Changes Upon Us

I'd like to ask for some prayers please. We are going through some things right now - things with the VA. They want me to send in the paperwork stating that I have custody of the kids. I need to send this in, for several reasons. First and foremost, it helps with everything I need to do for the kids medically. Every time I call Tricare for a referral I have had to refax the custody paperwork as they don't have me on file there. Next big reason is the paperwork that will be needed when they have to go to college. As their Guardian, I'll need to help them with anything that they need before they turn 18 (or 19 if still in high school).

The problem is... they are going to start sending the money that they SHOULD have been sending to the kids all along actually TO the KIDS now - not to Julie. Julie has been getting that money all this time. This is very hard for me as her sister, I know she needs that money. Well, she needs money, I don't know that she needs THAT money, but she needs money.

In my heart of hearts, I know that Julie needs to do what Julie needs to do for her to survive. File with social security for Disability, get a job - whatever she needs to do - she NEEDS to do. In my heart of hearts, I know that I need to just send the VA the paperwork that they are asking for and let what they do with it happen. "Let the chips fall where they may" so to speak.

The man from the VA did tell me that he did NOT think that they would make Julie repay any money to the VA. He also told me the wheels of the VA would probably turn rather slowly in making the change once they receive the guardian paperwork. Good news for Julie, I'm sure. I've not had the heart to tell Julie any of this yet... I don't know how to do this.

The other day I caught myself telling Julie that maybe I could take the money they were going to send to the kids and then send it to Julie. I do that sometimes... the big sister in me just wants to protect her and make everything okay.

But ya know what.... that is wrong. Any money the VA sends to the kids should go for the kids. Their stuff. It's expensive as HELL raising them. Heck, just buying dinner and a few odds and ends Sunday when Julie was over cost me $115 at Publix. Then there's baseball, the mall, spending money, ROTC trips, school expenses... just all kinds of things. Heck, the Durango is still sitting BROKE in the driveway, I have to bum rides when the family wants to go to church together or if we all have someplace we want to go as a family -- and I am thinking of giving away the kids VA money? Really?? What am I thinking? And more importantly, do I even have the RIGHT to do that? Geez.

I have to pray about all of this. Actually I already have. I know what I need to do... I know what the right thing to do is. The problem is, I know my sister isn't going to be very happy with what God's plan is because it's going to be a little hard on her.

But then again.... she IS going to Church with us now on Sundays. Maybe that's no coincidence. Maybe it's God's plan.... God's perfect timing. Funny... I didn't think of that until I started blogging about it. Gosh, that's why I love blogging.

Who knows. Well.... I know who knows. I just need to trust Him. A lot more than I do now! :o)



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I got some great news today!



Remember I've been talking about my mortgage and how my interest rate was going up? How I have been trying to refinance but my credit wasn't all that great and I have very little 'credit history'? Yeah, we were one of those families that might lose their homes because they got into their homes with no income verification and with an interest rate that was okay for three years then became an ARM that will go up every 6 months for the remainder of the loan.

Well.... today I received approval! Not written in stone I suppose, but I did get someone to say "yes, we approve you". The good news is that it's going to be at a lower interest rate than what we have now.... we'll be locked in at 6.5%. Even better news is that it'll save us between $300 and $400 a month.

What a relief!

I'm going to sleep like a baby tonight!

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Maybe if this loan is really approved I can give SERIOUS thought about going back to Toast of Tampa.

I went to rehearsal last Tuesday. My goodness it was great. I'd forgotten how much I missed it. Parts of it anyways.

I missed being a part of a 120+ woman organization of excellent singers. I kinda miss being in charge. I definitely miss the 'excellence' in singing. It's just a whole different level than anything that you can imagine, unless you've been involved in something like an A level barbershop chorus before.

And performing. I miss performing.

At church, I feel that it's a fine line between worshiping and performing. I work very hard to worship and not perform, unless it's a song we're rocking out to and I'm just having a BLAST singing it. In the church choir, I try not to perform too much because you can't stand out too much... I am aware of this and try my best to fit in. But man, I miss singing, dancing, and performing. If you haven't seen it before - go here - and scroll down to "International Chorus Competition From Las Vegas" and click "2007 International Champion Chorus Rich-Tone Chorus, Region 25" -- then check out the video link for "I'm Nobody's Baby/Nobody's Sweetheart". I'm telling you, it's a rush. That's not Toast of Tampa, but it's a chorus our size and another A level chorus.

So, we'll see. I'm not sure about Toast of Tampa. I'd love to go back - but it's a big commitment. It means I'd be away from home every Tuesday night - which means Chris cooks dinner and gets the kids to bed while I'm out. It means I pay dues of $40 a month plus 'extra' stuff that I won't even go into here now cuz I don't want to think about it yet. Then there is the competitions. Toast of Tampa lives to compete - it's why they strive to sing and dance at an A level - they win in the State of Florida then go on to compete at an International level every other year. This year's competition (that Toast is not in) is in Hawaii. Next year I think it's in Nashville, which is MUCH better financially. But it's still time off work.

A lot to think about. For now, I'll keep going to rehearsals and have fun until I make up my mind. :o)

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I thought I'd share some pictures we took at Kayla's birthday party. Enjoy!

Justin and Julie:




















Kayla and Chris (her boyfriend):















Kayte and Justin:















Chris and Tina:

Report Cards Are In

Two posts in one day..... wwwooowww.....

So, the girls (Kayla and Kayte) are headed to an ROTC competition in Orlando this afternoon. The main competition is on Saturday. I can't say that I get the gist of the whole thing... who can do the most sit-ups... who can run the fastest... who knows the most about the ROTC program.

But, it's supposed to be some kind of a big deal. Kayte called this morning because they forgot to pack their bathing suits for this trip. Everyone else is bringing suits, they forgot theirs.

Then she tells me they are going to the hotel early today so they have lots of time to play at the pool this afternoon (tomorrow is the big competition)... could I please bring them their bathing suits up to the school for thm? Well, I couldn't. First of all, I'm at work alone. One of my bosses is out of town, the other is at the hospital with his son, I am the only one here holding down the office. Chris is home, but he has no vehicle.

I also have to admit that the thought of going into Kayte's room to find a bathing suit scares the bejesus out of me. Her room is FULL of clothes and they have already had three or four days of washing clothes already. So... why they have three or four loads of laundry in hampers and tossed all over their room, on the floor, on the bed, and generally everywhere - I have no idea. But it makes my skin crawl seeing it and stepping into the room to look for something is NOT something I want to do.

