KG's Hideaway

5-29-05 5:41pm

Had a lovely day so far. Ryan had a game again this morning (they won) but she only played "so-so". She's got the championship game tonight at 7:40. But this morning, after her game, we went out for lunch then to Target for a little bit of therapy. In a surprise move, Craig took the award for "Most Therapeutic" by filling the cart with items of his own choosing. I was so caught off guard that I didn't recognize my opportunity to capitalize and only bought two items for myself (*sigh*)

Lucky for me, Craig is golfing tomorrow so I'll get plenty of therapy laying in bed. I plan on staying there pretty much all day getting caught up on my reading. Of course, when I mentioned my plans to Craig, he raised his eyebrows suggestively and said he'd look forward to joining me there when he gets home. Oh PUH-LEASE. I can't have him getting his hopes up so I went ahead and told him it "ain't happenin" so let it go. He muttered something like, "Yeah, yeah... that's a surprise" as he slumped his shoulders and lumbered off to do some manly thing, like scratching his crotch. Blech.

So anyway, tomorrow is going to be great for me. No cooking. No cleaning. No nuthin'... oh who am I kidding? That's pretty much every day for me! LOL

Alright, I've got to go watch the race. Lots of good stuff happening right now... like the race track peeling up and attacking Jeff Gordon's car! It doesn't get ANY better than that!! hahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa kdgr

Posted by at 5:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

5-27-05 2:33pm

OMG I have had the BEST day! That might not sound like a big deal to anyone, but if you know what happened to me YESTERday, you'd understand. So here goes;

I didn't go to my usual hair dresser yesterday because I wanted to try and save a little cash, especially in light of all the work I was having done. So I tell this girl what I want and I pointed out that I wanted to make sure that the highlights didn't have any gold/yellow in them and that the lowlights didn't get an orange tint (I went to cosmetology school, so I know what I want and how to get it). I also told her that I wanted it to be accomplished WITHOUT using a toner because my hair naturally has an "ash" tint (green) to it that I DESPISE. So she tries to talk me into a toner at which time I got pissed off and told that it wasn't her job to try and change my mind... if you can't do it, fine. Just say so and I'll go. So she agreed to what I wanted and got started. To say this girl was slow would be too kind, and I don't think the English language has a word to describe it.

So I kept checking my own foils to see the color changes. She finally rinses my hair and and as she was combing it out I notice that I can still see the line of demarkation from where my LAST highlights were done. She had woven the strands too lightly so there wasn't enough to cover the new growth, and I asked her to let me see the comb so I could check different areas of my head. HOLY FUCKING SHIT. My hair started breaking off and clumping. I came un-FUCKING-glued. I've been getting my hair highlighted for over 8 years and not one single time have I EVER had trouble. I chewed her ass out, dropping more "F" bombs than I think I've ever done and stormed out. The tears started flowing the minute I started my truck and I cried all the way home.

So I get home and though I won't go into detail at this time, suffice it to say that there was yet another crisis with Kyra and another bonehead decision. Anyway.

So I called my regular hairdresser (also named Kristi) and told her what happened and she worked me in for this morning. She went in and re-did the low lights AND the highlights, then gave me a protein treatment and deep conditioner, then cut and styled it. I didn't get a look at it until she was completely done... and I was terrified. Especially since NO ONE in that salon (including my daughter) said a single word about my hair the entire time I was there. I was expecting my hair to be just "ok" after what happened yesterday but when she turned me around to face the mirror I almost screamed! I LOVE my hair! This is the best it's ever looked. She only charged me a total of $90, so that was even better.
Here is what it looks like now. The darker part underneath is there on purpose... it's how I like it. In the pics it sort of looks like there is orange and yellow in it, but the colors are perfect. At least they are IMHO.

View image

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Then Ryan and I went and got our nails done. I got a new set of pink and whites while Ryan just got a french manicure. I got my eyebrows waxed, then I was ready to shop! We went to Old Navy and had a ball. They've got the CUTEST flipflops, and they're all on sale. I bought myself two pair of the high heeled pair (wedge heel, SO cute!) and Ryan got a couple of them plus a few regular ones. I bought Craig and Austin some clothes, too... but who cares about that stuff. lol Anyway, after that Ryan and I went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch then we headed home so that we can be lazy fools until it's time to make dinner. On the menu tonight... beef enchiladas. I'm hungry already!

ALright, nap time! Ciao kdgr

Posted by at 3:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

5-25-05 5:52pm

I'm in a decidedly better mood. Probably due, in some part, from my relaxing pedicure. My toenails are now a lovely shade of blood red again (that's the only color I EVER have on them. I love ALL things red, including my cars and trucks! Love it!)

The cats seem MOSTLY recovered from their traumatic day. The vet was concerned that they might have some type of intestinal parasite because they both have had diarrhea, but the gray tabby has it far worse than the tortoise shell. She's also considerably smaller. Trixie, the tortoise shell, weighed 5 lbs 11 oz while the gray tabby weighed only 4lbs 12 oz. So the vet sticks this HUGE thing in their booty. It looks like a GINORMOUS needle. HUGE. The kittens both went ape shit and jumped off the counter into their little travel carrier. When we got them home, their assholes were STILL red! Poor things. The vet said that neither of them showed signs of having parasites but something about it just wasn't right, very suspicious so she recommended we de-worm them just in case, so we did. (It was only $10) Trinket, the tabby, had a HUGE bacterial infection in her intestine so they sent home some meds for them, plus some little pill popper thing to save our fingers when we DO give the meds. Here is a nice little picture of them curled up on a quilt last night. AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
aren't they CUTE? Trixie is the tortoise shell and Tinket is the tabby.

Craig is taking Ryan to practice. The good news is that he "heard" what I had to say and said a few things I needed to hear. I'm not ready to forget it, but I'm ready to let it go and not walk around carrying a chip on my shoulder over it.

I've already taken my shower and have my "trauma pajama's" on so throw in a little comfort food and I've got the making of the perfect pity party. I've even got one of my "dirty books" (as Craig calls my novels) to tide me over during the boring part of the shows. What the HELL is going to be going on during American Odol for TWO HOURS??? Good GOD...

I called and made the appointment to get my highlights done tomorrow. The price went up AGAIN... wtf? It's now $135 to get two colors of highlights, and have the darker color put on the underneath part of my hair (creates depth). You don't really notice it unless they lightly layer the bottom of your hair, and then the darker pieces show through the pieces blonde at times. I prefer this look... Anyway, that cost also includes getting a cut and style. I usually buy two or three different styling products when I'm in the salon so I rarely walk out of their for under $160. Now, it'll be $175! At this rate, I may just quit trying to hide the gray. Oh no I won't... forget I said that.

