Sometimes you just can't talk about it

Lord help me, so much has happened, yet not enough has happened. Also somethings you just rather forget.

Stinky struggled with school, it was just so difficult to get him to recognize that school requires participation. It's not just a social setting. We had to put him in summer school to move on to the next grade. This did not sit well with anyone.

I enrolled in a computer class and I've done well with it. In fact I plan to enroll as a part time to full time student. I can't say for certain how soon this will happen, but baby steps for me.

We repaired and painted the front porch, and since the drought was declared over, power washed the house. My lawn looks quite nice and Babymama's lawn still looks like crap, but hey she doesn't have to mow any longer, she has dramaqueen do it. Stinky is on friendly terms with him, but I still don't trust them.

Our new neighbors are quite nice. Their daughter calls me Mom, and spends a lot of time over here, that's fine with me, I don't mind much. Their dog scares the bejeebus out of me though. It's a boxer and it is very loud when one comes over. It looks like it wants to eat us. It's old and growls when it feels like it. Not the safest feeling if you ask me.

The new ones at Enabler's house are just as bad as the grandchildren. We've taken to calling the woman Jugs. Well she's got huge fake tits, skin like bad old leather, and just as dark. She spends her day on the front porch drinking and smoking. Seems to be her goal in life is to mooch off anyone she can. Her daughter is just as lazy and very much of an attention seeking brat. Let's say I've had some experiences with her, that made up my mind that they are definitely of the wrong ilk.

We had my friend from SC visit us for the 4th of July week. I have to say never again. It took her 7 years to come see us, and honestly if I knew what I do now, it should have been another 7 years for her to visit, then my son and house would be safer. It was not a good visit. The house still shudders at the thought of her girls. Stinky still sees red. I see red when I think about it. Perhaps in another month I can talk about it without getting angry.

I'm displeased with Neville and his father. I learned that his father is a very uptight jerk from his comments and lack of effort to try to be friendly. I'm disappointed with Neville's mother as I felt the comments made were not appropriate and there is a riff between us now, and that those words cannot be rescinded. Stinky doesn't want to see him. Not that I blame him.

Mom came for a 10 day visit. She left today. It was wonderful to see her, and it was a pleasant visit with her. We walked and talked, did a bit of shopping, mainly for food, and just had a wonderful time. Well I did. I hope she did too. She is in Manhattan now, spending time with Egg and his wife. Looking forward to the new baby. Me too. I made a baby quilt for them. I hope they like it and I certainly have fond wishes and positive thoughts for mom and baby. Now I wonder what they will name her.

A week of warm weather!

This week we have a break from chilly 30-40*F days. I'm looking forward to it. We may have an early spring or not. One thing I'm concerned about is the chance of severe thunderstorms. Yesterday was lovely and we decided to splurge and frill some steaks and shrimp outside. We also ate on the patio too. One thing I know for certain; use the costco folding table and not the narrow table. Three people and a big platter makes for a small eating area. It was very nice eating outside after being inside for the last 3 months. I think one of my far off plans this year is to buy some outdoor dining furniture this fall. A nice small table and some chairs. The patio isn't that big, but it's nice to eat outside. When yellow season is over, I plan to powerwash and sand down the adirondack chairs and repaint them. They were primed, but not painted with an outdoor sealing paint.
So for dinner we had porterhouse and tbone steaks that I got on sale at Publix, some monster shrimp, green beans, and I decided to try making a blooming onion. It sort of worked. I didn't flour and separate the onion enough, so the batter didn't separate the petals enough. This will take some more work to get it right. Tonight to continue on with the warm weather enjoyment, I'm making a rotisserie chicken on the grill, and pulling out the the costco table for more room on the eating area.

January is a cold month

Wow the month has brought some very cold days. I'm sure there are more to come, no snow yet. It's been too cold for snow! What I feared is an ice storm. It may still be in the works. We had a nice mild weekend. It was rainy drizzly this morning. Chinese New Year is here! It's the year of the Ox! We had a subdued New Years Eve dinner. I spent most of the day in the kitchen though. I made Hoe Sea Soong, otherwise known as oyster, pork lettuce wraps, two steamed fish, shrimp, scallops, several different veggies, and a 5 spice poached chicken. Mom had sent me more dried oysters, and ginko nuts so that was a plus. We went to H Mart and picked up a couple of pounds of chai siu, and miscellaneous veggies, and the seafood. I didn't see any fresh fish I liked, so I had to change things around and just got two flounder. The scallops I picked up were that great unfortunately, the shrimp were alright. Head on nasty looking things. I wanted to make salt and pepper shrimp, but well the shrimp weren't that big, and I'm not that talented cutting the backs of the shells, removing the intestine, and legs without mutilating the small shrimp. So for the next two weeks we are supposed to celebrate CNY, but we won't. Come on, in Georgia? Sure thing. It's not like SF. I was thinking about how the last few years working, every time the phone rang, we would do our spiel, and include Gung Hay Fat Choy. Why? Well half the pharmacy staff was Asian. It was a given we were celebrating. Here, they don't have a clue. If I saw an Asian person at work it was very rare, and most of them were surprised if I said anything.

