I’m Beautiful Like Me.

The last several weeks have been rather dull.

I have been working on a supersecret crochet project, but once the surprise is out, I will share those details.

The girl is out of school and did very well. She will be a fourth grader this fall. I’ve gotten her involved in a couple of summer reading programs. We went to the library and she showed ambition by checking out dozens of books. She’s almost finished her first one. We are likely not going to be able to send her to the in-laws for the summer. I’m hesitant to let her dad’s family take her, though I likely will. Sigh.

Buddha is becoming a real challenge. He is growing so fast and curious about everything. He keeps me on my toes all.day.long! He’s starting to learn new words, which is exciting and fun. He says “rock” and “cup” about the right things. It’s pretty cool watching those connections.

One morning earlier this week, I woke up before Buddha. I made myself a couple of sausage biscuits and an extra piece of sausage for him, because he loves it so. I left it on the kitchen counter on a paper plate. He got up an hour or so later and eventually went to the counter and pulled the plate down. I found him on the kitchen floor eating the sausage, just like this.

T is also a challenge sometimes. We got into a couple of blow-out fights. She apologized both times and understands why things are the way they are. She is dealing with the shit as it comes. It’s hard when you are a teen and just want to play and have fun. I understand that aspect of it. We are making progress.

On Monday, Husband and I met with a fellow from our bank to see about pre-qualifying for a first-time home loan. We’ve been working on fixing our credit and Husband’s income has increased since we last inquired a year ago, so we were hopeful. Unfortunately, some of the debt I’ve since reconciled did not come off of my report, so I have requested letters from respective companies stating that debts were reconciled.

A new debt showed up on the report. An outstanding medical debt from the girl from 2004 for almost $800. I was forced to call xSO’s mom to ask for some help with that. I am afraid it is going to stand between us and our first home. Made me rather nauseated yesterday, as I traced the debt back to it’s origin. I was under the impression that it was from some lab work I received back in November because the credit report shows it originating 11/2007. Really ridiculous, the hoops I jumped through to find out what the fuck was going on. By the end of the day, I had a stomachache and a migraine.

Anyhow, guy from the bank said he wanted to wait until Husband had at least a year on the job (which he will be on Aug 5) before proceeding. In that time, I should be able to get together letters of debt reconciliation (’cept for the one for the medical bill) and write to the 3 credit reporting agencies, requesting that they review the accounts and reevaluate my credit score. I remain hopeful.

We had hoped to be able to move over the summer. Since that was our original plan, I decided it might be best for the girl to stay here for the summer and be a part of all that. Last summer she was gone during our move here and she felt disconnected and excluded from things. I didn’t want a repeat of that. However, since we are going to hang in here until at least August, I decided to talk to xSO’s mom about girl visiting there for the summer. I’m extremely reluctant because we’ve made so much progress since the last incident in FL with xSO. The girl is ready to talk to the psych about discontinuing meds on the 16th. I gave xSO’s mom some conditions and she was willing to promise adhering to them. Still, I’m hesitant. I agreed to the visit, but I swear to God on my very soul that if they fuck up again, it will be a cold day in Hell before she is allowed to visit there again.

We did take the kids bowling again and I’ve been taking trips to the nearby park with P and her girls. Here are some pics.

Buddha with his stick.

T and C, P’s youngest.

Joy and her best friend, L.

T and Joy.

Joy.

Joy and L.

The whole lot of them.And for good measure, Husband.

Well, I finally dragged my pathetic self to the doctor on the 8th. The doctor was pleasingly sympathetic. She gave me Keplex (a broad-spectrum antibiotic), Medrol (a steroid) and Tussionex (cough syrup with hydrocodone). I felt markedly better the next day and spent most of that day vacuuming, spraying every touchable surface with Lysol and washing everything in the house, including our bed linens. Today is the last day of my antibiotics, and while I do feel so much better, my right ear and my throat hurts today. I am supposed to meet with the doctor again this Thursday to check out that the funk has, indeed, left. Keep your fingers crossed!

We’ve spent quite a bit of time focusing on getting T caught up in her classes. I was under the impression that she was doing fine. Not so much! She was so far behind in one of her classes that we pulled her out of it. She’s still quite a bit behind, but she should be back on track by this Wednesday.

Joy is almost finished with her school year. I have gotten several of her test scores back and she is either proficient or distinguished in all subjects. I’m quite pleased. She is a naturally good speller and while she struggles with math, she is capable of doing well in that area, too. If only I could get her to read more at home without the fight! Reading really is such a pleasure, it sucks that it’s an argument to get her to get started. Once she’s into a book, though, she usually finds herself really enjoying it. It is also a conflict to get her to do Plato - the free online tutoring the school provided. She doesn’t really need it, but it certainly isn’t going to hurt.