American Idol has started and Constantine Maroulis just makes me physically ill. He's so impressed with himself that there is NO ROOM for anyone else to be impressed with him. Gross (when I say "Gross" here, you need to hear Napoleon Dynamite say it! Gross!!)

Alright, time to go get comfy between the sheets and give the dogs some attention today. ciao kdgr

Posted by at 6:08 PM | Permalink

5-25-05 1:21pm

And so it continues...

Craig took off work this morning to go to Kyra's thing at the school. He pretty much showed he's incapable of standing behind his own words by doing so. He told her that as long as she wasn't being a part of "OUR" lives, we weren't going to be apart of hers. So I guess he's made his decision, then.

On a more cheerful front... today would have been my 20th wedding anniversary with Marshall. 20 fucking years. God, what the hell was I ever thinking? I married him the weekend after my highschool graduation like a fucking idiot. That divorce was the smartest thing I ever did for myself, and it's starting to look like I'll be doing it again. Seeing as how it was only 3 or 4 days ago I was just talking about how good my life with Craig is, it seems hard to even imagine but that doesn't make it any less real.

I haven't gone to get my nails done, or my highlights yet. If I didn't have to take the kittens in to the vet I'd probably just stay in my pajamas. The doctor put me back on Xanax yesterday, and that seemed to help me control the panic attacks and, thereby control some of my anger. I've had panic attacks since I was 19 for the most part I can control them. But when other issues crop up in my life, they can surprise me and come up full force.

I went to pick up BBQ for dinner and the people who own Cousin's BBQ have a son in Kyra's class. The owner told me that Kyra won several awards. Not surprising at all, the girl is smart... like I said. Just not smart enough to know that WASHING A SHOE BOX DOESN'R WORK!

I'm not even going to watch American Idol, Lost or Alias tonight. I'm going to bed. Hopefully, I'll sleep for a week.

The kittens are overly traumatized. They've got some sort of intestinal bacteria, but no worms (thank God!). They gave me some sort of pill popping contraption to shove that shit down their throat. With my dogs, it's real simple. Stick a pill in their mouth, hold their mouth shut and they'll swallow it. Done.

Alright, I'm hitting the shower then going to bed. Sweet dreams to me! kdgr

Posted by at 1:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

5-24-05 7:35pm

Just taking a second during a commercial break from American Idol to run in here and post real quick. I've already taken my night time meds and my eyelids are already heavy. I'm really tired.

I ran around town all day today. I spent $198.72 at Target for a few outfits for Kyra (who I'm still disgusted with) and Ryan. Nothing substantial, just some cute little summer miniskirts and tank tops... but even those 6 outfits came to only around $90.00 so I have no clue what the rest of the money was spent on. Oh well, it got me out of the house today so I didn't sit around all day thinking about how fucking pissed off I STILL am. Of course, within moments of returning here my anger started rising because, needless to say, it's same shit different day."

Tomorrow, I've got a packed day, too. I've got to get my nails done AND my highlights done plus a haircut. I didn't manage to get it done last week and I'm tired of running around looking l ike trailer trash. I swear to go, my roots are REALLY showing... it looks like I've got a fucking landing strip on top of my head. Lovely. Anyway, then I've got to take both kittens to the vet. Hmmm, tomorrow's bill will run around $300 for the vet, my hair and nails so that should be sufficient to get Craig's ass puckered up. Maybe I'll go buy myself some jewelry, too. I don't need an excuse to buy jewelry but just knowing that running out to spent $1000 bucks or so will make him grit his teeth is just the incentive I need. Whatever.

OMG Carrie Underwood's Angels Brought Me Here brought tears to my eyes. What incredible performers Bo and Carrie both are!! This has been, by far, the best year of American Idol. Wow... amazing!

I'm taking my fat ass to bed. Gnight. kdgr

Posted by at 7:48 PM | Permalink

5-23-05 7:29pm

I am SO fucking mad right now I don't even know what to say or, if I even tried to utter a coherent word, how it would sound. I'm absolutely positive that what I'm going to post about will not be popular and will even piss some people off, but I've got to get this out. I recognize that it's not popular to be THIS pissed off at a kid, but at least it's honest. Yes, I know that I could make this a "draft" instead of posting it, but what'd be the point, really.

I am angry at my husband... so fucking angry that I was ready to chuck it all and walk out. First, a bit of history for the uninformed.
We have custody of my two children and his daughter. She's 11 (almost 12) and going into the 7th grade. She is so smart, but doesn't have the sense God have gave a tree stump, I shit you not. (This is the same girl that WASHED a cardboard shoe box a few months ago. Yes, she washed it... in the bathroom sink, thereby causing a huge blockage and pissing off the whole house. Her excuse for washing it??? It was DIRTY. uhh ok) To be fair, she's kinda screwed up about all the crap between her and her mom, but she freely admits that she just doesn't want to do any of the "work" that is required to maintain even the simplest of relationships. She doesn't do a god damned thing she's told... well, it's either that or she will do EXACTLY as she is told. For example... she is told she has to be in bed by 8pm every night. She turns her light off as soon as the second hand hits the 12 to make it 8pm. She's told to eat no later than 6 if I don't cook dinner. She will make something to eat at exactly 6pm. She leaves for school at EXACTLY 7:35am. I could go on and on, but you get my point. Yes, she's obviously ocd but her counselor says there is nothing more that can be done until she decides to stop being so pigheaded. So she sits in her room staring at the walls, because we've told her that if she chooses to stay in her room instead of socializing with the family, she can't play or do anything else. So she sits there (as she puts it) "Trying to figure out why I keep doing the same thing." No matter how many times we tell her she won't figure out the answer if she hasn't in 4 FUCKING YEARS, she just keeps right on sitting. Most logical people would assume that she is miserable here... I assumed that, only to have the counselor tell us that Kyra CHOOSES to be here and WANTS to be here even though Craig told her that he just wants her to be happy and if she's not happy here we could either work on what WOULD make her happy or he'd understand if she wanted to go live with Laura even though he didn't want her to leave. Nope, she wants to stay here.

BUT... every single day it's the same thing with her. Every day. She either doesn't ask to get her shit from school signed, doesn't do her homework, doesn't BRUSH HER HAIR, doesn't take a bath, doesn't LOOK IN THE MIRROR at how nasty she looks. I mean, most girls by this age have taken a keen interest in their appearance, but not her. Last month, I shit you not, she went 5 days without a bath. Up til then, the counselor said the only way she'd learn is if she went to school that way and the kids teased her, but I couldn't let it go on any longer. I make sure she takes a bath every night (and don't you know that little shit hits the bath tub at the exact fucking same time of the god damn miserable day every time?) but I still won't pick out her clothes, force her to brush her teeth, hair.... nothing. Oh yea, the deal with her not looking at herself in the mirror came into play because I couldn't figure out HOW THE HELL SHE COULDN"T TELL THAT HER PANTS were 487 sizes TOO FUCKING SMALL. We bought her a full length mirror and I told her she is to check herself out from top to bottom every single day before she leaves the house. If she's unsure of the weather, she is to open the front door and see how warm or cool it is OR ASK, but nooooooooooooooo, can't do that.

