Mish Mash of stuff

This morning I got up with Cody, pushed him out the door and got on my treadmill. I taped The Biggest Loser and got to walk/run on my treadmill while watching it. I love, love, love that show! I would so volunteer to be on that show if it wasn't for the whole "it being on tv" and the whole "weigh-ins with a sports bra and stretch shorts to show all the world my big fatty ass and stomach and stretch marks".

I mean seriously, they weigh them in behind the scenes then insult the poor people by putting them on a COW SCALE, half naked with all their embarrassment for the world to see. I feel for them. I know how they feel.

But I still love the show! I love that these people believe that someone is MAKING them do something to lose the weight. It is so Army. No one can make you do anything, you can quit whenever you want but I understand. It is easier to believe that someone made you do it until you realize that you have it in you all along!

So I jogged like a total of 15 minutes today along with walking 15 minutes. I walked 5 mins to warm up, then jogged 5 mins, traded off every 5 mins and ended my treadmill session after 30 minutes. Ate a great breakfast of a 1/2 cup of EggBeaters with 2/3 cup of MorningStar Farms Sausage Crumbles (totally vegan but tastes like Sausage), 1/4 cup of greek yogurt with a half cup of pineapple chunks and ground cinnamon! It tasted great. It was a rather large meal for just around 230 calories.

I haven't seen Grey's Anatomy yet, will do that in the morning while I am on the treadmill. It is kinda nice when it's early in the morning and everyone but myself and the dogs are gone, so the house is quiet.

Went to Cody's school today to do my first day of volunteering. Wow, so not used to be around small kids. They make me nervous, I stood there with 22 kids staring at me while I nervously smiled and fidgeted. Little Children of the Corn looks........Maybe it's just my imagination, maybe I just stay up too late at night watching SciFi........anywho...

In my mind, it's kind of like the zoo. You can look but don't touch or feed the kids. I got to staple hundreds of sheets of construction paper into booklets. The teacher felt awkward about having someone helping her as she has never had any parent help before. She used to work in the Jr. High before coming to Elementary school. She kept asking if I was ok and kept thanking me. I think I had it pretty much under control.

Stacks of large sheets of construction paper, check!

Stapler, check!

Being able to fold the paper in half and staple it, check!

When I was done, I left and ran into the PTO assistant President or whatever her title was and had like a half hour conversation with her through her passenger side and my driver's side window as we were parked next to each other and it was raining. We shared our woes and the fact that we are new to the area so we both volunteered to make friends and get to know people.

I really need a job! Not for money but for friends. I have been living in Houston for nearly 3 yrs now and my only friend is my neighbor Sally who lives 20 ft away from me. We communicate by email late at night. Lovely. My husband just doesn't understand how interacting with people on a daily basis, even if they are your co workers, is more exciting then staying home and talking to my dogs all day.

Well I am off, I will be getting up early to push Cody out the door so I can do my treadmill thingy and start making my grocery list. I am sending Cody to school with his own lunch tomorrow. I am saving on Cody's lunches because those communists at school says I have to pay for a foster child's lunches.......just wait until my time comes for the appeal people! I want a refund of what you made me pay. Well, just that secretary who told me all that crap the other day. Take it out of her snooty paycheck.

P.S. Who, around Houston, just loved this cool weather we have been having the past few days? I love it so much!

Taking Pride in your Work

This morning it is pouring down raining here in Houston. The weather really looks awful. I got up and took my nephew to choir practice which made me kinda happy because I didn't have to park down at the front of the street and wait for the bus with him.

So I am home, and sitting in my home office watching it rain outside of my window and I hear the garbage truck coming down the street a few mins ago. I go peek out the window of my front door and I see the garbage man get off the back of the truck in his raingear, walk over to my trashcan, remove the cover, walk back to the truck, dump out my garbage, then walk back over to my driveway and turn the trashcan upside down so it won't fill up with water from the rain. Wow! I am so profoundly touched that this man working in the pouring down rain, who will probably have to work in the rain all day today, would do a simple act that would make someone elses life a little easier.

