Thursday Morning
Good Morning Family,
I'm feeling much better this morning. Still sinusy, but not the killer headache I went to bed with. I'm watching the end of the "Blues Brothers" on TV. We had a car just like the one they drove in the movie. It was a hand me down, and it was wonderful. 1974 Dodge Monaco. It was a beast. That's what we nicknamed it. The Beast. The kids got it when they went to college.
Anyway, I might be watching Frankie sometime today. Not sure.
Cleaning and crocheting are on my agenda.
Love and prayers for all.
Hugs,
Trish
Albert Schweitzer
Good morning Trish and my wonderful sistas!
Cleaning and crocheting are on my agenda for today, too, Trish! Wish we lived close enough that we could have crochet sessions together. Wouldn't that be fun?
We slept in this morning, and oh, it was nice. Butch is still in bed, but he's awake. It's so nice not to HAVE to get up and do anything! So far he is feeling just fine. No nausea or other nasty side effects. It's too early to say he's in the clear, but so far, so good.
Our little puppies were sure glad to sleep in our bed last night, too. They are clinging to us like little ****le burs. LOL! They don't like it when we have to farm them out to other households.
So Christie has finally gotten serious about trying to find other babysitting arrangements for Friday nights (always a problem) and Saturdays. Thankfully she is off this Saturday, but she needs a couple of hours for Friday night. I could probably do it, but I'm stepping back and not offering. And for once, she's not asking. She did call and ask Carrie if Carrie could drive down from Waco (3 hours!) and pick the boys up from day care on Friday and keep them Friday night. Now that's just plain crazy! Carrie called me, upset to be put in such a position, and I told her to tell Chris "no". Carrie cannot become the back up babysitter! That's just crazy. I feel for Chris, because like all working moms, I've been in her position, but she just has to face up to this and work it out on her own. Either that, or she has to quit Hobby Lobby and find a job with regular hours, not retail hours. I've told her that before, but she doesn't want to hear it.
Well, I wish you all a lovely day today! The weather is just about ideal here for fall. Butch and I are headed out to the front deck to have coffee and sit and enjoy the cool breeze.
Love you all!
Vickie
Hi Vickie,
When I lived in PA, and when I go back, I have yarn sessions with my sis-in-law. She can knit beautiful stuff. She did it for a designer, and had a knitting machine too. I mainly crochet, dabble with knitting. We'd put something on TV, and go at it for hours. Last time, in September, we were watching Project Runway marathons. It was fun commenting on the gowns and outfits. I don't normally go for reality shows, but that's like a game show.
Good for you for sticking to your guns with Christie. Of course Carrie can't drive three hours to watch the boys. That's nuts. Can Christie go to a school, to become like a medical assistant. They mainly keep day hours in most doctors' offices. Not sure how long that takes, but I'm sure it's a little more than minimum wage, and would free her in the evenings. Just asking. One of the main reasons I agreed to go into teaching was I got most of the same days off as my kids, just a different school district. In summers, I worked at a day camp where my kids could go for free, and see me throughout the day. I taught nature, in a hut in the middle of the camp, so they were always passing by, saying hi.
Have a good day.
Hugs,
Trish
Albert Schweitzer
Trish,
We've all encouraged Chris to go back to school. Despite the bipolar disorder (and the subsequent crazy decisions she sometimes makes), she's highly intelligent and does very well academically. She stopped just one year short of earning her bachelor's degree. (Long story.) She says she would like to teach, but when I tried to get her to start back to college during the first year she was living with us (and I was keeping Benny full time), she just never would get it together enough to apply and get her transcripts, etc. I also have encouraged her to go into some branch of the medical field because she is so good in science and math and has a natural bent towards all things medical. But again, she just can't ever seem to get her act together.
She's also bilingual in Spanish, and OMG, is there ever a need for Spanish speaking Caucasians in Texas! I think she could easily get an office job with one of the big companies and/or industries in San Antonio, but again, she just won't try. And she would make a fabulous court reporter. She has excellent typing skills. So many options but she's resistant to all of them. Why? I don't know. It's like she gets stuck or comfortable in one place and she just can't contemplate leaving her comfort zone.
Well, she's in her 30's now and she has to make her own life. Butch and I have given both her and Mike all the support we possibly can--financial, moral, emotional--and the rest is up to them.
You know, being with my kids is initially why I became a teacher, too. I taught high school, and then I taught English 101 on the college level while I was working on my Masters. It was very convenient having basically the same hours as the kids. I really feel sorry for so many young mothers like Chris these days who have to work in order for the family to survive economically, but really don't make enough money to pay for quality child care. It's such a catch-22. After paying for child care, they may not clear more than a couple hundred dollars a month, but they need that money to survive. Me? I always preferred to live on a shoestring and be a stay-at-home mom. I can stretch a dollar a loooong ways! LOL! But even with that, there came a time when I just had to go back to work. It's very hard.
I'm so glad you were able to move closer to Colleen and your grands. You help her out so much, but it's also good for you and the munchkins. If Butch wasn't sick right now, I would gladly babysit for Chris. Maybe I'll be able to do so again one day soon. But as long as Butch is so weak and needs me to be there physically to help him get up and down, etc., I just can't take on watching the boys as well. It's just too much. I wi**** were different, but it is what it is.
Love you!
Vickie
I totally understand, Vickie. Sean is sort of stuck in that same place right now. To the point where he's not even able to work. He got himself into a jam with his student loans, because he waited too long to get a forebearance, so now he has to pay back a year before he can apply again to go back. The other problem is, he couldn't get into Pitt's main campus in the beginning, but they admitteed him to another campus, which he'd need a car to get to, and he can't afford to get his car back on the road right now. He can ride public transportation to get to main campus. He can't get in there till he is officially a junior, but he's short classes. I have begged him to get a copy of his transcript so he could know exactly how many credits he's short, but he won't do that either. He's in psychotherapy, and has been for a few years. He asked me to meet his therapist last year, when I was heading home for Christmas, and he said that it would be great for Sean to get back to school. So, I contacted the student loan people, and Sean signed an authorization, so I could get questioned answered. I was able to get the monthly payments low enough for me to be able to take them on, and I've been paying them since March. Now, if I can get him to get his transcripts, he might be able to go to the community college to get the credits till he's a junior. He can take the bus there. Every time I ask him about it, he shuts me down. He told me it gives him panic attacks.
I just keep praying. Don't know what else to do.
Love you.
Trish
Albert Schweitzer