Then I realized that the teacher was pulling them out of school today at 11 am. Why so early if they were just going to get to the hotel room and swim all afternoon? Grrrrr

No.... I didn't bring her a bathing suit. Not that I'm sitting her racked with guilt or anything.

Okay... I am - slightly.

I'm such a hard-ass sometimes.

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On the "GOOD NEWS" front.....

Chris and I are booked on a cruise! We'll be gone the 6th of March for a 4 day cruise for my 40-th birthday. I'm VERY excited, and can't believe we are actually going!

Kayla got her learners permit yesterday for driving, that puts TWO learners in the house thus far. Next year there will be FOUR. Lord help us!

More on Kayla the report cards are in and it's official. She has HONOR ROLL! Although last 9 weeks we THOUGHT she had honor roll, at the last minute, she ended up with one C. This is her FIRST TIME EVER making Honor Roll. She is VERY excited about it, and we are very proud of her. She is working very hard to stay on top of her grades and her assignments. Additionally, she is doing that WHILE balancing work AND a boyfriend. She's really doing a great job.

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I received an email from one of Justin's teachers today. You see, we have very simple rules here that we follow:

We check your grades on Edline (the school's online grading system). If you have a D you are on restriction from one thing. More than one D - you have more than one thing you are on restriction from. If you have an F - you are on "lock-down" restriction. This basically means you do nothing - no playing outside, no games, no videos, no computer, no nothing until your grade comes up. The POINT of that is so that you will spend all of your extra time studying.

Anyways...

Justin has had two F's on Edline. One of these was in Science. Now, he's had problems in Science before. Not with his grades so much as his behavior. This is the teacher who will email me to tell me when Justin is goofing off.

Well, Justin noticed that the Science teacher had a zero down for something that he should have had a 100% on. That's the benefit of Edline - you get to see each grade every day and when a teacher misses something, you know about it quickly. To get off lock-down restriction, all Justin needs to do is get something from the teacher showing us that his grade is no longer an F... But is now a D or better. Heck, if he brought it up to a C, he wouldn't be on restriction at all.

So, he goes to class today and tells her that he has a zero and should have had a 100. She looks at it and agrees, Justin is correct. BUT... her printer is broken and she can't print out a new sheet showing his correct grade. So, she tells him to wait here, and she'll run next door for him and use the teacher's printer next door.

While she is gone, Justin begins to play around with a boy behind him. She hears a ruckus from the other room and comes back to her classroom only to find Justin and this other boy 'play-fighting' in the classroom. Disrupting the rest of the class and most certainly playing around when she expected him to just sit tight for a minute while she ran next door to help HIM out.

Well, the teacher got mad.

She was so mad that she took his paper and ripped it to shreds.

After class, Justin told her that he really needed the print out so that he could get off restriction.

She handed him the shredded paper, then emailed me to tell me what happened so that - when I saw the paper all torn up - I would know why and what happened.

Justin - Justin - Justin!

I'm telling ya, this boy just won't stop playing around in class. He is SO smart, yet so incredibly immature.

Speaking of grades - I also got a call today from Kayte. Now, last 9 weeks (the one they just got their report card for today) Kayte had a TERRIBLE time in Math. I blogged about that - the teacher's teaching style wasn't working for Kayte. She wasn't learning. She was an A/B student who was failing the class.

Well, on Edline Kayte's grade was an F. However, in an email the teacher told me that her grade would become a D on her report card after her Final Exam was factored in. What does the D mean? Restriction. Flat out, no question, restriction. The rules are the same for all the kids.

Today Kayte gets her report card and guess what that grade was? A "C".

So, Kayte tells me "You put me on restriction for nothing." I was MAD MAD MAD.

First of all, I don't PUT them on restrictions, THEIR GRADES put them on restriction... So in essence, they put THEMSELVES on restriction. As of the last Edline posting of grades for Kayte last 9 weeks on December 20th, her grade was clearly an F. She saw it, I saw it. Now, it sure stinks that she was on restriction because we 'thought' her F was going to turn into a D, but it actually went up to a C. But, I by no means "put her on restriction for nothing".

As a matter of fact - in this regard - when it came to this class and this teacher - I really 'went to bat' for her. I fought to get her out of that class and to change teachers, even though the teacher wanted to fight it. The teacher didn't believe Kayte was giving it all she had - I knew Kayte was trying her best and just not understanding this teacher. The proof is in the results... Last nine weeks she had all F's and D's on her assignments... This nine weeks with a new teacher, she has all A's and B's. Same class - different teacher.

Kayte really knows what to say to push my buttons. Or, rather, it's not WHAT she says.... Kayte just has this attitude when she says things to me that just gets to me often times. My blood pressure is still up thinking about her saying that to me! OIE.

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We also had a note from one of Jonathan's teachers. He only did really bad in two classes as a result of being suspended. One was computers (he couldn't make up the assignments when he was in ATOSS as they don't have computers there) and the other was English.

He apparently took issue with some of the items on his report card. He went to the teacher and to the office today about his report card, and apparently - he was correct.

They had him down as having 10 "unexcused" absences in one class (a class where I had already written to the teacher telling her that he was in ATOSS which is excused and counted as present in class.) The other issue was his final exam in English. Apparently he failed it... but it was a "passing fail" - whatever that means.

This teacher sent me and email AND called the house today to make sure that we all knew that she had his report card and that Jonathan was correct in what he was telling us. He had a B his first 9 weeks of English, an F his second 9 weeks, and a 'passing F' on his exam -- which should give him an average of about a C or a high D for the first semester.

Although I was relieved to hear he passed, I still don't totally get the 'passing F' thing. Oh well.

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That reminds me of the other argument I had with Kayte today. She called me to tell me that she had a 2.8 GPA or something like that and that she was SO proud. I was less than proud, expecting it to be much higher.

She told me that all of her friends had about a 1.8, so she was the smartest of all her friends. I told her she needed to get smarter friends.

She told me that it wasn't like that.... that Freshmen can't get high GPA's. That they have to 'work their way up' over the course of their four years.

Now, I SERIOUSLY doubt this. But I told her that I would call the Guidance office and talk to them about it so that I could better understand what she was trying to tell me. I left a message for them, but as of yet haven't heard back as of yet. I'll let you know what they say when I hear back from them.