I pretty much let it slide until the walked into the house on Friday, WHEN IT WAS ALMOST 100 DEGREES OUTSIDE... wearing a long sleeve shit. WTF? How god damn stupid is she going to ACT, or how fucking stupid am I for not being able to figure out what to do to help her. So I get frustrated at Craig for not doing anything about it. Don't get me wrong, I have no problems punishing the child. But I don't want to be the bad guy all the time and if he only gets onto her after I bitch at him, it's a moot point. Craig is not someone who typically doesn't chip in around the house. Hell, he does as much as I do (if not more) and holds down a full time job. But it pisses me off that he lets it go to avoid getting onto her, although he says it's just because he doesn't know what to try anymore. Ok, I get that but letting her get away with it will sure not make it any better.

So tonight, Craig ran Ryan up to the grocery store and while they were gone I walked into the kitchen only to see the light on in the front living room. I poked my head in the door to find her sitting in there. I asked my standard, "Have you forgotten anything tonight?" question to which she answered, "I don't think so." Oh really? Well, seeing as how I didn't cook any dinner tonight (it was an everyone for themselves night) I'm trying to figure out what she ate. So I said, "Did you eat dinner?" She said she hadn't. (Again, some history. When she was at her worst over a year and a half ago, she lost a TON of weight. This was not a child who was petite by any stretch of the imagination. Her mother would do things like, letting her eat 4 pop tarts AND a bowl of cereal for breakfast when she was visiting, or having a bowl of ice cream AND two popsicles every night. Typical "buy your kids happiness" kind of stuff, but she was a "thick" little girl. Anyway, she stopped eating almost altogether. At first the dr's said, let her eat when she's hungry and don't force her to if she's not. Well, she's downright skinny. Grossly so, if you ask me. She's got some issues with her metabolism I guess, because she has a disGUSTING body oder as well as foul breath. So she no longer has the right to choose anything about her menu.)

SO, I said... "Why didn't you eat?" She said that she didn't know what time it was. Keep in mind, that's been her excuse for everything she's done wrong in the last week. I told her to go to bed... then I heard Craig and Ryan getting out of the car so I told her to tell her dad. He came in and she started working the tears up (he buys into that shit) and said, "I didn't eat." So he asked her why, she told him she didn't know what time it was... blah, blah, blah. It dawned on me just then to ask if she'd been in the front living room all night. She said that she HADN'T. I asked her when she'd been out and she said she came out TO GO TO THE BATHROOM around 4:30. Ok here we go again. This is another example of precision. Technically, she came out of the front living room, she just didn't STAY out for more than 1 minute. I fucking LOST it. I told her she was playing games and she knew FULL FUCKING WELL what I meant.

I realized how angry I was so I just turned around (we were in my bedroom) and started opening my emails. Kyra just stared at Craig, and FINALLY he said, "What are you looking at ME for?" Kyra tells him, "Well, mom's through" and he said, "So?" I knew then what he was doing. He was pissed of that I'd interrupted him. I was ready to claw his fucking eyes out then. He just sat there, not saying a word so I told Kyra to go to bed. I then turned to Craig and told him to get out of MY bedroom. He decided to choose that moment to REFUSE, stating "It's MY room, too!" I fucking went off. I told him that I think it's WORSE than fucking pathetic that it was more important to him to make a point to me than to deal with his daughter's fucking inability to follow a single fucking rule in our fucking house on any fucking day. He said, no it's not. I said, then why is it you don't say a fucking word to her about it unless I'm already bitching at her or I'm bitching at YOU. He said that isn't true, but I can assure you it is. Then, I told him, "Get out of my room, because if you don't I WILL LEAVE THIS FUCKING HOUSE!"

So at this point, he walks into the closet to get his shoes. When I saw that I asked him where he was going. He said, "Why does it matter, you told me to leave the house so I will." Oh good try, fucktard, that isn't what I said and you know it. He said "yes it is!" Oh really? If I FUCKING told you to FUCKING leave my FUCKING house, why the FUCK would you FUCKING say, "It's MY room too?" Huh? Can you explain that shit? He knew he was busted then and just went, ironically, to the front living room.

I can't even explain how mad I am. Yes, I recognize that it can't be fun to bitch at your kid every day, but the alternative isn't to let them do whatever they want to do regardless of the rules. She knows exactly what she's doing. It's widely accepted with Kyra's teachers, counselors, family... whoever, that she is VERY manipulative and is quite aware of what she's doing, and it fucking pisses me off. I put up with so much shit in my first marriage, I will NOT do it again for an 11 year old. It pisses me off, and hurts even more, that it was more important to him to piss ME off than to punish her for breaking the rules. If the police find my husband's ball hanging from his rear view mirror tomorrow, I'll gladly confess to cutting the mother fuckers off. I've told him on more than 5 different ocassions that it hurts me when he doesn't deal with the issues with her unless I say something or he's intervening. His patented response is, I don't know what to do. I understand that, regardless of how I sound venting tonight. I'm at a loss, too. I really am, but that doesn't mean I'll allow her to trample the rules, because I have two other kids that live here and kids are like fucking sharks swimming in the water when they see a weakness in their parents. It will be total anarchy around here if I don't hold them accountable for their actions. I haven't been this mad in I don't know how long. I don't care if it hairlips the Pope, I won't continue putting up with this for much longer. I have done everything I know to do for her and she's an ungrateful little brat. They are ALL brats at some points in their lives, but she's just had an amazingly long and consistent run at it.

I feel like I just want to cry, but I can't figure out if it's just because I'm mad, hurt or what. I think some of it is guilt. I don't ever want to put Craig in a position of choosing between me and his daughter. That's awful, and if I was in that position I'd choose my kids, no matter how much I love Craig. I signed on to do what is right for my kids, not just to do what is right until it gets too hard or until xxxx. But at the same time, I love Craig and I know this isn't easy for him, so there is a part of me that wants to just do whatever it takes to make it easier on him and just letting her get by with some stuff would take care of that. But I know that won't really work. Besides all that, it's not fair to the kids who DO follow the rules. Don't get me wrong, the other two break rules, too but they don't break the same rules each time and they don't do it on a consistent basis. I mean, it's a kids JOB to push the limits to test the waters on just exactly how far they can go. But since she breaks the same rules day in and day out, she knows where the limit is... fuck.

