The Farmers Donkey.

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into the well. The animal cried piteously for many hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was just too old and the well needed to be covered up anyway. It just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey. He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed shovels and began to shovel dirt into the well.
At first, the poor donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to every one's amazement, he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well and was astonished at what he saw. The donkey was not so deep in the well as he had been. With every shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up on the new pile.
As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would simply shake it off and take a step up a little higher. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and trotted off!!
Life is going to shovel dirt on you too; all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the "well" is to shake it off and take a step up.
Each of our troubles is like a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping..never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up!

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from all hatred.

2. Free your mind from needless worries.

3. Live simply, live happy, live openly.

4. Give more.

5. Expect less.

Life can be..

So crazy, so busy and amazingly still mine. Things move so fast you just never realize what passes until you slow down and say..Wow. I have survived my first week of classes and am moving swiftly into my second week. Finally, I had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Wiley Wright who will be in charge of my education as a Mortuary Science student. He has invited myself to make an appointment to visit with him in Kansas City, KS and see that facilities there. Where I will finish the last 37 credit hours of my degree. I did learn on the phone today that I have 37-40 credits worth of general requirements that I can take as long as I want to finish. But once I am finalized with those credits I will apply to the Mortuary Science program and then I have a year to finish the last 37 credits of my degree.

We had our first family visit with Dr. Weidenger on Sunday and it was great. There will be a lot of work ahead for Samuel, and along that route, we as a family will be right there to support and assist him with whatever he may need. He really is a good kid, and just needs the love and true support he has never honestly had. And he will thrive once he realizes we are not going anywhere and we will not be *kicking him out* just like the others in his life have done before then.

Chase is a little upset with his biological father right now. His father is telling other people that I beat Chase for piddly little things here and there such as peed underwear in the toy box. It's stressful for Chase because he knows it is not true. But there is nothing he and I can do about it. So I am allowing this as the opportunity to teach him how to ignore stupidity. Because that is all it is, jealousy and stupidity. It has been like that since we split up over 5 years ago and I highly doubt it will change for the next 30.

Right now I need to get going so I can work on my reading and math classes.

An absence worthily noted..

Yes, I know. I haven't written much lately but honestly I just can not keep my eyes open after the day is through.

So a small, quick note on the happenings within my household.

Samuel is ours now. We were granted full guardianship via the Leavenworth KS court house. I have spoken with him several times since last Friday and he is more than relieved with this decision. He knows that we won't ship him off to anyone else if we are tired of him. He is home. And that will never change. He is our newest son. And he does call me Mom which makes me feel warm inside now. But I won't lie. It is truly interesting having a teenager in our house now.

Chase is very comfortable with Sam here. He loves it, in fact. He does not miss his father or the issues that come along with the father's girlfriend and her 300 kids. OK, there are only 4 of them but that is too many for a 2 bedroom apartment. He also shared with me that he is tired of her kids because they are bossy and he is always in trouble.

Sebastian had his first child care experience on Monday. And he did better than I did to be honest. I was eager to get home and see if he was OK. Which he was fine without myself. Our FCC provider graduates on Friday so we will be utilizing her starting Monday.

I have officially started classes as of Monday. And I won't lie. Part of me is wondering what the hell I was thinking with going back to college. I have learned that I am older than the majority of students I attend with. But maybe it will be different once I finally get to the main campus. I don't know, but I will work forward and find out for sure.

Right now, it's 9 pm and I am really tired. I have homework to do in the morning and class. I will start writing more tomorrow.

And the house...

Is very slowly coming together. I am on the wrong computer to add pictures but once all is done I shall post the finalized room shots for everyone to see. Color has been a challenge but once my ideas are finished it has turned out very well.

Sam is adjusting well and feeling secure enough to hug me. He surprised me the other day by calling myself Mom. I was comfortable with it, but uncomfortable at the same time. It felt good because I know he was showing me a level of affection. But at the same time I had to explain to him that I was not there to replace his Mother for him, but to make sure I made up for the things she did not. It was my job to make sure he could secure a future for himself and move forward to college. To make sure he didn't drop out of school. To give him a chance at a real life.