The boy has 3 molars now! He seems to be jumping dozens of hurdles on the daily. He danced yesterday! And he is saying more words. He still doesn’t sign much, but he seems to understand the words we are signing to him. And he has a very healthy appetite. I can’t get over it. I swear the time has just flown by. Seems like only yesterday I had a sleepy newborn. Now I have a boisterous and busy toddler. He is so full of personality. And he absolutely adores his sister to pieces.

We haven’t been doing much since we have been all burdened by this illness. However, my friend P insisted that we accompany her to the park last week. We went along and had a good time, but we did not stay for nearly as long as we normally do. We were all winded rather quickly!

And yesterday we joined P, her girls and our old friend S and her daughter to Forest Fest. It’s a bluegrass festival in Jefferson County Memorial Forest, the nation’s largest municipal forest. Legendary Bluegrass icon Dr. Ralph Stanley appeared and performed. We didn’t stay to see him, which both saddened me and was a relief. We were there for several hours and I was exhausted from chasing Buddha around. We did, however, see Bluegrass 101 and Kentucky Sassafras play.

The particular spot we chose was to the far left of the stage but near the road. About an hour before we left, Dr. Stanley’s tour bus pulled in just behind our spot and his entourage began congregating and crowding in behind us. They ended up setting up a table for CD and t-shirt sales right behind us.

T gets Joy with sunblock.

P is forever doing chores while we are supposed to be having fun. When we were partying teenagers, everyone would be goofing off and P would be in the kitchen doing dishes. Here she is paying bills. That’s S and her daughter in the background. Also, you can see some of Buddha and P’s youngest daughter C.

P’s oldest daughter, L.

S and her daughter, P’s youngest C and the boy.

S’s daughter and Buddha. He was really into this wagon. I’ma hafta get him one!

Joy standing in line for one of the activities.

Joy poses with a nifty stone chair and table.

T, the girl and the boy stand in line for organic coffee.

The boy found a pinecone.

The girl making a visor.

T entertains Buddha for a while. He doesn’t look very entertained.

Dr. Stanley’s tour bus.

Buddha and I take a break to nurse. Pay no attention to flabby, stretch-marked belly.

The boy and his fascination with the wagon. The people just beyond him are Dr. Stanley’s posse.

Joy and her best friend, P’s oldest L.

T gave the boy a tube of chapstick, which kept him busy for several minutes.

You can see the stage to the right.

No idea WTH T is doing. Weirdo.

A good shot of the stage and our view of it.

It’s Kentucky Sassafras up there playing. Great music! There was a pretty good crowd, too. We just stayed away from it as best we could.

I was pleased by the diversity of the crowd. There were hippies, old folks, rednecks, teenagers, a lot of kids. Turned out that I knew the people just in front of us, too! Small world.

Last Thursday was Husband’s 27th birthday. Unfortunately, he had to work. On the Monday before, we had a WIC appointment and afterwards, we talked about his gift. I wanted to get him a new stereo for his car - the kind with USB port and/or an SD card reader, so that he could play mp3s. None of us listens to the radio anymore and CDs are so cumbersome. Besides, it’s what he’s wanted since I met him. However, I have no idea how to pick high-tech gadgets for the pickiest of picky high-tech gadget dorks! So, I told him my idea but said that if there was something else or better that he wanted, that was alright with me too. He gave me a big squeeze and said that I was the best wife ever. Needless to say, this made me feel great since I had internal conflicts for weeks now about how to get him a gift he could love, use and appreciate! He decided he really wanted to get a PDA and that he would save up for it. I also set him an appointment to take the class so he can get his CCDW again. That made him really happy, too. On his actual birthday, I squeezed him and wished him a great day. I wish I could’ve done more, though.

I finished another blanket, which I gave to an online buddy of mine. It’s just like the blanket I made for my niece, only the border is different (scalloped edges instead of the braid). I mailed that to her on Wednesday. I’ve been meaning to get started on another project for another internet buddy, but haven’t gotten to it yet. I need to type out the instructions for it since all the abbreviations confuse the hell outta me. I have enough yarn to make two of these blankets. I intend to keep one of them for the boy. It’s a granny square project - my first one! - and I’m ready to learn how to do that now. I have no idea what I’ll do after that, but I have gobs of yarn, so it’ll be something.

I have been pretty absent around here lately! So much has been going on. The kids keep me pretty busy. I haven’t spent much time online at all. So it’s catch-up time!

