Hey friends! I just wanted to let you all know I'm around, just busy busy. Or sick, or tired. LOL. All this stuff with Jackson is just running me into the ground. A little update: He switched schoools, and is now at another elementary school where they have a more indepth sensory and social program. He started Monday, and seems to be doing okay, but then again he's only been there 2 days. I'll keep you posted on his progress. We have an appointment with a child neuro psychiatrist next month for an indepth evaluation, and we'll know more then. The school district is picking up the tab, so I'm incredibly thankful.
Anywho, I hope everyone is well. Kae, you're battling some sickness? I hope you are well soon.
Moore, anything new with the doll club lately?
Shelly, how are those little ones in the belly? And I read the email from your ministers wife. Blech. I would be more than annoyed.
Holy crap, Jess. Please, please please keep us posted on Floyd and the kids. I must admit I haven't read the other threads in depth, so I'm missing what's going on. If there's anything we can do to help, I'm sure all of us are willing and ready to get information, be a support, etc. etc.
And now, to welcome Sundancer. So nice to see a new face around here! Thanks for telling us about yourself, and a little about me: I'm a singe mom in Wyoming, and have been here with these chicks since the beginning. I love them all, and if you ever need anything, throw me a note! I work in the dreaded insurance industry, which I switched to after being a political reporter for some time in Arkansas/Texas. Big switch, yes. LOL.
Anywho, love you all! I'll be better about stopping in every day. I miss you guys when I stay away for longer periods of time.
Okay, I went and read up on the divorce with Floyd. Jess, again I reiterate, please keep us posted. I will be thinking nothing but good thoughts for you.
Kae, I hope you are able to reduce the stress a little. What you went through sounds pretty damn scary. I will be thinking good thoughts for you too.
That's good news about Jackson's switch to another school, and also that they're picking up the cost of his tests. I'll keep my fingers crossed that the tests will provide you with some useful information.
Poor KaeEll has been burning her candle at both ends, and it's caught up with her. She needs to stretch out with her soaps turned on, a stack of magazines, a box of bon-bons nearby, and a glass of Chardonnay to sip when she's thirsty from all the chocolate!
And take the blasted phone off the hook!!
Shelly's babies are growing nicely, by all accounts, and she's doing well. YAY! We should all start posting in pink... (You too Brandon!)
Sundancer is getting to know all of us, and has bravely jumped into the fray.
My doll club met last Wednesday, and we had a good time. Nothing interesting to you guys, though. LOL. Our next exhibit is in April, so I'm going to have to start stitching again. I'm also taking a one-day class this Saturday, but it's not WAY up in Maryland this time. It's in Maryland, but not way up...
My only other news is sad, and that's to report the death of a childhood friend, last Thursday. She was my next-door-neighbor, and someone I've known since I was 3-1/2 years old. She'd spent the last two years battling colon cancer, and finally lost her fight. Because she and her husband live in Ohio, I hadn't been in close touch with her on a regular basis, so when her husband called me to give me an "update" on her "condition", I was shocked. I hadn't even known that she was going through this. She passed away two days later. Debbie and Dick had been down her several years ago, and we met for dinner in Old Town Alexandria. I can't begin to tell you how much fun we had that night, or how hard we laughed. They both looked great. I'm very grateful to have had that evening because it was the last time I saw her.
__________________
"It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities"
(Dumbledore to Harry Potter)
your And now, to welcome Sundancer. So nice to see a new face around here! Thanks for telling us about yourself, and a little about me: I'm a singe mom in Wyoming, and have been here with these chicks since the beginning. I love them all, and if you ever need anything, throw me a note! I work in the dreaded insurance industry, which I switched to after being a political reporter for some time in Arkansas/Texas. Big switch, yes. LOL.
Thanks for the welcome, Jojolin! Nice to meet you. How many children do you have?
OH Moore. I'm sorry to hear about your friend. Seems as though bad stuff is hitting everyone every where. Before he went all off the hook crazy and stuff, Floyd's aunt was knocking on death's door. I hated to hear it and still do. She's a good person and I think if she were around she could possibly talk some sense into Floyd.
I didn't hear anything from my lawyer today. We are working on getting the op hearing moved forward and setting up a mediation.
Jojo, I am most definitely happy to hear that you are still alive. I hope that the new school works out well for Jackson. Please do keep us informed on how it all moves forward.
