Happy Birthday Fifi

15 years ago tomorrow my first niece entered my life and things would never be the same. I took said niece, Felicia (aka feeshamree) and her 'boy' friend Cayden out this afternoon. First we headed to the arcade where they played games and I read my book. Then we went to the movies; Transformers II. Finally we ended up at IHOP for yummy breakfast-for-dinner. I think they had a fun time - I know I did. And the cost wasn't THAT bad.

Tom sent an email saying Ana is home again. I wonder if Kathey learned her lesson about relying on the cops to handle parental issues. Probably not; she will probably call the police the next time she feels Ana is out of control or misbehaving. Those poor kids - they are doomed until they turn 18 and can bail out on Tom and Kathey.

I stayed up too late last night drinking wine with Shawn and had a busy day today with Felicia so I'm heading to bed. How old I've gotten!!

Losing Ana

Apparently, Kathey has called the police enough times on Ana that they removed her from the home last week. Every time Ana did something Kathey deemed dangerous to herself or others (like throwing a temper tantrum) Kathey dealt with it by calling the authorities. She found out Ana had been posting nude pictures of herself on the Internet (not good but a huge fad with teens) and rather than deal with it like a parent, she called the cops. Ana is now in the hands of the court and she may or may not return home. Kathey has destroyed her. And she didn't seem at all concerned last week-end during the birthday party for the boys. Ana's life is destroyed, Tom is in danger of getting foolish in a war zone as he worries about Ana, the other kids, particularly Andrea, are in danger of being the next on Kathey's enemy list... that family is totally screwed.

Then Charlie sends a text message to me and George a few nights back (after several drinks I'm sure) saying he can't get rid of Mom's and Dad's ghosts and he quits the trusteeship. Which is fine if he does (only it creates more trouble for Tom as he's next in line and will have to resign as well). I think I'm third in line so I can take care of the estate...finally. No judgement on Charlie - he doesn't have the support I have or the time I have to really deal with it all. Shawn will help me get it all taken care of in a few months. Even though it will mean telling George he has to move out so we can sell the house and contents. I think George is ready for it.

What a fun family I belong to!

Birthday Boys

I took Susanna's girls to Tom's for his sons' birthday party. Conspicuously missing was Ana - and when I asked where she was, the only response I got from Mommy Dearest was, 'she won't be attending.' Which means she's been locked up somewhere again. I am getting closer and closer to calling SRS on her. I watched her real close this afternoon and saw an almost bipolar person. She went from screaming at a birthday boy to gleefully shoving his face (with his permission) into his birthday cake. She is truly a nut case. George thinks she may have another tumor messing with her personality/emotions; he may be right.

Other than than, the party was fun. I'm glad I decided to go because neither family was well-represented. Kathey's folks and Aunt Karen were there, older brother Dennis and his two kids showed up about 90 minutes after us, a family friend and me and the girls. Family ties are unwinding. So I'm glad I went and represented the Hunts. Although I would have preferred to stay home and sleep and read!

Lock Out

Aren't I the talented one. I managed to lock myself out of the house today. I had to use the neighbor's phone to call and leave a message on Shawn's cell. Once he got it, he called his parents who sent nephew Devin over with what they hoped was the house key... it wasn't. Devin gave me a lift to Dad's where, thankfully, George was and he HAD a key to my house. After feeding me at Homers (first time I had been there since the Susanna blow-out) he brought me home and let me in. He even helped me de-flea the cats! Talk about family backing you up - I got help from both sides today!

I had the day off and allowed myself the luxury of sleeping the morning hours away. Getting locked out kind of put a damper on my plans for the afternoon. I have tomorrow off, too and don't have anything planned until my movie date with Emily. Guess I won't be sleeping in tomorrow if I want to get anything done!

Pandora's Box

Yikes, I think I've opened Pandora's box. I saw my RA doctor today for a semi-annual meet-n-greet. He asked how I was doing and I told him other than my aching knees that I was fine. He said that if you were to look at my blood work, you would never know I had RA so the Orencia is working miracles. But, then he said next month he wants to do a bone density scan (no big deal) and have x-rays of my knees and then 'we'll talk about it.' Crap - I don't want to see what my knees look like, I don't want to hear what my knees look like and I don't want to be told I need to do something about it. I'm not ready to face that monster. I'm not going to be in a good mood after my July's infusion!

I have the rest of this week off. I want to take Emily to her summer movie, Night at the Museum (even though I've seen it already!) I'm waiting for a return email from her parents. Other than that, my plan is to read my Demons and Angels book. I was hoping to see the movie after I finished the book but it looks like the movie is pretty much leaving local theatres Friday and I don't think I'll have the book done by then. Guess I'll have to wait till the DVD hits in the fall.

I'm back on the Weight Watchers diet. Not fun. I had a headache Monday, a headache yesterday and a headache today, though today's went away on it's own. I've lost about 7 pounds but those were the easier just-added pounds. I've a long way to go and four months to get there! And I'll be arriving hungry!

881 Emails Waiting

George was over Thursday night and he FIXED my email! I had 881 emails waiting to be mostly deleted, some read. Wow, it was like rejoining the 21st century. I sent everyone I know an apology email. Aunt Bobbie wanted to know if I was mad at her because I wasn't responding to her emails. That's bad. I hadn't even thought my silence would be interpreted as being angry.

I had Ana here for a few nights. Kathey needed a break (she is always playing the pity card). Ana was fine, though she spent most of her time on the Internet probably getting into trouble. Apparently she had stayed up pretty much all night Thursday and chatted with 'kids' (yeah, right. How many kids are up at 3:30 in the morning?) Glad she's not my kid and I would have to worry about it!

I also had Susanna's girls over this afternoon. Fifi and Emmi hadn't been here since our Disney trip in February and Krissy hadn't been over since September! They managed to trash the house and eat everything in sight. But Felicia bowled a few games of Wii with me and that was fun. I was thrilled when everyone went home. Love them dearly but they stress me out!

Not much more to report. Guess I'll go find something to do. Going to bed sounds like a viable option!

Disneyitis

Looks like I'm heading back to Disney... this year! Shawn wants to go (he hasn't been in four years) and his parents are in (and I'm ALWAYS in!) so we're going to go in October. He's talking about going for a whole week! Never been there that long - we can do things a bit slower. We will stay at the Value resort I took the girls to so we can save some money ($400). We are both very excited - we've been watching old home movies of our past trips and they just manage to get us hyped!

In preparation, I have returned to the Weight Watcher diet. Not going to the meetings - way too much money for my pocket! But I know how to do it and I know it works. I have actually lost 5 pounds (the easy just-put-on 5 pounds but...!) I've made a list of rewards as I go. Every 5 pounds I reward myself with something. This first one gets me two bottles of nailpolish. Nothing big but it will help me stick to it. I had two slices of pizza at the office today (I was starved and the manager was buying!) but I avoided the chocolate-chip cookie AND stayed within my daily points. Something just clicked last week-end and I realized I was ready to do it again. I am NOT going to be fat at Disney! (And it should get me off the blood pressure pills which is more important.)

Still missing Myster. I checked the pound today and there was a cat that looked a lot like him but I didn't see the splash of undercoat on the back (like Myster has) and it's arrival date was before Myster dashed off. I did the Rabbit-Rabbit wish this month and my wish was for him to come home safe and sound by the end of the month. And I remembered to say it the night before and the morning after before saying another word. If that wish works, he will be home in a few weeks. I still continue to ask St. Francis to watch over him.