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I should run. It's Friday night and I just got home and the I've got to figure out what we are doing for dinner tonight.

Please keep all of use in your thoughts and prayers. We always need them - even when I don't get the opportunity to blog as much. They are still needed and always appreciated.

Kayla Turns 17

Julie and I had a horrible fight on Monday night. Actually ,it was an all-day-long kind of argument, but in the evening I lost my temper and blurted out some very unkind words.

The fight - what it was about - is irrelevant really. What was said by whom, also irrelevant. But I would ask for prayers - prayers of patience for me. Prayers for Julie. Prayers for the situation in general.

The one good thing that came out of the argument was that Julie did admit that Kayla shouldn't move in with her. I know it must have been very VERY difficult for her to write. She said...

"As bad as I want her to be with me, I do feel that she should finish school with you and then go to college. She can come home on the weekends if she wants to. I know I need to put Kayla's best interest first. I lover her and all of my kids so much - but their best interest is to be with you. It's hard for me to admit that, but it's the truth. I can barely take care of myself, I know I won't mean to - but I will only hurt Kayla in the long run if she is with me. You don't know how hard that is for me to say and admit, but I have to."

Pretty darn amazing, huh? I know that had to be SO HARD for Julie... And I'm very proud of her for thinking about the kids first.

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My mind is in quite a quandary this afternoon. I need some help trying to decide what to do.

As you may recall from blogs two years ago, if you were reading along way back then, Julie and the kids used to receive two sets of checks after Ron's death. SSI and VA.

When I first got the paperwork from DCF showing I had been granted "temporary custody" of the kids, I took it to SSI and called the VA. SSI was very helpful... They took all the money the kids were getting and moved that over to me. Well, not all of it, Julie still collected some of it - but they caught up with it after a while and make her pay it back and we were retro-actively paid that money last year.

The VA on the other hand was anything BUT helpful. When I called they explained that the VA check was one check. Yes, a portion of it was for the kids, but - it was in Julie's check and there was nothing we could do about getting that money. They explained that Julie could cut us a check every month personally, but there was nothing more the VA could do.

We left it at that and I didn't think about it again.

Until today - when Julie called. She apparently had called the VA because she was afraid some of the kids money was going to stop soon. Sure enough, there is a form that needs to be filled out long before Kayla turns 18 - because she'll still be a full time student and the VA will still cover benefits until she's 19. So, Julie tells me that I am supposed to fill out this form (as the kids legal guardian) and submit it so that they can keep paying Julie the benefits for the kids.

Hold it right there.

You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'? Yeah....that didn't sound right to me either.

If they are going to refuse to give me any money to raise the kids, why would they expect me to to fill out any paperwork? Julie should fill it out, right?

So, I asked Julie for the number and I called them.

Now I wish I had never called. Well, sort of.

The man told me that the day I received "Permanent Custody" I should have been receiving the $674 per month that Julie's been getting that was ear-marked for the kids. Now, my ears were buzzing at this point and I never thought to ask if that was each or just one lump sum.

I told the man.... "Listen, I don't want the money. My sister is living off that money and needs it to pay her mortgage. I'm just worried about the paperwork side of it. When Justin and Kayte (in particular because they will be under 18 when applying for college) need me to do all this paperwork for them for college - am I going to be able to do anything for them? Does the VA recognize me as their guardian?

He said no. I needed to make an appointment and get in to the VA and bring them the custody paperwork to get that going. I'm going to need that down the road.

But... If I do that --- I already know what is going to happen. They are going to take that money away from Julie.

And I find I have opened a can of worms that I wish I could get the lid back on. Quickly. Yet... I can't.

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It's been a day since I typed the above. We had dinner last night together as a big HUGE family for Kayla's 17th Birthday. We all went to BJ's for dinner, a restaurant inside of Citrus Park Mall. Kayla loves the place, as do I - it's economical and it has great food with generous portions. A good time was had by all.

I'll post some pictures of her birthday soon.

For now I want to ask for a few prayers for Julie.

I was wondering why it's kind of "all been about Julie" here lately. Well.. I now fully realize that she's manic. Well, manic as well as having panic attacks, bless her heart.

I have to run. More soon, I have a LOT to blog about and am working on another blog now. I just didn't want this one to be too long!

Roadmap To Success

I'm not worried today. Today I'm just plain frustrated.


I spent a good deal of time yesterday trying to get a fixed rate mortgage for my home, to no avail. My credit score was not as horrible as I thought it was going to be, but not as good as they wanted it to be. My income was great. I was super worried about late payments showing on my credit since I've been paying all my house payments at the end of the month rather than the first of the month for the past year or so. But - my mortgage company only showed ONE payment at 30 days and that one just so happened to be the one month that my regular mortgage company sold the loan to a new mortgage company. I'm pretty darn sure I read where they have to give you a 'grace period' when they take over your loan abruptly like that, to allow for mailing problems and such.


Other than that, the only thing that kills my credit is simply not having any. I told the mortgage guy that - at the end of the night, I go to bed knowing I have a couple little $300 credit cards to worry about, my home loan, and that's it. Other than keeping the roof over our heads, the utilities paid and food on the table, I don't owe anyone.


And if the trade-off for that is CRAPPY credit... I guess....... I'm okay with that.


I guess.


I mean.... The down-side is that I'm in an ARM mortgage that's going up now every 6 months. I only need to get my credit score up about 40 more points or so to become bank-qualified for a loan. That's pretty darn good, I think. But how to do that? I dunno.

Sigh.....

Then there is the kids and their insurance. I received a letter today from Tricare. Julie has to pay $125 every quarter or something like that for the kids to remain on Tricare Prime. That means no deductibles and only $12 copayments at the doctors. Sure, they have Medicaid as a secondary thanks to the State. But... Finding a doctor who takes both Tricare AND Medicaid just isn't easy. It's darn-near impossible unless you go to a hospital.

So, Julie didn't pay the money for the Tricare and it was cancelled. Mind you, I can't do anything with the military... I'm not military. I can't separate out the kids, only Julie can pay this. And... Heck.... $125 a quarter for her and THREE kids? Sheesh! I pay about $400 a month for JUST Jonathan and myself. Then, AFTER that, I have a $500 deductible and pay $50 for prescriptions, $35 every time I see the doctor PLUS an additional 10% of the visit.

I'd give just about ANYTHING to have to only pay $125 a quarter. Jeez.

