Summer and Calming Down a bit

I have decided to pick my battles with my Daughter (Cheer). She has agreed to let me know when she is going to be late and I agreed to let her do her thing for a while. She is a good girl and really has not given me much cause to worry about her. She is dating a really nice young man, that seems to really care about her. He treats her right, and she is spending most of her time with him. I am a little worried, but I don't have much control over the situation. She is going to work and taking care of her obligations, so there is not much I can complain about. She will be 18 years old in 10 days, and she reminds me of that. She wants to go on a camping trip for her birthday. I bought her a big tent so that she can have fun. Her big brother is planning to accompany her. I think that he will keep them out of too much trouble. They are going to a state park, so I think they will be safe. I am planning to go up on Friday and feed them, then they will stay the rest of the weekend. She always has loved her birthday to revolve around some sort of outdoor event. Swim parties, trips and such. She is my outdoor girl. I can remember our first camping trip, She was almost 2 years old and took to the outdoors immediately. She loved it. We went to Arkansas and love every minute of the week long trip. Lots of really good memories on that trip.

This has been are long week and I am really tire. My younger brother traveled into town from Kansas City. I spent two evenings (Sunday and Monday, visiting with him and my family. It was nice) Then on Wednesday, my Company had a pool party and NRH20. I was out late, Cheer and F Man took a bunch of friends. So last night, I just crashed early and I am dragging today. This weekend I am going to take my Mom to a family barbecue for the 4th of July. She just had knee surgery and she is getting around slowly. I am glad she had it done, because she was in pain.

Sometime this weekend I have got to get some cleaning in, I have to admit that I am not to good at this. Something I need to work on.

Hope you all have a very good 4th of July with lots of fun, love and Family enjoyment.

Take care.

Canoe, can you?

I had my first experience with a canoe this weekend. I loved it. Being outdoors in nature.
Learning something new and being with my Brother and Sister in Law (She is much more like a sister) . I love hanging out with them. You can really feel thier love for one another and it is so inviting to be around. (I Love you Guys).

We are in the process of planning a family reunion and one of the activities will be a canoe trip, the campground that we are going to offers them, so we thought that we would take it just so that we would be knowledgable if anyone wants to go. It was an 8 mile 4 hour trip down the Brazos river in Glenrose Texas. The river is not very deep in most places, so the danger of tipping over is there, but if you did you could also just wade thru most of it with no trouble. We stopped on a little island and had a picnic lunch. We waded and stopped along the way to hang out in the water to cool off.

Then, we hit this one spot (Brother called it the chute) It was a spot where the water was rushing pretty fast and it looked to be about a foot deep. Of course I got the canoe stuck on a huge rock ( I was blissfully unaware of the need to navigate and be the lookout for big rocks) Sis and I got out to push the canoe off the rock. Brother had been doing this task most of the time, so this time, we thought that we would give him a break and take on the task. This was a Mistake......

The canoe took off, once we got it off the rocks, and lightened the load, with Brother still in the canoe. Sis and I though we would just wade thru this spot. Not a smart idea...., the current pulled us down, and we bounced off the rocks on the bottom, just like in the movies, bouncing up and down in the water (Life jackets still in the canoe) The water was about 3-4 foot deep, but the rush was such that you could not stay up. I went down first, Sister went down right after me. She yelled "Keep your butt up", how you are supposed to do this is beyond me, I had my feet in the air, my hands on my glasses and I was bouncing said anatomy off the rocks (Ouch!) I was going feet first, she was going head first, she hit a big rock with her hand. I was able to get my feet down eventuly and I was able to get out of the current and make it to the side (I swallowed so much water, I was coughing quite a bit) Sister zoomed on by, and stopped in the water that was much stiller. Then she told us about her hand. We thought it was broke, because she could not touch it, but It got a little better, so maybe it is just bruised really bad. It throbbed the rest of the trip.

We got back in the canoe and went a ways furter. Most of the river is concealed from the outside world with steep banks that go up several feet, so you really feel like you are out in the wilderness, even though there are houses all around. We saw horses drinking from the water, and a crane eating a fish. One large crane was sitting on the bank and did not want us to pass him, so just as we would get close to him, he would fly a little further up from us. He did this for about a half hour.

It was a fun trip, but about an hour too long. The last leg was hard. We were tired, the current was not very strong the last bend and we were having to really paddle. If I were to do it all over again, I would take the 3 hour trip instead of the 4 hour trip (the canoe rental place also offers a 6 hour trip. (I don;t think I could do that one)

Looking forward to doing it again and I can now recommend the trip the family at the reunion.

