Sunday

I guess I didn't get the memo. Postage stamps went up a penny on May 12? I had no idea. I couldn't figure out why my mail carrier left me a card saying I owe her a penny, but after some careful research (gotta love Google), I figured it out.

To my surprise, Walter has decided after many months of "discussing it" that we are going to get a pool! Not anything fancy, just an inexpensive above ground pool, but I have wanted one SOOOOO bad! People think that living on the river is the same as having a pool for a backyard, but I don't get in the river and really want a pool! I'll be home all summer and would really enjoy using it, so I am very excited! We just have to figure out if we have a level spot to put it on or if we'll have to haul in some sand. I hope it's not a big deal!

I really can't cook well at all and I accept that. I try though, and sometimes I cook things that come out ok. You would think i'd stick to simple things since most things I cook aren't all that great, but I really wanted some meat stuffed cabbage rolls from Albasha, so I looked up a recipe and tried to make some. The key word here is TRIED. They came out pretty nasty and I had to just scoop the insides out of the cabbage and eat it like that. I barbequed some chicken along with it just incase. Good thing!

A friend of mine is taking classes to be a foster parent and after talking to her about it, I started thinking about a girl from Cameron's elementary school who was in foster care. I looked her up on myspace and sent her a message. I have done this several times over the years, but never get any response. Her name is Maria and I think about her often and wonder what happened to her. I've seen her picture on the state's website for children who are available for adoption and it breaks my heart. I saw a new myspace page with her name, so I sent a message, and this time she replied and said she was excited to hear from me! Yay! We stayed in touch all through elementary school and I even tried having her over back in 2004 to see if I couldn't somehow figure out how to keep her, but it didn't turn out so great. She took some things from our house, which I totally understood due to all that she has been through in her life, but things went bad when her foster mother came over to make Maria apologize and return the things she took. I ended up having to report the woman for abuse and she wouldn't allow me to see or talk to Maria anymore and it was time to move on to middle school, so Maria wasn't at Cameron's school anymore. I was fairly sure that Maria would be removed from the woman's home, who I might add, began stalking me and sending me crazy letters and I had to RE-report her! Anyway, it was great to get a message back from Maria and see some pictures of her. Her message to me didn't say much except that she is doing really good and thinks she is about to be adopted. Thank God! This girl deserves a family of her own. Her sister was in foster care too, last I heard, but they weren't together. I would love to keep in touch with Maria and be someone special in her life.

Speaking of reconnecting, here is the oldest picture (1998) I could find of me and my friend, Lesley, who have reconnected recently. It is nice being in touch with her and being able to keep up with her and her family! It's hard to believe we have known each other for 10 years!

I worked out tonight, which makes 6 nights out of 7! Yay me! It is paying off and that just encourages me to keep on going. I doubt I can work out tomorrow night. I have my bi-weekly social work supervision meeting in Baton Rouge after work and then my friend, Becky, is supposed to be cooking dinner for a few friends. I didn't get to see Kelly and Elvis today, so maybe they will be at Becky's!