I'm going for a walk so that I don't come home and send his "boys" through the meat grinder. Bastard! kdgr

Posted by at 8:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

5-23-05 1:01pm

I've been meaning to go lay down for a couple of hours, but one thing or the other keeps getting in my way. We've been waiting on the insurance company to cut us a check for Austin's Mazda. They totaled it out, so they're coming to get it tomorrow. We didn't get the Lexus in his name until today so he's out scooting around town in it. The insurance company is giving us more than $1300 more than we paid for it. How the hell did that happen? I mean, don't they use some mixture between the Kelly Blue Book and the average to replace a similar car in your area? I must have that REALLY wrong... or they do! Oh well, I'm not going to complain.

It seems strange that Austin didn't have to leave for school this morning. He's done with it, until September when he starts at the university. He'll turn 18 only a week before his freshman year of college starts, and I really worry about whether or not I've taught him enough to be well equipped to go out into society. That scares me, but he's a good kid. Plus, his girlfriend and his best friend are good kids, too and since he'll be with the two of them while at Tarleton, it should ease my worry some.

This weekend just took everything out of me. My nerves are shot. I've gotten angry and said things I shouldn't have. Poor Craig just takes it on the chin when I take it out on him. What in the world have I done to deserve a man like that? He never tells me "No" and there has never been a time when I asked for something and not gotten it. He drove my truck to work one day and accidentally scraped against a wing wall and scratched up the passenger side door. He felt so bad about it that he bought me a brand new truck about a week later. A red one. I LOVE it. He accepts my love of jewelry and spoils me rotten with it. I love him for all of that, but that's not WHY I love him.

I love Craig for who he is. He's a man of integrity and lives a life that is a wonderful example for our kids and has few regrets. He loves with all of his heart and expects nothing in return. I love his laugh, his eyes, his smile, his goofy toes, his heart, his insane love of golf... and his ability to love me in the face of so many reasons not to. Hard NOT to love the man.

I'm finally going to lay down. My head hurts so bad and I'm more tired than normal. I have a dr's appointment tomorrow and I'm going to have to recount all the problems I'm having right now. I have chronic pain syndrome as well as arthritis of the spine (from years of gymnastics) as well as Degenrative disc disease. The pain can sometimes be unbearable, and today is one of those days. As soon as my boneless wings are here, I'm off to bed. Hopefully, until tomorrow morning. kdgr

Posted by at 1:22 PM | Permalink

5-22-05 9:04pm

I can barely keep my eyes open so if this whole post seems discumbobulated, please forgive me.

Ryan's team took second in the tournament this weekend. The team we beat yesterday afternoon and sent to the loosers bracket came back and beat us. We were undefeated until then so they SHOULD have had to double dip of for the gold, but the tournament directors thought it was best left alone. The officials were so out of hand and our girls were getting tackled on the court, and I HATE tough games like that. I can handle a physical game as long as the refs keep the girls in check, but these guys didn't have a clue. Ryan played worse today than I've seen her play in two years. She was weak and just seemed out of it, but I know why. Her periods are sooooo bad that she becomes anemic so we've debated putting her on the pill but I don't want to until we have to. However, I think a low dose might help enough that things wouldn't be so bad for her. Here's a pic of her shooting a free throw:

The tournament we're in next weekend is, thankfully, only about 5 minutes from our house so it will help. We travel so much and we don't mind but anytime we can get in one anywhere near our house, it's always good!

I've got to start buying stuff for Austin's dorm room, including ordering a new computer. I may keep the new one and give him mine. I currently run a DELL 8200 Demension that is two years old. I love this computer but I like new. His dorm room has a fridge, microwave and high speed internet. They are equipped with beds, two desks, two or four closets, two dressers and some of them even have their own bathroom. Don't know which one he'll get yet but they approved Austin's request to have Brannin room with him. I've got to get bedding, school supplies, and a whole host of items that make me tired just thinking about hunting them all dow.

I've got alot on my mind right now, but I don't want to blog about it until I feel like I've really thought through what I want to say, so maybe tomorrow or the day after I'll be able to. We'll see!

Gotta go to bed now. Nightie night! kdgr

Posted by at 9:21 PM | Permalink

5-21-05 4:59pm

Last night, I cried like a baby. Austin graduated, and let me tell you, the tears started long before we ever got there. First, Ryan brought me the card she'd done for him. In it she wrote that she's proud to be his little sister and what it's meant to her to have someone like him in her life... that was my first undoing! I closed the card quickly and walked into the bathroom in my bedroom and closed the door. I leaned over the sink and sobbed. She walked right in, smiled and hugged me. So then it was time for us to give him his presents (we'd already given him the car). I managed to avoid tears here, then we were going to take pictures but his girlfriend didn't get there early enough and he wanted to ride with her.

So off we go to Texas Christian University. The Colonial Golf Tournament is going on right now (litterally right down the street from TCU) so I was worried that parking would be a bitch, and that thought kept my mind busy plus I had the music blaring (little or no chance of crying when you're thumpin', ya know?) Then I saw the TCU exit sign... and the tears started flowing again... even though the music was ON!!!! HELLO!!! Isn't that a rip off? SO we get there and he and Amanda (his girlfriend) get out of her car and he stops for a quick picture with me while Ryan went in to reserve us our seats.

OMG can you say, "DOUBLE CHIN???? God, help me!

Ok, so we get inside and we were there early, so we had plenty of time to kabitz. They were graduating 353 so the place was FULL. I start reading my "program" and discover that my son is a Texas Scholar and received a medal all for taking advanced classes. WTF? All that extra WORK and they give you some crappy medal? Ah well, I'll take it! I'm still a little worried because there is STILL time for him to screw up or the school to decide that they made a mistake. I'm well in control of my emotions (or so I was led to believe!) until the fucking band started playing the National Anthem. WTF? That's a tear jerker for SURE. That ALWAYS makes me cry, so now the flood gates were opened.

Ok, now the problem I had was that I forgot to stop and get Kleenex, so my sorry, fat ass was stuck with a ton of TOILET PAPER in my purse! God, pathetic! Well, even though my nerves were shot by this point and I'd pretty much threatened to donate Craig's balls to science (while he was still alive) but I was NOT so out of it that I wasn't aware that it would be quite trashy to unroll the shit like I was sitting in a bathroom stall, so I discretly (nothing about me is even remotely discreet) tried to just take out a little at a time. But my eyes were so full of tears that I couldn't SEE. Jesus H Christ! This was going to be embarasing. My husband couldn't decide if the better show was the actual ceremony or watching my try to get through it! But I had already threatened to divorce him (and much worse, as I'm wont to do when I'm stressed) so he wisely decided that perhaps the best plan was, for self preservation at the very least, to leave me alone.