Last week, I went out to lunch with Neville's mom, just a basic mom gathering, we met at McDonald's and watched the Inauguration, while eating and complaining. Many things were discussed. Stinky had a bad month so far. He didn't concentrate on his grades enough and was kicked off the wrestling team. This made him realize for the first time, it's not just affecting what happens inside the family, but outside too. So he says he's really gonna try hard to get them back up as he really liked wrestling. He was pretty good too. As another incentive we are going to get him an Alienware laptop as a prize. Holy smokes those things are expensive!

We are also on a strict budget now. We've been enjoying the fruits of Goof's labors, and not managing it well enough. So back to saving and being thrifty. It's been hard, but at the same time, it's worth it in the end. Everything is on a strict budget. We have a certain amount to spend on groceries, and household supplies. Personal spending has limits also. We have a small allowance for each of us. It's better this way. We have some major purchases we need to make this year. Like a new stove, dishwasher, car repairs, cart repairs, and possibly a new tub and enclosure for Stinky's bathroom. We still need to repair the barn outside too. I'm scared about that, because we haven't figured out which fuse powers that outlet. I would love to make it bigger, but then that requires a new foundation. Just taking the old walls and roof off to put new ones up is enough I think. Plus we need new doors. So much to get done.

Turkey month

November was a crazy month. We had Egg, his wife, her parents and brother, plus my parents. A full house. Mom and Dad were okay, well Mom was. Dad was like a bored kid. He wanted to wander around town, or to go to Ranch 99 up north. He wanted to see Atlanta's Chinatown. Had to break the bad news, there isn't one. Poor goof had no idea what to expect. Dad clogged up the downstairs toilet, really bad. Then Egg came two days before Thanksgiving, and he brought us gifts! I got a Global Sankuto! Oh man that is a lovely knife. So we had fun with that. The in laws showed up the night before Thanksgiving, and that was fun. Very nice people. We had a huge spread. The roast turkey, steaks, mashed potatoes, roasted brussel sprouts, green bean casserole, roasted mushrooms, cranberry sauce, candied yams, and several pies. We had regular pumpkin, double layer pumpkin cheesecake, smores pie, and a blueberry pie. It was one heck of a spread. We had the dining table extended, and another folding table, it went from the dining room into the living room. I had the linens, and nice china set out. It was a really good feast.
The next day, we took a walk around the lake, well Egg's inlaws and I did, we put in 5 miles, they love the cart paths, and the abundance of carts and it's use on city paths and roads. Egg, dad, and his brother in law only made it to the boat dock. They only had 3 miles in them. As it was Egg was jokingly calling for a taxi on the path. We came back and had turkey sandwiches, and I started dinner. Dad had gone a bit nutty at Costco and wanted ribs, raw and cooked. So I pulled out my cookbooks, and found a recipe I had printed years ago. It was for baked ribs, marinated in a spicy sweet sauce. We also had fried rice, which mom made, and veggies, and left over steak. I still couldn't see the back of my fridge. Heck, I managed to empty out the coolers I had on the deck. The inlaws left that night, but as a lovely surprise, Egg managed to plug up Stinky's toilet also. Of course Goof had to clean that up.

Mom and dad stayed for a week. When they left it was bitter sweet. Mom loved the quilt I made her, but dad used it while he was here. Stinky started wrestling practice. He was totally loving it. He won his first match too. I was so proud of him, yet I was scared to watch. It's hard watching your kid getting his face rubbed into the mat.

Boy was I glad it was all over. We had mom and dad sleeping in Stinky's room. Goof had repainted the office and moved his desk for an air mattress for Egg and his wife to sleep in, I had moved stuff around in the guest room, and had a big queen air mattress, and the foam mattress for the the in laws, and Stinky slept on the sofa. He didn't want to sleep with my parents. Next year, I think I'll make Stinky give up his room again, and have the inlaws take his room, heck I can make Egg and his wife sleep in that room and still have room.

