Camping, Painting and Little Bitching

I just realized that July is nearly over and I have only made two entries. Typically, this would mean that I am depressed, couch-ridden and staring blankly through the TV. The good news is that I have just been super busy!

I have undertaken some major home improvement projects this month. Well, not like "This Old House" major but more like "Trading Spaces" without the fabric hanging from the walls like a circus tent or silk flowers hot glued to my refrigerator door. I have, with help from Terry, managed to transform Alex's old bedroom into an oasis of pink! I have turned the addition on the back of the house into a usable space. Affectionately, called the back room it was a celery green color and the catch all for all the crap that gets carried into the house. Now, it is the color of a butterscotch....I almost want to lick the walls! Ummpa, Lummpa Ummpity Ump! I put the sofa and love seat that was in the living room back there along with all of the decorations. I bought a new sectional which gives us much more room to sit. This is good because there is always someone over and watching Big Brother on the floor blows! The colors in the living room are now brown and that weird seafoam green/tiffany blue color. I love it. Now, I just have to get some stuff to hang on the walls. I also painted the master bath...I did that all by myself! It too is still not totally put together. Hopefully, my stamina (mania) will last long enough to get everything finished.

On the diet front, the competition between Beau and I ends tomorrow. I am winning, although it's not official until we weigh in in the morning. I will be collecting my prize! I have lost 15 pounds. Not too shabby for only having been doing this for about six weeks. My goal is to weigh 115 by Thanksgiving. I just can't wait until I look anorexic chic!

Beau got us a boat that I named Lucy. I love Lucy. We took her camping this weekend. Beau and I and the four kids plus John, Mandi, Josh and Emily and Terry went to Rough River. Frog drove down Friday night for a while. We had a real good time for the most part. Of course, there was the kids whining every time there was any down time about how bored they were and ya just can't call it a vacation without Mandi and Josh having at least one argument about who is going to do what for who. I was rather impressed with the Cadillac of an air mattress that Terry had...I was kind of jealous with my little six inch air mattress. Now, I truly understand penis envy! Beau took Me, Mandi and Josh out on the boat on Saturday while Dani and John watched the kids. That bitch broke down. We were stranded in a cove for a couple of hours while Beau tried to figure out what was wrong with it and eventually rig it enough to get us back to land. I am not sure what we would have done if we couldn't get back. There was nothing on that boat that resembled Wilson! Anyhow, Sunday morning when the boat part place opened he was able to fix it and our fun in the sun resumed. It was a nice getaway but I must say when I walked into my house I said to myself, "Be it ever so humble"!

I have been trying to figure out where Avery is going to school. I put in her hardship transfer back in the beginning of June and the lady at the board told me I should get a letter in about two weeks. That never happened. I called and they said they were still working on it and I should get the letter within the week but for privacy reasons they could not give me any information as to whether the transfer was approved or not over the phone. That's horse shit! I called yesterday and ended up having to talk to the head of the student transfer department and my board member. They ended up telling me that they are so far behind because of the new student assignment plan. OK, I promise I am getting to my point. I don't understand why they can't just let kids go to the school nearest their home like they did in the good ole days! They actually had Avery being bussed to Frasier which is near Church Hill Downs or more importantly Arcade Apartments. Not only would it be probably a couple hour bus ride on multiple buses which is totally ridiculous I am not having Haylee and Avery go to different schools. What doesn't make sense is that Kindergartner's are supposed to be exempt. OK, that's good but what happens when they are first graders? Must they change schools? I don't really think the powers that be really thought this thing through!

I will probably be crazier than Cootie Brown here soon. My doctor closed his practice and now I don't have a doctor to get my meds! Getting a new doctor is not as easy as you would think. I called around and a lot of Psychiatrists only take Medicaid or Medicare. I started going through the phone book! Apparently, you have to be court ordered, a victim of domestic violence or have a drug or alcohol dependency issue to be seen at Seven Counties. UofL has a Psychiatry department but you have to go through and orientation. Seriously? I can't imagine for the life of me what they need to orientate! I swear the state of our health care system is seriously jacked! And, if anyone thinks that Obama is going to be able to fix it they are sadly mistaken. Until the pharmaceutical companies can figure out a way to make more money off a cure than ongoing treatment nothing is ever going to change! Don't get me started!

Goal for August, get all of the kids back to school, finish the house so that it looks polished and lose ten more pounds!

Check Please

I have been so busy lately. It seems like I am running in ten different directions. My mood has been decent, not really down and not super up. However, my shopping tendency has been out of control. I am thinking that I need to stay in the house until this passes.

It has been several weeks since I have written so I don't really remember everything I have done or not done. Danielle came over Fourth of July and we patched things up. She is still not living here at home but I have found peace with that. I think it is going to help with the campus living transition.

Mandi has been over several times. She is going back to school in the fall so she is no longer working at the radiology office. I am so glad she made the choice. I just can't see her spending the rest of her life pushing paper. She is way too social for that.

