Sorry - message #1 was a rant about my sister so I deleted that part and reposted.

 

I got a few things picked up.  Scott will be home soon.  I need to make sure the kids get their homework done.  For snack I made cinnamon sugar pretzels out of those frozen pretzels you microwave?  YUM.  But very bad - soaked in butter and then rolled in cinnamon sugar.  Not exactly like the mall ones but very good. 

 

I'm wearing my fattest jeans today - the ones I saved as a reminder of my "before" weight.  And they fit.  Sigh...

 

We have a Rocky appmt tonight and need to leave here a little after 4 so I need to supervise homework and finish cleaning up upstairs.  I had the kitchen mostly clean but then messed it up with the pretzels.  Sara I do not know how you do it - all I did was pull out the frozen pretzels, wrap each one in a paper towel in the microwave and then dip them in melted butter then dredge them in cinnamon sugar.  No baking, no real work. But I still trashed my kitchen!  I don't get how you can bake as much as you do, especially with no dishwasher!

can't seem to get motivated to pick up.  i keep playing on here.  from now until we leave i'm going to go steadily work upstairs on anything!

How did the rest of the day go, Joni?

 

I've been feeling fairly good today though the cold is affecting me.

 

Andrew just called and told me about a programmer meeting they had. He gets the impression that they are 'phasing' him out. So, now I'm freaking out, money-wise. here we are, ready to buy a new house. I'm ready to take April-August off from doing daycare... augh augh augh Why can't Andrew find a job where he can be there for a LONG time? Why is his one boss such a jerk? (making fun of people when they aren't there to defend themselves, swearing at people, insisting his way is the only way and then lo and behold, when his way doesn't work out, he realizes that the original way that was suggested was actually good.) He's going to talk with the lady from our church who works there as well. She's REALLY good at reading people and has quite a bit of respect there so hopefully she can shed some light on the situation. I dont' think she'd ever come right out and say, yeah, Andrew, you need to look for another job. So, I hope she doesn't sugar coat anything. Her and Andrew have similar personalities though so I think she knows what to say to Andrew to get him to 'hear.'

 

My house is ok but sorta dirty... floors need to be swept and mopped. I'm hoping to get everything done and put away 2 loads of laundry and still get to bed around 9, 9:30. Andrew has ball hockey and then has to do some errands after and go to his brother's to get some stuff. So, I don't expect him home til later.

 

Gotta check the water. We're having tuna pasta salad though Timmy didn't like it the last time so gotta find him something else.

that's scary :-(

 

i hope if that is what's happening at andrew's job that you find out before you close on your house.  it would still be upsetting but at least you'd know before you made a huge commitment and are tied down to a specific area to live in.

 

our apptmt with chane's counselor went a little better than normal this time. usually i just leave there incredibly frustrated that i can't seem to get thru to him exactly how chane is.  he may understand but i'm never sure.  this time he totally threw us for a loop - i told him how horrible chane was at the den meeting and his immediate response was that maybe chane needs to be in a different pack.  it had never even occurred to me for a minute that that could be a solution - taking him out of scouts and having him be babysat at my mom's while i still led his den (since i don't feel like i could just quit and leave them in the lurch) was my last resort but now moving him to another pack would possibly be one. 

 

rocky did not understand why that was such an almost impossible notion to us.  he said with a kid like chane who behaves better for authority figures, he would recommend that if he needed someone like a tutor or a piano teacher that it should never be his parent.  he said that some parents even coach a different soccer team than their own kid's.  okay i get that, but scouts is different.  scott and i couldn't make him understand that.  scouts is a lifestyle and a community, not a separate thing.  we thought of an example afterward - it would be like if scott were pastor of a church and we sent chane to a different church because he couldn't behave.  that would definitely be a last resort.  each pack is totally different and, at least at the level at which we participate, we immerse ourselves in the culture, the families, etc.  it's not like we show up once a week for an hour while our kids are being taught something.  scott and now i are part of pack leadership and each pack has things going on constantly - committe meetings and activities and fundraisers and events and parents' meetings and weeklong trips and stuff.  no way could i commit to try to juggle two different packs. 

 

anyway the good part of all of that was that i finally left a meeting with his counselor with an actual rock solid goal - we discussed how i could get chane to behave at den meetings and an action plan i can have with parents who are present in case a kid (meaning chane) misbehaves to a point where he has to be removed.  and since i know that his counselor will push the "move chane to another pack" thing, i feel like this is a goal i have to avoid hearing him say that again and having to justify why that is not possible. 

 

i feel confident that if i throw myself into just having him behave in ONE instance, meaning scout meetings, i can maybe not feel all over the place with him.  my description of chane is that it's like one of those cartoons where the water spurts out of a pipe and the character sticks a finger in, then it comes out of another place and he puts in a toe etc until the water is spurting out everywhere out of control.  he is one of the smartest kids i've ever seen and also one of the most perceptive and can manipulate us to the breaking point.  anytime i figure out one thing to do he's over there behind me figuring out a way around it or a whole different behavior. 

 

anyway, i actually feel good that i've finally chosen a concrete goal and instead of being upset that he takes teeny steps when we are late going somewhere, or pauses just long enough to drive me nuts when he's getting in the van so i can't shut the door, or manages to injure himself grievously (or you'd think so hearing him scream anyway) right at the worst time, or throws himself down when i barely touch him or look at him funny and swears i threw him across the room, or lies to me or whatever whatever whatever that i can still try to manage those times but my real goal right now is to just get him to behave in scouts for me!!!!!

 

okay now braeden is here insisting he show me something on the computer so gotta go

okay that is a minute of my life that i will never get back!!!!!  he wanted to show me a computer thing he made in a game

 

sorry i went on and on and then left - sara i know whatever happens you'll get thru it.  i know that's a platitude but it's also the truth.

 

jac and serene, are you guys around?

 

scott's leaving for a scout meeting - gotta go say goodbye