If the one before was a bikini brief update, this must be the boxer brief version.

So, I meant to post on Sunday while I was home alone. Oops. Instead, I enjoyed the peace and silence of the empty house by not doing a single thing. It was lovely.

To elaborate on the goings on mentioned in the update:

C spent a month (four weeks) with his mother in North Carolina. Last week, during the fourth week there, she calls D and says we didn't send enough insulin. We sent all that we had, for starters, and it should have been ample insulin for a month. She then informs D that we owe her $155 (the copay for a three month supply). . . I'm sorry, what? Yeah. That same day, she calls and says C's blood sugar is high and he doesn't feel well. D starts trying to troubleshoot over the phone, but can't get straight answers. Fast forward to that night. She calls again. C is passing out and going in and out of consciousness and she can't get his blood sugar to stabilize. D tells her to take C to the E.R. Once at the E.R., they admit him and immediately transfer him by ambulance to another hospital 90 minutes away. They keep him for three nights. He was discharged the day before he was to come back to TN. He comes back and stays with D's parents, naturally, since he wasn't to be in our custody yet... I know, I know. We go through the supplies he has brought back. One vial of insulin (not the rest of the supply, which means we now have to pay FULL price for them, as the insurance will only provide one filling per three months), five sites, and 60 test strips. The sites need to be changed no later than every three days. We sent ten. He tests himself at least 5 times a day, more when he is high, and at least every time he eats. We sent 160. We can count. We counted when we packed his supplies to send. We know exactly how he ended up in the hospital.
C is now at camp... which she swore she was paying for this year. We paid for it. Again. He will be there all this week and all next week. Maybe when he comes home, he will no longer think that it is D's fault he ended up in the hospital. Because he thinks that, since she told him so. He told D on the phone from the hospital that it was his fault and he did not want to see him and for D not to come to the hospital at all. She also informed D in that same conversation (in front of C), that D is an asshole for not letting C chose where he lives. All of this should make the rest of summer break and the start of school just wonderful around here.

D's mother is undergoing chemotherapy. She's had two treatments. She has lost all of her hair. The tumors are responding and shrinking. Anytime anyone is around her and she doesn't like what they say, do, wear, etc, she tells them. She details why she doesn't like it, how it could be done better (her way), and why you're stupid for doing it your way. And if you get upset, she says that the "chemo makes [her] not care what you think." Sadly, chemo and cancer are NOT a license to be a bitch. And being that way to the people around you will make certain you're alone when you really need help. I refuse to be left alone with her. I will not have J around her without me. It's really gotten bad.

I started my job at the University. It's... a job. It's not glorious or glamorous, or even a whole lot of fun, but it's not boring. The benefits far outweigh the downsides. I like the people I work with, some more than others. I like being close to J's school and home. I like the hours. I will really like the paychecks (get paid monthly, so we're struggling through July to get to the first paycheck). Lots of good will come from this. If nothing else, I get to be an adult. It's a tough transition, though. I still really want to stay home in my pjs. I catch myself planning things, thinking "I can do that while D's a work tomorrow." Um, no. We work about the same hours. Technically, he's supposed to go in an hour before I do and get off an hour before I do, but we leave the house about the same time and get home about the same time, which works.

Anyway, it's time for fixing dinner and enjoying some time with my hubby.

Bikini Brief update

So much has happened, and I'm still so frustrated by it all I can't quite write about it yet. To recap briefly, C was hospitalized while with his mother, D's mom is using chemo as an excuse to be a bitch, and I started my job.

More tomorrow while D takes C to camp.

brief update

I will try to post longer on Monday or Tuesday, but just a brief update: I like my job. The campus is all Pepsi, but I found one little quick mart that sells Coke - and it's right next door!

This weekend is going to be crazy. We've got our annual Fourth of July party Sunday, so we're getting everything ready for it today. D's aunt and uncle from Texas, cousin from VA, and grandfather from KY are all in town and coming to the party this year. With all of them here, his aunt and uncle in Nashville will likely join as well.