Emily had her next round of Botox injections last week. She was supposed to have a cast like last time but the doctor decided not to put one on her this time. I had went and bought her colored sharpies and stickers to decorate it so I told Mandi she was going to have to get her some construction paper when Emily asked, "What's Nanny gonna do with those markers and stickers?"

Mandi says Mom and Cherie are fighting like cats and dogs. I don't know what is wrong with those two. Yes I do. Cherie needs to grow up and move out. So does Tony and Charlee. There is a reason that God gave women menopause. There is a point in their lives when they are supposed to stop mothering. Mom is as much to blame for the situation though. She is an enabler and makes excuses so her misery is her own.

I splurged. I bought the kids a nine foot water slide that is connected to a wading pool that is 12 feet in diameter. It is super fun! The girls love it and I love it. I even went down a few times. That was a hot mess! Danielle took pictures of me and Mandi going down the slide but Hell will have to freeze over, thaw out and refreeze before anyone would ever get their hands on those!

The diet is still going well. I did have a lapse today but it does not mean I am quitting. I have lost 13 pounds. I have been exercising with the wrist and ankle weights and the exercise ball almost daily and I am still recording my meals and exercise in the online diary journal. Tomorrow my friend Sue is coming over and we are going to start Hip Hop Abs. Depending on if it kills me or not we are going to try to do it three times a week. This should be interesting since I won't have an adult beverage in my hand convincing me that I have some type of rhythm. There will be no pictures of this event!

Beau and I went to the New View Bar last night. I had a great time. I called Buffy and Frog to come up and I am kind of regretting it now because that was two extra people that seen me act a fool. I know I have said this before but I just don't learn from my mistakes. Apparently, the DJ doesn't either because he handed me the microphone again. Could I have picked a better song? "Cecilia, I'm down on my knees beggin you please to come home, come on home" really? I am pretty sure that I actually went down on my knees or at least my butt. I missed the chair and I can't ever recall having that happen before. Besides the embarrassing incidents, I did meet some cool new people and there were plenty of laughs (probably at me not with me). So I called Frog up and told him I found him a girl. For anyone who doesn't know I like to play matchmaker but it never works out. I don't think I have ever successfully set anyone up. This one didn't work out either. Mostly because Frog is in this fantasy land where he thinks he is going to score a nineteen year old cheerleader with a PhD that only wants to use him for sex. It will never happen. Perhaps, one day he can get a mail order bride and just take me out of the equation! I am a little foggy but I think I tried to set Buffy up with the guy that sang Cecilia with me. So my diet lapse actually started sometime in the early A.M. Beau and I went to Steak n Shake. But I am not really counting that since it wasn't in my system very long! Note to self...get on the wagon.

The Screaming Had to Stop

Life is in turmoil. It seems just when things start looking up they come crashing down. It makes me wonder what have I done in my life to deserve what has been dealt to me. I always think what doesn't kill you will make you stronger and firmly believe that God won't give you more than you can handle. Is there a cap on the tragedy and crisis, though?

Everyone knows that I think I have an exceptional daughter. What you don't know is that for the past month or so, pretty much since her graduation we have been battling non-stop. She is now eighteen and wants to live her own life the way she sees fit. I feel like I have no right or entitlement to intervene. She does not want to follow rules, she has been disrespecting me and my house and I am at a loss as to what to do about it. I had thought we had everything settled in an adult fashion, however, the rules that she suggested and was mutually agreed upon has not been abided by. I have been hearing for months that I am going to have to loosen the apron strings. And, yes I do want her to check in with me every few hours so I know that she is not dead in a ditch and yes, I do expect her to pull her weight around the house. Life is not easy. I just hope I have taught her enough that she is not completely lost in the real world.

She moved out. Actually, we told her she needed to pack her shit. Beau and I are so tired of the constant defiance. The fighting had to stop somehow. We argued in front of her brother and sisters and in front of her friends about everything under the sun. I am exhausted. This is not a good situation for me to be in with my mood swings. I just hope that this does not send me into a downward spiral into depression but it most likely will. Honestly, I think my mood swings have actually been some of the fuel for the constant spats but I do not take full responsibility. I do have to remember that she is an adult now and does have some accountability in the current situation. I was naive to think that she would shape up rather then ship out. She is now staying with a friend I guess indefinitely or at least until she moves into her dorm if that is still her intentions. Not nearly the real world but I imagine much different then living with your parents. I wouldn't know. I didn't have much of a transition period between childhood and motherhood. She says she is not going to ruin her future over a dishwasher (one of the two chores that was assigned her, the other was clean the bathroom once a week. Not bad in exchange for free rent, free utilities, free food and the freedom to come and go as you please.) but I guess I will have to wait and see what influence a friend filled, no obligations or responsibility, every night's a party summer will bring.

Of course, there are two sides to every story and hers reads completely different. I am an evil, controlling wench who only wants her to be miserable. Yes, that is it. Nothing makes me happier to know that my first born is living in hell!

I really pray that while she is on her hiatus that she lives smart and keeps safe!