Wild-Heart.net

…Will I be suckered in by WalMart.com’s offer of free shipping by way of their Site-to-Store service. The waiting period is agonizingly slow. And I am being bit in the arse by my own frugality everyday that passes that I do not receive the email letting me know that my order has arrived for pick-up at my store. One part of my order left the sorting facility in SC on the 4th and its status has been listed since then as as “in route to delivery facility.” For those of you with rudimentary geography skills that know I live in middle Georgia, you might find yourself as perplexed as I am. It would seem that somewhere between South Carolina and our chosen store in Macon, there is a Delivery Facility and so far that one portion of the order has been in route to that delivery facility for six freakin’ days!

The other portion of the order is listed as having been shipped and “in route” to the “sorting facility” since the 4th. This has gone beyond ridiculous. And I can honestly say this is the first time my frugality has bitten me in the ass. I just have this gut feeling that when the items finally arrive at our store for pick-up something is going to be damaged. *sigh*

Technorati Tags: Wal-Mart, site-to-store

Boy #2 is currently grounded  for having a horribly bad attitude and thinking that he can yell and scream at me as if he were my ex-husband. He’s done nothing but complain about the fact that he is grounded and Boy #1 is not. You know the typical sibling and teenager strife. However, Boy #2 is an evil genius at times. His latest attempt to “set-up” Boy #1 has me fuming.

First a bit of background… I am incredibly particular about how I do laundry and what goes into my washing machine and dryer. I check pockets, especially Boy #1’s and Bonus Boy’s as they tend to leave pencils and pens and school papers. Also, after every load comes out of the washing machine I check the tub thoroughly for anything that I might of missed. It’s my OCD, I check the tub AGAIN before starting a new load of laundry.

This afternoon after sorting out a load of towels and making sure the tub was free and clear and starting the load, I happily walked away. At some point during the washing of that load of towels, Boy #2 got the brilliant idea of setting up Boy #2 by tossing in a usb-thumb-drive and a black permanent marker in the washing machine. The only thing that saved him was that the cap stayed firmly on the marker. Time will tell if the thumb-drive has survived. And of course he’s playing the Shaggy routine; screaming, “It wasn’t me!” But you see, Boy #1 wasn’t home, Bonus Boy and Baby Boy were at the computers for free time (which Boy #2 is grounded from after pulling an all nighter Friday night on MySpace and YouTube). He was the only one with a motive and access to the marker and the thumb-drive. Of course then he tried the “Mom is Crazy” routine and of course I had to have put them in the washing machine along with the towels when I loaded the machine. Um. No. Not in this lifetime. Dig a deeper hole.

And they think parents are the enemy?

“[...]it is our strong recommendation that you make arrangements for your son to be picked up from school today instead of riding the bus home. It has been brought to our attention that further threats to his person have been made and until we have arrested those who forced their way onto the bus yesterday and attacked him, which should be later this afternoon, we recommend he not ride the school bus.”

That was from the phone call I received from Campus Police about an hour or so ago concerning the drama that occurred yesterday with Boy #1. I assume the “we” she was referring to was County Police/Deputies in cooperation with Campus Police. Yeap. Nothing like teen drama on a bus that serves quite the varied social populous. Seems that one of the kids who plays him as a fair weather friend played off some of his own remarks about one of these thugs little brothers and passed them off as Boy #1’s remarks. Impossible as Boy #1 no longer has anything to do with this kid since he gave him candy towards the end of the last school year and it turned out to be meth (took a $25 drug test to figure it out) and we spent several hours helping him go through the tweaking out phase of a first time user. Oh yes, as if parents don’t have enough to worry about, 12-14 year olds are actually giving meth away, telling other students that it’s candy because that’s the new trend, flavoring the crap so it tastes like candy. F*ckers. So the boy has had it out for Boy #1 since he and I reported it to the proper officials at the school and the police department.

Two neighborhood drop-out thugs from up the street forced their way onto the school bus yesterday afternoon and proceeded to pound the crud out of Boy #1. Had this happened out on the street I would have understood if he fought to defend himself. However, this was on the school bus and I’ve got to say that as sick as it might sound to others, I’m proud of him for keeping his hands to himself and not fighting back. I’m so very proud that he was able to maintain that much control of himself. Why should I be? Because he is normally very impulsive due to the bipolar disorder and being a teenager, he acts without thinking and in the past that has gotten him written up and suspended from the bus more times than I care to remember.

He maintained control. That means his meds are working. Belittle me if you wish but I’m proud of him. The result is that this time, the punks that started this are going to be charged with assault and battery and my son isn’t getting yet another mark on his school record.

I’ve made a decision and I’m sticking to it.