Side note on his mom: she's had one chemo treatment, and it is working. The doctor confirmed that the cancer is shrinking. YAY! Thank you, God! The bad news is that, either from stress of worrying about it happening or the chemo itself, her hair has started to fall out. She has been very worried about this since she was diagnosed, even though the doctors and techs all told her it may not happen and didn't typically start to happen until after the second treatment (which will be Tuesday for her).

I think I broke my toe at work. It was throbbing all night long and kept me from sleeping (hence why I'm blogging at 7:30 on Saturday morning). We'll see.

Unfortunately, I have work to do to get the house in shape. And I already want a nap!

. . . wish it was Sunday

Today may not be Monday, but my Monday was so manic it bled over onto today. Getting the house ready for me to be a working Mommy and also be ready for the party on the Fourth has been an ordeal. On the plus side, the house is starting to look GREAT! I have finished the living room, dining room, and the boys' room. The kitchen is almost done, I just have a few odds and ends to put away. The hallway is likewise almost done, I just need to dust picture frames. Our room needs a bit more work, but I can only do so much until D builds me a closet. The playroom is my biggest hurdle indoors, and even it doesn't need much. I have to put some books up and dust, and J needs to finish putting away a few toys. Outdoors, I need to finish weeding the vegetable garden, weed the herb garden, and prep the flower beds for mulch. Then I am done! D will be off on Friday while I work (that still seems strange!), so he is mulching all day.

J started ESP yesterday at school, for about half a day. I was going to feed him breakfast at home today (breakfast and lunch are included in ESP fees), but he got up while I was working on my room and packed his snack for ESP and asked if he could eat at school. So he was at ESP at 7:30 this morning! Luckily, that's what time I need to be getting him there so I have time to find a parking spot and get to my office (strange!). He LOVES ESP, and they have a field trip for Friday to go see Toy Story 3, so that will make his week even better. I'm so glad he's enjoying it, because I was very worried that this transition was going to be difficult. Having him at school let me get so much accomplished over the last two days, and lets me spend time with him when he's home.

I went and got some clothes for work earlier, and now I'm ready for a nap. My body is convinced it's 5:00 or so, even though it's really only 1:30. I guess I'm going to go work on the house some more. . . may as well, since I've got time to kill.

Strange Things

I am awake and blogging at 6:30 in the morning on a Monday. I start working on Thursday, so I need to start getting up and going to bed on my "work" routine now. . . and I don't like it! I am NOT a morning person! J slept in his bed last night for the first time since school got out. I didn't really like that either, but we are back on that routine now, too, since he is starting ESP today. :-(

I managed to get quite a lot accomplished over the weekend, despite not being home for 2/3 of it. The living room is still clean(!), and now the kitchen is 95% there as well. I need to do the floors, but I'm not too concerned about that. The dining room is cleaned, but I have stuff on the table that needs to be put away. I haven't dusted in the hallway, and I need to put up clothes in the boys' room (usually their job, but I need to cull out those things that are too small before school starts). Our room hasn't been touched, and the playroom needs a bit of work. I should only have three loads of laundry to wash and dry on Wednesday (two of clothing to line dry, one of socks and underwear that get to go in the dryer). I'm almost there! The end is in sight!

Now, for why I was not cleaning my house over this weekend as I should have been. D's mother started chemo two weeks ago. Saturday night, D's sister and I threw a "hat party" for her, where all the guests wore hats and brought her gifts (movies, iTunes cards, yarn for crocheting, books, etc) that she can use while doing the chemo or while recovering at home. The party was a lot of fun, and she seemed to enjoy herself. Anyway, Friday was spent cleaning my m-i-l's house for the party. . . and then grocery shopping. Saturday was spent at her house again, getting things ready and cleaning again, and then the party. Saturday was the longest day of my life. My legs and feet and back still hurt!