Anyways, it is what it is. Their Tricare Prime was disenrolled due to non-payment and according to the paperwork I received, they now have a deductible as well as a percent of each charge I'm supposed to pay. Additionally the paperwork says that "You are not ALLOWED to re-enroll in this plan for 12 months from the date your disenrollment was effective." Julie says that she was told that she could get back on the plan. I don't know... The letter looks pretty darn clear to me.

So, I called to find out more information and they can't TALK to me because - again - they don't have my guardianship paperwork on file. Can I just tell you how frustrating that is? I have faxed that paperwork to Tricare no less than four times already. At least. Every single time they need to go to the doctor or I need to change their doctor or they needed to see a psychiatrist, I had to fax the paperwork for their records.

And still, they have no record of it.

F-R-U-S-T-R-A-T-I-N-G.

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Julie just called to say hi. That was nice. Then she dropped the stuff about Kayla. Gwen sent her a nice email telling her that she needed to do the paperwork for Kayla's college applications/GI bill. Julie's been working on that today I guess. Every time I think about Kayla moving out, I'm sick to my stomach. I'm trying my best to not think about it. To not WORRY about it. It's a whole YEAR away. Yet..... I wanna vomit.

A friend of mine just sent me some bible verses on worry. "Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hears and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

I should pray more, tell God what I want, and be thankful for the time I have with the kids. No doubt.


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Since I wrote that last line, I've had a whole day to think things through. What I've decided is to blog more about what I would really LIKE to see Julie doing. Instead of what she's doing wrong, blog more about what I wish that she would be doing that would be right. Give her what would be, in MY opinion, a roadmap to success.

First we could start off with her doctors and her mental and physical health..... I wish that she would get her health in order. Take her medications as prescribed. This is really hard folks, I keep typing in what she's doing wrong -- and have to backspace out and delete it. Sheesh.

Then I wish that she would continue going to church, because I think that's a really good thing for her, if she goes for the right reasons.

I wish that she would collect rent from her roommates as if she were in charge - and if they don't pay - KICK EM OUT! Forget the mindset that 'they might pay someday'... If they weren't there, it frees up the room for someone else who COULD be there actually contributing and paying rent on a regular basis. This would help Julie become more financially stable so she wouldn't have to worry about working. I know Julie can't work... So I think having renters is her best option for keeping her bills paid.

And last for now, I wish that Julie would realize that Kayla needs to stay with us - JUST until she finishes high school. I think it's best for Kayla to stay close to the friends she's been with all this time and to finish out her school year at Gaither. I wish Julie would take care of HERSELF first. Work on that and keep herself better. She hasn't been out of the hosptial more than a month in I don't know how long.... even if she went two or three months... sigh.... that was going to be negative I think. Okay - try that again....

I want -- MY WISH -- would be for Julie to take care of Julie and for us to finish this with Kayla through High School. THEN let Kayla do whatever Kayla wants to do, and Julie do what Julie wants to do.

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If I don't put in a picture of my beautiful Godchild Isabella here, I'm thinking my sister Katie might just disown me. So here are a couple of picture for you to enjoy.

No Worries

I have been having a really bad 'mental health' day today. Cried a lot. Too many emails. Just... A bad day.

First thing this morning, when I checked the kids myspace accounts, I found where Justin and Kayte had emailed some of the kids who came to the house last night. Justin and Kayte both were 'egging them on' so to speak. Talking BIGTIME trash. Telling them that Justin was going to 'kick their ass'. It was UNREAL as I was reading it. I felt like these kids - MY KIDS - were little thugs. I hate to say that, but that is EXACTLY what they sounded like in their messages. Examples? Sure, I'll give examples:

Kayte's first message to one of the boys: "You need to sit the fuck down. My brother said if you even think about coming down the street he is gonna fuck you up." Nice Kayte. Nice.

Justin's message: "Yo nigga, you ain't gonna do no shit to me or anyone else. I ain't scared to hit yo ass nigga for real."

Yeah... No wonder they came over here looking for a fight last night.

Sigh..... I am TOTALLY over kids and computers. Totally.

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I feel totally overwhelmed today. Really and truly I do.

Last night at bible study, I asked for prayers to help me let go of worry. By and large that is my biggest obstacle right now, and I totally know it. I know there is nothing I can do about it. I know worrying about things is non-productive (and I HATE being non-productive!), yet I find myself worrying a lot lately.

For example: Gwen sent me an email this morning. In that email she referenced a few things:
* Us claiming the kids on our tax returns so we should get a nice tax refund.
* Our Durango is still not fixed.
* We bought a hot tub. And pay for chemicals.
* We are going on a cruise.
* We don't pay Kayte and Justin an allowance and she believes we should.
* Kayla wants to move out, and the 'only' reason she didn't dispute custody is so the kids could be near their mother.

One could read so many things into this. My worry alert went into overdrive on this one. I responded back and am not going to go into details, but I think I'm better now.

I just need to not worry about it.

The big phrase of the day.

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Here is a funny story for you. I took Justin to the walk in clinic the other day because he had this horrible Stye.

I know what you are thinking... A stye? You went to the doctor for a stye? Well, he's had it for a month and a half, so, yeah, I took him to the doctor.

Kayte went with us and while we were waiting... They talked about the most STRANGE things. So strange that I broke out my keyboard and started writing it down. Here - enjoy:

Justin: "So, I was riding a bike with my eyes closed. I took my hands off the handle bars. I must have gone straight for a while. But it was dark. Then I ran into a fence. I hurt myself pretty bad; scraped up my arms and legs pretty bad."

Kayte Says.... "I've done that... Sorta. Only mine was while I was walking. I closed my eyes and I couldn't walk straight. Then I just ran into a tree."

Kayte continues: "Oh and in school last month I saw a llama. It was walking in the upstairs hallway. All by itself. That's when I first decided I wanted a Llama. That and when I saw the field of Llamas at Gramma's house, I knew even more surely that I wanted a Llama."

Yeah..... Okay.

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Sometimes I remember what it used to be like to be independent and not rely on others for anything. Sometimes I miss those days. It seems like so long ago... Like forever ago.

I remember when Chris and I bought all our own food for our family. When we had friends of all sorts... From Barbershop-singing buddies to others who would vacation with us as a family on the beach over Memorial Day weekend. A VAST group of WILDLY diverse group of friends you would for sure call them.

And Chris and I were anything but dependent on anyone or anything.

I didn't really have God in my life. But oddly, it FELT, at the time anyways, like I was independent and strong.