Little achey today tho. Wheres the Tylenol?

Let me out of this ditch

I am so glad that this is the last week of school. I am looking forward to some peace and quite.
Cheer - is still being a problem. She thinks that rules don't seem to apply to her.

She has this girl friend. I found out that her parents are separated and she seems to be one of the breadwinners for the family. She is 18 and has a job, but she seems to try to pull on everyone's heartstrings, including Cheers. She told her that she did not have money for gas and was going to loose her job. So Cheer (lost some brain cells) and let her use her ATM/credit card to put gas in her car. The girl went crazy and pretty much cleaned out her bank account.

I found this out, because I insisted that Cheer go on line with the bank and show me why she could not pay her car insurance, that is past due. I am so tire of reminding everyone in this family about their obligations. Every time I see one of my children, I have to remind one of them about what payment they have to make - car, insurance, phone.

I am the kind of person that likes to be in control of situations, but enough is enough.

Anyway, Cheer is now in even more trouble, and she doesn't seem to think that she did anything wrong. She said, she gave the girl permission to use her card, and the girl is going to pay her back this weekend. - Yea Right.....

I am just beside myself. She has to have her job, she has so many obligations - that she has gotten herself into, that I can;t insist that she quit her job.

I was so mad, that I could not sleep - 2:00 am close my eyes - 6:00 am, back up for the day.

I am headed for the Coffee pot.....

The trench got deeper

Last week was a really hard week. Things are busy at work, trying to close out the month.
D-Dad, was diagnosed with Diabetes and we are going to have to change our lifestyle - no more "hot-wing Tuesdays" :(

Cheer - really attempted to go wild.
On Saturday before Mothers Day - She decided that she wanted to have a Party. She did not come home, and really upset things.
So she was grounded, got her car taken away, and was not able to see her friends for 2 weeks. and then she was to be on probation for another 2 weeks, meaning - using her car on an as needed basis.

(Punishing her is actually punishing everyone in the house. She lets everyone know how unhappy she is. We have to take her to and from her job. Meaning someone has to alter their schedule.

Here is how the week went:

Monday. She missed the bus (on purpose) and then took her car to school. with a key that she had made

Tuesday - she scheduled some Friend time, into her work schedule and told me that she had to stay over at work. She came in at MIDNIGHT - ON A SCHOOL NIGHT. Of course that means that I did not get to bed at a decent hour that night.

Wednesday - She got a call from a friend who was upset. They both went to the mall, when I thought that she was at work. We found this out from the POLICE OFFICER - THAT CAME TO THE DOOR. (Her friends parents reported her missing) - really long story - Lets just say both Girls are now doubly in trouble.

Cheer got another two weeks added to her grounding. The loss of her Cell phone for a week,a nd some lectures. (Every time I see her I can't help but remind her.)

And a very stern warning that the next violation will result in more time grounded.

I hope that I don't have to do that, but I am prepared to if I need to.

Mothers Day, and the night before

Wow, what a Mothers day. I didn't really get to enjoy it all the way, because I was dealing with Cheer and her wild night out.

It all started on Saturday, Cheer left her My space messages logged on, and because I am an Mom, I looked (I know it is like looking in her Diary, but sometimes, you just gotta) I am glad that I did, because she had all these schemes planned. She went to a boy's house that I don't know, along with one of her girl friends, and another friend. They told me they were going to a movie.
The actually went to a party. The whole night, I paced the floor, called her repeatedly and did everything I could to get her to come home to no avail. I probably should have tried to find out where she was and gone and picked her up, but I was too mad and It was very late. I did not get to sleep until after 1:00 am, then, I woke up at 3:00 and 4:00 am to check to see if she was home and then back up at 9:00 to go to Church with MIL.

I ended up calling and leaving a tearfull message on her cell phone. She called back and said she was sorry and was coming home at 3:00 PM. She felt bad, but it did not change the fact that she dis-obeyed and did somethings that I am very disapointed in.

I just got one Teen over his terrible teens, and now I am having to do it again. For now, Cheer is grounded for 2 weeks from her friends and the next time she sees the "boyfriend" it will be here.

