Well - she's off to a better place

My grandmother's (father's mother) health has slowly been declining these last 10 months or more. She would've been 89 in November.

Unexpectedly, her death has made me sadder than I thought I would be. I don't know if it's because she was my last grandparent or if it's emphathy for my dad. You see my dad's father passed away 14 years ago, and his only sibling almost 7 years ago. He's not close to his extended family so his immediate family was all he really had. In my communication with him last night and today he's been very mater of fact, which I know is his way in dealing with his grief. But I'm at a loss for what to do for him. A big batch of chocolate chip cookies just doesn't seem like enough.

For those that care I wasn't very close with my any of my grandparents except my maternal grandfather. I've always felt a little cheated in the grandparent department 'cause none of my grandparents were the ideal grandparent - except my Grandpa Clary.

So, the service will be Saturday at 2pm. Just a small grave site, and family only. That's what she wanted.

School lunches sure are better.....

....than when I was kid. Seriously here....no joke.

This week is my last week to drive myself to work so I thought I'd take the opportunity to go have lunch with S at school. (He's in all day kindergaten.) Plus they were having pizza - the boy's favorite.

Oh, if you care I start taking the bus next Tuesday. Figured out I could save approximately $300/mo if I rode the bus vs driving myself.

What was also weird is that they basically have the kids serve themselves. No longer does the lunch lady populate your tray with the various menu items for the day, but you get to choose!! They have 3 choices of the main entree (today it was salad, pizza, or sandwhich) and then you choose your three sides (carrot sticks, cooked veggies, and/or applesauce). Plus you get not only chocolate and plain milk, but strawberry....AND you can choose a juice drink as well.

Also, it was nice to see that my little monster is one of the tamest of the bunch. No joke - there were a few kids there that I thought could benefit from a few doses of S's ADHD meds. However, it was nice to see my kid is normal....even if his parents are not.

I think I'll pull my hair out!!

Wait a minute I don't need to.....it's all falling out on it's own!!! Seriously - is this mother natures sick joke....once all hormone levels are back to normal after pregnancy a woman gets to lose her hair?? It's not like I had a lot to begin with......I guess I should look on the bright side: the grey hairs are falling out like all the rest!!

Curious George watch out!!

T will give you a run for your money. We've been our new house for little over two weeks. As you can imagine most things are still in boxes, and only recently have we been able to get the boy's room somewhat unpacked and organized. Until then this is what T has found to entertain himself.

1. Inflatable ring for the pool - he loves to step into this and pull it up to his waist and bump into things as well as put it around his ankles and shuffle around the floor.
2. Toothbrush - he's going to have the cleanest teeth
3. Sippy cups - they're great to stack and unstack
4. Boxes - of course empty ones are every where
5. Floor tile - we're tearing up the laminent floor in the basement and T's been helping.

He's also been getting into everything, and taking his clothes off. (He's the poster child for the toddler nudest colony.) Unfortunately we can only keep him clean for about an hour at best.

However, he's cute, he's entertained, isn't causing much more of a mess than what was already there - so why not let the boy have some fun.

Why now does he want to be a father to the boy ? ?

Is it because he'll be 6 in October? Is it because he can just sit the boy in front of the TV, computer, or video game all day? Why? I seriously want to know.

Even though he couldn't take care of him for the 2 years he was unemployed, and had me put him in daycare. As well as, made me use all of my sick/vaction/paid-time-off to care for him when he was sick for 3 years. He thinks he can now be a father?? Or does he just want to be "fun daddy"?

I unfortunately gave him the door with which to open up the issue of custody. The last 2 times I've moved and the last 3 times he's moved neither has required the 30-day written notice be sent via registered and certified mail. However, I move out-of-state (40 miles away) and all hell breaks loose.

Not only did he file a motion to get immediate full custody of Stephen while we wait on a custody evaluation, but he got the judge to sign a restraining order against me from removing the child from the state of KS. All of this the Friday we moved and a week before S was to start school - more specifically Kindergarten.

Luckily my parents were kind enough to keep Stephen from Friday August 10th through Monday August 20th as we'd already moved 75% of our junk by the time I was served with the restraining order. The 20th of course being the first day of school. Our lawyers were able to meet with the Judge on the 20th and got things temporarily straightened out. Basically I get S throughout the week so that he can attend school, but he gets to spend all of his weekends with "fun daddy" until our Dec 13th court date.

My lawyer told me I was being punished by the Judge for not filing the 30-dy notice as required by KS law, and I was being made to be the authoritarian figure. Well, shit.....I'm that already....no big punishment there.....except I do miss out on the quality time of every other weekend.

So after everything's said and done I got the boy back the night of the 20th and he started school on the 21st. Now I just sit back and wait for ex-H to do something stupid and for the custody evaluation to start.

Dec 13th can't come soon enough.

Good News

Baby A still fights it, but she'll take the bottle!!!!! Weird thing is she prefers one bottle with Daddy and another with Mom.....each bottle has different shaped nipples. At this point we're not going to question it and just go with it.

As you can guess this has made my week at work a little easier.