Still nothing.
Then, I see his little lips move. Do fish have lips?? well, whatever. He isn't dead this time.
This has happened at least 10 times a day since July. He plays dead. Weird behavior for a fish I think.
I don't have any doctor appointments, places to go, or anything to do today. I think I will sit on my ass and watch all the things on the DVR that I have taped, if DH hasn't erased them all.
He thinks that we have to conserve the space. I asked him yesterday....How many hours available does it say we have on the DVR?
His reply, we only have 52 hours and 16 minutes left.
Oh. Well, clean that sucker RIGHT OFF THEN.
He doesn't grasp the concept of “I TAPE THINGS TO HAVE THEM AVAILABLE TO WATCH WHEN I HAVE THE TIME.”
If you freakin erase them, they are not there and I am gonna be PISSED.
He gets irritated if the kids have too many shows on the DVR too. They like a series called
Growing up......” It is about rescued animals of different species. Growing up spotted leopard. Growing up Penguin. Growing up Tiger. Growing up whatever in the hell is that days show.
The girls like it a lot. It's educational. He erases them.
GRRRRRR.
Watched Boondock Saints again last night. Great movie. Love it. Course, I'm Irish.
of Hectic days, babies and weddings.
Yesterday. Was, um, not exactly exhausting, but close. This is what almost 53 feels like I guess.
¾ Pint, who has been here since Friday last, is still sort of sicky girl. I woke up yesterday, got Pint and ½ Pint ready for school, got them on the bus and called the old Pediatrician. Got appt. Got dressed, got ¾ dressed and off we go. The appointment is for 11:30.
We get there about 15 minutes early. Now, mind you. We are about a 35 minute drive from town. We wait a bit. It is nice because ¾ Pint is used to this Doctor, the Doctor is very nice, her husband is a nurse and an engineer, and runs the office. We have a very good rapport with this physician.
I explain that I got her on Friday, right after Nursey had taken her to her NEW doctor, who said she had a head cold. I go through the highlights of the weekend, the high fevers, etc. I tell her what I have used to treat the baby. (I know, I know, a kid turning seven is NOT technically the baby....to me they are ALL babies).
She gives me a prescription for Omnicef. Antibiotics are weird. Each child has an antibiotic that works best with their system. That is one of the things that having a long standing relationship with a Doctor helps with. In ¾ Pint's case, Zithromax and Amoxicillin and Augmentin don't work very well, usually resulting in additional meds because the infection doesn't leave after the normal course of the antibiotics. Any other Doctor would probably challenge that, but this Doc has treated ¾ Pint (and the other kids as well) since they were like 2 months old. She has SEEN this phenomenon a few times. Off to the pharmacy we go. I even remembered to get an excuse from school, which I NEVER remember to do. Sigh.
Pick up scrip. Head to bank to reinvigorate my wallet-o. Head to Wally World to reinvigorate my pantry and pick up Easter stuff as ¾ Pint will be here for Easter as well.
Head home, we get there by 2:30. I have to leave by 2:45 to go pick up the kids from school and head to karate.
The phone rings. In the 15 minutes of 'leisure' I have at home.
It's Calamity.
She got off work at 7 am, went to methadone clinic, picked up her car at dealers (bad rear seal), and drove to pick up ¼ Pint from other Grandma's where she had spent the weekend. Calamity works straight 12 hour night shift at a local senior assisted living place. Friday, Sat, and Sunday. Then has the rest of the week off.
She was almost crying, she hadn't slept since Saturday. The baby wouldn't go down for her nap. She needs help and there is no one else she can call. Can I take the baby? I tell her I have to work. She says she is afraid she will fall asleep and the baby will get hurt.
What the hell am I gonna do? I tell her I will stop and pick the baby up after I get the girls from school, and take her to work with me.. She says, “how are you gonna do that?”
Well Duh. It certainly won't be E A S Y to be at work with a very active one year old, answering phones, and doing whatever else I need to do, along with the girls being fed, and taking classes.
I get her anyway, because the bottom line is this is my grandaughter too, and I do know Calamity, and when she says she cannot stay awake, she is not kidding.
On the way to karate, I call the local pizza place and order the $5.99 special, a round pizza with pepperoni. 12 slices. This is our traditional dinner on Karate days. We used to eat at Burger King, but this tastes better and is half the price, at least!!
Stop and pick up pizza, get to karate. Get two girls, coats, bookbags (homework must be done at karate, we don't have time, when we get home it is STRAIGHT into bed), get pizza, my purse, the diaper bag and the baby and manage to make it through the door.
Drop pizza on conference table in office, tell girls to hang coats. Tell them to grab a slice and start eating. Set ¼ Pint down in carseat. Set diaper bag and purse down. Fish for change purse, find $3 for pop for the girls to drink.
Take baby out of carseat, leaving coat on, the furnace hasn't warmed the place up yet. Find her socks and shoes which she has pulled off while in the car. One year old's always have a toy handy, their toes. Challenging part is FINDING their socks and shoes when you exit the vehicle. They tend to THROW them, which is also part of the fun, and also chew on them which means you are putting wet and cold socks and shoes back on a toddler in the winter....
In ohio, you cannot buy Wine on Sundays. That sux.
This is monday, and I don't have any wine at home, because I couldn't buy any yesterday. I had been out for over a week, and it didn't bother me especially. Tonight it would bother me. Make resolve to stop and buy a bottle on the way home.
