You aint head nothin’ yet

Okay, we know that Tad is a hero, and cars kaput after warranty. You want some REAL excitement? Try living my life for the past few months.

How many of you have gotten the opportunity to post “Missing Child” posters all over town? I have. If you ever want to try it, trust me,,,,it’s NOT fun. Thomas decided in early December he’d had enough of our horrible parenting (we made him clean his room AND do homework in the same month!) and disappeared. He was found safe, but that was the beggining of what they refer to at the Citadel as “hellweek” only it JUST ended.

We went through another runaway episode, two, count them TWO robberies of our mobile home, I’ve lost count on the school suspensions, and it will be a miracle, given his grades and attendence if Thomas makes it thru grade eight. A host of doctor visits, and counseling sessions woke my husband up to the fact that we had a drug addict on our hands which was a miracle in itself. We were both ready to call the marriage a failure until Bill came around. There’s not enough room in any blog (I doubt there are enough trees to manufacture enough paper to print out the details of our recent experiences) so I won’t go for more detail. The GOOD news is that Thomas is now drug free and not a horrible person to live with. (He’s still smoking cigarettes in his room after being told that is NOT acceptable, but we are just working on baby steps at this point) He tested negative for drugs a couple of weeks ago and just last week also tested negative for HIV and Hepititus (they shared drug needles) We are anxiously awaiting the closing on the house in Easley to get him away from the people he hangs with. Yes, I know,,,,if he wants to go back to drugs he will find a way, but I’m hoping and praying (and feel free to join me) that he won’t make that decision!

Then there’s Zack…….he just signed up for next year’s classes, is holding his 3.7GPA making him and honor student, and is ranked #40 academically of the 242 sophomores at Camden High School. He’s ready to move into the new home and paint a HUGE Saturn logo (Thomas if you ever ticked off your nephew, it was when you got rid of your Saturn) on his wall.

The IDIOT who filled out our loan application checked the “NO” box on both Bill and I to the question “Are you a U.S. Citizen?” yesterday. Duh! I worked for 2 1/2 hours this morning doing inventory in our department. How much simpler it is to count parts when machines aren’t running! I’ve suggested for MONTHS that we inventory on a Saturday,,,,this is the first time we ever did. I wonder who’ll take credit for the idea.

MY car has over 157,000 miles on it now and one day a few weeks ago, it died. Wouldn’t shift. At all. I called Bill to come and get me as I was on my way home after work when it happened. Course I had to flag down a passerby with a cel phone case I never take my phone to work. It’s only a mile and a half from home to the plant, and I could have just worked, but that was the day we had an appointment to look at a house 15 minutes away and 15 minutes after my car quit. It was also the day (Bill was waiting for the cops when I called him) that the second robbery occurred and the day that Thomas recieved his most recent suspension (for hauling a kids pants down during gym class!)

They said, “Cheer up, things could be worse.” So I cheered up, and sure enough, things got worse. I also have heard that God doesn’t give anyone more than they can handle. At one of our lowest points recently, Bill said to me, “I think he got us mixed up with someone else!” But things ARE getting better. We were just about debt free. Now we’re gonna owe for 30 years on a house. Wait…that’s BETTER?