I wanted to make some aprons as hostess gifts for the ladies, but I didn't get that done in time. Should have started that sooner, of course it didn't help that I am still addicted to mob wars.

Wow, I'm been quiet

Yea yea, like anyone cares. So anyhow there have been things going on, life hasn't stopped. I guess I'll take the next few posts and recap each month.

October finished off with a quiet bang. Stinky went trick or treating with hubby, Neville and Big Red. The golf cart has been acting up. I think I put too much water in the batteries so the electrolyte balance is off. I need to take it to the local shop and have it checked out. I stayed home, and didn't pass out candy. Only one family stopped by. I had the porch light off, but the rest of the house lights were on. I had to turn off everything and sit in the dark while the boys were out. Since the cart has been low on charge it was rather funny Goof said about the expedition. Stinky found a mask he liked so he was wearing the usual street clothes but had a soft half mask on. Big Red was dressed as a college professor, and Nevile got a Halo costume. Yea, he looked pretty goofy. So they went to a few houses, and stopped at the Halloween display near the lake. On the way back, the cart was running out of charge. In fact the cart didn't want to go up the driveway. Goof and Big Red pushed it up and had Stinky steer it in. Neville didn't get out of the cart, he was too busy eating his stash. He's a very soft spoiled boy.

I have found a new internet addiction. Mob Wars game on facebook. I had started the game a few months prior, but didn't really get into until August. So in between quilting, I would stop and play the game a bit, back to sewing, then mob wars some more. Rather addictive,text based violence. No blood and guts visuals for me thank you. Can't take it.

During this time, Goof finished Stinky's bathroom, the downstairs bathroom, painted the kitchen, removed the wallpaper and painted the family room. It looks so much better. We picked up a dining table, chairs, and hutch for a steal off Craig's list so now the dining room has a dining set, instead of a more casual kitchen table. The table is now upstairs in the guest bedroom to hold my sewing machine and laptop. I still need a new laptop. I had started to take photos of dinners I had made, but nothing consistent. In fact I stopped for a while. Goof's camera has died, so it's just mine available.

Family is a strange mixed bag

Everyone has heard the phrase; You can't chose your family, only your friends, or at least something along that line. This morning I read an email from my cousin. It was a detail, thought out list of why one of our younger cousins was not invited to her baby shower. Besides the fact that she's only 15, it's not a family event per say, but one hosted at a friend of my cousin's. This younger cousin of mine, we refer to as The Brat. She is one. Very selfish, and manipulative. I know that every family has a black sheep. Lord knows when I was a teenager, I was considered it. Then Eldest uncle's older daughter was sorta one, we actually called her the 'most frustrated teenager alive' She dealt with her disfunctional parents fairly well, then the younger daughter became a tramp. Well what can you say if that girl receives thong underwear from a boy for a Christmas gift at the age of 16? Now The Brat is a motherless child. That in itself was not a good situation, but her older sisters are motherless too. They have rallied together and tried to keep things going. Their dad, well he's our family's version of Peter from Family Guy. My poor deceased aunt was raising 4 kids not 3 natural born ones.

The Brat has given me difficulties too. I don't care much for her. She lies, and steals from us. When given discipline, she still goes about her way. Peter is a non existent father. He just lives there. No help from his end. Instead youngest uncle, middle uncle, my cousin, her husband, and my mom help out as much as they can. So my cousin was harassed by various members of the family for not inviting The Brat to her baby shower. I can understand the decision. There is just so much more that has led to this, than just the recent passing of my grandmother and youngest aunt.

What bothers me the most is that the extended family is drifting apart. Egg and his wife are in Manhattan, we are here, Eldest uncle has his selfish ass up his butt, his wife is a hag, his children are being raised to think of themselves first, well except his oldest daughter, she's treated like someone that owes them, and has to pay her way for everything. Eldest Aunt feels that the family doesn't care about her, and only her friends matter. Middle uncle is starting to come out of his shell and actually have a life, but how much of one can he have if he's raising youngest aunt's kids for Peter? Youngest uncle is constantly driving up to visit, bringing my mom with him. My mom is always trying to get everyone to act peacefully at family gatherings in her house. My cousin and I always knew that when grandma passed away, it would be harder to keep the extended family together. Then the double whammy of youngest aunt passing away a week later didn't help.

