Not Well

I haven't felt well - or maybe I just haven't felt right - for a couple of weeks now. I can't really put a finger on it. Some days I have a stomach ache all day, others I'm dehydrated & tired. Sometimes I feel like I'm running a low-grade fever. At any rate, I have no energy, so all of those little jobs around the house, like washing the switch plates, vacuuming and dusting have gone by the wayside. I feel like I'm letting myself down, but I'm doing good to keep up with the dishes and get dinner cooked every day. I'd go to the doctor, but I'm still trying to get my bill from January paid off, and we really can't afford another one right now.

I have thought it might be my blood sugar & will have Troy check it today sometime, other than that, I have no idea. I just know that I don't have any desire to spent my Summer sick!

Memorial Day

Another school year is over here, graduation has passed (this year marks 6 years since our son graduated & 4 for our daughter) and another Summer will be settling in on us soon. The beginning of this weekend was blustery & cold, as it always seems to be. We can have temperatures near 100 for a week or so before Memorial weekend, but that Thursday, the weather will turn & the wind will start, usually bringing at least one storm.

We spent Friday evening celebrating a friend's birthday, we grilled for him & I baked a cake, then we ate & sat around visiting for awhile. Saturday, Troy & I took Dawn & we drove down south to attend our oldest granddaughter's birthday party. She'll be 5 on the 30th, which is just about unbelievable to all of us. It was nice, if a little tense & awkward at times, we were thankful to have been included, since her mother isn't here & we had nothing planned for her up here.

Sunday, Troy had to work some overtime (I should say got to work - we needed the money), so I hung out at home for a bit with Erin, until he left to go help someone move. I cooked sweet & sour chicken in the slow cooker for our friends for dinner, so I got that together & started the rice, which took twice as long as it should have, so the three of us were just starting dinner when Troy got home, which was kind of nice. We watched Game of Thrones, played Rock Band 3 for a few hours, then Dawn left, so me, Troy, Ryan & our son watched "X-Men: First Class" since none of us had seen it. We went to bed around 1:30am.

Erin had to be at work at 10:00am today & Troy works tonight, so we're just kind of taking it easy. We'll grill some bratwurst for dinner later and we did a little yard work a little bit ago and that's pretty much our big weekend.

Clean Car

I managed to get my car cleaned out today & the trash bag in the holder emptied & changed. I always find things I can't explain in the back seat, like the Lowes application someone had printed or picked up somewhere - we don't even have a Lowe's here! There were the usual frappucino bottles, receipts and wrappers, of course, but surprisingly, it was actually pretty clean in the back seat area this time. It definitely wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.

I made a super cute car trash bag holder the other day, from this tutorial, except I changed things around by using two bandannas & cutting them to the height that was mentioned in the tute (the width is just that of the bandanna  and cutting my trim & handle from what was left. Mine looked like this:

 

I love it! It inspires me to keep my car cleaner, so much that I'm self-conscious that it needs to be washed now. It's covered in tree sap & looks horrible.

The Times, They are A'Changin'

Our son, after about 6 years, will be entering the work force again this coming week and starting college in the fall. He's so excited & happy to be changing his life & following his dreams. This was a young man that a year ago, was shooting heroin, smoking crack & meth & drinking himself to a blackout on a daily basis, while he traveled the country with his thumb & on trains he hopped with his dog & traveling companions. When anyone tells me that 12-step programs don't work, I tell them my son's story and show them the difference less than a year can & does make when someone is living that program, everyday.

He deserves the best in his life & is finally willing to work at achieving all of those things. I'm excited that he has a job and love seeing the look on his face when I remind him of it. I just hope his company carries employers liability insurance, just in case something happens, since I know he'll be working the night shift. 

He's been busily getting his room together & to his liking,now that we got his sister's stuff all moved out, and he's really enjoying having his own space again, after so long with nowhere to even call home. The changes are amazing & dramatic to behold, things that most parents take for granted. I used to, now I never will again.

Mother's Day

It's been a bittersweet day for me. It's been amazing to have Erin here, after him not being here for so many years. He managed to spoil me rotten, which was no small feat for a young man with no income (as of yet, he starts his new job this week!). He got me beautiful pink roses, a heartfelt card & a lovely angel calendar. I'd have accepted a hug & some cheap cologne, heck, even just a hug would have been fine - he's here, that's the important part.

Bittersweet because my daughter is in jail & our relationship is in tatters. Bittersweet because I got a half-hearted greeting from my oldest son. I'm okay and having a nice day, it would just be nice if things were different. I realize & accept that I can't change anything, and it is what it is, so I'm not letting it ruin my life or anything.

Purging

I'm on a kick in the house of decluttering, the other day it was the spice cabinet, today I think I'll empty the cabinet under the canisters so that we can use it for actual food, instead of plastic containers &  travel cups. I think we can get away with one of those for each of the coffee drinkers in the house, and I think I can find a place for the plastic containers & other things in there.

I really need the cabinet for food, I also need the lower cabinet next to it for food, but I'm using it for utensils & aluminum foil & such, since we only have one drawer in the entire kitchen & it's being used for flatware. I love my house, I just wish my kitchen had been planned a bit better, we could really use some more drawers & cabinets in here.

What a Day!

Today pretty much started out with us finding out our daughter was making suicide threats again. I'm sure her sponsor thinks we're cold-hearted asses, but.. seriously? She does this every time she doesn't get her way, and since I haven't responded to anything she's said to me since early Saturday morning, I knew this was coming. Her (ex)roommate texted me awhile late to tell me the police had been there & had taken her to the hospital, and that he had told her she had to move out because of her drinking. We had to go to the airport to see our daughter-from-another-mother off on her flight to Job Corps with our youngest granddaughter, then we went to have lunch with my best friend (the "other mother") and our oldest granddaughter before coming home. We got back, Troy & our son took the last of our daughter's stuff to storage, then Troy dropped him off so he could help his friend move into her new apartment & we had dinner. I'm ending my crazy day with this:

 Another freaking mugshot, about 14 months after the very first one (there have been at least 2 more in between.

Excitement!

Our son has his planning meeting at vocational rehab last week and they will be paying for him to get his BA. He really wants to be a veterinary technician, and this will be the road that gets him there. He was very emotional when I picked him, having never had a positive experience with any government agency before, he had been really dreading the whole thing. So, he'll be starting at the local university in August!

He has a job interview tomorrow afternoon, and feels very positive about this one, as he knows everyone who works there & in management & gets a long well with them. Many of them have police records & are recovering addicts, so that shouldn't be a problem.

It's a very exciting time around here for him, and we wish him all of the luck & best wishes he deserves. He's worked so hard at his recovery and getting his life back, it's his turn to have good things happen for him.