I was in charge of a large chorus, leading them to several state championships and into International Competitions where we finished fourth and sixth while I was President and section leader. I don't even remember now how many years I was the the Communications Technology Coordinator liaison for Sweet Adeline's International and our Region, I'd have to look it up. But I did it all myself.

Years ago, when I wanted to go out to eat with the kids, which we DID DO all the time, we just DID IT. All the time. Or saw a movie once a month or more, whenever something was coming out that we all four wanted to go and see. It didn't seem like that big of a deal back then.

Then life came to s SCREECHING HALT and God reorganized everything for us. We have new priorities.

But sometimes...

Sometimes it feels like I'm weak.

The church gave us gift certificates for the kids for Christmas. Michelle took care of getting them all something that they really wanted for Christmas. Another friend is coming by this week to bring a gift but wants to remain anonymous as she wants the kids to have that 'it takes a village' kind of feel instead of the 'this one person' helped kind of thinking. Our bible study group even chipped in and gave us a gift for Christmas! And this is all WONDERFUL stuff.

But, sometimes, I feel like I'm weak.... Like I'm a failure.

Then I realize that I'm being irrational because I personally didn't give birth to five kids! I only chose to have TWO which was truly perfect for me. God gave me the other three at His time, His choosing, when He saw fit to do so.

Yet still, I feel weak sometimes. Sigh...

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Chris and I are Godparents! My sister Katie and her husband Tony picked us to be the Godparents for their little girl Isabella Marie Roman. (Middle name is the same as mine, I might point out!) We were so proud to have been chosen to be the Godparents! Tony is Puerto Rican and I'm sure there is probably some kind of family thing they were 'supposed' to do.

For Chris and I to have been chosen for this honor is truly -- well -- an HONOR. I told Tony that Chris and I will do our best to represent a Christian lifestyle to little Isabella. To be there for her, to answer any questions she has, to be a shining light in a very dark world.

The priest said it best at that Baptism... He said that when people see a Christian in normal day-to-day life, they should think to themselves "I want some of that", because they can see the joy in which we are living.

I want Isabella to see that joy in which Chris and I get out of life, being a Christian. And, that - I know - can be tough. It can be tough to lead by example and not lead in such a way that you seem arrogant or self-righteous.

So many times I think that people could never possibly see my life as it is now and think "I want to live like her!" The chaos. The turmoil. The constant issues I have to deal with because of parenting someone else's kids.

But, I think maybe if I stop looking at all the stuff around me. At all the stuff going on around me that is GOING to happen, and I realize that Christ is the center of my life, that -- maybe that should be good enough.

Maybe I need to focus on that a little more. Realizing that it's not about me. It's not about the kids. It's not about the stuff that happens. It's about doing it all for the glory of God, our Father. Having Christ as the center of your life. Then recognizing it and making sure your life is reflective of your core.

And, maybe - just maybe - if Isabella saw THAT from her Godmother - maybe some day she will find herself saying "I want to live my life just like that!"

Police At The House

Chris and I came home today to a bit of chaos.

You know Sean, the kid who lives down the street who practically lives here (who breaks everything in the house). Well, he was here. Along with a whole bunch of other kids - which is pretty typical here in the Rhocchini house - I think there were 8 kids total hanging out here. Well, yesterday Sean was at the park with Justin and another kid and he got 'jumped' by 7 other kids. He was beat up... although the kids were smaller, there were SEVEN of them.

Well, today - apparently our kids were talking about how those kids better not come and bother Sean any more. Now... these kids that jumped him don't even go to school with our kids. Some of them are even in MIDDLE school, others go to another high school entirely. But thanks to the internet and friends of friends, news spreads. Anyways, the kids got wind of the fact that they were saying that they better not come back, and today they came looking for a fight.

They came back with about 15 of their friends.

About 6pm Kayla calls on her cell and tells us that there are about 15 kids right around the corner that are getting ready to beat up Justin and Sean. Chris and I head out the door to try to diffuse the situation. Chris brings a camera (smart man!) and as soon as the flash goes off.... those 15 kids scattered like roaches. -- POOF -- Gone.

Chris and I went home, feeling pretty darn proud of ourselves.

On the way home we met a strange neighbor. Very strange. Plastic plants in his front yard. Former Green Beret. Said he used to work for John Gotti. Yeah.... it was a very very VERY strange conversation.

Anyways.....

We went home feeling as if we had done a good thing. We were able to get the kids to disperse without fighting. All was done, right?

Not right.

As Chris and I got ready to go to Bible Study at 7, the phone started ringing. All the kids friends started calling. "All those kids are coming back, and they brought more of their friends with them this time."

More?

Of course the first thing all the kids wanted to do was run outside. We wouldn't let them. We had them stay inside - Chris went outside with a video camera. I stayed inside with the kids and a phone.

When 25 or so kids showed up at our door looking for a fight, Chris told me to call the police. I did - I called 911 and told them what was going on. At least one of the kids came armed with a bat, I don't know about anyone else, I was inside the house. Chris at one point told them all that they were being video taped and at that point they all began to run again.

About that time the police cruisers started showing up. The police didn't come to our house first, they could tell the kids - traveling in 'packs' (as they called it) - were up to no good so they followed them for a while. Later they came to our house.

Everything is fine now. Nobody was hurt or got into a fight. None of the kids even got into trouble. The police are going to monitor the neighborhood however looking for this 'pack' of kids.

Chris and I are now worried about the house. Now that the kids know where we live and are upset with the kids - they might come here looking to steal from us. I don't think they are 'those kind of kids'... I think they are just big and bad looking to beat up a few boys for fun at the park one afternoon. But still..... it's unsettling to know that a few hours ago all these kids were in front of our house wanting to fight one of our kids.

UGG

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Chris and I decided to go to bible study after everything settled down. We were only about 30 minutes late, so not too bad.

We got home and I noticed that there were two black scuff marks on the wall between the game room and the stairs. It LOOKS like someone threw down a shoe it hit the wall, then hit a picture (which has a break in the frame as well).

Knowing this was not here when we left only 2 hours ago for bible study, I called all the kids to the hallway to ask what happened.

Guess who did it??

That "NOBODY" kid again.

Just when I thought Nobody had moved out. No such luck.

None of the kids would fess up to doing it. As a result, we have told all the kids that NONE of their friends are allowed over since we can't leave them alone for an hour or two without having to repaint a wall when we return.