Is it a job requirement? Is it an honest act of goodness? I don't know but it doesn't matter, I think I will put a goodie basket together for the holidays and give it to them if I am able to catch them one morning. They deserved to be thanked for a job that most of us would turn up our nose at, and doing it in such a thoughtful manner. (I've had to find my trashcan on numerous occasions in other neighbors yards when I lived in other places because they would get tossed 2 houses down sometimes!).

What do you think about this?

Whirlwind of things happening

Wow, I haven't blogged in quite a few days. I have been busy helping my nephew with his school stuff and doing things for my family. One thing that we did do, is finally get out of the house this weekend and went bowling. I loved it, even though I am not a good bowler!

So here is what has been happening. I have decided not to write to my sister in law anymore. She doesn't deserve my time, I really am quite tired of her stressing me with her selfish ways. I have eaten poorly the last few days. Not because I was even hungry but simply because I saw food, so I ate it.

Today (Monday) I figured to counteract the bad foods I ate today, I'd do the liquid diet for breakfast and lunch to keep me on track. I also walked/jogged for 30 minutes on my treadmill. I am not saying I jogged fast, just jogged LOL. I did a total of 1.62 miles! Yay for me because last week I was only doing 1.1 miles on the treadmill for 30 minutes.

I have been contemplating home schooling my nephew. He has mentioned it once in an essay he wrote. The essay was about his favorite place which he says is home (he means my home).  He says in his essay that he would like to be at home and have his aunt home school him. I will have to talk to my neighbors because they home school their kids. I thought it would be easy but apparently you need to be a rocket scientist to figure out what the heck they are talking about when you go to the websites that are supposed to tell you how to do that here in Houston. Arggh!
I know it really can't be that hard to get started.

I will see how this first 9 wks goes for his report card. If he does fairly well in school then I will keep him there but if he starts to falter then I will see about home schooling him. I really do not agree with placement testing. They gave his class an assessment test Friday and on the test for Math they had graphs. It was not something they covered this year and he made a 60. Well that 60 has been added as a major grade for his report card. His average went from a 96 to a 78 with that one test! It can really frustrate a child who is trying his best. He came home and asked me if I was mad, but I am not mad. I told him that we would practice graphs tonight after he finished his homework. Poor little guy, I am sure he will get the hang of it!

Well I am off, just figured I'd update my blog. Not much really going on!

Stupid School, Stupid Rule!

Well, for you real parents out there, I am really starting to understand why parents get fed up! I used to think that some parents were just greedy gremlins with the " my child has this, that and the other" but now I realized that I was wrong.

My nephew is currently back with us for a third time. This will be a 3rd school year for us to deal with. So, me being a pro at this by now, filled out all the paperwork I needed to fill out for one who only has a power of attorney to send a kid to school.

Took 3 mths but finally starting getting Medicaid for Cody. For those of you who haven't ever taken on a child who is not yours and you do not have legal custody of, here is a little newsflash. You cannot put them on your insurance. Insurance is expensive. Kids are normally sick more than you. You need to have insurance on a kid! So hence; the Medicaid. Doing good so far, right?

Well, I filled out his free lunch application. He has recieved free lunches the other times he lived with us. We cannot claim him on our taxes because we don't have custody of him right, and therefore we are not rewarded or reimbursed our expenses with this child. On the application, as I was instructed by the school, I checked off he was a foster child. One month has passed and I am still paying for his lunches. Call food services today and they say "Oh well it's been flagged because he has the same last name as you. So I explain our situation and she says it doesn't matter. So I ask if there is any way that I can submit a letter to explain the situation and she says no there is not and it wouldn't matter anyway. So I ask if there is anyone else I can speak to and she says no there is not. (Insert Biznach!)