Moore I am so sad to hear about your friend, but at the same time very happy that you were able to have that time together before you lost her.
The babies are in fact doing well, I have another OB appointment tomorrow and will get to hear the little heartbeats. Its currently my favorite thing to do
Sundancer, Debbie and Dick lived in a small little town in Northern Ohio called New London. Debbie was an only child, but Dick has lots of family up there which is why they chose to make that their home. I'm very grateful that he has loved ones around him now, and that Debbie found herself such a nice husband. They didn't have any children, but did have a wonderful life together.
My husband and I live in Alexandria, VA, but I grew up in Arlington, VA. Debbie was not quite two years older than me, and I met her the very first day my family moved into the house I grew up in. We had followed the moving van from our other house, across town, and when we finally arrived at the one my parents had had built, the first thing I noticed was a little girl playing next door, in her back yard. While my parents and older sister (by twelve years) supervised the unloading of furniture and boxes, I lurked at the edge of our property. It was April.
Debbie was five-1/2 years old (I was three-1/2), and she was sitting in a large box. We eyed each other for a few minutes, and then she invited me over. I climbed into the box with her, and we spent the next couple of hours (or at least it felt that long to two young children) tipping the box over by hurling ourselves in unison against the front of it, crawling out, righting the box again, climbing back in, and repeating the process. Naturally, we thought that this was hilariously funny each time we did it! Debbie's mother watched us the entire time from her kitchen window...
I have many memories of our childhood together. She was one of many close friends I had growing up, and her parents were among the multitude of wonderful neighbors we had there.
Thank you everyone for your kind comments. I'm still trying to process her loss, but I'm the keeper of our memories now, for both of us...
__________________
"It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities"
(Dumbledore to Harry Potter)
Aww, thank you for sharing that story. Those kinds of childhood memories are seriously the best that exist. That's one thing I am sad for my kids about is that they will have friends scattered because of the military. Her first little girl friend she met in Maryland, and now in CT she has a couple that she just loves, and who, sadly are moving in April. She will be like me one day and will have to talk with her buddies through the internet.
Shelly, my husband was a "military brat", and there are certainly pros and cons. He didn't have the childhood continuity that I did, nor did he make as many close friends. On the other hand, he lived a lot of places he liked (others...not so much), including Germany and Nebraska. The other problem is changing school districts so often, and that can mean being way ahead of others one year, and way behind the next. It'll be your challenge, as a parent, to make sure that all three of your children get some "extras" at home, when it comes to education. Work on their vocabulary, spelling, reading skills, and math with them, and keep a close eye on what their school curriculum is, wherever you are. By the time Jim graduated from high school, he'd been in something like thirteen different schools! Crazy...
And speaking of Ohio, Jim lived there briefly too. It was during a time when they'd already moved a lot, and he apparently despised both his school and Ohio itself because he has almost no memory of living there. No names. No faces. No friends... Just that he hated it! He's essentially blanked out the entire experience, although bits and pieces will occasionally surface.
__________________
"It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities"
(Dumbledore to Harry Potter)
Oh, Moore, I'm so sorry to hear of your childhood friend's death. Many warm thoughts and fuzzies for you and her family. Sounds like you have some very nice memories of her.
Sundancer, I only have 1 child, and that's plenty for me. He's a special needs child, as a result of a traumatic brain injury he suffered at only 7 months old at the hands of my ex-fiance. That ex-fiance only spent about 3.5 years in prison for what he did, and I'm still angry about it. But at any rate, Jackson, or Jack as I sometimes refer to him, is the light of my life. And you can call me Jojo, Jojolin, whatever you like. My real name is Jodi, and you can call me that too if you like.
Jess, Does Flloyd still have the kids? I would be losing my mind right now.
Shelly, I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED hearing the heartbeats. And you get to hear 2 at once! So precious!
So happy that things are going well Shelly!!! I loved hearing the lil heartbeat when I was pregnant. Floyd still has the kids jojo. My gram is going to come up here and stay with me for a while to help keep me from losing my mind.
I am sitting and waiting patiently by the phone for word from my lawyer each day. I have faith in him though. I am doing everything I can to not feel hatred and anger right now. It's very hard though.
Jessica, our hearts go out to you. I cannot even begin to imagine going through this, and would also be having a very difficult time holding it all together. I'm so sorry...
I know that this will be resolved eventually, but in the meantime, it has to be tough! Hang in there, and keep us posted.
