Challenges

A new school year means new challenges. Challenges in the form of - a police officer being murdered less than a mile away from school, a woman murdered about 500 feet from the school, and a little girl raped by a man who has trespassed on school grounds. Oh yes, challenges indeed. My two little guys in daycare and aftercare when I wish they were me. I really took being a stay at home mom for granted. Getting up at 5:15 every morning is not pretty!! Luckily, I am the Queen of Organization and things run fairly smoothly around here. The counters are covered with crap and the clothes and towels will pile up now that Nana is gone, but we will have meals and be on time!! On the bright side, Nicholas loves his new school, Christopher moved to a big boy room but still gets to be with his favorite teacher, Miss Windy, and I have joined the "Biggest Loser" club at school to finally get rid of this 35 pounds from being pregnant with Christopher. Well, that is if I can stop eating candy and cupcakes for five seconds . . .

Summer of '09

Yes, this summer is one to remember. My ex-husband and his wife were meaner than ever. The kids never saw their dad, he stopped paying child support. I met someone but then when I decided that it was OK to like him, I realize that he is not ready, he needs to get through his divorce first. Christopher had his tonils and adnoids out. It was quite a summer. Putting a positive spin on things, I now know that the kids love road trips. I was able to take them to South Carolina all by myself - quite an accomplishment if you ask me. Seven hours in the car with a 2 and 6 year old who are the best travellers ever. I have a job for the up coming school which is a lot more than most people have right now. I have lots of support from friends and family and am very thankful for that. The dollar store now sells teacher materials so instead of spending hundreds of dollars to decorate my classroom I only spend $25. Yes, this was a summer to remember and I look forward to next summer and feel lucky that I have job that gives me the summer off!!

Summer

Summer is my favorite time of year. School is out, the pace is slow, and the days are long. This summer will be different for us, less traveling, more time at home, and just taking it all in. We have our list of summer fun and we are ready to start checking off our destinations as we visit them. I guess we could call this our summer of the "Staycation" I think for most people that was last year but for us it's this year. I am really looking forward to it, I think this summer will be one to remember.

A Teacher Again

I am about to start teaching again and I am finding that although I don't want to leave Christopher in daycare, I am excited about it. I am looking forward to trying out first grade and seeing if it is for me. I also hope I can find a job for next year teaching first grade - that would be fantastic! I have new teacher clothes, shoes, and some lesson plans from my amazing friend Toni who has been sharing everything with me! I don't know what I would do without her - she is just fantastic! I have been able to weed out daycares thanks to my friend Kristyn who sees them the same I do and has been brutally honest - which I need! It is all coming together and I am glad that I feel more excited than scared!

The First Tick (and Hopefully the LAST!)

Christopher had a tick on the back of his head this morning!! It was horrible! I called Aunt Patty but she didn't answer, the doctor wasn't available to talk to, the nurse was taking forever to call back, Kristyn didn't want to pull it out, and my mom wasn't here!! So I called my mom and she said to pull it out and then put neosporin on it! So I did, it was horrible, but the whole tick came out and Christopher could have cared less. YUCK!

Feeding Time

I fed a snake for the first time today. I went to the pet store. I did a normal thing - bought dog food - then I bought individually packaged, frozen mice. Eight frozen mice, so I don't have to do it again for eight more weeks. Then I brought them home and put all but one on the top shelf of my freezer. I chose the top shelf so that Christopher can't take them out and play with them or feed them to Alli. Then I filled a bowl with warm water, placed the baggie with the frozen mouse inside into the water, and set the time for fifteen minutes. When the timer went off I opened the bag, took out the defrosted mouse with tongs, tongs which will now only be used for snake feeding purposes ONLY!, opened the snake cage, and dropped the mouse in. I then stood there wondering what on earth I was thinking, bringing a snake in the house, and then wondering if it was safe to put the tongs in the dishwasher or not, and then putting them in before sterilizing my hands. I watched for a few minutes to see what the snake would do but he kept looking at me instead of finding the mouse so I don't want him to picture me when he smells future mice so I left him alone. The next time I looked in, the mouse was gone and the snake had buried himself underneath the wood chips. And so ends another chapter in my new snake owner book.

Back to Work

I am working on my resume. The time has come that I need to take charge of things for all of us around here and go back to work. It doesn't seem that the court systems are going to do their job so I must do mine. I am working on looking on the bright side - Christopher asks to go to school everyday with Nicholas, I will have my own life outside of the house, a dependable check will be helpful, and the benefits from the county are great. I am sad that Christopher doesn't get to spend the last school free year with me but in the scheme of things it could be worse. I am writing all of this and continuously repeating it to myself, but the truth is I don't believe any of it. I want to be home with my baby one more year and enjoy it and because they are growing up so fast. It's really not fair that Christopher gets treated like this but there isn't anything I can do so I will do what I must. I won't be happy on the inside though. I am still keeping my fingers crossed for a little miracle.

The Scoop

So the road trip is postponed until after the latest court date in February. Can't do much of anything or plan anything until I know how the judge will rule. It is very strange how easy it is for people to get away with things when it comes to divorce. Anyway . . . I found someone I was interested in but that didn't work out either. My friend, Amy, got in the middle of it and I am not sure what happened. Who knows what she said to him but I don't really blame him for not talking to me again. This whole dating thing is very strange. I guess it was easier in high school because we all knew each other already. Now, it's very different. Oh well, when the time is right I guess. In the meantime, I do love going to the Bull with my single girl friends!! My wonderful friends Carrie and Bobby are leaving on Monday. It all happened so fast for me, I can't imagine how they must feel. I am really going to miss seeing my Godson grow. Carrie is good about taking pictures with her phone and sending them to me so it won't be too bad.

Road Trip

My wonderful friend Carrie is getting ready to move to Charleston. I have been there before and absolutely love it. So I have decided to take the boys on a road trip to go visit her in February. Seven hours in the car with two screaming children isn't that long, right? It took me longer to give birth to the first one so it can't be that bad is what I am thinking. The beach is near by as well as Parris Island, which is full of Marines, so what is there not to like? I will just pack the car full of toys, games, and food. I will remind myself that if the Suburban Diva can road trip alone with four kids, I can road trip with two. After all, we are women, we do everything for everyone all the time! I am strong, independent, I will survive, and have some along the way as well. Maybe I need to start packing things to do now so that I have enough by the time we leave . . .