I can’t recall if I posted before about the house hunting we were doing. Keyword “were” and you may as well change that “we” to an “I.” Long story short. I married a man with Asperger’s that has never been treated in therapy and whom also turned 30 last year. Yes, I robbed the cradle but that is besides the point. See, he also has some OCD tendencies and the general thinking in the psychiatric world is that for some reason, once a person with OCD tendencies reaches their early 30’s it will either get much better for them or much worse. His has gotten worse.

I love my husband and I hate to complain so much but you try living with someone who has a fear of bodily fluids and a fear of moving. That bodily fluid thing can really screw with a girl’s self esteem when it comes to matters of sex. But I keep reminding myself that it’s his problem and not mine. Which isn’t easy especially when you live with 5 male beings in the house and they disdain everything “girly.” It’s not easy when you’re lying there hot, sweaty and satiated after sex and you open your eyes to see your husband propped up on his elbows with his hands up in the air like a surgeon waiting for gloves and hear the words, “Hurry up and get me cleaned up so I can wash my hands.” Huh? What? Okay. Such is life.

I keep reminding myself that in less than 9 yrs., all of the children but Baby Boy will be living elsewhere, be it work & school, or just one or the other. When they turn 18 they will be responsible for themselves. Cold? Perhaps, but they’ve been warned and prepared for that magical age for several years now.

The money we saved from my disability back-pay after 4 years of fighting for it? That tax refund that was going with it to put a down-payment on a house. It all went into new furnishings for the town home. If he ever gets around to painting the stairwell, the minute hallway, and our bedroom, the property manager promised new sub flooring and carpet & linoleum throughout the home. He’s got until this weekend to get it done. This had all better be done before my mother arrives bringing back Boy #1 on the 26th of next month.

But the choice I made that I’m sticking to is thus. Due to a snag that occurred during that 4 year battle for disability, I lost the ability to have a passport. That will be changing very soon. In fact, it will be changing around tax season next year. I married a basement dweller w/out a basement who was lucky enough to marry not once, but twice. With 3 bio kids to claim on taxes every year, it results in a very nice tax refund. I announced that next year, he can get his toy car. He’s been lusting for another Honda CRX since his was totaled by a drunk driver over 10 years ago. But in exchange, I want a 3 day 2 night all inclusive vacation somewhere far away from home and children. And I want one every year. And I will have one as soon as I am able to get that passport.

I let Joseph know that he is more than welcome to join me on these yearly 3 day vacations. He replied wanting to know if any of them would involve a boat or flying over large bodies of water (his OCD list also includes extreme fear of water). I replied that they most certainly would and he said, “You can go alone.” I replied, “That’s great! We won’t have to spend money on airfare to get my mother to spend 3 days with the children. You can be here with them while I get a break!”

I found this at danae’s yesterday. It’s just something to think about and forget trying to debate about this in comments. I won’t engage and might possibly delete any comment on this post which is negative. In fact, if you aren’t a fat girl, please, don’t bother with playing the video. But I’ve got to say, I love her attitude.

Mid-Quarter grade reports came home today. Boy #1 is 15 yrs. old, the same teacher always puts in the remarks section, “Needs more home study time.”

Excuse me? He’s 15 years old, hormonal and bipolar. We have spend every school night struggling to keep him from going to spend time with the neighborhood drop-out. The first words out of my mouth when he gets home everyday are, “Do you have homework and do you have any tests coming up?”

I wonder exactly what this teacher suggests we do to give him more home study time. Seriously. He see’s the psychiatrist this Friday because Spring is coming on and he is showing signs of the seasonal aspects, including slipping grades. Until he’s restabilized, I’m afraid my walls and I can’t deal with giving him ultimatums. Bipolar + teenager + 5ft. 9 inches & 175lbs = it’s not worth it at this time. Our time at home is structured beyond belief. The word “schedule” gives me giddy tingles of glee. He is, without a doubt, the epitome of being able to lead a horse to water but not being able to make it drink.

And am I alone in thinking that a report card is the last place to make contact about a child a teacher has concerns about?

Sorry. I had to get that off my chest before I screamed.

And I apologize for not following up on the cryptic post previous to this one. I will do so later tonight or in the morning.

I was in the middle of this glorious rant earlier. The fingers were flying. It was motivated by my 15 year old son’s now-ex-girlfriend who is all of 12 yrs. old. (I didn’t find out her age until AFTER she’d been to our home for his birthday.) The rant was going to be glorious and ask questions as to why the parents of a 12 year old girl would not give a damn about her dating a 15 year old boy and why such young girls want a boyfriend to spend every waking moment in their presence. Then, Tim, who was cleaning up the computer graveyard area behind my desk, crossed some wires (How? I don’t know.) and caused the electricity for the entire house to flicker. Bye-bye beautiful rant. I suppose I’ll Stumble later for your amusement.