__________________
"It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities"
(Dumbledore to Harry Potter)
Uggh. I'm angry FOR you. I'm angry sitting here right now, thinking about that douche taking those babies from you. It's driving me insane, so I can only imagine what you are going through.
You guys I had the best dream tonight. I was on the beach with my babies relaxing doing a whole lotta nothing. They were making sandcastles, Cody was splashing in a crystal clear ocean and it was just total peace. It actually made me feel pretty good.
So I remember when Katie Holmes was pregnant and Tom bought her that machine where she could hear the heart beats, I think he bought her the actual ultra sound machine too. I thought he was nuts. But it would be nice to just randomly be able to hear the heartbeats. I get paranoid when they don't move so much.
Jojo, good news about Jack's new school and the new doctor appointment. Hope means everything, non? Best of luck to you and the guy. You deserve the best of it all. And please, Jo. take care of your health first and foremost. I just had a MAJOR wake-up call in that department. See your doctor, get some meds, and if available, a stress-management programme.
Jess, to you, good luck as well. Where is Floyd anyway? Is he with his family and is that where your kids are too? Is he taking Bethany to school and picking her up each day? Do the children have excellent day care when he is (presumably) at work? Doesn't the law have a thing or two to say about this kind of child-napping? Like Jojo, I'm furious FOR you. Outrageous.
Moore, so sorry about the friend's passing. Like taxes, huh? It's a full time job avoiding the one while making sure to acquiesce to the other. *sigh* Life is hard sometimes.
Shelly, I wish you could send us all here the sound of the babies hearts. Two new little girls on the way to join us all here. It's a mind-boggling miracle.
HE is staying at a friend's house. This particular friend has supervised visitation of his own children. He is not taking her to any kind of day care of school. They stay at home with Dave's wife during the day. I know exactly where he is staying too.
Thanks Kae...and I will take your advice. I am so stressed and running myself into the ground, that I'm shocked something major hasn't happened to me yet.
Jo, try some good stress tabs. I'll get a name for you later, make a call to my fave health store.
The ones I used are made by Quest, are all the B vitamins plus 1000 units of vitamin C. But they're big, so if you can manage to find some that don't expect you to swallow a huge tablet, all the better. Better to take three small ones rather than one huge one, eh? *GAG*
Kae, would that help for anxiety as well. I've just been nervous constantly lately and I think I've had a few anxiety attacks. They are kinda scary and they hit at just about any moment. My family wants me to see a doctor for it, but I don't like taking pills.
Jess, use Bach's Rescue Remedy. You can not overdose. The second you feel anxiety coming, drop three or four droplets from the bottle into your mouth. Repeat when needed. It takes the edge off. Be sure it is BACH's and not some knock-off. It's about $15 a bottle and that ought to last you a good few months.
If you are sitting around feeling tense, you can pour yourself a tall glass of water and put some Bach's in there, sip away. I prefer to put it right onto my tongue, but you can experiment with it.
I am NEVER without Bach's Rescue Remedy. I keep in my purse and at home. I have given it to every girlfriend and their daughters. One friend who has lived through a real hell with her kids has sworn it saved her life. It's a gentle but effective thing. Good luck, Jess.
I have never used the Bach's stuff before, but I can attest that the milk thistle works really well. I have a hard time finding these things because we don't have one of those health food stores here. I miss the west where there is a Whole Foods everywhere.
Shelly, I wish I could mail you some of the things, but the customs people have gone a little whacko lately and most of it would be confiscated. Silly, but the case. When you're up in VB you should be able to access good health stores there and load up.
Anyway, it's sunny but freezing - 16C today, a full 25 degree drop from yesterday. Geez. I have the laundry in and will take a nice long shower as soon as the hot water comes back. I can't do too much without getting really short of breath but at least I'm not completely useless as I was all last week.
Is anybody watching AI this season? Ted loves it, so we're glued twice a week. lol. He has his papers all sorted out with the names and stats for each contestant and the results of the elimination round. Amuses me to no end. This from a guy who calculates serious stuff for a living.
Well at the moment I can't take any of that good stuff anyways. Not without being paranoid about babies. Thanks though. I hold you up to it though when the babies come out because I will be starting on the Milk Thistle again and its hard to find it in liquid form.
I don't watch AI either. I tend to watch those initial auditions where people just embarrass themselves but that is about it. Not much else.
Am excited for the next Dancing show, as well as the next Apprentice.
