OK…who haven’t I hit, yet? Martian!
Martian, Martian, Martian. heh He and I have a kind of quietly building relationship. Since Bell hasn’t been around, Martian has blossomed. Before, the poor boy couldn’t get two words out before Bell would correct him or talk over him. Now, Martian is turning into a man. He and Bell had been taking driving lessons from Uncle Dave, but with Bell gone, he got all the driving time. Now, he has a permit and a girlfriend! Apparently, there was even a tawdry catfight over him between his girlfriend and her sister. Go, Martian. lol When he finally admitted that she was indeed his girlfriend, we HAD to give him a hard time, but I just told him, “Boy, you were the only one who didn’t know she was your girlfriend.”
Back in the summer when the near-divorce bad happened, I was shocked when Tina came and told me that Martian had said that he ‘hoped we would get a divorce.’ It really hurt me. I understand it. He and I had been getting closer (he’d even line up for a hug when they’d get ready to leave), and, suddenly, I was gone and their whole world was on quicksand again. It did hurt though. Everything is good with me and him again. A few times, he’s even done something for me that I know must be related to his relationship with his mother. He’s known for a while now that she’s leaving, and when I found out that he knew, I kept an eye on him. I didn’t want him bottling anything up. But, I don’t think I’ve seen the boy smile as much as he has these last couple of months. Several times before, I had reminded him that he was welcome to come live with us, and he’d get this wistful look and say, “Nah, they need me over there.” See what I mean about Mull twisting him up? When he comes here for his regular Wednesday, he’s always perky and happy. He’s always joking half the night even while he’s plugged into the net playing kissy face with his girl. He and Paladin make a pit stop for donuts on the way in to school Thursday morning; it’s their own little ritual and Paladin really looks forward to it. When you get right down to it, so much of family life is just that: ritual.
Well, that’s all the kids done. As for the adults, there have been a few changes. Paladin’s Dad and his wife both retired and moved into the deserts of Oregon; they’re snowed under with a second mortgage until they can sell their old place which is REALLY NICE, if anyone knows anybody around the Dallas/Salem area of Oregon that needs a new home for 65% of its value and in a great school district! They don’t seem too worried about the second mortgage but it scares me! Besides, I’d love for them to come down here. I think if we ever get them here, they’ll never leave. 🙂
Not much else has changed in the immediate family. Brian’s brother is being chased by child support enforcement and they’ve pulled his driver’s license. So, I figure before long he’s gonna be back in the pokey.
The Brothers are good and the current mystery is that Dave has him a gal… at least, we think it’s a gal… He keeps disappearing and suddenly he’s carrying condoms. We’re all for it. He never really got over his ex-wife cheating on him. Maybe this will snap him back into the Land of the Hopeful. Hopefully, Dave hasn’t picked another skank or if he has, he’ll keep it light. Dave’s a romantic and life can crush the romantic.
Tina’s going to church now and the Brothers are giving her a hard time about it. She needs it though. It lets her breath for a while each week. She also takes the Borrowed Girls and since our Aunt Sally is there (and we’ve known pretty much the entire congregation our whole lives), it gives the girls a real sense of community. It’s good for all of them.
Mom is…Mom. Hard headed as ever. She is still getting regular blood transfusions because of her blood disorder. Fortunately, one of her nurses, Mikey, suspected that her adrenal gland wasn’t producing the hormone to tell her bone marrow to make red blood cells. Tina told this theory to half a dozen doctors and they didn’t listen. New Doctor does though, and he believes they’re right. Unfortunately, the therapy for it is too rough for Mom because of the renal failure. For now, it’s every few months in the hospital for a few days of special blood typing and transfusions.
Dad is now Papaw Mississippi. lol That’s what Indie calls him. If you’re on my Facebook and have checked out the videos, you’ve seen that we’ve been to see Dad a few times in the last few months. He and Gold-digger have split again, but it probably won’t last. In the meantime, the kids get to play on Papaw’s hay bales and unfinished floor joists. It’s heaven for kids. 🙂
Paladin and I can’t tell you the good stuff for us right now because it’s tied into the bad stuff. But, soon I hope. Sooner if you’re on my Facebook, because I’m headed over there to send an email to my blog peeps about the “bad news” that I don’t want posted in the public eye.
Oh, but I can tell you that we also spent the summer remodeling. Here’s the link and here. The video doesn’t do it justice, but it did significantly add to the stress we were going through. It’s been wow-ing my supervisor, aka Chelsea, and she’s dying for Tina and I to come redo her place. It’s something I’m really looking forward to and I’m also ready to get on with the changes here. We’re planning on redoing the outbuilding as a handicap accessible studio apartment which will better suit Brian, and give us back our Master suite. My mind spins with daydreams of putting in even more french doors on that side of the house…mmm…complete with a secret shade garden just for Paladin and I. Ahhh…someday. It’s all little by little here. Every day is trying to get just a few more things accomplished. We’re good, but I think when you are juggling what we do, it’s just ALWAYS going to be like wading through water. I’m praying for peace to come by March. We’ll still be watching out for teenagers and shuffling through parent meetings and outings, but I kind of like it that way.
Honey-if you all survived remodeling with only a seperation, that your marriage is pretty much bomb proof! 😉
Seriously, when it took hubs and I TEN HOURS to pick out wallpaper for one room, well I knew we were in trouble! So from then on he lets me pick out what ever I want and he does the labor. 😉
Hope everything is going well for you, I miss your blogs:)