Month: October 2023

What’s happening this week 10/26/23

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It’s been dreary and non-stop raining all week. We had a couple thunderstorms and torrential downpours. The rain came down so hard it flooded Arabella’s room downstairs. What a mess! This is the third time the room flooded since we’ve been here. The first time it flooded, it was Alex’s room and a couple hours later we needed to be ready for my uncle’s wedding. The second time, the room was vacant. This time though I think Paul figured out the problem. But early that morning he was outside digging a trench in the thunderstorm to keep more water from pouring in.

There is always something that needs fixing around this ancient mansion. Last week the industrial humidifier died which is going to be a costly replacement. We might have to keep our indoor pool covered for quite awhile until we can figure that problem out. I know, first world problems.

Other than some house related stuff, everything is going really well. Paul has been diligently training the dogs and pretty soon with the invisible fence system they will be able to roam our yard. The dogs and cats are not on the best terms yet, but that could take awhile.

Arabella went in for a job interview earlier this week. They hired her on the spot and she started working the next day. I am thankful she was able to find employment. It seems like they will give her plenty of hours. So far the job is going great. They weren’t too worried about her record when she told them either. They told her they have people working there on the bracelet. My son’s girlfriend works in a restaurant as well. From the stories they tell me, you would be surprised how many restaurant workers have criminal records. As for right now, Arabella is doing the best we could expect of her.

I also found out since my son’s car is over fifteen years old, he doesn’t need to have an inspection after fixing up his totaled car after someone ran a red light and smashed it. For that I am overjoyed. The inspection is a rigorous process. They need receipts and very detailed documentation we didn’t have. Apparently, they are more concerned about newer cars with stolen parts not how safe the car is to drive on our roads. With that being said, Alex is now driving his car and not borrowing mine. He just started his second quarter of classes at the tech school. He absolutely loves school which is something I would’ve never dreamed of in a million years.

Angel is doing very well too. We had one of her friends over this week for a test run of a cookie decorating class she wants to teach. I’ve discovered I am not an artist. I just don’t have the patience for arts and crafts. I always blame it on being left handed. But the truth is, I am not very patient to sit around and putz with things. It was fun to try something new and the cookies taste great. Her friend is very talented and I ordered some of her treats and cookies for Paul’s birthday party. It’s nice she wanted to do a test run with my family.

I’m grateful my kids are in a good place right now. I am going to enjoy it as much as I can before the winds change.

I’m pretty much ready for winter. It’s so hard to believe it will be November next week. We are expecting a cold front to come in after all this rain stops. Maybe the next time I talk about the weather, we’ll have our first snow flurries. This week I finished washing the windows and taking off the summer screens. I want to get started on a landscaping project before the snow falls and rent a dumpster for the fall purge. Then I will hunker down for the winter and do a lot of writing.

Photos of the new pets

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Here are the pictures of our new pets I have been promising to post:

Here is a really cute picture of our Beagle puppies. They love playing together in the yard with toys, sticks, or anything they can find.

Here is a picture of my rescue cat. If you look at his paws, you will notice he is polydactyl. He is full of sugar and spice. Today I entered a writing contest about my cat and I to try to win a $100,000 grant for the pet shelter I got him from. It’s a real long shot, but why not?

What’s happening this week-10/19/23

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Fall has arrived and the sailing season is officially over. I’m sad to see summer go, but I’ve adjusted to this expected change. The leaves changed color and most trees have passed their peak but it’s still incredibly beautiful. It’s dark when I wake up and in the evening while I’m making supper. I’m not sure how my body knows when it’s morning.

Arabella’s jail friend with the Hannibal Lector tattoo is back in jail and will probably be in there for a long time. We don’t have to worry about that for awhile. She was respectful to us, but she was really rough and we were fearful of her as she was convicted of violent and drug related crimes. The other day Paul and I were watching the news and saw a guard was assaulted at the jail and we were waiting for the pronoun to see if it could be Arabella’s friend.

Arabella is doing alright. She was upset with me this week. I went to get more of her things from Will at their old apartment. She still is in love with him and wanted me to deliver messages to him from her which I refused to do. She has a no contact order for another two years and I am not going to be the in between. She said she was going to go over to the apartment to ask him if he still loves her. But after an hour and a long conversation with Paul, she settled down.

The probation officer visited our house. Apparently he had to create a layout of our house in case the SWAT team ever has to come. He also had to make sure we didn’t have a meth lab or had any prisoners in our house. I’m not sure what he meant by prisoners. If we were harboring a prisoner or if we had someone chained up in our house.

Last week I caught Arabella smoking weed. I keep telling her that I’m sure absolute sobriety will be a part of her probation. But she said it wouldn’t be because her crime was not drug or alcohol related. I asked her if she wanted to take the chance of going back to jail and being a convicted felon at 20. She doesn’t listen. I’ve done my part at preaching to her. She didn’t get into the mess she was in by making good decisions. Now it’s up to her and I have to let it go.

Otherwise, I’m right where I want to be in my life right now. This is the time of year to get back into writing more. I’m working very part-time for my husband’s business. I volunteer once a week at the animal shelter and at a faith based organization that gives out diapers and clothing to families in need.