Geez.

I have to run. I may have some time to actually blog tomorrow during the day! Its' a good thing because I have SO MUCH I want to tell you.

So... more tomorrow - I promise!

"What does not kill me makes me stronger."--Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

In A Funk

I can't blog long. I just don't feel like it.

I'm in a funk today.

I had a VERY busy day at work today. The kids drove me nuts today. Kayla must have text messaged me 6 times today asking me if she could go to the mall today after school. WHILE she was at school. This infuriated me because she isn't supposed to be texting AT school. Then add to that that I was too busy to text her back which just made her think that I didn't want to answer her.

I came home at lunch today only to read Kayla's myspace messages (yes, we let her open a myspace page yesterday after 2 years of having no internet access). What do I read? Messages about how she's moving in with her mom at 18. I'm telling you, with every fiber in my body I know this would be the biggest mistake of Kayla's life. Kayla still would have a year and a half of high school left.... she's not done. HUGE mistake. I'm VERY upset.

Add to that the phone call I got from Gwen last night.

She and I talked for some time last night about the kids and about Julie. She asked about Julie being able to take the kids for long trips such as to the movies or dinner away and alone. I told her that it just wasn't allowed, via court order. I explained about the court ordered document. I told her about how I had even violated it on occasion myself when I felt Julie was okay - but that - God forbid something bad happen and the courts found out - I could lose custody! She did NOT want to see that happen. She understood and was okay with things the way they are given the circumstances.

She asked about the kids getting allowances based on them doing their chores.

Now, that's a hard one to swallow. First of all because I don't have a lot of money. Second of all because any extra money I do have goes towards stuff they BREAK. Third of all, they don't DO their chores! I have to beg and plead for them to do their chores most of the time. Heck, it's Thursday, which means it's Justin's clothes day. He was SUPPOSED to have put a load of clothes in this morning before school, thrown them in the dryer after school, and folded them before bed. I'm sitting in the office, and I'll bet you anything if I get up and check, there is NOTHING in the washer or dryer.

(gets up to check)

Yep.

Nothing. Well, the towels that ** I ** put in there on Tuesday are still in the dryer. Other than that, nothing. I just went up into his room (he and Kayte are in the same room) and Kayte also missed her laundry day this week. They now have THREE full hampers of clothes to be washed this week, and no laundry days left to do them in. How many do you suppose they will have next week?

Jeez.

Now I am REALLY grumpy.

And I'm supposed to give them an allowance?

The other thing that Gwen tells me is that Kayla hates it that Chris and I don't like Kayla's boyfriend. Well, we really are trying - but it's hard. He's a nice enough boy - but there were....... issues.... when they broke up the first time. (They broke up then got back together.) He got -- depressed (let's just leave it at that since he's a minor) when they broke up. He would follow her around, sit at her work and just......... watch her. Wait for her all day and all night. His friends were going to 'beat her up', but he 'stopped them'. It was just........ crazy. Many many days Kayla came home crying and upset. Then they got back together and Chris and I just need.......... time to adjust I guess. It's hard to forget all the stuff that happened at the break up, ya know?

But she tells me that Kayla really wants us to like him. I know she does, she brings him up all the time. Kayla is turning 17 on the 23rd of this month. She wants us all to go to dinner at her favorite restaurant, BJ's in Citrus Park mall, and her boyfriend will be coming. So, we've got to do our best to get over it by then!

I'm still in my funk. Sigh.....

The new computer that Paul from Choir gave to us is infected with a virus that got past the virus protector. The kids weren't even on that computer, to my knowledge anyways. I don't know how it happened. I've tried to fix it. It's dead. Won't even connect to the internet now.

That sure didn't help my funk.

Oh, maybe this will help: Chris and I hope to go on a CRUISE for my 40th birthday in March. Yes..... March 13th I turn the big 4-0. Stinks to get old, eh? We were thinking about what to do.... party with all our friends? Vegas? Then, he looked into a cruise and got a deal that was WAY too good to pass up. No food cost, no airfare, can't beat it! I am very excited to be able to do this with Chris. To add to the fun of the whole thing, our friends Michelle and Wayne and my sister Katie and Tony hope to come as well. It'll be GREAT. The more people that come, the more fun I think we'll have. I am SO looking forward to it. Chris and I took a cruise once and it was FANTABULOUS! Is that a word?

The only downfall is that it happens to fall on the SAME weekend that my mom had big plans for me. I don't know what she was planning, but I could tell by the sound of her voice that she was very disappointed. Disappointing your mom is never a good thing. I was hoping whatever she had planned for me could be moved... I was thinking - what was it - dinner and a movie? No.... mom is more thoughtful than that. She was disappointed. Great.... here comes that funk again.

Sigh.............

I should go. I'm just in NO mood to blog y'all! Sorry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered.
Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you win false friends and enemies.
Succeed anyway.
The good you do will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.
People really need help but may attack you if you help them.
Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you've got anyway.
Mother Theresa

Fight At School

Kayte got hit / punched at school today.

There has been this big girl at school who has been bullying her for months. She keeps threatening her and calling her names. Even her mom was in the office once and the two of them, the mother AND daughter, in the office, were both 'picking on' Kayte - in FRONT of others in the school office.

I had a talk with the assistant principal not too long about about this girl. I asked what we could do because Kayte was afraid of this girl. Kayte just knew this girl was going to beat her up. The assistant principal told me that there was nothing that could be done unless something actually HAPPENED.

Today it happened.

Kayte was in the hallway talking to friends - her back was towards this girl. The girl came up behind her and - WHAM - punched her in the back of the head. Lots of kids saw it happen. Kayte wasn't expecting it. It hurt. She cried. It was a big deal and now everyone in the school is talking about it.

I got a text message from Kayla first telling me that Kayte had just been punched by this girl and that Kayla was afraid for her. This girl is really big and VERY mean. I should probably mention here that this girl has been in MANY fights and as a result has been suspended many times. I hear she has also been to Juvenile Detention a few times. Many kids in the school fear this girl, and when I called the Assistant Principal a few months back about it, he knew exactly who she was. She is definitely 'well-known' for this sort of thing.

The next text message was from Kayte telling me that she was 'afraid for her life'. I told her to immediately go to the office and I would handle it from there. I then called the school and got the police officer (on site) and told him what happened. The girl that hit Kayte was arrested and will be suspended out of school for 10 days.

