A Girl Meets a Boy

A girl meets a boy…

A girl meets a boy; and he is smart, he makes her laugh and he is cute. They talk for hours and he professes to love her more than peanut butter. They go to trashy bars together and laugh easily the boy is articulate, motivated and fun.

A girl moves in with a boy, they both leave socks on the floor and share the chores. They still love going to trashy bars and often spend time with a growing group of friends. One night the boy asks the girl to marry him; they get married 5 days later.

A girl marries a boy, he changes job and races mountain bikes. They still laugh easily, even when life becomes stressful. They go through some trials but remember that they love each other and that is why they work it out. They assume they must be having fun because they are broke. They get a cat and then a dog, the dog has abandonment issues.

A girl meets a boy and falls in love, the boy tells her that he has a son. That girl had no idea what she got herself into. The girl loves the kid and the kid loves the girl back.

A girl meets an ex-wife and things are cordial. The girl respects the kid’s mom but inevitably drama ensues. The girl and the boy begin to fight about the ex-wife, the kid has problems sleeping and the girl feels like she is at her wits end. The girl goes looking for help.

A girl meets other girls just like her, with wonderful husbands and step kids they love, some of them have good relationships with the ex-wives some have more drama than the girl can believe. The girl has found kindred spirits.

A girl takes a risk to met one of the girls in person, she is warm and funny. They talk for hours and the girl feels renewed. The girl takes a crazy trip out of state to meet a bunch of these girls and feels like she has known them forever.

A girl is lucky; she has gotten to meet a lot of her step mom friends in real life. A lot of her regular friends think she is nutty but the boy is supportive because he has seen how the girl has grown as a stepmother and a person.

A girl met a boy, who has a son. That has turned my life upside down but I couldn't be happier. I will be out of town this weekend to meet up with some of my closest friends, my kindred spirits. And the boy will be in Moab, racing mountain bikes.

Happy Halloween from Dear Hubby and Amburgular!

Drive-In Night

We still have a drive-in movie theatre here, it isn't in the best area of town and unfortunately it sits directly next to a small airport. That has never been an issue until Saturday night, when our screen was directly in front of the runway and we got to watch small airplanes take off 3 times during our movies. I am complaining but I am not, I am glad we have a drive-in and in a town that knocks down anything that has been around for a while, I am even happier we have kept this piece of nostalgia.

We met up with a bunch of friends to watch Where the Wild Things Are, it was a double feature with AstroBoy.

Prices at the drive-in are great, like a matinee at a regular theatre. All movies are double features, which for us was great this weekend, since Where the Wild Things Are bored the pants off the kids, but I really enjoyed it. It just had more serious themes than the kids were interested in. The kids really enjoyed Astroboy.

Seriously, we lost the Rapscallion 10 minutes into the film, he spent the rest of the film trying to climb up the screen and complaining that there wasn't anything to eat. There was plenty to eat, I have to say this before my mom calls me to say "you know he is a growing boy", sorry let me correct that, there was plenty to eat that didn't cost $4.50 and we brought it with us, but you know kids, the more it costs, the more they want it, until they take one bite and decide they are full and want to go try to climb the screen again. I brought: PB&J, lemonade, YoGo's, oranges and frozen Go-Gurts for each one of them.

Kids are $1 to get in so we brought the Rapscallions best friend, I highly suggest this if you have the slightest desire to watch any of the movies playing. They are a great team and just old enough to go to the bathroom without me having to stand outside the door. Plus everything is more fun with your friends, that's why we met up with ours that night.

You bring your own food, drinks and chairs, they do ask that you refrain from bringing barbeque's and smokers but everything else is kosher. We set up blankets in the trunk of the jeep for the boys, the theatre broadcasts the movies sound over your FM radio dial, we don't have a radio in the jeep so a friend was kind enough to bring a boom-box (does anyone even say boom-box anymore) so we could have sound.

We met up with about half a dozen friends and took over one whole row so we could keep an eye on our kids while still talking and hanging out. It was fun. I highly recommend the drive-in as a fun, somewhat cheap evening out. They do have a concession stand if you don't bring your own food and drinks, but the theatre encourages you to bring your cooler. The bathrooms are by the concession stand, the building has probably been around since the theatre opened in 1966, but if you hover you will be ok (or you could get a Go-Girl, I really want one of these, but that is another post) There is a pretty modern playground by the concession stand for the kids. Safety first, it isn't the best area of Las Vegas and there are alot of cars, so watch your kids if you go.

Our set up in the back of the jeep before the boys got in it and spilled lemonade all over everything. Next time I want to have just a grown up night at the Drive-In, who wants to come with us? No, I don't want to see SAW 987 or whichever one is out now.

I'll Show You Mine...

If you show me yours!

Again I am accepting a challenge from AmyK. Basically show me the stuffed animal or blankie you have had since you were itty bitty. Tell me, and the interweb, your story.

In return, I will show you mine. In fact I will show you mine first!

I would like to introduce you to Teddy and Red, not the most creative names, I know but I have given them names and changed them when the whim suited me so many times over the years. Somewhere I also have a hard plastic lizard named Little Red Riding Hood, my sister had Goldilocks, what can I say we were weird kids.