I went back to the food service website and found that if I do not agree with their ruling I have the right to appeal in front of a board. Wow, did not get that info from Ms. Smarty Pants 5 minutes ago on the phone. I will be writing her boss a letter to explain the situation and hoping that I get something, even reduced lunches out of this. Lunches and breakfast cost approximatly $55.00 a month, and if Cody were our child, this would not be a problem because come tax time, we'd be reimbursed. I really don't think it is fair to expect me to pay hundreds of dollars for a child who is considered fostered and I am not even being paid for it! I love Cody, and I will continue to pay for his B & L's at school or send him to school with a meal I consider healthier for him anyway because I love him. And because I love him I will write a letter of appeal because I believe that Cody deserves to be on free/reduced meals at school so that I can use the money to buy him clothes and shoes and things he needs.

The only reason they flagged the stupid application was because our last names were the same. He is not my child. He is not my husbands child. How stupid is that?

We Can't All Come and Go By Bubble!

My husband came home and brought in the mail. For those of you who don't know, we are raising his nephew who was severely neglected before he came to live with us. I have been doing so much to ensure he has a healthy environment to live in. I am even going beyond my comfort zone to ensure it! I am going to be his Class mom which means I will be interacting with kids which is something that I don't do on a regular basis.

So back to the mail, it was a letter from Cody's mom. His mother is in jail. I have been writing to her and she writes back pretending that she doesn't get my letters or won't answer anything that I asked her.

I had a breakdown, I told her how I felt in my last letter. I don't want him living back with her. She put him on prescription drugs (at the highest doses) that he didn't need so she could put him in special education and get a check every month from the state. He doesn't need the medication. He hasn't been on it since he moved us with us on July 2nd. He scored 3rd grade level and failed the 4th grade last school year. I had him put in 5th grade here and have been tutoring him enough for him to have all A's and a B average in his classes so far this year.

In her letter to me she says, and it is underlined for emphasis: I will not give you full custody of Cody. I want my son back.

Understandable for a mother who loves her kid but she has never wanted him before she went to jail. He lived with us for two school years, moved back in with his mother last March when she figured out she could get a shady doctor to put him on these meds and then the state would pay her $600+ for him. She has called every month after he moved back in last year for us to come get him everytime they had a 3 day weekend, or holidays from school or summer because in her words she "could not afford him to live with her, couldn't take care of him, or couldn't buy him nothing for Christmas so come get him."

Now she cannot bear to be without him? I don't think so. She knows that as soon as she gets out she will not have any money and he is her paycheck. I cried so hard today. Why can't women like this who bear children they do not care for ( I am not saying do not want or do not love because I do believe in her own misguided way she does love and want him) do what is best for their child?

If he goes with her, they will be hopping from friend's house, to house, to house sleeping on sofa's or the floor. He will only be able to take what he can fit in one plastic tote which is all he had when I picked him up this time. She will not, even when she can afford it, buy him clothes, underwear, personal hygiene items or shoes. Her excuse one time, when she asked us for money and I told her not to buy cigarettes for one week and she would be able to buy him new shoes, was that it was too hard to quit smoking. She could not do it. Who doesn't love their child enough to quit smoking or cut down for one week to buy him some Wal Mart shoes?

We are not exactly rich over here. I bought Cody a new wardrobe for school for $100.00 off the sales and clearance racks at Wal Mart when he moved in with us. If I would have been his mother I am sure I wouldn't have had to spend that much because I would have bought over time what he needed but he needed these things ASAP when he moved in with us.

I told her he was so behind in school because he never did homework when she had him. Her excuse in her letter today, "I can't make him do homework if he doesn't bring anything home. Besides the teachers played a part in not teaching him." WHAT? Let me tell you, Cody played that game ONE time with me and his butt was punished so quick he never did it again. I am not even his mother, so it's not like I feel comfortable using corporal punishment on him.

My blog may be all discombobulated and my thoughts everywhere but how can I put into words what she told me on the first page of her letter, with all the blame placed on others of course, THEN she turned around with her crazy bipolar self (I don't know if she really is I'm just saying)and said thank you for watching my kid, can he stay with yall for the whole school year or do you want me to come get him right away? Arghhh! I hope they throw the book at her on her court date. She is a freaking nut!