I should also mention here that although she was arrested today, by 3pm this afternoon, this girl was home on Myspace sending messages happily to her friends. Love our juvenile justice system, eh? Yeah.

Kayla and Kayte are NOT HAPPY. They believe that this girl is going to come back for them - that she is going to "kill" them. The ONLY thing Kayla and Kayte want right now is to change schools. Flat out CHANGE schools. That - to them - in their teenage opinion - will solve EVERYTHING.

Throughout the day today I have spoken with the assistant principal and the school police officer. Both have pretty much made what I feel is 'light' of the situation. What I mean by that is.... well.... for example, when I asked the assistant principal at one point if he felt that I could tell Kayte that she would be safe in school, that she wouldn't get beat up again, he actually said "I don't have a crystal ball". He didn't say it in a totally sarcastic way, he meant it as in - he didn't know what tomorrow would bring. I get that. However, the more I thought about it throughout the day today, the more confident I am that the school MUST provide my children with a SAFE environment to learn.

SAFE

Right? Am I right about that? Isn't there some kind of rule about that somewhere? I think there is.

So, I sent the following message to the assistant principal today and copied the principal:

In the past she was told nothing could happen until Kayte was actually punched. Today that happened and I'm sure it wasn't pleasant. When this girl now returns to school, can she then continue to taunt and bully her with no repercussions, and does Kayte now just wait again to be hit before she can again do something?

The kids tell me that (Name withheld) is a much bigger problem than what I think was implied when you and I discussed on the phone. The kids have told me of a couple of their friends who have had to change schools because of a direct result of an altercation with this same girl. They have told me stories now of many fights this (girl) has been in, some leaving girls bloodied and afraid. This has my girls terrified of going to school.

What they are being told is that because they 'told' - because they 'had her arrested' - she has told people that she is 'coming after them' when she gets back. Apparently (this girl) has a brother who goes to Gaither who has told Kayte and Kayla the same thing, (this girl) will come back and will come looking for her.

Mr. Jones - I need your assurance that my girls will be safe attending Gaither High School. I know you can't look into a "crystal ball" (as you told me earlier) and tell me anything, but if she HAS done this before and has repeated this behavior yet again, then clearly my girls are in danger and I should at least consider changing schools if you can not protect them. If this was a one-time incident then I think I would be over-reacting. But the kids are telling me that this girl has been a continued discipline problem at Gaither. I, on the other hand, have four bright, smart, productive, social and well-balanced teenagers attending Gaither. The state gave me custody of these children to raise a few years ago, it's my responsibility to make sure they are safe. I think at this time I need your assurance that they are, indeed, safe, while attending school.

If you need me to make an appointment to come in to meet with you to discuss this with you in person, please let me know. Otherwise, I look forward to your reply.

Think that'll do it? I sure hope so. Because if I have to hear ONE MORE TIME how they want / need / must change schools, I think I'm going to SCREAM. I swear to you, I think I've heard them say it no less than 50 times since 3 this afternoon.

No less.

No lie.

I don't want them to change schools. I won't LET them change schools. I will insist the school protect them. I will see to it that this girl is expelled before I pull my kids out of Gaither and put them all in another school. That's just plum crazy to me!

I should run. I don't have a lot of time here, I just wanted to let you all know about Kayte and the fight today.

Please keep this situation in your prayers. The girls are truly TERRIFIED and VERY worked up about it.

"Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." (Isaiah 41: 10)

Durango, Anger, and Quelf

Well, the Durango is dead. Doggone-it. I am literally $200 away from having the stinkin' thing paid off and it's dead.

It's had it's share of problems. The transmission still slips... we'll get that fixed before too long. The ball joints or something like that are bad and we were going to get that fixed as well. The power steering fluid has been leaking though, which I thought wasn't THAT big of a deal. Chris replaced the hose, and it helped some - it didn't leak as much. Since we only drive the Durango when we ALL pile in a car to go places - it sits in the driveway most of the time anyways. With it leaking 'some', we just put a pan on the driveway and park over it during the week and keep power steering fluid handy for when it runs dry.

Well, the other night we took it down the road a bit - maybe 2 or 3 miles away. The thing started leaking like crazy - went through a whole bottle of fluid QUICKLY and not only that - you could smell the fluid on the engine... apparently it's now blowing it on the engine. I don't know what happened, but it's not good. So... it's parked for now.

We figure that, once we pay off the Durango, we'll keep 'paying' but send it to savings and once enough is saved to fix something - just get-er-done. One thing at a time, ya know?

But getting around as a family of 6 is a big problem right now. Thank goodness we have Michelle as a close friend who lives close by and is willing to drive us places (such as the circus and to the baptism tomorrow), because I don't know what we'd do otherwise. Michelle... you are an angel!

The funny thing is -- I thought I'd be more 'down' about it, but I'm really not. I think it's because it's SO CLOSE to being paid off that I at least have THAT WEIGHT off my shoulders. There was an article in this week's newspaper talking about car loans today and how many people are getting in so far over their heads because they are buying very expensive cars and financing them for long periods of time. One couple in the paper traded in their 2001 vehicle that they still owed $9,500 on - the car company ADDED that to their current car loan which gave them a seven-year car loan of almost $45,000. Can you imagine it? Yeah, I'm pretty happy knowing that in a month BOTH cars in my driveway... albeit not working all that great... will be OURS.

The other thing that Chris and I love about January is knowing that - because we don't have big credit cards - knowing that we roll into the new year without the worries of paying for an overzealous Christmas. Yes... we are blessed, for sure.

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I had a huge fight with Julie last night. I don't know how much of it I should go into here, in my blog. But I do feel like blogging about some of it so that you know what I'm going through here.

Julie got upset that on my Myspace page I had a box that showed a 'snapshot' of my Blog. Because she is my 'friend' on Myspace, her friends can click my picture, go to my page, see the blog picture, click it, get to my blog, and read all about Julie's life. Now, I've had this on my page since I first got Myspace, but apparently Julie was just told about it last night.

About 12:15 in the morning my house phone rings. It's Julie. She's upset... she wants that taken off my Myspace.

Now.... I could have said 'no'. But I don't blog to HURT Julie. I blog to simply release MY feelings... so that my family and my friends know what is going on in my life and in my heart. So that my friends and family can pray for me and the family in ways that appropriate with what is going on at that particular time. NOT because I want to bash Julie. Does it matter to me all that much, no, of course not.

