This Weekend

I just wanted to fill you guys in on my weekend. First of all, for those of you that don't know, Jose and I did manage to go on our date night. Hopefully this will be the first of many. We just went out to On the Border but it was nice to be alone and just get all dressed up. We actually have plans for our February date night which we are very excited about...we have been given tickets to go see a Burlesque Show. That should be so much fun. But for our first attempt it was nice. We were back in about two hours and then we just hung out and watched a movie but it was so refreshing and actually allowed us to get in a different frame of mind.

I also took Larissa to the audition at Narroway on Sunday. I think that it went well. She auditioned for dancing and singing. The parents weren't allowed in but she said that after she sang the people were floored at the voice that came out of her. As soon as I know anything, I will let you all know...ttyl.

Mom

Well my mother will be going to Portugal at the end February. I have many mixed emotions about this. It will be nice for our family to spend time together alone. I know how terrible that must sound considering that she is part of our family but I hope that you will all understand what I am really saying. Thing are tough with so many people living under the same house, especially when one of them is my mother. I am blessed to have my mother with me so please don't misunderstand but it doesn't allow me time to miss her or the kids to go to grandma's like in normal families. I know that we are far from normal though. I have diverted enough though...

So she is leaving the end of February for quite some time, she isn't even sure for how long yet. She is going to complete her retirement paperwork and that needs to be done in person and it is a process from what I understand. This, however, will leave us with a little bit more for us to figure out. We will now need a place to send CJ for the days and figure out what Larissa and Nathan will do after school and just so many things that we have been blessed not to have to think about before because she was here. I know that we will get through this. It is just a bump in the road ahead of us. I will keep you all posted on our progress. Larissa's friend Taylor, her mother watches kids in her home and I have been there many times over the summer picking up Taylor and really liked her and the way that she is with children. I think that might be an option but then there is the cost that we have to think about. It appears as though we have just started getting on our feet and now we have an added cost to deal with. That is what parenting is all about though so we will be just fine. Where there is a will, there is a way. If it turns out that CJ gets approved for the preschool because of his speech delay then this won't be for very long anyways.

On a lighter note, it will be nice for my mom to see her other children and grandchildren that she does not get to see often enough. I really can't imagine being in her shoes and so far away from her children. I am happy that she is getting this much deserved time away, and much deserved time with her family. And like I mentioned above...this will give us some much needed space too.

Larissa's 15th Birthday

Ok everyone mark your calendars. I have officially booked Larissa's 15th Birthday party for Sunday November 1, 2009 at the Cranston Portuguese Club off of Elmwood Avenue in Cranston. I have not determined a time yet but since it is Sunday, I am sure it will start in the afternoon so that we have plenty of time to party. For those of you that already have taken out your agendas and started marking this, notice that the day before is Halloween. So yes, we will be in RI for Halloween too. We are really excited about this. Halloween is a Saturday and we will be there. Anyone having a Halloween party? Anyways, I don't have much time today. Just wanted to give you guys that info so that you can all save the date.

Mayi...welcome back to the cold weather. You need to plan a visit to come see your godson. We miss you guys so much.

Behind Again

Hey Everyone. I am sorry that it has taken me this long to post again. Life is just crazy sometimes and days go by without realizing it.

Work has been insane. Kelly, my co-worker and good friend since being here, was laid-off on Monday at 5pm. It was a shock to everyone to say the least. She is the Credit Manager and the company has decided to give the credit part to our Florida office. I worked with Kelly directly so this has been a change for me. First of all, I miss her so much. She is the one person that I was able to become friends with, real friends not just acquaintance, you know?! Anyways, it was a blow for her and for me, it left me feeling really guilty. I mean she has worked here for three years and she is the one they lay-off. I was wondering why her and not me. I am not saying that I want to be laid-off because I clearly don't but I just feel terrible. To add to that, she is going through a divorce and is a single mom to a 7 year old little boy. Yeah, I know that this will pass and she will move onto better things and I know personally that being a single parent can be done but my emotions have been a little running high. So with her not here, they have taken away many of my job duties and given me a bunch of new duties. I welcome the change and love to learn more. It is more to add to my resume for the future. Of course, with learning new things comes all the newness of things and the craziness of learning how to do it and how to develop a routine to get it all done that works for you. I know that it will all be fine but goodness, I am overworked today and I miss Kelly terribly. The job is definatly not the same without her. And my days are not the same without her either.

