I Am Having a Wonderful Day!

1) Yesterday ended the last full week of my job. I am going in all day Monday and then working part-time from home for awhile in addition to my new job. That will give us some extra cash flow until J can go back to work. She is taking a break until her mom has her surgery.

2) K18 called me this morning and said she had some happy news from last night and was just dying to tell someone (me). She chose me to tell the news to first. I was thrilled!

3) K18 invited herself over to give Mary Kay facials to our friends. She has never wanted to meet J, much less any of our friends.

4) K18 asked me if I wanted to get together with her tomorrow and suggested she come out here (about an hour's drive) and hang with me at our condo. I told her J might come home in the p.m. and she said, "That's okay. It doesn't matter to me." Now we will have to see if she brings K21 with her.

If you saw my earlier post about K18 meeting J for the first time, you will understand how happy I am! It seems like everything is rolling in the right direction for us where she is concerned.

Also, last week I took J to her mom's and lightning didn't strike me dead when I went inside her house and stayed for 3 minutes. Maybe next time I will stay for 10.

I start my new job at the school August 8th; the kids start August 22nd. Not excited yet. It hasn't hit me yet because I have so much to do to get ready. I hope all of you are having a wonderful day!

Alphabet Meme Via Come What May

A. Age
49 and holding

B Bed Size
Queen

C. Chore you hate.
Ironing is about the most boring chore I can think of.

D. Dogs.
None.

E. Essential start of day.
Diet Coke or Diet Dr. Pepper

F. Favorite color.
Purple

G. Gold or silver.
I prefer gold but it is too expensive. Our wedding bands are gold, though.

H. Height.
5’9” but my driver’s license once read 5’10”. Wonder if I shrunk.

I. Instruments played.
Flute, guitar, and I used to play the organ with my dad. Wrote a song on the piano once when I was 15. I still remember how to play it.

J. Job title.
Currently office manager, but in less than two weeks I will be a teacher again!

K. Kids.
Two daughters ages 21 and as of today, 18. I was actually in full-blown labor at this time 18 yrs ago. Spent the first half of the day in the bathroom by myself, hiding from my nurse who wanted me hooked up to a fetal monitor on my left side. Not the greatest birth story.

L. Live.In Houston, and I hate it. But I will live anywhere for love.

M Mom's name.
Carolyn

N Nickname.
If I have one, I don’t know about it.

O. Overnight Hospital Stays.
Three times – each birth and once for food poisoning which induced early labor.

P. Pet Peeve
People with no basic manners like "please" and "thank you."

Q. Quote from a movie
“She is my match in every way.” Who can guess the movie?

R. Right or left handed?
Right, but I can write pretty well with my left hand.

S. Siblings.
One brother who is six years younger than I am and is going to be a father for the first time in December.

T. Time you wake up.
Literally, 6:30 a.m., but I don’t consider myself fully awake until around 11:00 a.m.

U. Underwear.
Always

V. Vegetable you dislike.
It would be easier to list the ones I do like: potatoes, asparagus, brocolli, cauliflower (The last three MUST have a sauce of some sort on them.)

W. What makes you run late.
I seldom run late and I find tardiness to be extremely rude. I don’t mind being fashionably late, though.

X. X rays you have had done.
Six plus fingers, arm, elbow, hip

Y. Yummy food you make.
Chocolate chip cheeseball. If allowed, I would eat the entire thing with graham crackers.

Z. Zoo animal.
I could watch the sea lions swim back and forth all day.

ILY

I was never much into troll dolls growing up, but in high school, I found a used one with blue hair. Can't remember where I found "him", maybe at a garage sale or something. He had been badly worn and was holding what was left of a sign of some sort. He was so ugly, he was cute. I wrote on the sign in black marker "ILY," and that became his name. I gave him to you and you even brought him to college with you. Oh, the little things you remember. Wish I knew whatever happened to Ily. I have looked all over the internet trying to find him to no avail. The above photo is as close as I could get and it was pretty darn close! Always, remember, J, ILY!

Walking on Air

I am walking and dancing on air this morning. I have exactly ten days left on this job! And the best thing of all? My youngest met J last night for the first time and it went well! I have to commend both J and K17 for their bravery. I know they were BOTH extremely uncomfortable. J gave K17 several chances to leave our apartment before she came home, i.e. an hour warning, a 20-minute warning, and a 5-minute warning. LOL I kept expecting K17 to leave, especially when she teared up during the hour warning. But she stayed!

Postponed

Well, this weekend's plans have been postponed. J is not going to get to meet my grandma after all. When calling her to let her know what time I would pick her up on Saturday, my mother informed me that she had just hung up from my brother who has invited the whole family to his house Saturday for dinner. I'm trying not to be a wuss about it.

Today's Post From Around and Around

This post is doing double duty today.

I had a nightmare last night, one like I have not had in years. Maybe it's the medicine I'm taking, but I'm pretty sure it was a result of having watched part of the interview last night with Jaycee Dugard. When asked why she had never tried to run away, Jaycee replied with a simple "I don't know."

I didn't realize how much it troubled me until I woke up in the night from cold sweats. Jaycee suffers from what is called "Stockholm Syndrome." An emotional attachment to her captor. Look it up. It's real. While I don't have Stockholm Syndrome, I can very much relate to Jaycee because I had much love for the person who hurt me growing up. While I have many things to hate him for (my OCD, I believe, included), I still have a small percentage of disguised love sunken at the very bottom of my heart.

Bad memories are just like OCD - you push them away so deep inside that you forget they're there and then one day - poof! - they appear from nowhere. And I will attack them the way I have been taught to treat my OCD, by letting the feelings wash over me and go with them. And then they will vanish.

REALLY?

Peace,
~b~

Time for an Update

We have both been sick here for awhile. I was supposed to play softball today with the lesbian softball team but I am trying to get over this bronchitis. I have three more weeks at my job and then a few days off before I start at the school. I have lots of anxiety about both, but I know things will be fine once I actually start. I have a lot of studying to do before I start, which I keep putting off.

My replacement came from four choices: 1) a flight attendant who wants to change careers; 2) someone convicted of a felony, currently on appeal; 3) a recent college graduate who has no idea what she wants to do with her life; or 4) a woman who just got laid off who found the description of my position to be "overwhelming." Why should I care? Well, I have to train my replacement, so it matters to me. (He went with the flight attendant).

My girls and I are talking and I may see my youngest next weekend. Also, my grandma from Florida has officially moved here so I have both 90+ year old grandmas within an hour's distance from me. We may go get both of them next week and bring them here for dinner and to visit our apartment. Wish us luck!