From my other journal, dated August 26, 2002

Maybe if I wrote more my entries wouldn't be so awfully long.

Ah well...

Friday was great! I got lots done, Larry brought home souvlaki and I figured out how to get the settings on my PC fixed the way I want them. All of the little progress bars and search windows are black now, my taskbar is fixed and everything looks oh so fine. I did have a problem with the window text because when the windows went black, the text automatically reverted to white. I got the color changed to grey and now it shows up on white pages just fine. For awhile there were huge chunks of stuff missing on certain pages. Now it's light, but visible.

Yes, I do tend to get psyched over small things. Mainly because I've always believed that the small happies combine to become one big happy.

Saturday was awesome too. We finally were able to get out and get some furniture. A bedframe with head and foot boards and two matching nightstands that actually come close to being a perfect match for the dressers we already have. I haven't had a matching bedroom set since I moved out of my parents' house. Also, the nightstands have nice drawers that can be childproofed. They will be too - I have books to put in them.

We also took the kids to We B Toys. Trent was so sweet! He latched onto a huge Winnie the Pooh and kept hugging it and holding and talking to it. It was one of those moments I wish I could have frozen in time and stayed in forever. He held it close with it's arms around his neck for the rest of the time we were shopping and cried when Larry took it away to pay for it.

Larry also bought me a Care Bear!!

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

It turns out the original set (most of it anyway, not Good Luck Bear), has been re-released for their twentieth anniversary. Good Luck was always my favorite, but now I'm in love with Bedtime Bear (who came with a free video - two episodes!!), too. I saw it sitting there among the others and bonded with it immediately, if that makes any sense. It's a sweet, soft, beautiful little bear. It hasn't been far away from me since Saturday. The Care Bears theme song keeps repeating in my head too. Maybe it's time to watch the movies again.

It's funny how something like that can stir so many happy emotions at once. Joy, comfort, and a healthy dose of hard - core nostalgia in one soft fuzzy package. And all for under sixteen dollars.

:o)

So now I had to put a Bedtime Bear on my journal too. Is he not adorable?

Sunday didn't go as well though. John was supposed to be here at 8am so I could get him showered and out to buy some pants. FF took him to Hot Topic for band tees, but John has decided to stop wearing the wrestling style pants he has been wearing for the last three years in favor of actual jeans so the plan was to take him out yesterday morning early for some. Larry had an 11:20 tee time with his good friend Les (we call him "Mo", as in "Mo-Lester" as a joke, which he and his wife both find hilarious, even though his name is really Leslie), and if we had gotten going early enough he would have been able to watch the babies while I was shopping. At 8:19 I called and got no answer so I left a message. At 8:40 I called again and got no answer but left a message saying that if he didn't shower but was home by nine, we could still make it and he could get a shower later. At 11:30 I was livid. It was obvious to me that he was screening the calls and had purposefully kept John there long enough to screw up my schedule. This time when I called he answered and I let him have it with both verbal barrels. He started stammering and told me that he and John had overslept. Then he said that he had been trying to get John up all morning. Then he blamed John for his not being home on time, telling me that he only learned five minutes before I called that he was supposed to have John home early.

So which is it?

When I asked that he stammered some more and I told him I didn't want to hear it and hung up.

I knew he was lying. I mean, it was so obvious with the first two excuses cancelling each other out and the last one was just as bad, considering that I spoke to John yesterday and he told me he his dad had already agreed to have him home early.

From now on, if I need him home early I'll go get him myself. I was going to wait until Larry got home, but he wasn't due back until after 6pm. In Frederick everything closes early on Sunday, and since school started today I didn't have the option of waiting another day.

FF did that just to aggravate me. It worked like a charm.

I'm so glad I'm not married to him any more.

I was kind of stressed (and so angry I was thinking of ways to kill him without harming my karma - fortunately for him there aren't any), then I realized that the only difference between taking him out when Larry is home and when he isn't is that no one was around to babysit. Since I've been out with all three of them lots of late, we all went out shopping and had a great time.

I can't believe my baby started high school today. I hope he likes it. He was talking about wanting to be homeschooled last week, and I'd love to do it but his dad has made it clear he will fight me on it. By the time we get finished with a court battle John will be ready to graduate, so I didn't think it would be possible but if it's something he wants FF might agree to at least let us try it in peace. He always wants to look like Mr. Good Guy. I'm not looking for him to apologize for telling me I'm not competent to teach and would only hold John back a year if I tried it (SCREW YOU CALVIN!!), but he most likely will not fight me on this if he knows John's up for it. I had to make sure John understood that there is still actual work involved though. It wouldn't do either of us any good for him to go into it thinking he can get up at 11am and not have to do anything but play video games and watch DVDs all day. He knows what to expect now and I think he'll do okay if we homeschool.

The topical treatment is already starting to clear his skin up a bit. He's decided to get his hair cut. I think his skin is the main reason he has allowed it to grow out past the time that he wanted to. His emulation of Ozzy was the principal motivator but after awhile it started to get into his face and really bother him, especially when he has to lean over. I guess when he gets home tonight it will be really short, the way he used to keep it. It doesn't matter - long or short he'll be just as adorable.

I know he'd rather not hear that from his mom though.

:o)