He really is a good kid, but he is challenged to say the least. He has a Third Grade reading level and a Second Grade math level. How he has made it to the Ninth grade is truly beyond my comprehension. But Jim and I will do what it takes to help him along. That's why we took him in. He is a smart kid, just not so good at putting it on paper.

Squeaky is growing amazingly fast. And fearless as all get out! Well, fearless of everything but the vacuum. Imagine this..Fresh out of the bath tub and Dad turns on the vacuum while while I am dressing midget. Before I can lift his butt to put the diaper on he is out the door with his bare ass and down the hall. Right into the closet where he thinks he will be safe. Dad vacuumed past the closet and peeked in to see him crying. So I did the right thing and just crawled into the closet with Squeaky. So there we are in the darkness watching the vacuum go back and forth when it starts to come towards us..Wow..That kid can climb. Right up onto my shoulders. He didn't care what he grabbed or put his feet on..UP was the answer!!

I spoke with Chase for a little bit earlier tonight and he is way ready to come home. He is tired of sharing everything. He is tired of always being in trouble. He is tired of not spending time with Dad again. He is sick of the girlfriend who whines all the time. He is ready to be home with HIS brother and cousin and Mom and Dad. His words.

OK, I need to get some sleep so I can paint the upstairs bathroom tomorrow morning and the kitchen and hallway tomorrow.

Night all!

Just a quickie..

To let everyone know that we are in our new home. All the papers have been signed and we make our first mortgage payment on the 5th of August. It's cheaper than the rent I was paying in CT, that's for sure. Sam is with us. He's a great kid but we got some serious work to do with him. Common sense stuff mostly. I'll go more into that later as well.

For now I need to get ready so we can go to Home Depot when the hubby gets home. Laters!

Down on Munchkin Alley...

I thought I would humor everyone with the fact that we are staying in the Lion Cabin. Which sits on the corner of Munchkin Alley and Yellow Brick Road. It's cool because the Scarecrow and Toto cabins are next to us and Dorothy along with the Witch is down the street. Hehe. The whole start to this trip was on Oz Avenue. As I'm sitting here I am slowly trying to load up a few of the pictures I have taken. Just a few pictures of Jim coming home. I was too busy hugging my husband to take pictures, sorry.

I also took some pictures around here in Kansas that I have seen. It's almost like a small step back into time. We almost drove threw a red light this morning because it was across the street and on the corner. I didn't recognize it until the last minute. It was rather humorous once we got past the reality of what it was.

We have Sammy now with us. He's a good kid but there are a few small things that we will need to work on. He almost acts as though he has to prove himself to us. Which he doesn't. We love him for who he is, and understand he has been through a rough haul. He has shared some things with us that his mother has done in the past and various other adults in his life. Yes. There are some adults out there that should be ashamed of themselves. For simply taking advantage of a child. What is your problem? Get a brain and grow up. Shame Shame Shame.

But now Sammy is with us and we will do our best to make sure he is taken care of. But for now we shall tackle the small stuff and help him adjust.

OK, it's time for all of us to get some sleep because it's going to be a VERY long day tomorrow!

Fireflies, long drives and sleep deprivation..

All of those things oddly enough are pretty thrilling to me right now. As we sit here at the little picnic table in Lawrence Kansas I see for the first time in my life fireflies. At first it really caught me off guard. And now I am just tickled pink as I look across into the field and see about 20 or so flickering their mighty butts at me. Odd that something that small can just tickle me pink.

The drive to Kansas started out pretty fast but slowed towards the end. Irony is that we drove through New York and Pennsylvania missing the tolls. But once we got into Kansas and within the last 30 minutes of our drive..I'll be damned if we didn't end up on a toll road of all things. Yes, Jim and I got a good chuckle out of that! But we made it to the KOA *his first stay at one* and hit the local Walmart to better prepare us for our weekend stay here. It's quiet with the exception of the occasional train whistle and the 3 trillion crickets hiding out around us. Those crickets are probably encouraging the massive amounts of little flickering butts right now.

We had some laughs, saw some beautiful sights and ironed out a few small issues but are eagerly awaiting Monday to sign for our very own home. That's going to be nice to get into. YAY!

I will write more later, but for now I think I am going to go take a peek at those fireflies a little closer and then get some sleep.