Both Teddy and Red currently reside in my hope chest, I would bring them out but I don't want anyone playing with them (evil stepmom moment) because if something happened to them at the hands of the Rapscallion, or Puppy Butt, I would be hard pressed to let that go easily. Maybe not my most graceful confession but it is the truth.

It was fun to pull out Teddy for this picture, I used to sleep on him so he is a little smunched up but still soft and just waiting for me if I ever need him.

For Sale

For Sale Cheap! O.B.O.

One annoying Cat Butt and

One gassy Puppy Butt.

For the right price might throw

in a mouthy 8 year old.

Call tired, annoyed

Mom with all offers.

Puppy Butt had gas last night, she got into the trash and ate some broccoli (just a couple of pieces, don't go calling ASPCA on me) had a tummy ache all night. Cat Butt has decided sleeping ON MY HEAD is a great idea, but she has to come in and out of the room all night not to mention that she has to announce herself every time she comes into the room.

I guess these guys are lucky I love them.

This Really Important Blog about.... Oh Look a Bat!

I went to the doctors a few months ago; he was doing a routine stress test to make sure that everything was pumping in my chest like it should be. He decided to send me to an endocrinologist to have a spot on my thyroid examined closer. For most people this isn’t a big deal but in my family thyroids have been our Achilles heel. I asked the doctor if the spot on my thyroid could be causing any other problems, like attention problems. He didn’t think the two were related and said after I saw the endocrinologist we would talk about them.

I swear my Mother’s family crest has a bottle of vodka and a tumor on it (no one can remember what is on my Dad’s family crest, sorry, bad Alzheimer’s joke) my little sister was diagnosed with thyroid cancer at 25 and my Mom had hers removed when an internal goiter became so large that it inhibited her breathing.

I went to the endocrinologist, who also happens to be my little sister’s doctor. He said I look just like her and then ordered a biopsy, not cool. I don’t know the last time you had a needle repeatedly poked into your neck but it isn’t something I do often. No matter how much I tried to relax and think about other things I keep returning to one truth. There was a needle being poked repeatedly into my throat! So the results we negative, I am fine, with my family history they will keep an eye on any changes that occur in the area just to be on the safe side.

So I went back to the doctor’s office to talk about my attention issues. I was a dreamy little kid; I daydreamed and basically lived in my own world until I was in junior high. I was smart but often fell behind in school because the material didn’t hold my attention. Even in high school and my first attempt at college, I would routinely start with the greatest intentions only to be frustrated time and time again when I lost track of things during the semester. I am enrolled in college again and didn’t want to have to go through all of those old feelings again.

I have suspected for a while now that I suffered from Attention Deficient/Hyperactivity Disorder, the doctor spoke with me about my personal history and agreed that I exhibit ADHD-I (I stands for inattentive) symptoms. He gave me a prescription that my insurance doesn’t want to cover. So he started me on a different drug and while it helps I can tell it is not the right drug for me.

Everyone’s body chemistry is different so it is normal to have to try more than one medication before you find one that works well for you. I just don’t know how to call my doctor to tell him that the medication he just gave me a higher dose of is still not helping me focus.

Oh and BATS!!!

Who Can Feel Bad Looking at Kittens?

I am not up for much posting today, or much of last week but I felt I owed you all an update and since I honestly do believe that my blog is in the 2% of useful information you can find on the Internet I thought I should share that spotlight with a deserving little website.

Funny cats, kittens, dogs and other animals.

It is hard to be down in the dumps looking at cute little kitties.

Meow, meow, meow.

I will be back to regular posting this week, sorry for the absence and the randomness.

Holey Moley StepMama Bear!

I was reading a blog by my friend AmyK, while her situation is a little different than ours with the Rapscallion, I feel like she used some imagery that really hit home with me about why I fight so hard for the Rapscallion.

She talks about holes in our skids lives, holes they may not have if they came from an intact biofamily. Holes that have an effect on the child, slack in the line of their lives that doesn’t let them fly as high as they should, doesn’t let them be the children they should get to be and causes them to grow up too early. All this slack, all these holes affect the children and as the stepmom I feel like it is my job to pick up the slack, I feel like it is my job to protect the Rapscallion from the holes.

Like AmyK’s Kidlet, the Rapscallion has 2 houses that he goes back and forth into, he also stays a week at a time in each house and I have wondered sometimes what all the changing does to him. Like AmyK, I hope he feels at home at our house. In our house we try to remain consistent, involved, loving and fun. At Bio Mom’s house we have no control, we can’t control when he is exposed to things that we disagree with like anger, fighting, and negativity.

One of those “holes” opened up in his life again this week while he was at Bio Mom's, because of it we will change the weeks that the Rapscallion is in our custody to try and protect him from false accusations. Dear Hubby has to go to a meeting with Bio Mom about this “hole” and as much as I know Bio Mom doesn’t want me going, I am going to support my husband, my stepson, my family and even her because he may not have fallen out of my crotch but he is my kid none the less and I feel an overwhelming need to protect my family during this time.