Field Trip with Lexie

Yesterday I took a half-day off work and went on a field trip with Lexie and her class. They went to the Falls of the Ohio Center. It was very good. There were work sheets and I was in charge of Lexie and 3 other little girls. They all listened pretty good and looked at what they were supposed to look at and behaved as well as 2^nd graders behave.

She said she had a good time. After we got back to school, they went directly to lunch. Since I had to eat before I went back, I decided to eat with Lex. School lunch is the same as I remembered it. There was turkey with gravy (which to say was hunks of white and dark meat turkey in some odd clear sauce—you could tell it was from a can), with mashed potatoes (instant) tasteless green beans. The eubiquitious milk was there, along with a piece of fruit. Square as hell, and completely flavorless. They didn’t even offer salt or pepper. That’s ok though. It teaches kids that it’s not what food tastes like that is important, but more that you should eat a balanced meal that is healthy for you. There also was the optional meal: a PB&J crustless sandwich with a little slice of cheese on the side instead of the canned entrée. I gave Lexie fifty cents because she wasn’t digging the turkey stuff. She got a little bag of trail mix (with peanuts—got the protein she skipped) and a little snack-cake. She wanted to take the snack-cake home for little brother. We promised him we would pick up something little for him at the gift shop, but we didn’t have time. She is so thoughful toward her brother. I can see the love almost like something tangible. Same with Logan of course.

^%&*#$@ Clothes--AGAIN

Clothes has continually been an issue between Shellie's mother and I. I sent back to them every shred of clothing that the kids have from their place, with the exception of one pair of Logan’s underwear. Lexie wore the same bra Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and would have today, but she said she didn’t want to wear it again and would put one on when she got to your place.

I asked Shellie to please send any clothes that I’ve gotten for the kids. Especially, the 4 bras I just recently bought, and Logan’s sweat pants he got from me for Christmas. I asked her that if she saw anything else that is theirs from me, please send it too. (She was supposed to do this last Wednesday when I came to get the dresser.) I can’t let Lexie keep wearing the same bra over and over again. I don’t have a washer and dryer, and I only go to the laundry once a week. That was last night, and I gathered all of the clothes and sorted them. That’s how I know she has everything.

Its so frustrating that I have no underpants for Logan. I have no bras or panties or socks for Lexie. I will start over again and buy them all new stuff. I will do this because Shellie's mother Bobbie is riding Lexie’s ass about their clothes. She SHOULD NOT be saying anything to Lexie. I told Shellie that she could always send them over with no extra clothes and I would send them back in the same clothes. I don’t like sending them back in clothes they have already worn, but if this keeps her mother off Lexie’s back, I would be happy to do this. I told her I want to get this straightened out so that the kids have enough clothes both places and especially to get her mother OFF LEXIE’S BACK. Lexie was seriously stressed out this morning. I told her to change into a bra that came from mommy's so she could leave the one I have for her here. She said there were no other bras. And she told me that grandma said she needs to bring all her bras back over!!! She said grandma will get mad if she doesn’t wear a bra, or if she doesn’t bring a bunch back. I told her to wear that same bra back over to grandmas house and I would buy some more. When we left, I saw that she had took that one pink bra that I bought for her—the only bra at my house—and hid it under a chair so that she would have one here. That is SHAMEFUL that she should be made to feel like this! I am so upset with Bobbie I can’t stand it!

I told Shellie I don’t want her involved in the kid’s lives like this!!! If she is doing this to “get back at me” or make me feel bad or “punish” me, then she needs to take it up with Shellie and leave our kids the hell out of it! I am doing the best I can. Her mother is just bitter because I refused to support our kids at my place AND hers. She needs to shut her mouth! If she financially regrets letting Shellie move in with her, she needs to take it up with her, and leave the kids out of it!!!

I told Shellie I was bringing this up with her because she is their mother. I’m not going to communicate with Bobbie. She has proven to have no respect for me and I will not listen to anything she has to say. I will not talk to the kids about it because they don’t need to be worried about this kind of crap.