Nathan has his first Karate Tournament on Feb 7th. He is super excited and so am I. I was watching his spar yesterday at practice and my boy is really good. He beat all the kids that he went against. I had to talk to him afterwards so that he doesn't get cocky with his attitude about it because all it takes is one person better than you to through you off your high horse...lol. He kind of understood. I will let you all know how it is after I go. It is an all day thing. We leave at 8am only to return at 8pm. Don't these people know that I have more than one child to attend to. Thankfully I have Jose to help me out but what if I didn't.

Larissa is trying out for a theatre production for a local company called Narroway. I hope that she is able to get something there because it could be a great opportunity for her. I am so excited for her and so proud that she is going for this. It isn't that close by but they don't practice every night and they do have two casts for each production so that nobody has to be there all the time. I will keep you guys posted on my little performer.

CJ is having his speech evaluation on January 29th at 9am. I think that I already know the verdict but I would like a professional opinion. His play therapist is coming the 30th to do her first initial visit and then she will be coming every Thursday at 12:30. The program has been incredible and once again, FREE is the best thing of all. Once again, I will let you all know what happens as things happen.

Jose is looking for a new job. Don't panic, he is still at his old job but he is clearly not happy. He needs to get back into the medical industry and besides that is where the most job security is too. Who knows, maybe once this economy gets better maybe I will try getting back into the medical field myself or maybe everything will work out here...you just never know.

Well...I have to head back to work now. I miss you all and I notice that nobody is leaving me comments. Now either nobody is reading this and I have just created an online diary to myself or you guys are just losers and chose not to participate in this wonderful form of communication that I have set up. You all know that I love you but for goodness sake....comment alread.

Nathan

I just wanted to share with you a wonderful email that I got from Nathan's teacher. I am so proud of him.

Good Morning. Nathan is doing very well in class. He seems to be focused on his work more and less on socializing. It feels like he is more secure with having friends. It is amazing how much he has matured in my class. I hope you are seeing it at home as well.
Math is Nathan's hardest subject. He grasps the concepts, it just seems to take him a little longer. We are going to begin a tutoring program during school hours in the next few weeks. A letter should be coming home soon discussing the program. I have recommended Nathan to be in the program to help him have extra practice and support in math. This will also help prepare him for the EOGs in May. 5th grade is a gateway year, and it is very important for Nathan to do as well as he can on the test.I hope this helps. I really am very pleased with Nathan's progress. He is a great kid! Have a great day.

Sarah Scott
5th Grade Teacher
Weddington Hills Elementary School

"Instruction is what we say, influence is what we do, image is what we are." S. Truett Cathy

Catching Up...

I have to admit that I am not off to a good start with this blog for 2009. So let me catch you all up on what has been happening.

Christmas 2008- Well we had a pretty good Christmas. It felt more like our first Christmas away from RI instead of our first Christmas in NC. I don't really know if that makes sense to you or not. The kids got all that they asked for, simply because they didn't ask for much. The kids didn't ask for much this year and it is things like that which make me thank God for the wonderful children that I have. I got to use my web-cam (Christmas present to me from Jose) to talk to my brother, my sister-in-law, neice, nephew and aunt on Christmas and the days following. Technology is such a wonderful thing. I think that we all cried. They got to see Larissa and Nathan and meet CJ and Jose through the modern world of technology. It was amazing for my brother and I to be able to surprise mom with that on Christmas day.
New Years 2009- New Years was really nice. It was quiet with just us at home but it was nice. We had New Years hats and noicemakers and I made appetizers and opened a bottle of Sparkling Cider to celebrate. CJ managed to sleep through the New Year because he didn't feel well but the rest of us managed to stay awake after several rounds of Rockband. On the 2nd we went to Paula's for her Mock New Years party. That was really nice. It was great to see everyone and although it didn't quite go as planned, that is what made it all the more interesting. Rick had taped the ball dropping so that we could replay it at midnight, or so he thought. It turns out that nothing got taped but Paula saved the night with her "Sesame Street Celebrated New Year Around the World". We counted down from 20 with Elmo and the gang and it was hysterical to say the least. Paula had sparklers for all the kids too and it still amazes me to this day how well all the kids get along. There were 12 kids in all and no fights. Miracles do exist...lol. As soon as I download all the pictures, you know that I will send them all to you.

