16-01-28

Morgan always invited me to be there for picture things ... dances, etc.

16-01-29

Yesterday was just a lot of fun. First of all, the ATA audit was not as confrontational as I had sometimes thought it might be. They might come back and question some of our answers re "use" of owner-operators, but yesterday was not awful. She said my spreadsheet was "awesome." 

And we got to Skype with Tori and Josh! Skype never worked at all when she was in the dorms and we really hadn't tried since then. I had to get set back up and so did she but it worked!!! She enjoyed her day at the zoo. Worked in the petting zoo and seemed very happy about it. She was pushing her wheelbarrow and ran into a giraffe! She was part of big group online meeting at IBM. I asked her if they knew yet that she was the most important one. She laughed ... said the leader did say that he had heard some good things about her. 

Beth and I had a nice, long phone conversation. Those are kind of rare, and so I was happy to have the time with her. She'd had a bad day at work, and so I made a jar with a prayer and put the bad people's names in it. She got a kick out of that. 

Did I tell you that Tyler asked the girl to the Sweetheart Dance and she said, "Yes?" 

Shawn was happy at suppertime, and we all had fun talking together. 

Kennedy and I are emailing each other every day! She said she'd been meaning to get a pen pal but just hadn't gotten around to it. 

16-01-26

Tyler hug. H He showed me where a girl had written on his hand, and that gave me a reminder ... that I wanted to talk to him about the dollar and the pep rally ... that I thought that was sweet, that he could ask me for things, that I might not always say yes, but that he could always ask. I'd been plucking a whisker or something, in the hall bathroom, and as we finished talking and left and just as I was walking into the family room, I felt his hug. 

After I turn 18   Tyler (without hostility) : After I turn 18, because it will have to be after I am out of this house and have my own place, because I know you won't let me do it, I want to get red contacts for my eyes and dye my hair blue.

16-01-27

Tyler helped me make bed

Shawn showing me song he'd learned

16-01-25

I just don't think I've ever seen Daniel smile as big or look as happy as he did when he got back from going on his ride with Papa to the dirt pit. 

Goodtimes was quieter than usual, but still very good. Faith and Michael made us some brownies. Michael said that he liked to cook, so I'm going to have to remember that as part of Goodtimes. 

Kim and Faith sat at the table and colored. 

John, Michael, Noah and I played Monopoly. 

16-01-26

Me, looking at Mama Cat, thinking about that I haven't called the vet yet, "Oh, there are so many things on the list that I didn't get done today." 

Tyler: Well, there's really only just so much that you can expect to get done in one day. 

16-01-26

Daniel, big smiles, after going riding to the dirt pit with Papa. 

Faith and Michael laughing in the kitchen, making brownies. Kim helping them.

John, Noah, Daniel and Michael playing minecraft. 

Playing Monopoly with John, Michael, and Noah. 

Getting to catch up with John and Kim a little bit. 

2016-01-22

Such luxury! Spending the afternoon in the writing shack! All the regular writing stuff done! I'm so excited! 

16-01-22

Tyler dollar. We were snuggled down, each under our own blanket, as we usually do, watching our 9:00 bedtime story. He whispered quietly, "I forgot to ask you at dinner. I know it is late and you might not want to think about this right now, but there's a pep rally tomorrow and it costs a dollar." His voice was going to go on, but I interrupted him and said, "Just remind me when we get up to go to bed to give you the dollar so we don't forget about it in the morning." He nodded and added, as though it had been his happy plan all along, "Do you want me to write minus a dollar in my book?" I thought that was so sweet. 

16-01-21

Zak came in to see me. He's parking his truck here now, car pooling to school with his girlfriend. We've seen the truck two or three times without getting to see him. I was working in the house and heard him come in. Naturally, I was very happy. He said, "I come in to see you every time, but you are never here." 

16-01-20

"I'm okay with you and I will always be okay with you." In a discussion about selling the business, and how long we would be okay with it remaining on the property and the people here. He said that he doesn't really like any of them. I said that I don't dislike them, I just don't like being around people all that much. That I want to be able to choose. That if I am out in the pottery barn with him, I don't want to have to make conversation with them. He got a look of "That's exactly how I feel," on his face, pointed at me and said, "That's me. I'm okay with you and I will always be okay with you."  But I just don't really like other people all that much. 

16-01-18

I told him I might go back to school and he said that would be so cool.

16-01-13

Tyler running to me from the bus. I went to a CAC meeting and ran errands, and so was just heading out to the office when Tyler's bus pulled up. I waited to say, "Hi!" to me, and he ran to me to hug me. 

Shawn: I saw the funniest thing today. .. Papa and Holly rolling on the floor!

Beverly called me. "Peek a boo!" She and JA are sick, so we can't have any Facetime right now, but we got to phone visit, anyway. 

Skyler ---- thing for her friend....Sylvia Josephine ... And it says 74 reasons why your my bestfriend and when you need a smile

You don't have to add it.  I know now. Tyler gave her Holly her bath, dried her, and put the wet towel in my dirty clothes basket. I asked him about it, and he said, "My bad." I said, "Well, it wasn't part of your instructions." His list is pretty detailed, I guess, because he said without malice or sarcasm, "You don't have to add it. I know now." 

Had a fun little text conversation with Kennedy. She said, in response to my "I don't really have anything to talk about," "Luckily we're both so interesting we can just create conversations out of thin air." She said she and "the sisters" talked about making the aquarium their thing to do together. 