But Julie has been in "crisis" mode for a while and as such.... she's been a big part of blogs. Heck, even before that - simply explaining WHY the kids were taken away from the home to begin with... you can't explain that without getting personal about Julie. Her actions... her inactions... her mental health.... all play a role in OUR daily lives.

So - anyways - I took the thing off my Myspace. But the more I thought about it, the more angry I got.

Those who know me know that it takes a LOT for me to get truly angry.

I got truly angry last night.

See... what all of you don't know.... what I was unable to tell you about a while ago -- in blogs when I was saying that "something big was going on and I couldn't talk about it now" -- I feel I can now share with you. See... Julie likes younger guys. Much younger. The police came to visit me once because... there was an email thread generated in Myspace where Julie was talking to a young man, talking about kissing, being 'friends with benefits', talking about wanting to get together again, and Julie giving him instruction on how to delete the messages so that his MOM wouldn't see them because they could get into trouble. Well, I don't want to get into specifics about all of this, but the end of the story as I last heard of it was that the Police determined that this kid was just barely legal age, but because of her demeanor in talking to him, they were going to monitor her internet access and track who she talked to and whom she sent messages to. Without her knowledge. Again, this kid IS of legal age. But Julie is 38 and he is young. Julie says 20 - but I'm not sure. I believe the police told me he was 18 at the time. Maybe it was 19, so maybe he is now 20. Regardless, he's so young that this young man has a TWIN BROTHER whom KAYLA was dating when she lived in Riverview. How SICK is that?? Kayla and Mom dating twin brothers? Gosh, I just vomited in my mouth a little.

So, I got really angry as I thought of THIS instance, as only I and a few others knew of this police thing. My Myspace has Christian songs, graphics, Christian videos by GodTube, very few 'kids' on my Myspace and mostly friends of mine on there. Julie.... well.... who is SHE to judge me and tell me what I can and can not put on my Myspace? Especially given what I know?

So.... I zipped off an email to her and told her what I knew. Yeah, it probably wasn't very nice of me... but I was totally caught off-guard by this after midnight last night.

I really wish she'd just STOP reading the blogs, ya know?

This morning Julie and I had a nice chat about it. What I realized after the talk is that... Julie is really mentally not right. She views teenagers as adults. Truly and honestly she does. She sees no difference between teens and adults and therefore she sees no morally wrong issues. She tried explaining about this young man - how she met him, that he wasn't mentally 'right', that she's been trying to get him to leave her alone for a while now, that she didn't really 'mean' to kiss him. He was just bagging her groceries one day and - wham. Whatever... it really doesn't matter. I kept saying "he's a kid." I understand that she's really doing the best she can with what she is capable of doing.

I tried to talk to her about getting the kids off her Myspace page. I tried to rationalize with her about not calling teenagers. For example - one 14-year-old-girl that the kids knew when Ron was alive that Julie has been trying to contact. Julie keeps leaving messages on her cell phone. Julie wants to talk to her, maybe drop by her house to see her. I asked Julie today... "Why don't you call her PARENTS and talk to them??? NOT talk to this young girl!" She didn't understand the logic in that. They 'used to be' such good friends. When Ron was alive, Julie was like a second mother to her. I said "If you were this girl's mom, and you knew what you know about YOU... your mental illness, your kids being taken away, your hurting yourself, the gang that used to live there... would YOU want your kid talking to this person on her cell phone?" Julie thought I was being mean to her. I wasn't trying to be mean... I was trying to get her to empathize with this young girl's parents. But anyways.

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I wanted to blog about this AWESOME new game we got for Christmas. Jonathan had asked that we play board games more as a family. I read online about this one woman who got this game for her family and couldn't BELIEVE how fun it was.

It's called QUELF.

The object is to move around the board landing on squares which have different colors. You land on a color, you pick up the card that has that color on it.

Blue is a rules card. Your rule could be something like "every time a non-player or any other living creature comes within 15 feet of the game board, you must viciously bark at them like a rabid hound". Or "You must pretend your seat is a toilet for the remainder of the game. Every time a player pays a penalty you must flush the imaginary toilet and vocally make a 'gurgling and flushing' sound."

Green is a Quiz card. This is just as simple as it sounds.... "Before Mt. Everest was discovered, what was the tallest mountain in the world?" Answer... Mt. Everest. Or my favorite: "What color is blue?" Yeah.... ummm.... blue?

Yellow cards are stunts cards. They are designed I think to just make you act silly and let everyone else laugh at you for a while. One has you crawl under the table and stay there until the beginning of your next turn. I was a human toaster once. Had to sit still and say NOTHING without laughing or explaining until the timer ran out, then shake a little stand up and yell "DING! Toast is ready!" Stunts cards had Jonathan and Chris playing leap frog by the pool on New Years Eve. Yeah.... they are fun.

Red cards are Scatterbrains cards. You get to pick between two topics then go around the table and whomever gets stuck loses. Examples: "Names of dinosaurs" - "Things that taste like chicken", "Names of movie directors", "Ways to become bloated", or the one the kids did the best with "Chores that no one really likes to do".

Purple cards are my favorite. They are Showbiz cards. They are often times "Classified" meaning nobody else is supposed to see them (unless they ask or take without asking). You will find yourself doing crazy things like close your eyes and sing "Kumbaya" until the timer runs out - WITHOUT laughing. Or, pretend you are a news anchor and you are reporting the news that your mom's underwear caught fire in the dryer. These cards have you singing and dancing like crazy... it's hysterical. And if it's classified and you pick up the card to read it when they are done (because often times you just watch as the person to your right just placed both wrists on their forehead and sang in a foreign accent words written on a card - backwards - so they made no sense. And curiosity is a KILLER, so you pick up the card to read it... and get penalized when it says "if you are the second player to read this card, go back 3 spaces". But sometimes it'll also tell you to advance spaces! So... who knows!!

The game is AWESOME, I'm telling ya. If you get a chance to get your hands on it... I say - DO IT! Your family won't believe the kind of fun you are having.

Kids in the neighborhood want to know when we are going to play next because they want to come over and play again. We have X-box, X-box 360, a Wii, and they want to know when we are breaking out Quelf, the board game. LOVE IT!

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I better run. I really should get out there and help put away yard decorations.

Or maybe I'll go Wii for a while. I've hit several 279 games (12 strikes and one 9 with a spare) and not that perfect 300. But I'm close....

Maybe if I hurry I can do both??? :o)