It took long enough for them to get to the G's (last names) that I had stopped crying just long enough to hear his name called and watch him walk across the stage for this... I was shaking, so the pics are kind of blurry, but that's Austin on the right.

And after that, I was fine... for a while. They got through all the other letters in the alphabet and then, the Principal of the High School waited for the last person to make it back to their chair. As soon as they did, he said, "Seniors, your tassels!" At that time, as expected, they moved their tassel to the left. He then said, "By the powers vested in me by the Crowley Independent School District, I declare these seniors graduated!" The tears were on full force then, but I was still coherent enough to snap this... Hard to tell it with all the purple in that arena, but those are caps in the air.

Then they marched out. It was FUCKing hot outside when we hit the outside air (even though it was 10pm) it was almost hard to breathe, so the tears dried QUICK. It was 99 yesterday and today is worse, but I digress. I made a bee-line to where they were marching out of the arena and they were all chanting and just having fun... I got to Austin and Amanda and did that whole grandmother-who-hasn't-seen-her-grandkids-in-five-years-hug-everyone-at-once-hug. Austin was smart enough (at least at this point) to just "go with it". We all posed for pictures, but after showing everyone my fat ass earlier in this post, I'll just post the pics of Austin and his friends.

L-R: Brannin, Tara, Austin, Amanda- Yes, Austin is ducking down (he's 6'3) so that he can squeeze himself in between Tara and Amanda!!! Perv!

So today we had to get up early and go to Ryan's basketball tournament. They played last night but she missed the game. This morning, they won by 7. Ryan had 12 pts and 11 rebounds (got a little double-double!!) but this afternoon, she STUNK! Arggggggggghh! She still started but she only had 2 pts, 8 rebs and 4 blocks. To be fair, she doesn't feel well but we play for the championship tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll not find some reason to cry.

On a more serious note, I'd just like to ask anyone who reads this post to send some positive thoughts to a couple friends of mine who are having a rough time right now. We all have those days, but hopefully it will pass soon.

Heading out the door now for a graduation party! Wooo hooooo! Tomorrow I'll post about all the goodies brought back from Operation Graduation. They got CASH plus a huge BAG of stuff. Must be nice! kdgr

Posted by at 5:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

5-20-05 8:14am

I expected to wake up to tears this morning, but surprisingly I don't even feel the need to cry. We'll see how long that holds up! I think it helps that I've got a billion things to get done today. I got the insurance changed over to the Lexus yesterday and I've got to go put it in our name today. Before I can do that, I've got to stop and pick up a new insurance card for it, go to my parents' house and pick up the "bill of sale" for the DMV. Then, I've got to get my nails done, get over to another salon to have my hair done and pick up Craig and Austin's clothes from the cleaners. Shit.

I'm tired today. I finally fell asleep about 11 or so last night and was wide a-fucking wake at 7 this morning. Lovely. I should kick into raging bitch (as opposed to my normal bitchiness) by about 5. Ah well, it can't be helped.

Hopefully, the insurance check from Austin's car will be here today or tomorrow. Ryan's got a tournament all weekend so we'll be out in Keller all weekend with her. She seems to be rather pissy this morning, but hopefully that will change once she hits the court. I guess that will depend on how early we have to leave tomorrow.

My theme song for the day is, "Kyle's Mom is A Big Fat Bitch"... as sung by Cartman on SouthPark. HA!

Alright, I'm out! kdgr

Posted by at 8:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

May 19, 2005 8:01pm

Well, it's now less than 24 hours away. I think I've made peace with the fact that he's grown up and it's time to let trust him to go out into the world and lead a fulfilling life and to find himself. Yes, I'm sure I'll cry tomorrow... as surely as the sun rises in the East, you can bet on that. My mom will, too. My Dad and Craig will be left to console my mother and I... they have no choice, unless they want to be miserable all night! HA!

I'm starting to worry about the watch thing. I mean, he's never been very materialistic, and he won't be suspecting anything since we bought him the car and he knows he's getting a new computer to take to college (his old one is too slow, I suppose) but I just wanted him to have something from us on graduation day. But we just got him a watch last Christmas. I very nice Seiko gold watch. All of his jewelry is gold. The ring from his girlfriend, as well as his Senior ring (that damn thing cost us a small fortune!). So I wonder if the white gold tone to this watch will bother him. Plus, it's VERY heavy and I wonder if it will bother him. Ah well, I guess I need to keep reminding myself that he CAN exchange it. I've got my grandfather's Rolex here and he'll be getting that some day. Here's a pic of the watch, though you probably can't tell from the picture how heavy it really is.

I found this article on the MTV website and it really just pisses me off to no end.
Pregnant Teen Defies Graduation Ban, Announces Own Name

In March, school administrators had informed Cosby that she was not allowed to attend school for the remainder of the year because of safety concerns.
— Gil Kaufman

Ironically enough, I just had an internet discussion with someone tonight about discrimination. I stated that it bothered me that some people choose to put their "issue" up as an in your face thing. You can find that article here

It really pisses me off that the girl was kept from walking the ceremony because she was pregnant but the boy who GOT her pregnant was allowed to. Totally hypocritical and is a page right out of the damn stone age. Boy has sex with girl. Girl gets pregnant. Boy get's an "atta boy." Girl gets a life sentence. Assholes!

Alright... I can't hold my eyes open another second. I'm outta here! kdgr

Posted by at 9:44 PM | Permalink

5-19-05 10:13am

Still awake. I laid in bed reading until Craig left for the Colonial. He's got the Veranda over the 18th green to entertain his clients. He gave me a pass to go, but I just don't care for golf at all. It was fine on Monday for the pro-am and I understood that I was there as a "corporate wife" along with the president of his company (and his wife) and the vice president of CVS. I get that, but not today. Just don't feel like it. But I did enjoy getting to spend Monday with Craig. We don't get to spend time alone like that very often.

I've got to get insurance transferred from Austin's Mazda over to the Lexus we got him so he can drive it. I also need to get the paperwork turned in to get it out of my parents' name and into ours. I made a promise to my parents that he wouldn't drive it until I did that, and I won't break my word to them.

Austin's graduation is just under 34 hours away. It's hard to believe there'll be no more football or baseball games. No more pep rallies, or having a house full of kids on the weekend. Ok, wait... that one probably won't change, at least when he comes home from school on the weekend. As sad as I am for myself, I'm so happy for him and proud of him. I guess I'm not sad... this is what I've worked so hard for. This is the first step that he'll take by himself towards becoming the man we've taught him to be. He's got so many great qualities, and he's just a good kid. Yeah, he lets him mouth get him in trouble at times, but he's not doing drugs and he's not drinking so I think he'll do just fine. Here's a look at him last month for prom. His girlfriend of two years, Amanda, looks quite lovely here, if you ask me!

