Still Hanging In There

Wow, it's been over a year since I posted. I really suck at this. Last year at this time, I had KC and was trying to balance work, school, and a toddler. I'm still pretty much at the same place, only now I'm trying to make it permanent.

Daughter and boyfriend came back two weeks before Thanksgiving and moved into a tiny, filthy apartment with family of deadbeat drug users. They broke up the weekend before Thanksgiving and she got kicked out, so she moved in with a couple who lost their child to CPS due to abuse. They didn't really want her, but she didn't have anyone else she could con anywhere else to go. During this time she left KC with me and came to visit him on the weekends.

At the first of the year she convinced a friend who gets SSI due to a mental disability, to let her and KC live with her. I took KC on the weekends and he cried every time I dropped him off. Two weeks later she moved in her new online boyfriend and his 8 year old daughter. 5 days after that, CPS took the daughter because the boyfriend was abusing her. Daughter broke up with boyfriend and had to call the police to evict evict him. The landlord got tired of Daughter calling and complaining about the neighbors and the neighbors calling and complaining about her, so he evicted her and her friend, plus turned her friend into the Housing Authority so she lost her low income housing. During this time, daughter had NO job and NO money, just food stamps.

Daughter and Friend moved into a motel on March 1st and KC came back to live with me. Daughter convinced Friend to make Daughter her SSI payee and at the end of May, Friend bought them both bus tickets to Texas so they could live with Daughter's new online boyfriend. Two weeks later, when Friend's SSI was all gone, Daughter and boyfriend dropped Friend off at a homeless shelter.

Daughter starting receiving child support from KC's birth father in June, which she used to support herself and new boyfriend, who is also on SSI for a mental disability. In August, Daughter started telling me he was scary, unstable, and was stealing her child support. She asked me if I would send her a bus ticket to come back, but I refused. Instead, I filed for guardianship of KC.

Daughter managed to talk her child abusing friends into sending her a ticket and letting her live with them. I got temporary guardianship, claiming KC would be in danger living with child abusing friends. Daughter moved out and got a job two days before the first hearing, but the judge let the temporary guardianship order stay until trial next month.

Work, school, and a 2 year old...never a dull moment.

Keeping Busy

KC's been here for a little more than a month and I'm busier than ever. A trusted friend had a friend who runs a home day, so KC goes there 4 days a week while I work. KK, my 19 yo son watches him from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. the two days I have the night shift. 

I've been keeping up with everything pretty well until last week when I got caught up with the new Farmville 2 game on Facebook. I'm sooo ashamed! My house is a mess, I haven't found have the sources I need for my thesis paper and the first rough draft is due next Sunday, and I haven't done any of my work for my other class, which is due Tuesday.

All that said, though, this month has gone a lot smoother than the summer months. Juggling a toddler with work and my Master's program is still easier than dealing with the same toddler while recuperating from surgery. 

KC enjoying frozen yogurt with a lot of goodies mixed in!

Me and KC, Again?

I'm planning a trip to the city where my daughter and KC live. My second son, G,  also lives there and KK and I will be staying with him. We're driving down on Friday and I planned on dropping KK off at G's apartment on Friday, then spending the rest of the day with my daughter and the baby. 

Daughter has been telling me that she got hired for a call center and they are sending her to California for 4 weeks for training. She is taking KC with her because there is an on-site daycare. She also has a new boyfriend and even though they've been dating for less than 2 weeks, they're in love and planning on getting married.

Today she asked me if I would take KC home with me this weekend. She still claims she's going to California for training, but the friend she is living with is being a bitch and she just can't stand to be around her anymore. Her new bf, who doesn't have a job, is also living with a friend and his friend will let her stay, but not KC.

Her long-range goal is move back here with the bf, take KC back, and enter the family program she was in prior to leaving KC with me the first time. This program is for homeless families. The families sleep at local churches for a week at a time and spend their days at the program house, looking for work and attending workshops. Since Daughter fought with all of the other families in the program and conned the program directors into paying for her ticket to Texas, I would be amazed if they let her come back. 

My ability to take Casey hinges on finding daycare for him. In my limited spare time this week, that's what I'll be doing.

Getting Organized

I finally got my desk cleaned off and set up my laptop and extra monitor. I also made a dinner menu and have mostly stuck to it. We were suppose to have homemade pizza pockets last night, but KK ate the pepperoni, so we had Skip (make it yourself or skip it). We'll have the pizza pockets tonight instead of the crock pot chicken macaroni and cheese. I'm going to have to do something different with that one, since I read the entire recipe after I bought the ingredients and it's not a crock pot recipe. That's what I get for finding meal ideas on Pinterest.

Being Social

I'm a very shy introvert and it's hard for me to go out and socialize with my friends when I'm feeling good. This summer I didn't feel good and saw one friend, once a week, because she insisted. Now that the depression is lifting and I'm physically feeling better, it's time to go out. Tonight, it's a wine tasting with one friend, tomorrow it's pizza with another, and next weekend a group of us are going out to dinner and a movie. Good times are coming.

Cookies!

One of the best parts at working in a Tutoring Center is taking cookies to work. I love to make cookies, but neither KK or I are big sweets eaters. For the last 3 years I've made a batch or two of cookies every Sunday night, saved 4 or 5, and taken the rest to work. The students and teachers enjoy the cookies and I get happy brownie points.

Pinterest has also helped in the cookie department. I've spent the summer pinning new cookie recipes and plan to try at least 2 a month. Not today, today's cookie was cake mix Chocolate Chocolate Chip because I haven't had time or the money to stock up on good ingredients. Besides, they're moist, delicious, and filled with chocolate.

Back to Work!

I'm back to my old tutoring/computer lab monitoring job at the college. I went in Wednesday to find out my hours and was asked if I could work Thursday - Sunday from 9-4. I was confused when I got to the lab and found it open, but didn't ask any questions. Then I got an email from my supervisor that the hours were 8-4 Thursday & Friday and 10-4 Saturday & Sunday. He still doesn't have the semester schedule finished and it starts on Monday. He's definitely not an anal-retentive SJ.

I've put in 3 applications this week, plus when I looked on-line at the State Jobs site I saw that my application had gone out to 2 different universities for 4 different jobs. The jobs I applied for are at this college and I really hope I get one of them. They're entry-level and low paying, but they include benefits and are still better than minimum wage. 

My dad loaned me money to tide me over until my financial aide gets here, work is starting, and the temperature is going down, as is my stress level. I do so much better within a routine, now all I have to do is finish rearranging and cleaning my house and life will be just peachy.