The boy had his birthday party on the 9th. My brother and his oldest daughter came, as well as my mom, the girl, T, and my friend C and her babe K. We sang “Happy Birthday” to Buddha and had cupcakes and opened gifts. It was a fun time.

My little Prince

An online pal of mine inspired me to learn how to crochet. I made my first afghan and gave it to the girl. This is the beginning stages of my first piece.

And the completed blanket.

My next piece is going to be a baby blanket for Buddha. I’m doing the basket weave stitch. I adore this stitch, even though it is much more tedious and requires some concentration. It makes a great texture. I’m thrilled to be learning new stitches. After this project, I’m going to make my neice a blanket for her birthday.

Today, the girl and I had a date. We went to the salon and I got my eyebrows waxed while she got a great new cut. I was very reluctant to let her get such a dramatic change, but I’m really pleased with how well it turned out. She loves it, too. Because her hair has the tiniest bit of wave, I got her a flat iron. It took no-time flat to straighten out those waves/frizz.

The Princess

Monday, I went to get T from the airport. I left the house at 11:25am to get there on time. Did the usual: park, go in, get a gate pass, pass through security check-point and walk 3 miles to the other end of the airport. Her flight was early, which under normal circumstances would be great, but I timed it to arrive on time, so she had already gotten off the plane and found a bathroom. I was ready to start panicking when she came up behind me. I gave her a quick squeeze and told her to dial her mom to let her know she arrived safely. After speaking to her myself briefly, I confiscated the cell phone. Gave T the rundown of the rules at our place and her restrictions for the first couple of weeks. We collected her luggage and headed home.

Later, we hit the library to get her a card and some books. She’s really into ASL and signed the entire conversation we had. Something she’s passionate about, awesome. We discussed the possibility of her being homeschooled for the remainder of the year. Sounds like something we will do. I grabbed some highschool homeschooling books and she grabbed some sign language books.

Back home, we ate dinner together and T crashed early. Joy asked if she could be homeschooled, too. Husband and I finally concluded that we won’t be doing that again with the girl - she’s just not self-motivated enough and I am not patient enough with her. I wish there were a way that it could work out, but I just can’t see us having any success.

Tuesday, T and I drove to Seymour, Indiana to meet up with my OL buddy, S (aka Monkeytoes). We met at Chili’s, had good food, less-than-stellar service and great company. We must’ve hung out there for a couple-three hours. Afterwards we hit up some outlets that turned out to be pretty disappointing, but S and I took a lot of goofy photos. These are my favorites.

I had a great time meeting her and hope that we can hang out again soon in warmer weather.

On the way home, I started feeling pretty icky again. My throat was hurting (from all the talking?) and traffic was fucking hell. I was so happy to get home. I really missed the boy! Husband made pizza for dinner and the girls chowed down, but the boy threw his small bites across the kitchen. Sigh. He was really hard to get down to sleep last night, too.

I had an early morning appointment with the doctor today. I told her about not being able to sleep, but she refused to give me any prescription. I got a strep test which came back negative, but she still gave me a ’script for amoxicillin and 2 ’scripts for Diflucan (because a YI is inevitable - God, I just hope we don’t get thrush, too). They drew more blood for thyroid panels and also to check my cholesterol. Also told her about the lump in my breast and she felt it and ordered me to get a mammogram and ultrasound. Okay? We can’t afford that! I told her I’d see my ob/gyn and have him check it. Frankly, I think it is just hormones and normal female changes from childbirth, nursing and getting my menses back. So I made an appointment to see him tomorrow afternoon. I will also ask him about something to help me sleep while I’m still nursing. Meanwhile, I also scheduled an appointment for Buddha’s one year check-up. I need to make an appointment with a dentist, too, but I am too damn chickenshit for alladat just yet. Plus, we still have outstanding bills from labs I’ve already had and will be incurring more bills with all these upcoming appointments. The state of health care in this country is depressing.

The boy is in a terrible mood today. He’s really taken to throwing food, but screams like he is starving to death. I figured he might be interested in nursing more, but no, he isn’t. He nurses for maybe 3-4 minutes and then wants to get up and play. He gave Husband absolute hell about a nap this afternoon. They are both still sleeping.

D and I have talked daily since T arrived. We think we’ve found a good solution for getting her homeschooled online. We should know relatively soon, too. I just hafta get some things done, D has some things to do on her end and then get her enrolled. Shouldn’t be too hard. In any case, it’s nice to hear from D so often. I miss her fiercely. And T looks so much like her sometimes, it’s almost like having D here. I just wish my throat didn’t hurt, so I could talk to her longer on the telephone!