Get through the 4 hours of work. Keep ¼ Pint awake, so she will sleep when I drop her off back at Calamity's.
Pack up kids, realize they actually ATE all the Pizza, and there is none left for DH who has been at home with ¾ Pint for 4 hours.
Call Pizza place back, order another.
Pick it up. Start driving the 20 minutes to Calamity's. Call her, no answer. Do it seven more times until finally, about 5 minutes from her house, I finally wake her up. Get there, drop off baby. Head up the hill for the OTHER half of the drive, another 20 minutes.
Baby texts me. She and BF are coming out. At 8:30. Sigh. Right at bedtime. I tell her to eat first because I am not cooking. No. REALLY. I am NOT cooking.
She says okay. I would like to tell her to NOT come out, but I won't.
Fish in my purse while driving, to find Pint's bedtime pills which she has to take 1 hour before I want her asleep. Find them. Give them.
Get home, into the house, kids are not listening well. I don't blame them, they run in all full of excitement, and want to tell Pappy and ¾ Pint everything that happened at karate...but I want them to get straight into jammies and straighter into bed LOL.
Finally get all three into bed, quieted down. Not asleep, but at least I can sit down?
Talk to DH a few minutes, read snail mail. Get up at least seven times while trying to relax.
Finally, at 9ish, all three girls are asleep. I open the bottle of wine I got and pour a glass. Sweet Mary and Joseph, it DOES taste good!!
Baby and BF show up finally at 10:30. I am ready for bed. We sit and talk till about midnight at which time I get up and head into bed, telling them..
“If you guys want to stay up and talk, have at it. I have to get up at 6...”
Baby follows me into the bedroom.
“Dad cannot wear a kilt in my wedding.”
Hello???? Wedding?
Calmly I say, Okay. I can take care of that. She says further. Picking a flower girl is going to be the hardest thing. I nod. There are our four grandgirls, she has another niece on her mom's side, two more in the oven due in April and May...and a great niece on her mom's side who just turned one. All girls.
I say, it's okay honey. We will take the littlest one who can walk and actually DO IT, leave the babies out and make Junior Bridesmaids out of the rest.
She nods.
She asks whatever happened to Father Jim? I say he is in retirement and the church is closed down.
She says, that's a problem. I won't be married by anyone else. I tell her I will call him.
I say, well the cake might be a problem. Baba (my best friend and the official wedding cake maker) can't do cakes anymore. She says, well, she will just have to.
(the whole entire world stops at Baby's command..did you not know that?)
She hasn't exactly TOLD me that she is getting married. She is sort of feeling out what the situation is going to be, so I play the game. Apparently, the announcement will be forthcoming????
She says, I want the horse drawn carriage and the bagpiper to lead the carriage through town,after the ceremony and before the reception. People dancing in the streets.
I say we will have to have the streets closed. She nods..
I say okay, but you will have to be married at Sacred Heart, the old church is closed down, and the reception will be across the street at the American Legion.
She nods. Not much of a drive she says, about 50 feet.
I say, that's okay, we will leave the church, go to main street, go down to the grocery store, turn around and go back through town.
She nods.
She says, “I want every girl in town to go to bed crying themselves to sleep every night because they will NEVER have a wedding as nice as mine is going to be.”
LOL.
And, she means it.
Yesterday was sort of fun. I hate going places with any of the kids when I am on limited funds. And, I am almost always on limited funds. They don't whine and cry too much about it though.
We got to the high school where the destination imagination competition was held. It wasn't too badly crowded as we are a fairly small county school district. They did have tables set up with sweatshirts, hoodies and of course, tshirts.
Since Pint already HAD a tshirt in her school colors with the DI logo, we passed that one right by. Sigh.
Checked in with her instructor. There are two challenges that her team (k-3rd) was registered for. The first one, called the CORE CHALLENGE, was that the team, (five kids) had to construct a set for a play that they wrote and acted in. The play had to incorporate a sort of scarey character who then turns nice during the play, the play had to be about a mythical situation (read fairy tale), MUST be an original, have action, movement, and problem solving. The structure must hold up through the entire play and ALSO be moved during the play.
The structure itself had to be made of wood and glue, or wood derivatives. There is a weight limit. I took a video of the 7 minute play, which you can play if you like LOL, but you cannot hear anything and I do not posses the skills to play around with the volume in editing. Mostly, it is just video of the kids setting the whole set in place and then acting out. The plot is that there is a Jelly Bean factory, with human workers. They are traveling through the forest looking for a jelly bean tree. Pint was the evil character who jumps out at the traveling jelly bean searchers who come to HER jelly bean tree. She disallows them from picking the jelly beans, they are stumped because they NEED more jelly beans to package at the factory, they offer her a compromise, she can come work at the factory and have all the jelly beans to eat that she wants, she accepts and they go on their merry little way. The character is a Jelly Bean Beetle. (newly discovered species???)
They FORGOT to do the structure change halfway through the play because the one girl, who is as Pint puts it....”always looking for an argument and always has to be in charge, and doesn't have a CLUE what is going on most of the time and doesn't listen to the teacher OR her mother ever...” totally FORGOT to say the keyword that would tell the other four characters to switch the scene and structure around.
They won anyway.
There was also an Instant Challenge, in which the kids are in a small room (classroom) and given a scenario and some few items and FOUR MINUTES in which to put together their response to the challenge.
Our team was given.
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A piece of burlap
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A piece of jute
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Scissors
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8 address labels
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a marking pen