As we get older, we set upon our own roads. We celebrate with our immediate families. Goof has a hard time understanding this as he's never had a close extended family, and honestly he's happier without his mother in his life. Well he gave me grief a while back when I told him, she was calling my cell phone and I chose to delete the messages. He railed at me, because he didn't know if she was okay or not. Of course he could have just shut his mouth and called her to inquire about her health, instead of expecting me to care for her. I tried, it's not happening again. Don't like it, take care of it yourself, or we can split. I carried that burden for many years without help from him. I may have been raised with the family first sensibility, but there are limits.

As I get older and my parents do to, I worry about them. Especially since I live so far away. But then again, I have a brother. I was available for my parents for many years, it's his turn now. No matter what he thinks. Hey, our culture valued males over girls. Shove that in your piehole. Would I want to head back to CA and care for parents? Or leave that option to my brother? Will my son become an adult, and all the aunts and uncles split and no longer spend holidays with each other? I don't know. A lot has changed this last year. Many more changes will happen too. I'm saddened by it all.

We survived the flight back

I'm back from the city by the Bay. Well from the East Bay anyways. For some reason I'm warmer here than back at Mom's house. The wind was so cold! Also it rained in Atlanta while we were gone, so the bitter cold front was missing. Mom told me that Dad hurt his thumb somehow and wasn't able to turn on the wall heater. Not that she uses it much. We used space heaters to warm up our toes. Mom worries about her orchids. Gee, they are her new children. There is a cold front coming in next week, so back to the cold toes. I really want electric socks.

No luggage was lost, and it wasn't a bad flight back. We watched Blades of Glory on the laptop, so we had some fun. It was a much calmer flight back. I did leave CA with more luggage than I meant to. Now I have a complete set of Mom's luggage. I'm sure that will come in handy next time.

Still thinking about all that happened with the family. One thing that was pretty funny and I'll have to post pictures later, is the public housing. A comment that one of my younger cousins made about store bought gingerbread house kits. So since the holidays are over, the joke was still funny, and I teased her about it. I'm going to make a house and she will have to make hers. I plan to share photos of this with the family and all 3 of you out there. If I manage to make more than one, will it become a ghetto? The Acorn projects of Oakland? Make gingerbread gun runners? If I knew the name of some infamous Atlanta project I would name it that. Perhaps if I can make multi-story buildings I can call it New Jack City. Wesley Snipes toting a machine gun in a Jeep outside the complex. How hard would it be to make a crack pipe with royal icing? Heck would you even be able to tell what it is, depending on the size?

Ah well, we are unpacked, but still sorting things out. I've got to sit on Stinky to organize his closet. It looks like the closet puked clothes all over the place. I think I need to grab some more hangers for him. Also a new belt or two for his pants. Dang kid has an itty bitty waist. What any woman would kill for. Wasted on men.

Little hints of love

"Hi it's late you still online, go to sleep" last message sent 2:28am.

I opened up my laptop and saw this message from my mom. I guess I should turn my computer off when I go to bed. It made me giggle. Mom is not the most computer proficient. She gets along and does quite a bit online. But when it's something she's not certain of, it's one of her kids, or her younger brothers, even nephew that helps her out.

Home again, and cleaning again

Wow it was a busy few days jamming in everything last minute before we left. Thursday I had gone into my old work and socialized with all the former coworkers there. I miss that crew. We had a lot of fun, and worked hard. From what I understand, it's not so fun anymore. I never had trouble with my old manager. I know others had issues with her. Perhaps, it's because I came after she was a manager. It's always easier for new people who don't work along side in the same job, then have to report to them.

The 3 of us went back to Chinatown again on Friday. We hit the farmer's market and got some really yummy Ranier cherries, and strawberries. On the way back, we saw a tea shop, so I had to stop in. Wow, what a wild fun time we had. The sales woman did the whole traditional tea ceremony with us. She had the tiny teapots and cups, preparing the teapots, the cups, and the tea. It was really neat to watch her prepare it all. It helps also that she had a really neat tea serving table, with marble inserts, and drains for the water, beautiful rosewood counters and fantastic carvings. Stinky was so impressed he wanted to have tea like this at home. Of course not! Mom did give me a tea set similar to what the shop sold. Stinky was really enamored with a specific tea that was for sale there. A Tikkumyi tea. (Iron Lady tea) It was $680/lb! No, we didn't have her sample it for us. I just couldn't do that to the woman. We did pick up a nice Litchi tea. It's not as flavorful as the one Mom brought back from China. But that's alright, it was only $20/lb. That's more reasonable than another store I saw selling it for $98/lb.