Last week at the organization that helps families in need, there was a new person helping out. She told us all 4 of her kids are in the ministry. It kind of rubbed me the wrong way because it came across as bragging and being better than everyone else. I was tempted to say that my two oldest kids are musicians and my youngest is unemployed, living in our basement, and on probation. Thankfully Arabella has had a couple job interviews and more set up.

I felt like I couldn’t relate to this woman. But I had to change the way I viewed things. Paul and I can relate more to the people who come in that are struggling. We know what it’s like to have a kid in jail. We know what it’s like to deal with family who are mentally ill and struggling with addiction. My husband grew up in a home with an uneducated single teen parent. He knows what it is like to live in low income housing in poverty. We know what it is like to raise children without a lot of family support. We can use all of our life experiences to help others who are going through it because we’ve been there.

This weekend we have an out of town wedding, a Halloween costume party, and our son will be playing with his band. It should be a fun weekend.

What’s happening this week-10/12/23

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Within a matter of a week, it went from summer to winter. No snow flurries yet, but it’s windy and cool. Yesterday I dragged out the bin of winter clothes. We didn’t turn on the heat yet though.

On Tuesday morning I went in for my colonoscopy and endoscopy. I opted to go the pill route versus drinking the awful solution which meant I had to start with a special diet on Saturday. Then on Monday at 5 PM I had to take a dozen pills and then another dozen at 3 AM. I pretty much stayed up most of the night and felt like crap. I did nod off to sleep for a little bit, then jumped up freaking out that I missed the second dose oversleeping the alarm I set. Let’s just say, I’m glad that is over.

Things have been stressful with the adoption of three new pets. It’s been an adjustment. The cats get along amazingly, even better than I anticipated, which is great. But the dogs are still having a hard time acclimating to the cats. They want to bark and chase. We put up a couple baby gates. It’s getting better, but the dogs are a lot of work and at times it seems impossible to get anything done within the timeframe I planned for.

I feel lowkey sad. I’m not sure why. I think it has to do with the changing of the seasons. Everything has been going fine. Dan and Angel are doing great. My son got his car back from the garage and hopefully will be getting the inspection soon so he doesn’t have to borrow my car. Arabella is doing good. She had a job interview today for a server position. I’m glad she is starting to look for work. I think it is going to be a lot harder for her to find a job now. Next week her probation officer wants to come to the house. I’m sure they can understand more after doing a home visit. Paul and I were instructed to not ask him a whole bunch of questions.

Really not a lot going on like the last couple of weeks. I will post some animal pictures soon.

How is it October already??!?

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I can’t believe it’s October already. It’s time to get back to writing more often again. Today ushered the end of the warm summer days. We covered our pool. It’s always such a difficult time of year knowing there will be many dark days ahead. I do love fall though. It is my second favorite season after summer.

This week the adoption papers went through for my shelter cat and right now he is sitting on my lap helping me type these words. He is such a lovey dove. I promise I will show you pictures very soon of my new pets. But right now we are trying very hard to get them used to each other without any big fights. No easy task which tries our patience.

We had some record high temps in the last couple of days. I did my best to try to get outside and enjoy them. Paul had a great birthday party last weekend. The weather was absolutely unbelievably perfect. Everything went great. We had a fire in the evening and the band played for a long time. We had a lot of good food. I did all the cleaning and cooking. But this time if people offered to help by bringing food, I let them. Even Paul’s stepdad brought a camper and parked it in our yard reminiscent of cousin Eddie in the National Lampoon’s. It’s really not a party until someone shows up with a camper.

Although, we did get some bad news. My friend Lisa tried killing herself. Her husband, who was working out of town, thought something was up and had the police check on her. By the time they got there, Lisa was unconscious and had to be airlifted to the hospital. They put her on a ventilator. This wasn’t her first attempt and I am very afraid for her. She had a very traumatic upbringing and experienced a tremendous amount of loss. She never got past the grief of the death of her daughter in a car accident.

When Lisa showed up at the party, she told me about how she was just released from the hospital. She looked terrible. I’ve never seen her so rough before. She had too much to drink. I really wish I could do something, anything, to help her. But through my own life experiences, I found there is nothing I can really do. I don’t have any control over it. I wish I did. Lisa is one of my best friends and if something happened to her I would be devastated.

Life otherwise has been busy but rather quiet. Just feeling worry about my friend…worry about the pets getting along with each other…the letdown after the big party…the end of summer…

One thing is constant and that is change. My son’s roommate moved out. Our neighbors are moving. I feel pretty neutral about it. The uncertainty comes with who is going to move in. Everything went good with them until they had a baby. Honestly, I think the guy is pretty embarrassed he yelled at my son and his friends for lighting off fireworks on the 4th. He lost his cool and I don’t think that happens often. He works for the foster care program and he was out yelling at some kids.

We finally met our other neighbors. They seem pretty chill. I told them we got two Beagles. They told us they have 10 free range chickens. What could possibly go wrong?? They also said if something happens to their chickens they wouldn’t be upset with us.

That’s about it. I don’t have big plans for the weekend besides preparing for my colonoscopy early next week. Sounds like a good time. Not!