I will have to hire a lawyer before she gets out of jail and get emergency custody of him for now. I really don't have the money to spend and thought she would say to herself "my child has a better life than I can provide or am willing to provide for him. I don't really want to take care of him and called them all the time to take him so this is my out!" But no, now that she is in jail I am figuring she thinks she needs to be a good mama now!

Pics 9-11-09

Today Cody tries out for drum ensemble at school. Good luck Cody! Our granddaughter visited yesterday. I took her see the monkeys at Gallery Furniture (we didn't know they had monkeys!) while her grandpa and mommy looked at stuff for her parents new home! What a gift to be able to spend time with her yesterday. She is just so sweet! She kept saying, "Uh oh, what happened?" it was so cute. I miss her already, I kept telling her to tell her mommy to let her sleep at our house! haha

I got a Job! (kinda)

So Cody comes home today with a letter. Dear Mrs. T you have been elected to be our Homeroom Class Mom. Yay! I actually wanted to be the H.C.M. so it worked out perfectly. So I tell Cody, "Hey it says I will be your Class Mom" and he smacks his head and says "Please, please, please don't embarrass me!" Hehe insert evil grin and hands rubbing together, "who moi?"

I am pretty stoked about it. I really want and need to be involved with what's going on with him. After he left my care at the beginning of last year, his grades went to kuput. His mom didn't make him go to school, didn't make him do his homework and just basically didn't do anything for him that needed to be done or made to do. He is such a good kid and a big helper around the house.

He failed the 4th grade back with his mom last school year but when he moved in with us I talked to the school and we put him in 5th grade. I signed up on the school website to be able to view the teachers assignments and her gradebook on what they do in class and guess what? He is nearly at a 4.0 average. All A's in most of his classes with one high B score in Health. I knew it was poor parenting. I am hoping for a report card with A's and B's when the time comes around. Trust me, it's not easy but I don't give him the answers. We have a 3 subject "practice" notebook that I put math problems in for him to work out everyday. I make him read to me for 30 minutes out loud everyday and then ask him questions about what he read. (I also found out I have this great talent of being able to read other stuff while he reads to me and still be able to know when he mispronounces words and actually remember what he read to me.) If I had the patience for a classroom full of kids, the ability to deal with Algebra without my head exploding, and the drive to go back to college for the next 4 or 5 yrs, I'd become a teacher.

So now that I have bragged enough about myself and my nephew, on to more exciting news. My stepdaughter is coming tomorrow with the grandbaby for their first visit to our house here in Houston. Yay! Hopefully they make it a regular trip so we can see the little potato more often. I will post pics after I get to see her. Well peeps, I am off. Today was not so crazy as yesterday but I am still not liking those HEB pharmacy girls!

Things that pissed me off today!

1.) I missed breakfast today. :(
2.) Freaking forgot to buy plain yogurt at the grocery store today. S%@T!
3.) I hate the pharmacy girls at HEB, they act like they don't see you standing 2 feet away from them waiting for some freaking customer service. I had to switch out my milk last time b/c they made me wait so long! I am switching to Walgreens. Bite me pharmacy girls!
4.) Tons of crap that the schools dump off on the parent. My worst nightmare this week: Cookie Dough Fundraiser......are you kidding me!? Arghhhh!
5.) Yet another letter from my sister in law, who is in jail, whose child is living with me! I guess they must put something in the food b/c she gets a little dumber each time she writes me with her delusions of how great of a mom she is.
6.) People who don't use freaking blinkers, use them people! The big ass Ford F 150 behind you is me and I'd appreciate a little forewarning!
7.) The heat. Period.
8.) People who say "Well if you were having problems you could have called me" except they never answer their phone.
9.) Anyone who pushes their beliefs on me. Trust me, I read.......ALOT. I used to work for a newspaper, I am pretty good at keeping up with current events, I am well informed and have at the age of 33, formed my own opinons which I keep to myself and not push on you. If I don't want my nephew watching Obama at school then that's my perogative. I served 8 yrs in the Army and fought for your rights, quit trying to take away mine.
10.) Anyone who will comment on this blog and try to explain to me why I should have let my nephew watch Obama. If you skipped over number 9, read it again. If you don't get it, then look up at the title of my blog. If you still don't get it, don't comment.
And that's my rant people.