I want to take a minute to just say a little something about everyone too...

Larissa- She is turning into such a young lady before my very eyes. Although she is a teenager and with that comes the famous teenager attitude, she is a really good kid. Her values with friendships floor me at times. All her friends fight at one point or another because that is what they do at this age but she manages to take no side at all and stay true to her friends. I am so proud of her. Dalissa, do you realize that in Oct she will be at the point in her life where you and I met. Crazy huh?! She could be establishing lifelong friendships already. I just wish that I could get her to clean her room. I remember being that messy too so I try not to get on her too bad but her room goes from clean to a tornado overnight. Now I am sounding like my mom. Thankfully she is much more organized with her school stuff so she is doing quite well at school. I really wish that she would get involved in more school activities but I don't want to push. One of my regrets was that I didn't get involved enough in high school but I can't live my life through her. All I can do is encourage her to try things out.
Nathan- He starts Karate again tonight after having the holidays off. It was nice for me to get a break but he has missed it so much. It allows him to get all his energy out and he really enjoys it. He is probably going to be doing his first tournament in February. I am so proud of how well he is doing and how dedicated he has been towards this. Thank goodness for Karate because I don't know what else to do with his energy. His ADHD seems to be getting worse and I have even contemplated medication. I am not quite ready to give up but just knowing that it has crossed my mind makes me crazy. He is so good at school and the doctor has told me time and time again that it is the structure at school and karate that makes him behave so well. So I have to come to terms that it is the lack of structure that I am providing at home that is making him misbehave at home. That is part, ok most, of the reason for the part about consistancy at home with the kids on my to-do list. I really don't want to have to resort to medication and that means that I need to make changes at home to avoid that. God give me the strength.
CJ- He is my bundle of energy. Even more so than Nathan! Early Intervention came to do the paperwork for the program yesterday. His speech evaluation is scheduled for January 29th at 9am. They have not been able to get a date for the play therapist yet though. He now says NaNa for Nathan. Why do all his words have to be doubled. He says MaMa, DaDa, GaGa, BaBa, MiMi, and now NaNa. He is one of a kind I tell you. He just has this personality that just won't quit and a mind of his own.
Mom- She is officially retired and waiting for her first retirement check this month. I will have to help her find a doctor now that she will have medical. She is endlessly waiting for her Worker's Comp case to settle. When that finally does settle, then she will be doing the paperwork for her retirement in Portugal too. That will involve her needing to spend at least a couple of months a year physically in Portugal. I think that will make her very happy and will be a weight lifted off my shoulders too. I love having my mother with me and I know that she won't always be around so I need to enjoy the time we have but it isn't easy when you live under the same roof. I need her to get her independence back that she tought me. I can't imagine being in her shoes and having her children so far away from her. Being a mother myself, it seems heart breaking to me. I just want my mom to be happy.
Jose- He has been sending out more and more resumes since the New Year. He is really hoping to get back into a medical billing/follow up position soon. His job has allowed him to meet some pretty incredible people here but he isn't doing what he enjoys. It's funny because the one thing about medical billing that he enjoys is the one thing that I like the least. That is probably why we get along so well. He is looking forward to getting on our feet and having the ability to get out a lot more than we have since we got here. There is a lot of Charlotte that he wants to see.
Me- Keeping true to my to-do list, Jose and I are going on our first date night on Friday. Don't really know exactly what we are doing but we do know that we will watch a movie because he got free movie tickets through his job. I hope that we can have dinner somewhere nice but cheap...we are still very much on a budget. I colored and cut my hair on Sunday, also in keeping with my to-do list. I even bought a nice black satin shirt to wear on our date...he hasn't seen it yet, it's a surprise that I bought with a giftcard that I got. I am determined to take care of me. I can't be a good mom, gf, daughter, friend, ect if I don't take of me.

So I apologize for this being a little long winded but I just wanted to catch you all up on the days that I have missed. Can't wait to here how all of your lives are.

Happy New Year Everyone !!!!