May Days

Hello again. It is getting harder and harder for me to get on my own computer anymore. Nathan plays games with his friends for hours and by the time I boot him off at night, I'm too tired to compose anything. We are all doing fine, even our dog, Belle.

Jim has been working 12 hour nights 6 times a week. That pretty much messes up everything around here, but the overtime is nice. I am feeling overwhelmed with tasks at work, so that also adds stress. We had a staff training day, training for the summer reading software, training for library software, and coming up...training for serials. All of this takes time away from tasks needing to be done as well. We are really looking forward to seeing the musical Wicked next week and our overnight stay in Kansas City. I found a beautiful pearl bracelet today to complete my theater ensemble. It is handmade by a really dear woman I know, and it was 50% off! I'm pretty sure I'm going to have another crappy mother's day this year, so I decided to just treat myself. I finally got Jim to the Goodwill today and we found a sport coat. It is navy blue, looks brand new, and fits him well. I'll get it dry cleaned and then we'll work on the rest of the outfit. We also have plans to go to North Carolina next month. Jim has a business trip, and afterwards we are going to Asheville for a couple of days. I want to see the mountains and Biltmore estate. I just hope I have enough clothes for the trip! I have lost 36 lbs to date, and now have very few clothes to work with. I have been lucky recently and found many new things on clearance. While some of them are appropriate for work, they won't work for a summer trip down south. I don't have a bathing suit or any shorts at this point. Looks like I'll have to do some more shopping!

The boys have been doing well. Noah only has one final to take-chemistry-and he will be done with his first year in college. He did so well in his other classes, that he didn't have to even take the final and he would still get an A. He is excited to come home, but he'll be home less than a week and will be fighting with me again. He just needs to be on his own. He did find an apartment, but many things about next year are up in the air and I wonder how it is all going to work out for him. The college has yet to confirm in writing the scholarship they offered him at registration. It seems to me that they are giving him the run around and trying to put him off when he asks about it. He was advised not to get an apartment near the expressway (lots of break-ins), but that is where they are going to live. He doesn't seem to have a real good grasp of how much money he needs to come up with, or that he will not get it from me next year when he comes up short. He did get his old job for the summer, but he says it is just until something better comes along. I bet he doesn't look real hard for something better and while he is busy socializing with his friends at night, the summer will slip away. I really struggle with the fine line of giving too much/too little. This year he did not meet his financial obligations, but we covered for him. Obviously we gave him too much, since he didn't feel much of a need to work. Next year we have told him that we won't cover for him. He will need to be more responsible and work. We flat out told him that next year if he comes up short (because he hasn't been working) and asks us to cover for him, the answer will be "No". What I hate the most is being put in that position. We've let him know what is expected, and unless he starts growing up and changing, he's going to come asking-and I hate that he would do that to us. We had a little breakthrough with Nate last month when we figured out that his medicine was running out at the end of the day. The only two classes he failed, were those that were at the end of the day. So he takes another short acting dose at school before those two classes, and the results are really something! He has gone from failing math to getting a 3, and has NO MISSING ASSIGNMENTS! English has risen about 6 points, and he's passing, but not too many assignments to raise it further. He did do well on his last two vocab tests though, and he has failed nearly all of them this year. He still hasn't begun to look for a job, so we are going to have to boot him off the computer until he does. That is not going to be a pleasant start to the summer.

The weather has finally warmed, and there is so much outside work. Unfortunately, my back has been really bothering me and I have not been able to do much. It is a different pain, very sharp. The chiropractor thinks I may have a bulging disc. I did manage to fill a hole in the yard with dirt from my falling apart whiskey barrel. I finished digging up the rest of the barrel and am going to let the lily of the valley just fill in where it stood. I talked to Jim today, and am going to get some prices to have both of my decks cleaned and finished. When Noah gets home, maybe he will help me get some mulch down. I've opened a few windows, but Nate's allergies are bothering him this spring and that makes things worse, so I limit it. Jim's car broke AGAIN. This time it was the radiator. It had been replaced recently, so it was still under warranty. This seems to have finally taken care of the problem.

So that's about all that is new for now. I always like to hear from you too!