We went out to dinner with Dad's partner and his wife. That was a nice dinner, it was a bit early, since Stinky and I were going bowling with my old coworkers. We had a seafood dinner of course. I think Stinky was finally getting sick of seafood. So after dinner we headed back to the house to drop off the parents and go out.

Stinky had a lot of fun bowling. He got 70 on the 2nd game. Not bad for a first time bowler. Granted he needs more practice, and lessons. One of guys there brought his two boys, ages 6.5 and 8.5. They were attached to him. I guess he really made an impression on those boys.

Oh, Dad got a new car. Well, new for him. A 1997 Lexus. After so many cars and years, he finally got what mom wanted. Hell, all she really wanted was a Camry. Still does.

Saturday, was rather tiring also. We got up fine and just had a lot of packing to do. We ended up having seafood again. Stinky is burnt out on flounder finally. He did eat practically 2 large crabs. It was a bit crowded on the flight home. We had a layover in Las Vegas for an hour, but it was alright. It was the second leg that sucked. We had unaccompanied minors behind us and they were noisy. Took them 2 hours before they finally went to sleep. Goof was grouching when he picked us us. Not the best father's day to have to wake up at 6am to get us.

So, he decided to get a Boston Butt, and smoke it. He started the grill at 7:30am. It took about 4 hours, and we had it at noon. There are still left overs in the fridge. We were just exhausted from the flight. Cleaning up the dog room last night was not fun. But it was done, and a whole bottle of Pine Sol was used.

Today was a busy day for me. I was pissed off at the disarray of my kitchen so that had to be cleaned. The bathrooms were messy, and the laundry was not folded, washed, but not folded, so they are wrinkled. I'll deal with the laundry over the next few days. But, today I can say I addressed the lighting issue in the family room, the floors on the first level, and the bathrooms. Oh and Stinky cleaned his room. He has a chores list he must do daily now.

1 more week

Oh man, I miss Goof. 3 weeks apart is hard. Well, yes and no. Granted I am having an easy time with mom and dad. Stinky is having fun with the grandparents too, but I do miss the familiarity of home, and routines.

We spent a week on a bus tour to Yellowstone. It was fun, but not. A full seven days on a bus with perfect strangers. At the end of the 4th day I was getting really punchy. This was a harder trip because so much time was spent on the bus. Thank goodness for mp3 players, and PSPs.

Stinky took lots of pictures and so did I. I moved them all over to the lappy, and uploaded them on photobucket too. Now the hard part organizing the photos into albums. Some of the photos are from mom's vacations too, but that's alright. Some great shots that should be shared.

I miss the dogs too. Lucy curled up on my lap, Mingy laying next to me, or sitting on my right. The power paw of joy, granted I don't miss the paw on the face or neck. Lucy's demands for food, or counter surfing.

This last week, will be more of a comfortable pace. No trips, just relaxation and perhaps more visiting. I still need to contact a few friends from work. I should contact another friend on the other side of the bay.

visiting the folks

So here I am back in my mom's house for 3 weeks! I get to eat fresh fruit at a reasonable price for the trip! It's a busy vacation for us. We got in at 1am on Sat, and boy was I tired. We went up to Sac later that day too, and spent the night out there. Flowers on the graves and such. We had a nice lunch later and reminisced about grandma and youngest aunt. The family in general is mad at youngest aunt's husband. Dumb user is his name. He says he doesn't know how to do a lot of things. Oh and he has no money. Yes, we can see that. He doesn't bring much money into the house. It's obvious who the bread winner was. The girls are trying especially Mimi, she's taken on her mother's role. Crissy is trying to help out as much as she can. but the main problem is the baby of the bunch, Prissy. She's a lot like her dad, selfish. They had to take away her cell phone because she used it so much. Also she was flunking PE! How do you flunk PE? Even if you hate it, you don't fail it. Just showing up and dressing ought to get you atleast a D.

But anyways, we got to spend time with J and A. I finally got to see their house in the City. Very nice. Still outrageous the inflated housing market. It was a fun dinner with them. Also Eldest aunt and I got along, I didn't rub her wrong and she didn't get mad at me. That was all good.

