Rough Week, Nice Weekend

So we had a rough week here at Big Dyke Mama's house.  Eleventh Kid is having a rough time at school and with the program he's in.  It hasn't really translated over into to home life, but there have been some concerned emails between us and his case manager.  Also a visit from a police officer.  Ugh.

I've heard this from other foster parents, and I'm sure there are plenty of bio parents who could say the same thing.  The way they are at home is not indicative of the way they are at school.  At home we have thoughtful discussions, he uses his manners, he asks for help when he needs it, he is eager to help with chores and tasks.  I hear at school he is argumentative, disruptive, and will refuse to participate in class.  This is not the sweetheart that I know.

I do think, however, that some progress got made.  We'll see how that pans out next week.  I think he's starting to grasp that bad behavior and acting out are not the way that he should go about trying to get things to change.  People are more likely to listen to your requests if you are trying your hardest rather protesting your hardest.  (I get that that isn't always true, so just trust me that in this particular situation it IS true.)

Even after a rough week, we still had a nice weekend.  Lots of laundry and cooking got done, lots of TV-watching got done, lots of reading got done, lots of planning got done, lots of shopping got done.  He likes patterns the way I like patterns: Taco Tuesday, Sausage Thursday, Patsy's Pizza and El Tapatio alternate Fridays.  This makes meal planning WAY easier.  :)  One pop per day, one Pop-Tart per day, one Clif Bar per day.  All the junk food wears away at my soul a little bit, but I can't change someone's eating habits overnight.  Slowly slowly we are working toward maybe a bit more whole fruit and maybe some nuts for a snack and maybe you can just have a glass of water instead of the pre-packaged snacks.  The food bill is insanely high this month, and it's all in pre-packaged snacks!

Everyone is well-fed, though; Eleventh Kid said he's put on almost one pound since arriving.  (Good, cos he's skinny.)  He's enjoying my cooking and wants to start learning some more cooking skills from me.  He even trusts me enough at this point to start meal-planning without his input!  Ha!  Little does he know that will mean more veggies and less meat!  Ha!

So here's hoping that next week goes more smoothly than the last.  I really really love this kid and I really really want good things to happen for him.

Saturday Morning

Coming to you from another early Saturday morning at Big Dyke Mama's house.  Everyone's still asleep, so I've been accomplishing a number of tasks off the Lesbian Agenda: 

• Water the front yard
• Water the back yard
• "Feed" the sourdough starter
• Run the dishwasher
• Put sheets in the dryer
• Think about what's for breakfast

Good times.

So, last week we had the Fifth Kid, who was rad.  Really sweet and funny, but SO SHY.  He hardly talked, he didn't eat much.  It's really fine, because I'm not here to force anybody to do anything, and I know he had a lot of things going on in his life; a lot to think about.  Fifth kid kind of doing his own thing was fine by me.

Sixth Kid (same as the First, and the Third) is with us again this weekend.  We celebrated a stellar report card (A's and a B) by going out to dinner, and did a big shop for fun things to do this weekend, including the Pride Parade. (She wants to go, and who am I to deny this impressionable person such an experience?)  We'll be marching with my team from work.

You know what else falls on this weekend?  I mean, besides your birthday.  This weekend is my 20th High School Reunion.  And although I promised to myself years ago that there could scarcely be an excuse for me to miss such an event (I was one of those wackos that LOVED high school), this year was just too hard.  Three weeks till we get married, Pride Weekend, and the flights were crazy expensive!  Plus, my folks are in the middle of packing/moving/selling their house, and that's just another wrench in their monkeys to have me as a houseguest.  Blarg.  I'm going to miss seeing my High School friends.  Go Big Blue!

Speaking of High School, DM got a job this week.  Full time, High School Math Teacher.  She had doubts about her ability to get hired right out of the gate (she's finishing a Masters), but she full-on got her dream job.  So so so so happy for her.  And I get to help her set up her classroom which is totally something I love to do!  I used to help my Mom set up her classroom every August!  YAY!

Okay, back to the Lesbian Agenda!

Moving Update!

My feet hurt for the blisters on both heels.
I have multiple bruises on every extremity.
My sore back sends shooting pain down both legs.
My neck and shoulders are full of knots.
Exhaustion has rendered circles under both eyes that give the impression I've been in a fight.

And I still have work to do at the old place.

Not much, though.  I should finish up on Wednesday night.  And that can't come soon enough.

But the new house is fun!  We're still living out of boxes, but I'm determined that I will cook a pasta dinner in our kitchen tomorrow.

I love our patio, and we've already hung out there a bit during the recent rainstorm.

We had our new washer/dryer delivered and installed yesterday, and there is a load just finishing up in the dryer now.  Laundry is one of those things that makes me ridiculously happy.

DM's Spring Break is coming up next week and we'll start building our planter beds.  This is also something that makes me ridiculously happy!  Remember last summer when I couldn't stop talking about my tomatoes?  This year will be even better.  We're starting to price out upright freezers so we can put up more veggies!

There may be a housewarming party in our future.... stay tuned!

In the meantime, I'm putting my tired, sore body to bed.  Night-night.