Ryan has a basketball tournament this weekend, but she'll have to miss Friday night's game to go to Austin's graduation. They've got tournaments for the next three weekends before we get a week off, so we'll be busy busy busy! Yay!!!!! I looooooooooooooooooooooooove going to their games!

I'm going back to bed to read. Maybe I'll get lucky and get some sleep! kdgr

Posted by at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

5-19-05 3:22am

I can't believe I'm awake at 3am again. WTF? It's pissing me off.

Whatever is going on with my allergies is driving me nuts. I don't know if I've got a cold on top of my allergies (this is what I highly suspect) but I feel like crap. I don't mean I feel sorta bad, I mean I feel like tee-total shit. I guess I'll call the doc in the morning. Maybe they can squeeeeeeez me in. If not, I'll just call my mom and have her give me a shot. Lovely. But I guess I'll have to set the alarm because when I wake up at this time of the morning, I end up sleeping until 12 or 1 the next day.

41 hours and 34 minutes until Austin's graduation. I've tried to stay busy the last couple of days so that I don't think too much about it. It's hard to believe that my boy is grown... well, almost. It seems like just yesterday he put on his little dockers and polo, strapped on his batman backpack and headed off to the first day of kindergarten. He'd hug and kiss me every morning when he got out of the car, not caring if his friends saw him and teased him about being a momma's boy. He never went through that stage of not wanting his friends to see that, and that's a great way to make mom's day. Even now, it doesn't faze him.

He told me not to get him anything else for graduation (we bought him the Lexus) but I'd also heard him talk about a Fossil watch that he liked, so I went and got one, thinking that if he didn't like the one I bought he could just exchange it. I knew he wanted one with a red face, so I picked out the one I liked best and took a chance. I was happy because it was only $95. So I showed the watch to his girlfriend to get her opinion and she said that was the exact watch he wanted. YAY!! I did good! My last question has to do with whether or not I'm supposed to give him the watch before the service or after. I think I'll do it before... maybe. I've also got stuff for his girlfriend and his best friend, but since I won't be seeing them until afterwards, I guess I could give them to all of them afterwards.

He's going to Operation Graduation, so I'm really relieved that I don't have to worry about what they're doing. For those of you in the dark about Operation Graduation, it's a nationwide thing where they plan an all night activity for the kids to do so that they're not out cruising the streets, drinking and driving or just getting into trouble in general. This years OG is at the Putt-Putt/Malibu Gran Prix. They have a bus drive them out there, they lock them in and don't load up to leave until 7am the next morning. We had to pay only $30 for it and it covers all video games, driving the little race cars... EVERYthing for the whole night.

okie dokie, my eyes are getting tired, so I'm heading back to bed. Night! kdgr

Posted by at 3:40 AM | Permalink

5-18-05 8:19pm

Ok, I want them to get it over with. It's driving me crazy! I'm ashamed to admit it, but I'm a closet "American Idol" fan and I've really been pulling for Carrie all season. But after Bo's performance last night, I'm caught. The only thing I'm sure of is that Vonzell is not even in the same league as Bo and Carrie.

When Bo sang "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me" I was absolutely floored. Then, it got even better when he sang a capella. I knew he was good, but good LORD, he flat out wailed!

But Carrie just is the epitome of the girl next door. She is beautiful, seems to be sooo sweet and has the voice of an angel regardless what the "genre of the week" is. Her rendition of Roy Orbison's "Cryin" was perfect.

It's 8:25 and Carrie just finished up her song. All three of them sang tonight, Vonzell sang "Chain of Fools". After Fantasia did it last year (and I'm not a Fantasia fan! Her "Baby Mama" is a disgrace!) it seemed bland to me. But I will admit Vonzell seems like a sweet girl, she's beautiful and has a lovely voice, but I just think she's in over her head with these two. We'll see.

8:28pm Good. Carrie and Bo in the finale, as it should be. I'm happy now. Stacked is on, and I gotta watch it. If you haven't seen it, give it a look-see. I thought it was cool that the guys from Lynard Skynard were there when he got off the plane. Excellent.

I want to go see "Monster In-law" soooo bad. I've heard it's hysterically funny. But does anyone, besides me, feel that the casting choices are odd? Jennifer Garner used to date Michael Vartan. Ben Afleck used to date Jennifer Lopez. Now, Ben is dating Jennifer Garner. Next thing you know, Garner is going to be calling up Lopez to trade secrets about ol' Ben. Anyway... I'm out. kdgr

Posted by at 8:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

5-18-05 6:07am

Can't sleep. Woke up about two hours ago and can't go back to sleep, so here I sit. In just over 60 hours, Austin graduates from high school. I'm going to have to stay busy between now and then or I'll go nuts. My mother and I have already decided that we need to take a box of Kleenex, because we're going to be bawling our eyes out.

When Craig and I got home from the pro-am part of the Colonial Golf tournament yesterday, Austin, his girlfriend a some of their friends were in our side yard playing on the slip n slide. Austin asked Ryan if she wanted to come goof off with them so she did. I'm really happy to see how close they are. He normally doesn't want her around when his friends are around, but he's been having her hang out with them quite often.
Here are a few pics from that.
Amanda decided to surf Austin. Justin was supposed to be pushing Austin but he is just on knees trying to push Austin's feet.
View image
Austin and Ryan
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Austin and Ryan again
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This one is Austin and his best friend, Brannin. Look at Brannin's face. If you look closely at his crotch, you'll see that AUstin is punching Brannin in the balls as he slides through!
View image

Alright, going back to bed now. kdgr

Posted by at 6:18 AM | Permalink

5-15-05 10:43pm

I did basically nothing today. I didn't wake up until 1:30, but I didn't feel bad about that because I didn't go to sleep until almost 6am. Craig's snoring is getting bad and I can't sleep very well when he's snoring. He also has sleep apnea and was prescibed a CPAP (continuous positive air pressure) but it bothers him so he won't use it. Great.

So anyway, we watched a little bull riding, and channel surfed waiting on the finale for Survivor. We were pulling for Tom so we were happy when he won it. I couldn't do it. Not even for 100 million. They kept showing those huge ass rats, and there is no way I'd go to sleep with those things running around. Blech.

So now, I'm ready to go back to bed. I've got a cold on top of having severe allergies so I feel like shit, mostly. I hope I feel better tomorrow because Craig is taking me to the Colonial. He got grounds passes for the whole thing but I guess he's only going tomorrow and Thursday when he has to host some of his clients on the veranda. He can't go this weekend because of graduation and Ryan's basketball tournament. I kinda feel bad for him, but he refuses to miss a single event of the kids' if he can make it.

