Morning Review

Mornin ... Mornin! It’s already mid-way through and we’re heading into the "Apple Stage" of the day :) which is to say ... it’s about 10 am. We had a hard time going to sleep last night and stayed up two hours past bedtime, because we were enjoying so much a couple of new journals found.  Both are analytic!

Shana is one of the new writers we’ve added to our favorites. In her "spare" time, she has a job to "offer writing enrichment and other language arts learning opportunities for children K-12." At the present time, Shana is between moving her family (four children, hubby, and dog) from Texas to Georgia due to a job change for her hubby. She has just finished writing a portion of entries talking of some of the events she has BRAVELY taken her kids (on her own) as a means to saying good-bye to the area they’ve lived. Although our kids are no longer young like hers, we found her writing style to be much more like ours than any other we found. Shana also has a strong faith and sense of humor!

I found Pamela’s journal through Shana’s list of favorites. She says, she isn’t an aspiring writer, but she communicates miles of interesting thought in very good brevity of form. (For as able are we to discern such things! Hehe). Pamela works both at a hospital and it seems a director for aupair services. She has three children, a husband, a cat and dog (not necessarily in that order :) and is very much enjoying the first couple weeks of summer with them. Not quite sure how Pamela keeps up with all the families activities. She has reflected recently that it might be more preferable to be the families dog due to such a relaxed life the dog leads. We’d like to send an extra prayer that she soon recovers from a painful ear infection - though, we know God’s sent her a very loving family to help her through it!

That pretty much tops the highlights of the day. :) Hehe actually, we read many, many more journals, but that be part and parcel of the day’s flow. I’m afraid that our love of journal reading took over for the day, and Adler’s book on reading, fell to the side. Mostly I think becausethe journal reading is more relaxing than "studying a book," and we might have had to do the first before able to do the second. It’s ok ... both were on the agenda.

Maybe this morning, we can be more orientated to the study. The desire to be doing this is very strong in reality. There’s a tenseness we feel toward the project ... a wanting to be on our way. We need to figure out though the process. Maybe it would behoove us to think through the process of our web page without going too much further. We’re already four chapters into the book without having noted our thoughts. It’s always trickier to start a project, because time needs to be spent setting up format. Maybe no better way, then opening up Pandora’s box. Hold on...

Hmm, this is where we had last left the format toward the end of last year when we had more in mind to be reading of multiplicity than developmental disabilities:

"The "item" pages of THE CATALOG will be found by clicking on the chapter links. Each item will include a brief summary of the material, targeted view-point, perspective (thoughts/feelings) of the contributor, and general conclusive thoughts/next direction."

I think at that time, we were more interested in collecting the experience of the whole book, where now, we’re leaning toward the collection of information from each chapter.

"Whoops!" Well that almost went as scheduled, well not much. Just started and we got a chance to IM with Tammy, but then we ended up on the phone with Macadam for an hour, then Tammy was on the phone and then Tammy had to leave. So, now you all get a real quick recap.

Macadam is doing very well! He’s had his two best weeks of the year and is very happy about that. Us too! We talked about the new kitchen they want to put in their condo, and in particular we talked of him getting stainless steel appliances! Yay Guys!!! They’re doing very good.

We also talked about the inheritance stuff. It’s only supposed to be a week or two now. Longer for our brother. He took the furniture I was supposed to get and said, he’d bring it down for me, but he reneged. So the estate person and lawyer are goingto hold out money from him until he does something to make amends.

Macadam talked to us in that, his father (our ex) has volunteered to go up to northern Wisconsin with our son to retrieve things and he wanted to know how we would feel about that. He noted, especially in that he’d need his father’s help bringing things up our 3 flights of stairs. The first response was to worry over our son ... we didn’t want to see him moving furniture on his own and at minimum if they met half way it would be a 6 hour drive. That’s far too far to go on your own. I think they would still stick to the plan of renting a trailer and borrowing Tanner’s Hummer, so in that respect I know Macadam and his father would look forward to the drive and time spent together.  Boys will be boys!

I think the hardest part is that it means that we’re going to have to make a mind adjustment. Since the divorce, we’ve had to move 7 times in 11 years. Our ex hasn’t seen our last 5 "homes." Three of them were in government housing after living at a Homeless shelter. We were bankrupted in ‘97 through high costs of legal/custody issues. Well, and at that time ... we had our own credit card problem. We were putting everything on credit including groceries, just to make do.

In the last seven years, I may have seen/talked to the ex three times. Twice to pick up Jacob when he used to live with his father, and once when Tanner dropped out of high school. (Tanner now has GED and is making way more than his Dad, Mom, and two brothers put together. D*mn those fickle odds! *Grin*).

It’s way, way too long to be angry about such things as how ex’s get to be ex’s, just that I guess I’ve kind of garnered my privacy. I’m proud of how far up I’ve climbed in relation to where we were then. We finished our BA, and have worked hard the last 5 years in a job related field, we love.

Hmm, five times. We saw him for two minutes after having watched Jacob cheerlead for a big college football game and we saw him at Macadam’s wedding.  In all that time, if there were more than an hour and a half combined conversation, I'd be surprised.  We each say an earnest, "Hi, how are you?"  Then, pretty much go back to attending business at hand that doesn't have really much to do with the other.  This is with the exception of Tanner having dropped out of school.  I think that hit us both hard and we were a little more supportive of each other.