D-man was a real dream on Mothers day. He stayed around, which is a feat for a 22 Year Old. He consoled me because he knew I was upset about Cheer, and he even barbqued steaks on the Grill. The even turned out really good. I am so proud of him, he has gone from a really depressed and withdrawn person, to a bright and caring young man. I knew he could do it. Some of his unwise choices in his life, were sucking he life out of him, I think that he can see that now, but while he was in the middle of the mess, he was not aware of it.

F-man was the most thoughtful young man on Mothers day. He had to work and because I went to Church, I did not see him until after 10:00 PM when he got home. He came in with a beautiful little vase of flowers and a really touching card. It said that I was truly his MOM. I was really touched. Thank you F-man, you really made my Mothers day.

I also visited my Mother and Dad at thier weekend hang out. I took Mom some new earrings and a minature rose plant that she can plant in the yard. I hope she does. They make the pretiest little bushes, full of roses when they grow up.

Dad made a crawfish boil and everyone enjoyed the wonderful food. He loves cooking for everyone.

Theyre always talking, but not to me.

I am so frustrated with Cheer these days. I know it is just because she is growing up before my eyes, and I guess I am just not ready for it. I feel like she is not being responsible. She has been spending time with her new best friend, BB. BB is out of school, has her own car, loves to go see her many friends and is draging Cheer with her. I have had several run in's about Cheer being late for Curfew. I have called her on her Cell and she ignores. I know that I am just wanting to keep my kids at home with me, that way I know they are safe. It is so hard to let go.

F-man is kind of doing his own thing and D-man has done his own thing for quite some time.
F-man needs to abide by the rules just a tad more. He seems to be in his own little world a little. He goes to his friends house and does not come home until it is bedtime. I know I agreed to let him stay and he is just making up for lost time, because he is experiencing freedoms that he has not had before, but I am not seeing a lot of progress. He has not really saved any money, even though I have not seen him bring home any purchase and he knows that I want him to get his own car. I finally asked him where all of his money is going, and he said that he spent it and that his friends needed to borrow some. I put my foot down and told him that I wanted to see him put his money in the bank and not to spend any more, unless it is on himself, for clothes or something.

Tonight we are going to have to sit down and have a discussion with both of them. F-man need to be up front about where he is going, and when he will be home.

I need to let Cheer go a little more, I know she is just being a typical teen, but now I understand what my Mom went thru when I told her that I was moving out when I was 20. (I know that seems old to some, but I was a very shy and sheltered kid.) At 20, I probably had the maturity of someone several years younger. My mom, seemed very upset and I seemed determined to get out. I don't regret moving out. I had my own little apartment and my own friends and I felt like I could not entertain in my tiny little bedroom with my twin bed. I was working full time. I did not make much, but I found a room-mate and we took out on our own. It was great. We had get togethers, and I never looked back but now I understand why my Mom was upset.
I did not really get her up to speed, I just came home one day and said, I am going.
I blindsided her.

Kids don't always know what is best, and they don't always act responsibly. I checks Cheer's my space and she puts on there how much fun she is having, and sometimes says how irresponsible they are being. Like driving too fast. I have to practically hold my self down to not go and get her keys, her cell, and lock her in her room.

OK. Rant is over. I do want my Daughter to have friends, to be making fun memories and so that is why, I don't just lock her in her room and not let her have experiences. I just have to pray really hard that she comes thru her teen years alive and well. And she is not going to be a junior in High school for 3 more years because she is having to much fun and not being a good enough student.

Two getting better, One getting badder

I know that Badder is not a word, but it is the best way to describe "Cheer". I need to changer her name from Cheer, cause lately she has not been so Cheery. I think Sneakey is more of a fit these days. But first the better. D-man and F-man are both doing really good. D-man is getting up and going to work all on his own. He seems to be more open and smiles a lot more. I believe that he is trying to avoid those temptations that he has a problem with and that altered his mood and his thinking. D-man, I am very proud of you.

F-man has had so many obstacles in his life. He is withdrawn and does not interact very well. But I do see a beautiful smile, and he is starting to open up to us some. He is spending time with his friend and playing his guitar and spending time with his friends. Cheers car broke down and he helped her repair it. I told him about a car that he might be able to purchase, it is old and needs some work, but he was really excited about it. I don't know about getting the car, it might be too much work to fix it up. But we will see. F-man, I am proud of you.

Now the Bad girl. She is not participating in school like she should. It look like it is going to be summer school, so that she can start her senior year on track. She is spending too much time on her computer and not enough time on school work. She has got some new friends, she hasn't brought them home to meet me. She almost always has shared her friends with me, and now she seems reluctant to let me know. She stays up and out to late. I am not happy about that. I try to put a reign on it, but because she works some evenings, and has to have a job to pay for her car insurance and expenses, she has an easy out. She just says that she is at work. I think that I can trust her, but not being very close to her friends, I don;t know if I can trust them.