I also need to set up a time with a counselor at Tarleton. We've got to get all our ducks in a row before he heads off to college. Tarleton is just an hour away so I can get to him quick if I need to. My mom was going to get him a mini fridge and a microwave for his dorm but all of the dorms there have them so I guess she's going to get his bedding. He's enjoying the excitement leading up to Friday night.

Kyra, on the other hand, appears to be nonexistant in this house. I've gotten where I just let her be alone. Her counselor says we shouldn't react to that behavior because she will see the rest of the family talking and cutting up and she'll eventually want to be a part of it. Yeah right. I personally think that this behavior is a manifestation of her hurt, anger and lack of feeling important to Laura, but I've had enough of it. She's still refusing to see Laura which pisses me off. I agree with her that Laura needs to 'fess up to everyone about the lie she told after she slapped Kyra. That's really all Kyra wants. Laura's mother called Kyra a liar, so Kyra refuses to talk to her and blames Laura (rightfully so) for ruining her relationship with her grandmother. Don't get me wrong, Laura's mother was WRONG WRONG WRONG to call Kyra that, whether she was lying or not. She could have told Kyra that she was sorry that the two of them were not getting along and could have found a way to support both Kyra and Laura. She's a f'ing bitch... just ask jet.

Alright, I'm off to la la land! Nighty night! kdgr

Posted by at 10:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

5-15-05 3:32am

I've had such a nice day! Ryan came home from a friend's house this morning at about 10am and crawled in bed with me since Craig was in a golf tournament. We slept until about 2pm and then went over to Mom and Dad's to pick up the Lexus. Then it was time for Ryan to go to practice (with the Junior Olympic team going to Italy) so Craig took her while I putzed around the house. When he got home he told me that he had some bad news... the coach for this team just got the job as athletic director of women's sports at a MAJOR university in Florida. And she leaves in two weeks. Great. But then he got a smile on his face and told me that the good news definitely out weighs the bad. She told him that we would be receiving a letter from this university and they would be actively tracking Ryan and recruiting her as soon as she is eligible (they can't do it until the 1st day of basketball season of her Junior year). She also said that Ryan would be invited to their camp next summer.

Keeping in mind that Ryan has now received approximately 30 letters from colleges around the country, this one will be one of my favorites. This is HUGE and I'm really excited for her. I don't know what has happened with her, but all of a sudden she is learning new skills very quickly and seems to be getting a little more aggressive. She needs to be alot more aggressive. She's been wearing the orthotic for her foot (she has a stress fracture in her left foot that has been breaking and healing, breaking and healing, breaking and healing for over three years with us not have a clue about it) and that seems to be helping her when she jumps or drives into the lane. She's been able to play all year without her knee braces and we're very happy about that.

Here is Austin's senior picture. My scanner is still on the fritz so I just took a digital picture of this picture so you can at least see what he looks like. Personally, I think he's cute as hell but I guess all momma's think that!

My boy is all grown up... when did that happen? Their dad hasn't spoken to them in months, and that was only because I took the kids to his dad's funeral in January. Before that, he hadn't spoken to them in almost two years. He dropped his medical insurance on them (thank GOD Craig carries insurance on them!) and is behind by a couple thousand dollars on his part of the out of pocket medical, so I went to the Attorney General last week and they are filing against him in court for the money. I called and left a message about Austin's wreck and that sorry mother fucker didn't call them even then to see if he was ok. Bastard. In his work to try and piss me off, he's totally alienated the kids and though I'm sure they still love him and want to have a relationship with him (I can't blame them for that, no matter what that fucker's done to them) they are so angry with him. Nevermind.

Anyway, after Craig and Ryan got back from practice I made chicken enchiladas for dinner and we sat and watched the race. Then Austin and Amanda came home and we all sat and watched "The Incredibles". It was nice. Austin and Amanda were curled up in my big tapestry chair, Craig was in his recliner and Ryan and I were cuddled up on the couch. Kyra had gone to bed (that's a whole other story). It was nice just to sit there and enjoy being together, laughing and having fun. I don't think I realized how much I missed it until now. We're on the run so much that we don't get to spend time like that very often, and when we DO have time I guess we've just done other things. We even talked about it tonight and Ryan said that this night reminded her of how we spent almost every weekend until she started playing basketball. I hope she doesn't feel like her goals are getting in the way of our family... their not. But it was so nice today.

I'm feeling pretty nostalgic, but I'm able to recognize the triggers that usually send me running for cover. When that happens I end up barely leaving my room, usually only to go to the kids' sporting events, so I don't want to do that. Yep... I definitely think things are on the upswing... life is pretty damn good. kdgr

Posted by at 3:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

5-13-05 10:20pm

Just got home from dinner and a movie with Craig. We ate at Olive Garden then went to see Kicking & Screaming. Tooooo f'ing funny! Had a good time, but I couldn't have foreseen that based on how I was feeling earlier.

I woke up feeling miserable. My allergies are working overtime and I've taken so much medicine to make them tolerable that my blood pressure is sky high. Then, I started feeling sick to my stomach, which is the norm for me when my bp goes up.

Craig and I have decided to buy my mom's Lexus for Austin. My dad bought her a new one and since Austin got rear ended in his 3 day old car, I need to get him a new one. Needless to say, mom and dad cut me a deal.

Alright, I'm off to bed! Night night! kdgr

Posted by at 10:24 PM | Permalink

5-12-05 11:52pm

Not such a bad day. Worked out with Ryan after she got out of school. She's hitting about 85% of her free throws, so we're really happy with that. Her three point shot has really improved, and she's doing well with on her reverse layups. I like how dedicated she is to practicing every day and hope that keeps up. Her ball handling skills are SO much better but she's still got a way to go.

Austin graduates in 8 days. That seems impossible, and I'm happy, sad, elated, scared, proud and about a million other feelings all at once. I can only imagine what a mess I'll be when it's time for him to leave for college. He said he plans on coming home every other weekend... we'll see. I want him to go and have fun, just don't forget where you come from.

Jesse, our adopted soldier in Iraq, comes home next week for a month of leave. He's really excited about seeing his wife and kids again and says he plans on doing a whole lot of nothing except enjoying his family. It's nice to hear a man open up about missing their family and his emails always remind us to hug and kiss the ones you love often. I'm quite happy for him and really hope he enjoys his leave. I think our soldiers deserve so much more... and we should all support them as they do their job whether we support the war effort or not.

