Just can’t get caught up.

Like everyone else, I have so much to do and so little time to do it. It has been getting harder lately though because I have only just now felt like I have gotten enough sleep…sort of. lol. We were absolutely wiped out from the yard sale and spent all last Sunday just recuperating so on Monday I was rested enough to get a bunch done in the house. Sleep eluded me for my nap before work though so I went in tired again. No problem since I could sleep all day Tuesday and I so needed it. I dragged in Tuesday morning, got Dennis off to work, got the animals fed and walked, had some breakfast and headed off to bed about 8AM and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I figured I’d still be asleep by the time Dennis got home at 5PM which would be a really good ‘night’s’ sleep. Finally!

At about 9:15, I had been asleep for barely an hour when our 20 yr old son Steven showed up with our oldest kid’s wife. He has been staying with his brother and wife to help them out. Well, it seems James left his wife and child in Steven’s care and left with all their money and the car. Something had to have been really building up in this kid for him to do that and I didn’t have to look far to figure out what it is. His wife is not our favorite person. She is not pleasant if she doesn’t get her way and always wants more. Bigger car, bigger ring, more clothes etc etc. But she is his wife so we keep our mouths shut. But now she was here with Steven because they got a tip that James was here in town and she wanted to find him and the car. And I was exhausted.

So she was a mess, crying and worrying what was wrong with James and how could he do this to her and what about the baby.  I should have felt worse for her than I did, but I couldn’t overlook the fact that this woman’s hair and makeup were impeccable as usual. Yeah, she’s real upset. Putting on a show to get her way again I figured. But I did get her to stop crying and told she needed to make some decisions to get herself situated on the assumption she would not be getting James back. She started wailing about having no money (she has a rock on her left hand that could cause carpal tunnel syndrome in most women and the two ‘former’ engagement rings on her right hand that she kept after James upgraded them…I could stretch the money paid for them for months! lol) Anyway, they got the car back and we offered our house to them if she needed a place to stay while she got on her feet. It is the right thing to do since she has our grandchild, and it is a way to get Steven back home and out from under the responsibility he feels towards his nephew. He won’t walk out on the kid, he’s like that and takes it seriously, probably because of his own childhood before Dennis then I came along. But it’s not right for him to leave his life on hold for his brother’s responsibility.

I did see some relief in his face when I told our DIL she could stay with us if she needed to. Steven laughed and said "I may have a crazy family, but they’re real good people!" I laughed too, then stopped and said "Hey!" LOL! I got in touch with Dennis and he came home early so I could finally get some sleep which I desperately needed before work. We haven’t heard from anyone since so we have no idea what is going on, but we haven’t quite hit our stride since.

On a lighter side, I was filing things away and came across a realtor’s pamphlet that was put out on the house my family owned for 80 years. My ex sold it 3 yrs ago and it’s on the market again. I was looking at the interior photos of the place when suddenly I saw something I had missed before and it started me laughing right out loud. In one of the pictures of the kitchen, I noticed a couch in it. Strange I thought, but was that afgan on it familiar to me? Why yes it was! I had left a lot of things behind since I was moving out of state and couldn’t take everything. Obviously my ex had also left things behind. Like this huge 4 foot by 2 foot cheap picture of a sailboat at sunset. It was something you’d find in a motel room and I remember that my grandfather had covered the frame with this horrible gaudy fake wood grain vinyl peel and stick stuff. I had forgotten all about the thing because it spent YEARS being kicked around the house, mostly behind any couch it would fit behind. And I don’t mean hung above the couch, I mean hidden behind the couch so it couldn’t be seen! lol. Yet here it was in the picture hung right up in the kitchen over the couch! I gotta wonder if they thought they had found something wonderful when they dug it up! Oh well, to each his own I guess! lol.

And Jasmine sat down yesterday! You may not think that’s noteworthy but for Jasmine it is! Her poor back legs are too weak to get to a sitting position. She will fall halfway down, so she will only stand and walk or lay down. But she wanted to sit and I ran in to give her support and got her to a sitting position. I even brushed her a little and she enjoyed that, but it was only a few minutes when she gave out and laid down. She can still get up stairs by herself even if it does take a little while to do it, and she can go for a 20 minute walk every day.

Now that summer’s over, it’s dark out when we go for our walks in the morning. But it’s a pretty safe neighborhood so I have never worried about it. So safe in fact that for the first few years I was here and we had teenagers coming and going all the time, the house stayed unlocked 24/7 and we never had a problem. The only time we did lock up was to keep the teenagers OUT! LOL! Besides, we always had Jasmine who always attacked first and asked questions later. She is old now but in the back of my mind I figured no one would know that if we were seen walking in the dark. She would discourage anyone from bothering us I thought. Of course, if she turns quickly or loses her footing, she ends up in a crumpled heap and I have to put my coffee down on the street, stand over her and pull her straight up until she gets her feet back under her and can walk. It is at those times that it goes through my mind that my theory of her being a rottweiler scaring anyone off may be a bit flawed! LOL! Oh well, what are you gonna do, right? She’s my baby.

Well, got a lot to do today and work tonight. Hope everyone is well! Special hugs to Patty and Newby, my thoughts are with you and everyone at Gallaudet. And hugs to Alysia who is drowning in school work right now.