*Silly Grin* I suppose it would be ok if he knew where we lived and dropped by. It would be a very nice gesture for him to make the trip, AND I wouldn’t have to put up with hiswife’s demonic staredown. Hehehe. I’d offered and Macadam excepted that were giving him a couple thousand of the dollars for the kitchen. I’d asked if he had told anyone, because we were worried that one of his two brothers would think he had "pushed" me into it. It’s nothing like that.  Just think Macadam and his wife work so hard and have many more financial challenges than the other two brothers. Just want to give them a "little" break.

I guess Macadam has decided his brothers didn’t need to know about this "deal," so we’re working under the table :). Never put it past us to be just a little sneaky!  He did apparently though tell his father. He told me the context of the conversation. It seems it was within boundaries. We’re usually pretty guarded about the other side of the family knowing our business. But, none of us live in vacuums. I was so proud of Mcadam as he repeated such nice things about me to his father and that the father agreed that I really was a wonderful nice person. I’d always wanted that ... not that I’d be in contact with the ex, but that we wouldn’t hate each other ... because there was a time, when we really were in love. Mostly though, because its not healthy for kids to have the parents at odds with each other. I believe this strongly!

Ok, now ... breath! It’ll be ok ... Little part’s issue here. Hmm, maybe we should break for lunch. We’re going to have to go pick up a few items at the little store too. Figures, fate is demanding I get dressed and leave the house on my days off?! Incredible poor luck! We may be back to the journal soon ... Pretty big security blanket for us. You’ve all the hearts to understand? Just feel my best in front of this screen.  And, we like to leave thoughts as we're working through our projects!  Yep, yep ... getting more eccentric each day!

Update 1:30 pm ... we're still struggling to get out the door ... seems someones holding us hostage for a trip in exchange for a candy bar.  This is way past Casey and KC.  How to deal ... how to deal ... now she (Dear Heart) is messin with the smokers in the bunch who NEED to go to the store!  Hmm, we can do this peacefully, right?  Shoot, where is our diet buddy when she's needed? 

Ok ... first being conscientious of the problem is being very good.  The deal is ... we are to stay as far away from candy bars as is possible.  We still need to physically go into the little store.  The problem comes in that someone grabs out for the candy that is waaaaay to close to the registers.  Then some of us would feel bad.  Hmm, maybe we could offer an exchange?  We know though that there is not much healthy food to be found at the little store.  Hmm...  Something ... for Ms Sweet tooth... what'll it be?  Think our best Dr. M. thoughts here.  We're thinking Dr. M. would say a compromise is in order.  Maybe we get the Milky Way, but get the smaller bar? 

It's now a showdown ... parts are gathering on either side of the fence.  There is a fear here that someone is going to drop/punt and grab the bigger bar.  This wouldn't seem fair to the parts that have worked hard at staying "good."  It seems quite clear now that the two Casies have become willing accomplices of Dear Heart.  That's a pretty important relationship.  Maybe we should honor that piece of progress ... (information released).  BUT, there has got to be a moment where this issue is brought up to Dr. M. tomorrow morning!  Yeah right, sure, sure.... Promise!

LOL - Issue resolved?  Maybe the real compromise is that we are at least now not washing down the candy with a large milkshake and whopper!  See there is progression here!  Gotta go!

Ok, ok ... eating issues all resolved? Yeeks, Sarah had a say too, she needed to wash down the candy bar sweetness with her celery sticks. Sort of like sterilizing our throat?  Communication and trust ... work hand in hand. On the short drive to the store, KC was so happy about us allowing the candy bar, and in just being "out" with Dear Heart in tow, that she persuaded Dear Heart, we could make do on the smaller candy bar! This is an improvement.

One more note to Dr. M. here. Seems as part of this last process, the location of the candy bar was important. Seems that Dear Heart feels more confident opening the door and looking for the big bar to her immediate right, than the little bar which was found way over and around, then under in the display. There was an insurgency of relief for her in spotting the bigger bar, but then like a milk horse with blinders on, it was very difficult for her, even with KC, to go the nextfew feet and make her eyes scan for the familiar, but smaller wrapper ... kind of a transition of going from big crayons to little and there was a lot of surrounding blur.  Felt like we were pushing her to her limits. 

As soon as the bar was in hand, she disappeared and Corey was able to ask at the register for the smokes. KC remained close in that she handed the lady the card. This is as much as we’ve seen KC for quite a few weeks, maybe months. Last we recall she was being rescued by Henry and Casey from the moat of alligators. I don’t know. How long ago was that? There’s been worrying over her though we know her to be old enough to be out a little on her own. We’re thinking that KC may be cave-dwelling with Dear Heart. It seems more at this point, she’s acting on her own volition, though its also apparent, she’s befriended Dear Heart. That’s all. Jamie

Hmm, 80 old former President Bush just jumped out of a plane and fell 13,000 feet to the ground. No ... seriously ... he’s ok. Seem he jumped with an expert for fun. Can we all whisper, "Heart ATTACK!!!" Boys ... go figure! You don’t see Queen Elizabeth bungy jumping do you?  Ok, Ok ... handing back the reigns.