Monday

I got a couple of comments about Cameron having a girlfriend - how that is surprising that he's growing up so fast. You'll be more surprised that I dropped my little boy off for driver's ed. this morning! That is shocking to me to think that he is almost old enough to drive. He will go 3 more days this week and then wait until he turns 15 in the fall to do the driving part of driver's ed. And yeah, Joe, I think all the Kindergartener's will love him!!!

Ok, now i'll explain that last comment for anyone who is interested, since Joe said it in his comment about Cameron. My mom lived in Georgia until a few years ago and is/was pretty out of touch with my kids. She means well, but just isn't really the grandmotherly type. For example, only once in my kids' 24 years on this earth has she invited one of them over to spend the night or really even to visit. But we love her and as my social work supervisor, who I consider my own personal therapist, says - that is the way my mom is and I can say things to make her feel bad or start an argument, but i'm really not going to ever change who she is, so it's only an issue if I make it an issue. So anyway, when Cameron started 2nd grade, I had emailed my mom that he was excited to be back in school & was enjoying it, etc. and she replied that she was happy that he was doing so well and that she was sure that all the Kindergartener's would LOVE him!!!! I had vented and laughed to my friend, Joe, about it and just told my mom that I hoped the Kindergartener's would love him, but that I was counting on the 2nd graders liking him too! It always makes me laugh when I think about it.

And I did have lunch with my mom today at the outlet mall near our house and we had a nice time. We went to Cracker Barrel, which was ok today. Sometimes I just love that place, and sometimes it is just ok.

Cameron & I will be leaving for Houston on Friday to visit JP and spend some time with my sister, Donna, and her grandson, Elijah. JP prefers the weekend/morning visits because it is much quieter and less stressful then, so that is when we are going. Cameron & I are staying in a hotel near my sister's house, mostly due to her sons and their drug issues, so we will have a chance to swim in the hotel pool, shop around in Houston, and just hang out and enjoy a mini-vacation. Ever since I was little I have LOVED to order room service, so I think we'll indulge just one night and order it!!!

JP has just turned 24 years old and has been in jail since Feb. 1, 2006 on a murder charge. I wont say much about it since obviously anyone can find these blogs online, but he has opted to have a trial by jury rather than accept a plea deal for 40 years, in which he would be eligible for parole after 75% of his sentence. From what I know of the story, I don't think he should be charged with 1st degree murder and I truly hope the evidence will show that and that the jury will be fair and open to hear what happened. I have turned this over to God and I trust that God has a plan for JP's life and is working His will with JP now. I do not think JP would still be alive today if this hadn't happened, and honestly, he could have just as easily been the one killed in this case. I have dealt with his drug addiction since he was 12 and have tried everything that I knew to do, but he couldn't make the changes necessary to change his life. Occassionally, things would be good for him for short periods of time, but he would fall back in with the wrong crowd and couldn't make the right choices. I pray that this is going to be a new beginning for him. As long as he's drug free, I am going to be here to help him. I have always hated drugs, but now I refuse to be affected by them and refuse to have anyone that I know to use or sell drugs, including my nephews, around my children at all, which makes things difficult within my extended family. My oldest nephew is going to jail for 45 days in July for a drug charge (not the first time) and my younger nephew was recently arrested for dealing drugs. My sister is a wonderful person, but she turns a blind eye to the drugs and has said that "everyone smokes pot" as if there is nothing she can do about it, but I'm having to make a stand against it. I know that Cameron will be exposed to drugs, if he hasn't been already, but that doesn't mean that i'm going to lead him to it and let him be influenced by people he's looked up to all his life. Ok, i'm getting off my soap box.
And here are some pictures of my son, JP:

I floated in the pool for about an hour this afternoon and it was so nice! I got a lot of sun, so I really need to watch how long I stay in there at a time. We are really going to enjoy the pool!

I've also been entertaining myself with my favorite game - The Sims 2 - on my laptop!! The Sims 3 is coming out soon and I am very excited! I think it fulfils my needs to play with dolls, which I never quite grew out of!!

Anyway, Walter & I were out checking chemicals in the pool, which by the way is one of my new job duties, the good neighbors (as opposed to the bad cat neighbors) had company (who are the cutest little old couple in the world) visiting and their dog started scratching at the porch where the kittens live and got everyone all stirred up about what was under there!! I had to confess to Leon, the neighbor, that I am pretty sure kittens have been under there for about 4 or 5 weeks and that I didn't tell him because I was worried that he might fix the hole where the mama cat gets in to feed them. He pulled a board up on his porch and I tried to entice anything living under there to come out with some cat food, but so far, nothing. He promised to leave the board open all night so that the mama cat can get the kittens out easily if they really are under there and she will want to move them somewhere safer. So much for my secret kittens! I just hope I can find them and help them get to the animal shelter. As for the bad cat neighbors, I noticed the lady put a plate of food out on her porch after I put food in her bowls. Maybe she felt bad? At least the cats got some food.