(I could have sworn I posted something on Saturday...must be going nuts three or four years early)

Monday, Monday...so good to me...

Lots of interesting things happened today. I got the kids' bus schedules; I got my recompense money from last year; I got a job prospect at a church academy; and I reconnected with a friend I hadn't talked to in thirteen years. On the other hand, I have reason to worry about my bestest friend here in Georgia. I won't go into details..he'll probably do that on his own blog. I just hope everything works out.


posted by Steph at 12:02 AM[edit]

It's past midnight on the east coast. Do you know where your best friend is?

I do. He's in Georgia, probably cuddled in bed with his sweetheart. And by this time tomorrow night, I'll be typing my blog from my home computer again. What a relief. All I have to deal with now is my mother's tears when she kisses Eva goodbye.

We had our little blowup that we have every year. I knew it was coming..I can't leave Louisiana without at least one scene from my mother, you know. Only she couldn't find anything to pick a fight about. So she cried about how she didn't want me to take Eva away from her.

Eva's been here two months, folks. I've only been here one. My little girl, eleven now, has been the apple of my mother's eye ever since she was the only grandchild. She's always been the favorite. I should be happy that she is, right?

I am..except for the fact that my mother is attempting to re-raise me, through my daughter.

Did I mention that I can't wait to get back on the road tomorrow morning?
posted by Steph at 12:48 AM[edit]

Ding, dong, the witch is dead....well, not really. My final day of working in the newborn room. Of course, there were two parents who came late, and by late, I mean fifteen minutes after the center was supposed to be CLOSED. Any apology? Any explaination of why they leave a newborn in a child care center for eleven hours of the day? Of course not.

Now that I have that off my chest, I feel better. Actually, I feel great. No more bottle feedings..no more spitup on my shirt, no more poopy diapers. Tomorrow I have off, and John comes home from Kansas, Thursday I work with three and four year olds, and Friday I'm on the road with John and my three babies (Babies? 11, 5 and 3.) back to Georgia. Am I looking forward to that!!

La la laaaah...la la laaaahh....dum da all the pretty horses.... (don't ask...)

Ode to DayCare Newborns *To Rana*

Babies are sweet and dear little things,
But angels start to lose their wings,
Their halos tarnish and rust just a bit,
When they learn to cry and learn to spit.
Wailing and whining for bottles of food,
Why do they ALL have to have a bad mood
At the same time? But when they're all sleeping,
When all around the caregivers go creeping,
We look at the darlings, and smile so bright,
Because we all know they won't sleep late that night.

posted by Steph at 12:01 AM[edit]

Work in thirty minutes. The upside of this is that I only have two more days to work with the newborns. I love children and I love babies but I was definately glad when my children got to be about nine months old and could respond to things, sit up, and/or crawl. Helpless babies are sweet but they're just not my cup of tea for long.

In other news, I go home on Friday. Georgia always looked good to me but it's never looked better.
posted by Steph at 11:33 AM[edit]

Ah, me. Work is strange. For three hours every day I am dealing with four newborns. This would not be so bad, normally..but the youngest newborn, only two months old, is a SCREAMER. Nothing satisfies this child. I pick him up, he cries. I put him down, he cries. I give him his bottle, he cries. The only time he doesn't cry is when I swing him in my arms, belly down. But I can't do that for three hours straight..I do have three other babies in the room that I have to attend to.

I want to kill my mom.

Well, not really. But she knew in what room she would sub me and she knew of this child's tendencies. Yes, I'm being paid but minimum wage is not worth this.

The 27th can't get here fast enough.
posted by Steph at 9:34 AM[edit]

Another day closer to home and to normalcy.
posted by Steph at 11:27 PM[edit]

Work continues to go well...life with Mom remains smooth. It helps that I am consciously keeping her "love-tank" filled (For more on the love tank, see The Five Love Languages by Gary Smalley) and that I am not rising to every little thing she says. However, there are still sixteen days left, ten of those with John in Kansas. And this weekend we are going up to Arkansas to spend some time with John's dad.

If I thought spending time with my mom was bad, spending time with my father-in-law is ten times worse. The man is a paranoid delusional, and a bigot on top of that. The world must revolve around him or he's impossible to be around. We go up to spend our token day with him and we're set for another six months or so. I honestly don't see how anyone can live with the man.