Finally!

So glad after 4 days that Cody has gone back to school, and the husband back to work! They drive me nuts if they are home for more than 24 hours. Cody came home last Thursday telling me he didn't feel well, so I immediately took his temperature (with visions of swine flu) and it was 99.9. So even though I "big" sighed inside my head, I medicated him to death and washed and Lysol-ed everything down in the house. He got to stay home from school on Friday and since they had Monday off, he got a 4 day weekend while I got no peace. Of course by Saturday he felt GREAT. Thank you God for giving me 8 hours a day to myself by inventing school.

Dear Selfish Woman

As we sit here trying to help your son with his homework, I am so frustrated. Why did you have to dumb him down? You spend so much time worrying how you can get a check out of him that you have never taken the time to learn what he is really like or for that matter, what he really likes! Did you know that he loves football? Did you know he is saving his money to buy a digital camera? Did you know that because you didn't let him be a kid, it is terribly hard for him to make friends his own age? Did you know he thinks that you don't love him because your letters to him are all about yourself?

I am so angry that simple things are so much harder for him because you didn't help him or make him do his homework and now he is so much further behind than other kids his age. If I get one more letter from you talking about "me, me, me" and "what/who do you think I should do" I will completely cut off all communication with you.

You are a selfish woman. You are one of the reasons I lose a little more faith everyday. I don't know how God lets a woman like you (and many other women like you!) have children that you do not care for and will not take care of instead of giving women like me who really wants one, a child. At least I have your child, and though he may frustrate me and get on my nerves, I still love him, provide for him and make sure that he has what every child should have, a home. The sad thing, is that you would not give him up for his own well being. You would rather keep him so that you could get a check for him but never use it on anything he needs.

I know you will never read this because you are in jail and well, you really don't care how anyone feels anyway. Every letter I write to you, you act as if I didn't say all this to you. You tell me you don't get my letters then contradict yourself five sentences later because you don't want to face reality. I really wish you were in jail for child neglect but I will have to settle for what you are there for. You are lucky I love my husband and your child because otherwise you would never ever get anything out of me. Nobody owes you and I think you are starting to find that out.

About Me

Hi, my name is Krys and I am a 33 yr old female veteran of the United States Army.

I grew up in a small bayou town in Louisiana known for it's wonderful commercial fishing. I also got to grow up with 5 brothers, yay! My mom was a wonderful woman, she passed away a few years ago at the age of 48 of heart disease. My father has since remarried a woman from Texas who has a lot more similar interests that they share. I am the proud aunt of many nieces and nephews, stepmom to a wonderful stepdaughter, step granny to a beautiful step grandaugher, godmother to 4 godchildren and wife of the most wonderful man I have ever come across in my lifetime.

I graduated high school at the age of 17 and joined the Army not long afterwards. I jumped outta planes, lived overseas, visited many countries courtesy of Uncle Sam and made lifetime friends along the way. After serving my country for 8 years, at the old age of 26 I was honorably discharged and started college 1 month later. I spent 4 yrs attending school in Louisiana where I met my husband, by luck, through similiar interests (ie: both Veterans and paratroopers). We were engaged in less than 6 mths and married a year later. Since then my husband has retired after 20 yrs in the Army and we have moved to Houston, Tx and built our home.

It has not been an easy life to move away from everyone you know but we both have been through it many times in the Army so I know that it will be okay. Since we have moved here, 3 yrs ago, I have stayed at home. Most of that time has been spent with my nephew who has lived with us on and off the last 3 yrs. I hope that I have given you a small idea of who I am and that you get an even better idea as I blog my way through this craziness I call life.