I think that I am missing more sleep now with her, than I did when she was a baby. I just hope that she gets out of this stage soon, or I can learn to let her go a little more.

Parent hood = Sleep deprived, frustrated and worried. Does it every end.

Quilting round robin

Every 6 weeks or so, I have a quilt meeting/sewing day with my quilt buddies. We are currently doing a round robin of quilt borders. I will post the pictures here once they are done.
There are five or six of us participating. We all started with a 12 inch square. Mine is an applique of pool balls. It is in burgundy, green and white. Those are classic colors for a pool room. I am planning to hang it in my game room once it is finished.

I won't get to see it until it is finished.
So far, I have worked on a japanese style quilt
and a christmas quilt. I won't reveal anything just in case my friends are reading this.
(I would not want to spoil the suprise.)
My next one to work on is a really pretty peach, pink and celery green quilt. I like the colors, I am really going to be challenged with this one.

I am also working on a quilt top for a Family reunion in September. I am not even half way done. I need to really get busy with it, or I will never finish it. It is red white and blue and has a Texas theme.

Welcome new Employee

Today I recieved a beautiful plant from my Boss at work. It was to welcome me as a new employee. It is a basket with lots of green plants (I sure that my black thumb will not take too long to make it really sick) and some beautiful minature roses. I want to transplant them at some point. They do really well in the yard and you don't have to cut them back like you do big rose bushes. It was nice to be recongnized at work. Everyone has come by and said welcome.
I have been here for 3 months, but the first 3 months you are not considered an employee, you are a temp to hire. In that time, I missed being included in company events.

I missed going to a professional Hockey Game and the annual company meeting. I can't say that I am dissapointed in either of those two events.

The company takes thier employee's on a trip every year in November or December. You have to be at the company for a year before you get to go. I will have just missed it by a few weeks. It will be hard to come into work everyday, when I know they are all off having fun in Mexico. Next year, Hawaii, Woo-Hoo. Can't wait.

Last Night, D-Dad and I had our date night. It was nice. We went out to eat and afterwards went and had Ice Cream at a place that was way overpriced. I did not even like the Ice cream all that much. Two small ice creams in waffle cones - $9.82 Never again.....

Live and Learn. Should have left when we saw the prices, but we were the only customers in the place and felt like it would be to embarassing. Pride cometh before a fall.

The puppy saga

Just a few days ago, my Daugher (Cheer) found a little puppy wandering the street in the dark. She brought the preciouse little thing inside and said. Mommy - (she always uses "Mommy" when she is trying to get her way) I said no.no.no the puppy goes back. She said, I don't know where she came from. If I leave her out there, she is going to get hit by a car. So little miss precious came in. I insisted that she stay outside, that was hard for me to say, because I tend to treat my pets like humans. We already have 3 dogs and they are Inside dogs for the most part. They go out to eat and pottie, but then right back in. I just couldn't committ to another one and if I let her inside, I knew that I would become too attached. She stayed out all night and she cried. I had to turn the radio on to block the noise. It was really pathetic. I thought about her all the next day at work. What were we going to do? I couldn't keep her, but I did not want to take her to the pound. They do not take them when they are too small (puppies). I did not want her to be killed. So I got myself worked up to keeping her. I drove home and thought about what to name her and how she would fit into my already full life.

When I arrived home, I stepped into the back yard and called for her. Precious, here Precious.

She was no where to be found. I walked all over the backyard, looking and calling for her. She was not there. Our house is on the corner of two streets. our back yard has a chain link fence and is visible from the side street. Someone came to the gate, and pried it open and took little Precious. I hope that it was her owner. Now I am worried that we have a puppy thief in the neighborhood. The puppy thief messed up the fence when they tried to open it and now I am afraid that we are going to have problems with "max" my Jack Russell Terrier escaping. He loves to peruse the neighborhood any time he gets a chance. You can't catch him, he runs around the block, checks out the other dogs and then comes back home.

A little message to the Puppy snatcher
I would have let you have your puppy back, if you had come to the door. I was only trying to keep her safe. She should have had a collar on. Then I could have found you and you would not have had to worry about her or mess up my gate.
Thanks a lot.