Birthday Party

Lexie's birthday party turned out really good. She loved all her gifts,
and really enjoyed playing with all the kids who came. She did say that
she liked Logan's party at Puzzle's Fun Dome too. Logan said that he
liked her party better. There were several of her classmates (Bethany,
Cami, Jeffery and Gannon) who were able to make it, plus her cousins
Timmy and Nichole. We invited my girlfriend's nieces too, and Lexie was
happy to see them. They are older than her, but she relates well to
kids younger and older just as well. Theresia's daughters Rachael and
Theresia were there, and her granddaughter Kendall even got in the pool
with her mother for a little bit! Everybody had a good time playing in
the pool. The lifeguards were in full force with that many kids in the
pool. I was very impressed with how they handled everything. They were
all standing at the side of the pool watching and paying close attention
to the kids.

I got Lexie an MP3 player which I pre-loaded with her favorite tunes,
and we played it over her new boom box. She asked to take it to school
and listen to it on the bus and I told her it was ok. She said that
other kids bring their CD players on the bus to listen to them so I
figured it would be ok. I told her that I got her the MP3 player to
take back and forth between her grandmother's house and my place. She
really enjoys music, and I want her to have her own music wherever she
goes. She got clothes and toys too.

I made a cupcake tree with over 40 cupcakes. There was chocolate,
vanilla, and strawberry icing with sprinkles. We also had ice cream
(which I forgot and Joe and Dana went out to get for us-THANK YOU!!!).
The kids played in the pool from about 3:30 until almost 7. I got them
back to the apartment, and we had some Tombstone pizza and went to bed.
We were all exhausted.

I couldn't have done it without my awesome girlfriend Theresia's help.
She is fantastic at going around chatting, making sure everybody is
having a good time, organizing, taking pictures, setting up, making
preparations, going out to get stuff that was forgotten, de-stressing
me, and cleaning up-really the very best!!!

RSVP's

This is soooo cool! So far, I have 3 RSVP's from Lexie's class for her
party! Bethany, Gannon, and Jeffrey!!! Plus Rachael will be there, and
most likely her cousins Timmy and Nichole. That's 8 kids total
including Lexie and Logan!

We are going to have so much fun!

Movies & Thunder & Birthday Party!

Last night was movie night with my girlfriend. I came home after work
and took a short nap because I was just feeling completely worn out.
She came over about 9pm, and we finished watching "The Exorcist". We
had started it but never got through it all. After that, we put in this
movie called "Ring Around the Rosie". It was creepy and freaky, but not
that great.

This weekend is Thunder Over Louisville. It's the air show and
fireworks display that kicks off the Kentucky Derby celebration. I am
not really planning anything, but might get together with Theresia and
her people. I know I have a lot of preparation to do tomorrow for
Lexie's birthday party on Sunday. I'm renting out the Varsity Club at
our apartment complex. It has indoor pool and she's having a pool
party! She handed out invitations at school, and we've had a couple
calls about people wanting to come. I hope it is a good party and she
has fun.

Low Energy & Free Bread

I have been having problems with low energy lately.  I get tires at times throughout the day—not physically worn out, just sleepy. Mornings are difficult and I can’t seem to stay up late unless I’m actively doing something.  I’m going to check with my doctor and see what she thinks.  Until then, I guess it’s more coffee!!!

 

Yesterday here at work, there was this fellow who stocks our snack machines.  He had a whole delivery truck of about-to-expire bread stuff.  Everybody was told to grab a bag or two.  As long as you keep it in the freezer it should last for several days past the “sell-by” date.  I got bread, bagels, and doughnuts.

 

 

Weekend

I was off sick on Friday. I had stomach problems that were really bad.
I didn't enjoy much about Friday.

I got some stuff done this weekend. My girlfriend Theresia was a huge
help. I got laundry done, despite some foul play and the laundry--some
lady decided she didn't want to wait on my stuff so she took it out of
the washer and just laid it down on the counter. I was steamed. She
apologized. She said some group of people (I won't say because she
seemed like she was being racist when she said it--even though she was
an African-American woman) like to keep the washers tied up all weekend
long so that all their families and friends can use the laundry.

I also got some more things put away. I have a proper dining room now.
I got all the old spices dumped out of my mother's spice rack (which I
inherited last year). It has been in storage, and I had to clean every
bottle, stopper, and the rack itself pretty thoroughly. I used a
label-maker to print out the names of the spices and put them on the
bottles. It looks really good now.

I got my car washed, vacuumed out, and I waxed it. I did my grocery
shopping, I made a trip to the post office, got my oil changed, and took
the kids to the Fern Creek Library, where we signed up for cards, and
they each checked out books. I rented a movie--it was called
"Visitation". Really creepy.