Today was a day to relax, we had dimsum with dad, ran a few errands, and just laughed about photos and funny moments about youngest aunt and grandma. Stinky got to go to his favorite junk shop in Chinatown. He got a large amount of useless stuff. Poppers, and stink bombs being his favorites.

Tomorrow, I'm going to the county office and pick up a copy of my birth certificate. It seems I lost mine. Also I need it for my license. Oh well. The following day is a day of patience. I drive Stinky to MIL. I have an out too if she gets on my nerves. I just don't have it in me to deal with her and her lack of effort to change. I used to listen to her and think that she was willing to change and wanted to. I just couldn't take it anymore. Comes in waves, and lasts for maybe a year or two, then goes away. Now is not the time for me to endure her nuttiness. I will learn to hold my tongue when it comes to her around Goof.

Most likely Friday will be a day of preparations for the trip we are taking to Yellowstone. I am planning on also taking Stinky over to his old school to visit his teachers again. He should get a kick out of that. I know he wants to play with some of his old friends, but he hasn't learned to let things move on. These kids may or may not miss him, but they have gone on and so has he. When he feels that the world is being mean to him, he latches on to anything that might have been good, and makes it more fantastic in his mind. Playing with friends from the old neighborhood was seldom. He plays it up in his mind as so much more.

discipline

Things have taken a turn for the worse. Since I have been home full time, I haven't been the disciplinarian that Stinky needed. I was too lax and his grades have gone down, and the school hi jinx have increased. Fred started acting up because I called him Fred. His anger towards Stinky increased.

There is only one week of school left. What happens this following week is up to Stinky. He has fallen back many steps in his plan to be a better student. We can only hope that the summer will be fruitful. We are leaving after school gets out for 3 weeks back to CA. It's not going to be all pleasure. Visiting the graves will not be fun. Mom is planning a trip for us. Stinky has expressed a wish to visit Yellowstone, so the trip is on. We will visit Yellowstone, and also Mt Rushmore. This is probably going to be the only vacation this year. Mom's plans of going to China won't happen this fall. Maybe next year. It's not fun with my mom only. I have to go to the county and get a copy of my birth certificate. I can't find my copy, and I need it for school.

I can only hope after we come back that things will calm down. Stinky will have a large load in preparing for middle school. I have Cd's of the middle school curriculum for him to practice. I have to prepare myself also for online classes or whatever I can find.

I hope that when we come back things will have calmed down in the cul de sac. It's not pleasant to know that your neighbors are avoiding you. Well actually I don't care. Fred's grandmother knows she's wrong but won't admit to it. Eldest's family aren't concerned. They will just go on doing their kiosk thing. While we hope that Stinky will find better friends next year, it's all moot.

Goof, is not pleased we will be gone for 3 weeks. Mainly because he doesn't want to deal with caring for the dogs after a long day at work. I can understand that. But it's what needs to be done. I wish it was different. He was reaping the benefits, of me being home, and coming home to a house that was presentable. The first couple of weeks, he was coming home to a house full of kids, but since Stinky got in trouble that ended quickly enough. What could I have done differently? Not been as easy going. He says I was being close minded. Even selfish at making attempts to be nice to the neighbors, but I see it as, I was following his suggestions. I called Fred, what I did because he was hurting my child. I don't have endless patience when it comes to other people's offspring.

I am just frustrated by it all too, and handling it the best that I can. Being a part time parent was hard, as a full time parent it's more so. Parenting other children is not my strong point.

It's just not our month

So we left for California and Grandma's funeral. It was pretty difficult for me and Stinky. Basically there was a lot of drama that we missed. Lucky for me as a grandchild. Mom was worn down from it all. She's been a rock for the family. We saw the family and some members we haven't seen in years. Youngest aunt looked really bad. I mean really bad. Her liver was failing. She looked like a cast member of the Simpsons. So the flight to and from wasn't bad. It was when we got home, more bad news came.

Youngest aunt was hospitalized the next day. She was really bad. Her kidneys failed the following day and she passed away late Sat night. It was a bad weekend for us. I'm not sure how the family will be in the future. My aunt was only 47. Her breast cancer was in remission, but then the cancer decided to attack her liver. She left 3 girls and a husband that has been with her longer than without.

Last week was a hard week for Stinky too. Fred was picking on him in school,and Eldest had decided he didn't have principles and wanted to play with Fred again. Poor Stinky was so hurt. It didn't help that Stinky has let his school work slide. He was put on restriction and has to learn to get back into the routine. The lazy easy habits he was getting over on me didn't get him very far.