I got Ryan's track picture today. I think it's one of the best pictures that she's taken. Of course, you can't tell from this picture that she's almost 6'2. Sometimes I look at her and wonder where she got her looks from. Personally, I think she's beautiful. But I guess we all think that whether they are or not. (I can remember being in highschool and wondering if people KNEW they were ugly... did I realize it if I was ugly? Strange, huh?) She looks so much older now that her braces are off. She's really looking forward to summer because when Craig leaves for work she always comes and gets in bed with me (when we're not at a basketball tournament) and we can sleep that way til noon... or later. Anyway, here's the pic. My scanner wasn't working so I just took a digital pic of the pic and loaded on the computer that way. It has a bad glare and it doesn't look as good on here as it does in real life, but here it is anyway.

Alright, I'm off to read blogs! Toodaloo... kdgr

Posted by at 12:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

5-11-05 8:44am

First! the rules:
1. Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.”
2. I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your LJ or blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

1. What is the most romantic night you have shared with someone and why?The most romantic night of my life would have to be the first night that I spent with Craig. We were in Reno/Tahoe and were both nervous as hell because, having met on the internet, this was the fist time we'd seen each other face to face. We had a lovely dinner, then walked around town holding hands and talking. It was just a special night, and I knew after that I'd never be able to live without him. Ever.

2. If you had only one wish to grant to someone what would it be and to whom?
I'd give my wish to Kyra, and I'd wish for her to have some peace in her life.

3. Since neither of us had a honeymoon to speak of *a wild night of sex in a motel room without kids doesn't count* what would be the dream place for you to spend your honeymoon?
Well, it would be Greece, but seeing as how we're going to Italy in August, that would be my second choice. Ryan will be there (since we're going to Italy to watch her play basketball) but she'll be staying in the Olympic Village with the team, so Craig and I will essentially be alone. I plan on making the most of the time alone with him.

4. As your children grow up and one leaving the family nest what scares you the most about them leaving and what scares you the most that they won't remember?
With Austin leaving for college in August, I think the thing that scares me the most is him getting in trouble or getting in over his head. I think it worries me that he'll end up getting his girlfriend pregnant! Ack! I guess it worries me that he'll forget to do the simple things to keep himself out of trouble (like thinking about the conswquences of his actions BEFORE he does something!) Luckily, he'll only be about an hour away so if anything happens we'll be pretty close.

5. When are you finally going to come out of hiding and STAY out of hiding???
I'm working on it. Slowly but surely I'm emerging from the Bat Cave. LOL

Here are my lovely dogs! Jade is the chocolate lab and Woody is the black lab.

Toooooo cute, aren't they?

kdgr

Posted by at 9:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

5-08-05 9:29pm

Had a nice day today- never even got out of my pj's. Fell back to sleep around noon and when I woke up Craig and Ryan had left for her basketball practice. So I sat around, watched several of the "Roseanne" episodes during the Roseanne Telethon (still funny after all these years!). The kids gave me a HUGE bag of different types of chocolate candy... HUGE box of Whoppers, peanut and plain M&M's, 6 Hershey bars (no almonds, thankyouverymuch) Watermelon Jolly Ranchers, Hershey Kisses, two boxes of Junior Mints. It had to have weighed 10lbs... so now I can predict, with a high degree of probability, that my ass is about to get even wider. Great.

Our "adopted" soldier wrote back to us earlier this week. I was really excited to hear from him and so where the kids. I don't really know much about him but he seems like a good guy. He sent out a really sweet Mother's Day email and the way he talked about his mother and his wife speaks volumes about him as a person.

I've deleted all of my archives because of all the spam in the comments. That really pisses me off. I know I could have just deleted all of them but there wasso much crap on there that I just decided to start over.

The summer basketball team is doing pretty good. Ryan is 15 but her team plays in the open division meaning that she is playing against girls who are 21 years old and under. She's having to work much harder to do well, so I really think this is going to help her. Her coach believes in teaching fundamentals and that's something she's never really had. The college letters are starting to come in again and that's REALLY exciting. She ended up with about 20 last year.

Kyra has gone back to not speaking to Laura. Things had started to get better and Kyra went over there three times, but then went back to refusing to see her. To top that off, Kyra has been awful at home and has stayed in trouble for almost two weeks. I'm sure she's acting out because of the situation with her mom but she's doing things that seem to indicate a total lack of common sense. Take, for instance, the day she washed a shoe box. No, I'm not kidding, I shit you not. She WASHED a f'ing cardboard shoe box. It wasn't even a GOOD shoe box, just some crappy box from Payless. When I asked her why she washed it, she said it was because there was some "stuff" on it that she wanted off. Uh... ok.

Austin graduates in less than two weeks. I can't believe it! It seems like it was jew a few days ago that I took him to kindergarten. He's been accepted to Tarleton State University, so we've been busy getting all that paperwork done. He isn't entirely sure what he wants to major in but thinks it will be some category of engineering so that he can still get a job in the racing field. He had planned on going to the NASCAR tech school after graduation, but decided to go to college first. There are about 10 people from his class, including his girlfriend, that are going to be going there. He and his best friend are going to share a dorm room. The school is about 45 minutes from home, so it's close enough to get to him quickly if something happens but it's also far enough away that he learns some independence.

Craig has been working his ass off, taking on other market areas. I think he spent about 15 hours working this weekend. I feel bad for him because he has soooo much to do, but he loves it and wouldn't have it any other way. His boss gave him two passes to the Colonial golf tournament so I guess we're going. I will only go the Pro- Am with him, but if he decides to invite someone else I'll back out. I don't like golf... at all. I'm hoping that Ryan's team isn't in a tournament that weekend so that Craig can go on Saturday and Sunday. Austin graduates on that Friday, so if he goes he'll have to leave early.

Alright, I gotta get in bed. Maybe I'll actually get some sleep today!

Posted by at 2:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

5-6-05 9:31am

It's Friday. Thank God! It's been an interesting, busy couple of weeks. I still need to write my article for teamdei.net along with a billion other things that I just can't seem to get done.

We got two new kittens last week and though they're the cutest damn things, one of them has unbelievably rank gas. They wrestle all the time, flipping over eachother and rolling around. Too funny. Their names are Trixie and Trinket.

The soldier we "adopted" sent me an email a couple of days ago and the kids (and I) were really excited to hear from him. I'd sent a couple of letters and small boxes of treats but hadn't heard from him until now. He's a medic so I can only imagine that he stays really busy. I've got to get to the post office to mail him his goodies. When I asked him what he wanted me to send all he asked for was baby wipes and minutes on his phone card so he can talk to his wife. Seems like a minimal request for someone who is sacrificing so much. So we're doing that, but we've also sent some cookies, lemonade mix for his bottled water, gum, toothpaste, lotion and other things just to let him know we're thinking about him. He gets a one month leave next month so I hope this gets to him before he leaves. Seems like a sweet kid, and I am really looking forward to getting to know him. If you read my blog, please keep "J" in your prayers... along with all our service men and women.

ALright, I gotta get moving so I can get this in the mail. Have a good day! kdgr

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