Friday night we did take time out to go to the drive-in with J and see Toy Story 3. If you haven't seen it, skip down to the bottom, because I'm about to give details. I started crying during the opening home video scenes. I thought it was so sweet that it was the same play time theme as the first Toy Story. I collected myself and was good until Chuckles starting talking about Daisy and telling their story. I lost it. And I was very mad at her parents! D and I know where J's favorites are at all times! I didn't stop crying until the movie was over. The scene at the landfill with the incinerator did me in. I was convinced it was over and they were going to die and that was how the trilogy would end. I was sobbing. J spent the last ten minutes rubbing my back and telling me "It's okay, Mommy." When Andy was playing with Bonnie, I couldn't see the screen. Even D was crying. I loved that Andy didn't want to give up Woody. That was wonderful. Part of what made us both so emotional, aside from growing up with the Toy Story franchise, is the fact that J is our own Andy. His equivalent of Woody is Boo Boo, a giraffe D gave me in the hospital when I had kidney surgery while pregnant with J. When J was born, he "stole" it from me. (he loves this giraffe to the point that while we were in Disney World, he wanted to take him to Animal Kingdom to show him his family and we had to find a shirt small enough to fit him because "Boo Boo needs a souvenir too!" No joke.) Since I was so distraught by the movie, when J went home with my mom from the party Saturday night, he told me he didn't pack Boo Boo, but left him on my pillow to cuddle with me because I needed some Boo Boo love. (Is that not the sweetest thing?)

Much as I don't want to, I suppose I need to actually get out of my comfortable bed and work some on the house before going to sign J up for ESP and let him stay for a few hours today. Even thinking about doing more housework makes my body throb in pain. I just have to remember that the house will be beautiful for all our company this weekend!

She Works Hard for the Money. . .

I GOT THE JOB!!

Yes, I'm a little excited. With good reason. I applied for a job at the University in APRIL. I interviewed in May. (applied mid-April, interviewed May 16, to clarify) I got the call yesterday and I start July 1. I am so grateful, relieved, excited, nervous. . . .

Yesterday was all-around an awesome day for me. Our internet had been acting up and not connecting, so D picked up a modem from work. When it didn't solve the problem, we called tech support (bad idea). That actually made it worse. So when he went to work yesterday, D mentioned to one of the supers that we were having issues. At 8:15 there was a tech in the driveway. By 9:00 there was a tech in a bucket truck in the road, up on the line. By 11:00, D was here, adding his AT&T van to the mix. By 11:30, we had another bucket truck and a super here. The problem? Squirrels chewed through the cable on the line. So, D's buddies and coworkers fixed the problem and one even sat on the floor with me to set back up the wireless network that tech support screwed up. First wonderful part of the day - internet service!

Second wonderful part of the day - getting the job offer! The Associate Dean of the Department of Education called and offered me the position. And I said yes!

Third wonderful part of the day - D's baseball team played their best game of the season last night. They lost by one, but it was the best game I've seen them play all year.

Fourth wonderful part of the day - is actually a carry over into today - D and I are celebrating our seventh wedding anniversary today!

That's all I've got. . . I've got a house to get very clean and ready for me to be a working girl.

Lost: husband

I like to be upbeat. I like to be positive. Sometimes that's hard to do, especially when surrounded by negativity. That's been happening a lot lately.

D has been, well, depressed lately. I understand why. I get it. But I've been working my tail off and he doesn't seem to notice or care. I've felt for a while now (since well before his mother was diagnosed with cancer) that our relationship was becoming one sided. I seem to give and he gets to take. Hardly fair or even. And I try to be the wife God tells me to be, but not getting anything in return isn't part of the marriage plan. I'm not looking for an award or even help. I'm looking for a foot rub at the end of a long day working while he sits on the couch and plays a computer game. I'm looking to cuddle after a long day of cleaning and taking care of his mother. I'm looking for an 'I love you' and a kiss at least once during the day. I'm looking for my husband!

That's all I've got for now. I'm too irritated to write more.