I march to the beat of a different drum no one else seems to hear and don't mind being called crazy. I consider it a compliment!
The last few years of my life have been the hardest of my adult life but ones that have taught me the most. I wouldn't change it for the world...and that's a good thing because I can't anyway :)
I learned what true love and friendship means. I learned how much God and family means beyond anything else and have weathered a financial storm that felt like it was named Katrina. It wasn't as devastating as Katrina but sometimes felt that way in my tired mind.
We've battled back with tons of help, generosity and love and getting by okay. It's still paycheck to paycheck but at least Tim and I are both getting paychecks.
TJ is doing great on his own, Zach is working full time and seems to enjoy his job. Massey started her senior year of high school has GPA of 91.75.
We had promised her a car when she was old enough if she made and kept excellent grades. Unfortunately when she kept up excellent grades and turned old enough to drive we were down to one job in our house and one vehicle. I'll have to hand it to her , she took it with more grace than I would have at her age.
We are over a year behind on our promise but this past week finally got her a car. It's a 2000 Ford Focus with a new engine two good tires two iffy ones, nice body and interior and everything works.
Tim traded in his Mercedes for an older Volvo and the Ford Focus. The Mercedes was nice (and paid for) but the maintenance was killing us.
Now we have been able to make good on our promise to Massey since she fulfilled and surpassed our expectations of her.
Don't get me wrong, she still has her faults but what teen doesn't? Zach is just happy to be able to borrow my car and always puts gas in it for me and when he can't borrow it bums rides and never complains.
We took Massey's car for it's emission test yesterday and went to add it onto our insurance policy. We get discounts for her taking her driver's ed online and a huge discount for her GPA. She was driving us back home when her car started making a vibrating sound. It sounded like tires to me and Zach said he thought it was the transmission. Either way I told her to slow down a bit and it stopped.
She drove it to school today for the first time and can just imagine how proud she felt. She got home from school as I was getting off my lawn mower and asked her if the car made that sound again?
She said "No ma'am, it doesn't do it unless I go over fifty." Like the smart momma I am I said "Well then don't go over 50 MPH." She happily said "Okay!"
I don't think I'll have the problem looked at, I'd rather keep her under 50 MPH for quite a while.
On the other end of my crazy life spectrum, this new puppy is a trip. His potty training is almost complete but he is an "escapee" and drags Charlie with him every time he gets out. I've patched four holes in the fence with chicken wire that cut my hands to shreds every time I wind it around the hog wire we have staked up in the woods at the back of our property. He squeezes his little head through and then Charlie widens the hole with his huge fat bulldog head and they both escape into the acres of woods and creeks behind our house. I used the last of my chicken wire today to contain them once again. I wouldn't worry so much but at night you can hear the coyotes in the woods and it sounds like they are killing each other or something else. Ziggy seems about the size of a coyote appetizer.
I am off tomorrow (second day this week!) and thought about picking up a shift but decided against it.
Like the excellent kiter/mom who has been writing checks to the school system for over eighteen years, they have waited over a week to deposit a check I wrote last week. I finally have the money to cover the check and will deposit it in the morning on my way to take Zach to work.
I'll come home, clean dog stains off the carpet, ride my buddy "Johnny Dear" in the back yard and the front of the subdivision and just take a "Me" day.
It's been a long road but one I haven't walked alone. I feel more like a Olympic torch bearer with God, family and friends cheering me along the route.
I truly think that my comedic view of everything has been one of my greatest assets. If you can't laugh, what's crying gonna accomplish...more gray hair and wrinkles?
Til next time...COTTON
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