I need to write poetry but I can't find the right words yet. Soon, though. I have one couplet running around in my brain..let it percolate for another day or so and maybe you'll get to see it put to text. Someone remind me to save it on something besides blogger, please?
posted by Steph at 3:07 AM[edit]

We seem to have settled into a routine here; my mother and I seem to be getting along better than ever before. What a concept. I honestly hope it lasts.

In other news, I've lost two pounds since I've been here. Whether that's from stress or just being careful I can't know yet..it will take time to see. But it was nice to get on that scale this morning and see that needle in a different place. Eight down, forty-two to go.
posted by Steph at 12:43 AM[edit]

Smooth sailing still. I worked today up at Mom's childcare center, answering the phone, and today and yesterday were good days. She's dropped the weight thing, and actually seems to be treating me like an adult. What a concept!!

Later on we went to a ball game, the entire crew...the five of my family, the four of my brother's family, and Mom & Dad. It was a lot of fun. So, at the moment, I can say I am happy. Tomorrow is Independence Day...somehow, I feel like it should have significance for me, but I'm still afraid. I hate conflict, unlike my mom who thrives on it. Maybe I need to face this head-on. Yes, Jono, you've been telling me that for years. But saying it and actually doing it are two different things.


posted by Steph at 12:32 AM[edit]

Alright. So things are still going fine. Well, so to speak. I'm still keeping my mom happy so no major blowups yet.

This being said, I'm trying very hard to deal with the things my mom says. The spiteful things, the hurtful things, and the just plain IGNORANT things. If I can let them all roll away then peace will reign.

Those of you who have read my page for a while know that I am sensitive about my weight. I hate being heavy, and I am working very hard on changing that fact. I've lost five pounds since I started the attempt at the end of May. You have to know first off, that my mother is quickly approaching 250 lbs, if she isn't already over that. She eats three meals and snacks in between. It's always a huge struggle to keep from just gaining weight from the food she cooks. Given her weight, it's ludicrous that she would call me on my own weight, but she does. She chides me on the fact that I'm a size eighteen now. (She's a 26.) She mentioned today that someone asked her if I was pregnant again. I didn't need to hear that.

Other than that, my dad and my brother's family have been great and I've enjoyed every moment around them. And other than this hiccup, being with my mom really isn't so bad. It would be better without the barbs, but I've long ago become accustomed to them. She never knows just how much they hurt.

posted by Steph at 12:39 AM[edit]

Well, we got to Louisiana without a hitch. Which is good, considering we went through a rather major thunderstorm. Nothing unsual for Louisiana, though, where you can set your watch by the storms in the summertime. Being with family is always a rather mixed blessing for me, though. On the one hand, I get to see my dad, whom I absolutely adore and would do anything for; my brother and his family, and everyone I came to the reunion to see. More on the reunion in a moment.

On the other hand, I have to deal with my mom. Now, you see, my mother and I are not close, and have never been close. Our personalities and our ways of doing things are at the opposite ends of the spectrum. She is dominant, while I am bouncy. She is super-neat-freak, while I'm a clutterbug. She's a do-it-now, while I'm a it-can-wait, especially when it comes to the aforementioned neat-freakiness. Cleaning and doing for people is her love language and she does it well, but since my love language is touch, and she's NOT and NEVER will be a touch-y person, she doesn't understand. It's like we're from two different planets. So, we butt heads at least once in every trip. I never grew up, you see, in her eyes, and even though I have three wonderful kids of my own, good, sweet, polite, enjoyable children, according to her attitude, I have no clue how to raise children.

Enough of that. The reunion went great, as I said. My parents, and my aunts and uncles all from my Pa-paw's line. Three original children; six grandchildren (my generation) and sixteen great-granchildren, with one on the way. The oldest of the great-grands is fifteen, and the youngest is, as of today's writing, -3 months. (Teddy, my youngest boy, is the youngest currently, at three years.) We had a blast, catching up on the past year with some, catching up on LIFE with my oldest cousin, who I hadn't seen since she married some sixteen years ago. We looked and laughed at old pictures, died laughing at old stories, and shared our lives. We met new cousins and became friends. And my life is a great deal richer tonight.

But the picture with me in plaid pants and cat-eye glasses with pigtails has GOT to go.
posted by Steph at 12:31 AM[edit]