Tori told me that Zoey had a BLAST hiking. She said "That dog is a hiker for sure. She ran circles around us, breezed up and down hills,  and jumped around in all the creeks. She and Bentley were just having a grand ol time. It was fun to see how happy it made them. Bella had fun at first too, but did Sissy tell you about she got too cold?"...Bella was shivering a lot, so Sissy stuck her in the jacket and she rode like that the rest of the hike. She seemed pretty content with the arrangement.

16-01-12

Tyler chose me. The plan had been for him to read to me, and then we'd play Monopoly. But the evening wore long, and he'd already read for 30 minutes, and was finally getting to play his video games. 

So, I told him that I wasn't in a good mood, and wasn't sure it was the best night for him to read to me, but that playing Monopoly with him was fun, and would probably put me in a good mood. I also explained that one of the reasons I wanted to play was that I wanted for him to understand that I chose him, that I would rather play with him than watch T.V., but that I knew he might rather play his game, and that was o.k. He gestured at the screen, and I thought that meant he wanted to play, but he was really saying that he wanted to the save the game first, and then play Monopoly. (He accidentally chose "reload" instead of "save," but it still felt like he was choosing "us." 

16-01-14

Uh oh, I've transitioned. My new best compliment has nothing to do with the way I look, but possibly the way I cook. (Disregard previous post) Zak was making his plate tonight and said, "me and Rodney struggled last night without you here. I tried those cup Ramen noodles, they have no taste" YAAAAY! I BEAT RAMEN NOODLES! For the record, I agree with him completely. I was mad about those cups too.

(Beth, Facebook)

16-01-12

Blake came by. I was working, so we didn't visit for very long.

Shawn, goodnight hugs.

Tyler friends

Shawn gave me my first ukulele lesson last night. I went to his room, and knocked on the door. He showed me how to hold it, and introduced me to the frets. He sat in the desk chair, and I sat on the spare bed. He was relaxed and at ease with me, where sometimes he is a little withdrawn. I practiced some, and had an awful time. He demonstrated how he had his fingers, and then I tried. He said that he'd googled and these were the three best chords for beginners, that you could play some songs if you knew just these three chords. He showed me different strumming techniques. I tried again. He got up and came around and took my fingers in his hands and helped me get them in position. He was confident; patient. 

He got all C's on his report card except for a D (65) in English. 

Tyler, while sweeping the floor, said that some of the kids at school had asked him what his grandmother had said about the fight he got in last Friday. He said that I really hadn't said anything yet, because I was thinking about it, and didn't have a better solution; that I was glad he stuck up for someone but that I didn't want him to make a big deal out of it, and get into more fights. I told him that sounded about right. I loved that he seemed to have absorbed it all so well. 

We  got the sweetest thank you note from Morgan, so I took a picture of it. 

We called Noah to tell him happy birthday. He thanked us, all grown up like. 

16-01-12

Thank you note from Morgan

15-01-04

Tori needed new boots and bought new boots.

Barry happy, new plan for dispatch.

16-01-11

The total amount of time the kids invest in coming to SSS is a lot!

Sean gave us a big hug and I thank you for his bath and shampoo and deodorant stuff.

Annette, checking on my mac and cheese, taking care of the rolls.

Morgan, going to get ice. 

The bunch of them, standing in the family room, laughing and talking.

Annette, at the table, talking about their inner tube rides. Andrew, and his ride into the brick wall and flip. 

Just a lot of easy happiness. I settled down and enjoyed. Did not hurry. 

16-01-09

Barry's building us a greenhouse and I'm pretty excited about that.

Went to IHOP and had happy conversation.

Barry is happy working on his Volkswagens.

16-01-08

He's going to be a good kid, the teacher said. Barry said he thought he was going to cry. The vice principal called Barry. She started out by saying, "Because of the rules, I had no other choice than to do what I did, but I want you to know that Tyler was a little hero today." He saw a bully physical attacking a smaller kid, and pushed the bully off. 

Shawn put his Permanente ornaments on the tree.

16-01-08

Tyler.  Eventide everybody my cart car cat

This morning, me, patting Mama Cat and talking to her, telling her that the vet is coming today, that family will be here Sunday.  Tyler: Everyone wants to pat on Mama Cat, and I want to say, "She's my cat!" but that would be rude. 

I'm pretty happy that I feel like I can take most of today as a writing day. 

We're going to meet Morgan for lunch. 

16-01-07

I have already been to the gym this week.. So I don't have to have that conversation with myself. Yeah!

Tyler loaned JA his PS3 controller.

Beth came to see me.

Angela sent me a text. 

Shawn is going to teach me the ukulele.

16-01-05

Elaine at Halo greeted me like a friend. It still feels good.

16-01-06

Tyler and I played monopoly.    I'm much less interested in T.V., and am really just trying to stop watching it, except after baths, for time with Barry. I told Tyler I was going to do my evening chores and then take a walk, and then we could play chess or --- and he interrupted with "Monopoly!" He'd been wanting to play when they are at the houseboat, but nobody ever wants to play with him, so he was pretty happy. He set the board up. He had money situated like I had put it when we last played. "I know how you like it set up, so I went ahead and did that," he said. We laughed and had a good time. It is a game in progress, but I think we have taken steps to be able to recover even if Mama Cat sits on the board. 

Reminder to move the first three days

Need to move the first three days from Joy Jot Journal.