Hump Days are bad

I can tell it is going to be a bad day, when it is Hump Day.
Last night Cheer found a little puppy roaming the streets. She was small and looked well fed, so we did not want her to get hit by a car (we live on a fairly busy corner). We put her in the back yard and she howled all night. So I did not sleep much. (She has to go, as cute as she is, we already have 3 dogs and I can't take in anything else right now)

Anyway, I am just starting a new job. I was a temp and was hired as a permant person on Monday. There is one person in this medium size office who is not a happy person, he does not talk much and the only things he has said to me were very negative. I have tried to please him, and wouldn't you know that told me that I have to assist him when he needs me to. The only words he speaks are when he needs something, and then I usually do not do it to his satisfaction.
I have tried to say good morning to him, or smile when he is coming toward me in the hallway. He usually looks the other way.

I printed out a binder full of reports for him last week. I made a few mistakes. Rather than asking me politely to correct my errors. (it was my first time to print these reports) He came in and angrily chastised me and said that "it was not his job to review the printout, have I made myself clear" and then left the binder on my desk and walked out. Not so much of a thank you, sorry but or nothing.

Wep - it a hump day. The worst day of the week. Oh well, just smile and correct your mistakes and know that you are doing the best you can. Maybe next time, I will not make a mistake and he will think more of me.

I love my Job, I love my Job, I love my Job...... :)

a new beginning for F-boy

I have been really enjoying the post of so many others that I thought that I might have something to say, so here goes.
I am a 40 something Wife and Mother of 2. One 17 and one 22, and recently we have added another teen (18) to our brood. Not really by choice. It seems, my 17 year old (Cheer) brought home a wounded puppy. She seems to alway connect to the lost and helpless and we bring them under our wing for a time, make them better and then let them fly the coup....

Cheer has started to spread her wing a little, sometimes to my dismay, This time it had a little bit of a devastating consequence for her good friend F-boy. F-boy wanted to see a concert of his favorite band, and my loving Daughter, offered to drive him, because F-boy does not own a car and can not drive. F-boys parents (according to F-boy) were not kind to him and he knew they would not let him go. So he told them that he was working and the group took off for the concert in Cheers car. Some garage band, that I could not even begin to know. Cheer did not exactly tell me the whole truth either. Not because I would not have let her gone (it was a school night), but She is still a little of a new driver and I would not have let her drive on the freeway way across town late at night with three other people (teens) in her car.

I found out because my 22 year old son,(D-boy) asked me if I knew that she went to a concert. My Husband (D-Dad) knew and did not tell me either. He said that he figured that I knew. (He is not the best communicator in this world, unless you are talking about some battle in a computer game, or some political topic. Then he does not stop talking. But that is another story.

Anyway, when I found out that they were at a concert, I let my fingers do the talking and dialed the cell until she answered. I tried to be as calm as a trembling - angry Mom can be. I had to get her home still. She called me back after the Concert was over and I scolded her a little. Then she told me she was lost. I am the worlds worst direction giver, so she is lucky she got home at all, but they finally made it at 1:00 A.M. I was fit to be tied.

Then I find out that after they went to the Concert, F-boys Mother (Foster/Adopted Mother, left him a message on my Daughters phone, saying the F-boy was not welcome back and she was withdrawing him from School and he was "Our Problem now"

And sure enough, She did everything that she said she would. That was almost 2 weeks ago and he is sleeping on the Couch, or in D-boys room, when he is out. We are trying our best to figure out this situation, but I am afraid that F-boy will be our son from now on. He is a good boy. He is quiet and does not talk much. I think that is foster/adopted parents were not really good parents to him. He came to us with few belongings, and little else. He was put into Foster care at 8 along with a brother that is 2 years older. His older Brother has since joined the Armed forces and F-boy does not know how to get into touch with him, not like he could do much about F-boys situation anyway.

F-boy, re-registered himself into school and the school listed him as homeless.

For now we are coping. D-Dad is not very happy, but has humored me for now with the situation. We have told F-boy that he can stay for now, but any problems and he will have to find another place to go. Just where is an barely 18 year old boy, with no know family suposed to go? He has a part time job, can't drive and no Drivers License. We live in a city with no mass Transportation, so he would have to walk where ever he went.

We are just planning to take it a day at a time and see where we end up. I picture myself down the road with a house full of grand kids, both mine and my new adopted sons.
F-boy, I am not going to kick you to the curb, like the rest have done. You deserve a good life and I will do my best with the Lords help.

MOM