Another Page in the Book

I was getting ready to go to bed when I got a call thru Facebook messenger from a woman that had lived across the street from me when Douche and I had bought our first house. 

It's been years since I have seen her.

She said she'd noticed I was always posting stuff about narcissists on my FB.  Jaime had married one. 

Jaime was about 12 or so when we moved away.

Then Kim (the woman who had called) segued into how Douche had tried to hook up with her.

"Remember when you guys moved back this way and I had lost a lot of weight? He ran into me uptown and wanted me to hook up with him sometime."

It's not like there hadn't been other women that had been more than happy to let me know something had been going on.  But this one calls out of the blue, many years later, to tell me. Then she says, " I told him that you were my friend and I would not do that to you." She says it with a lot of pride in her voice as if she is expecting the gold medal.

Which makes me wonder...why would he think she might want to do that?  What was going on while we lived across the street?  What did she say to him that day to make him feel he could say that to her?

And she wanted me to thank her...

Did it bother her that maybe I was seeming too content?  She felt the waters needed to be stirred? 

He was a big piece of crap husband and she can take that story and toss it on the pile. 

Learn to Face the Strain

Where does life go?

I am back to homework along with the job.  I don't mind the hours I put into my job but I really do not like having to do the homework too.  It stresses me out and I am sick of being stressed.

I want comfortable.  Life is always going to have stress to it.  But I don't like having stress piled on that I chose to add.  Of course, at the time, I did not really expect this to cause as much stress as it is causing.  I based my decision on last year's commitment to my job.  However, they changed things.  They BETTERED things which everyone knows that every time things are upgraded, it actually ends up meaning MORE work.

To tell you the truth, I think I do spend a bit more time digging into things with the families I work with, than most of my co-workers.  I refuse to give up on a family.  There is one out of every couple of months that even I throw in the towel on.  However, I see so many of my co-workers going through the truancy withdrawal or non-compliancy withdrawal route.  I have discovered that with about 1/2 of the parents I work with, I have to treat them like I am the parent,  Others I have to choose my words carefully because they very easily take offense.  Yet, another part I have to talk to the students like I am the mom and the parents sit by and listen to me and are more than happy for me to do THEIR part.

Bethany decided to finally attend a meeting of the Psychology Club at her college.  She was not sure about going but I told her that they may help her figure out which direction she can go with her degree, be a source of job contacts, etc.  She came home loaded with info and very excited.  But now she is talking Sorority.  sigh...oh well.  It isn't like there is a Sorority house, since this is a community College.  LOL

My younger sister called me about her van.  It finally conked out and she has to get up earlier in the morning to give her husband a ride to work so that she can use his car to take the kids to school, go to work, pick the kids up then pick him up. She said that the mechanic told them he could patch it back together for $1500.  She, on the other hand, found a used van in great condition for a price she can afford the monthly payments on. She says hubby is leaning towards having the van piled stuck back together.  I asked her what SHE would be comfortable with. She said, "a 'new' van...the one I found.  I do not want to put $1500 on a van that is still going to fall apart and I can't depend on."  I told her to put her foot down then and TELL him this is what you want and why.  If nothing else, appeal to the safety.

I talked to my mom last night...or...she talked to me.  I had a splitting headache and I was tired.  I told her this 2 or 3 times. She had to tell me how she feels she has asthma and how awful the treatment was that the doctor gave her.  According to what she found on the internet, there is 3 different kinds of asthma. AND she read about each one to me...what causes them, what helps them, etc.

I would call my mom more often if the conversation did not turn into a 2 hour marathon.  I have tried calling more often to see if it would shorten the length of the conversation but no...
I know she needs someone to talk to. She and Dad barely talk and she has no friends.  The few women that call her do all the talking.

oh well...this is life

I did one thing good for myself...I ordered a rising desk top so that I can raise up my laptop and extra monitor so I can stand and work instead of being stuck in my chair all the time.  I also have to change out my office chair so that I can more easily use the under the desk cycle that Bethany got me.
I just have to have a few minutes to assemble the desk top.

And...it is the end of January already.  Already.  And I have 4 more weeks of my 3rd class.  Then I have a week break before the 4th class begins. I am also taking a week off from my job.  I am thinking about how I am going to rejuvenate my strained nerves during that week.

Out from Under the Tree

The new fridge got here on the 22.  I like it. It is smaller than the other one but I left the dorm fridge in the kitchen plugged in.  Since it had been plugged in running downstairs anyway, there is no more energy being used.

Christmas turned out pretty good.  Christmas Eve TJ and Brit came over for dinner.  Bethany got off work and we sat around and ate, talked, opened presents.  It was a nice evening.  Family time.  The next day, Jordan came for dinner with me and Bethany. We had some great conversation, opened presents.  It was a good day.

The rest of the week seem to be busy, yet, relaxing.  The kids had brunch with their dad on Thursday and I met TJ and his dad back at his place.  Douche went with me to get the moving truck. We loaded it with everything but their bed, a dresser and a very heavy coffee table.  TJ and I went with his dad back to his hotel for dinner...since it was free (Bethany had to go to work after their brunch).  He bought me a glass of wine.  We all 3 sat and talked and it went well.  Afterward, we went back up to his room because we had left our coats there and my purse...we got washed up before dinner.  As I was getting ready to leave, Douche told me that if I was too tired to drive home I could spend the night in his room (I had a 45 minute drive back home).  I started to laugh when I realized he was serious.  I just said, 'That would just be weird."  He said, "Why?"  "I can just hear everyone: you spent the night in your ex's room???"  "What do you care what anyone thinks?"  "I don't really.  I care what I think.  No thanks."

The next morning Bethany and I went down and helped finish loading a few things, then she went with me to drop her brother's car off at the tire store.  We had discovered the day before that TJ was driving around with a donut on the front of his car and he said he could not afford new tires until February.  The other 3 looked pretty bad.  So I had talked Douche into letting me get tires on his car now and put it on OUR card and TJ could pay them off.  He agreed as long as TJ does make the payments.

In the meantime, I had ordered a washer and dryer for them to be delivered to their apartment on Saturday.  I had told them about them, the sale price and I could get it without interest for 18 months and free delivery. They promised to pay for them.

So we spent the first part of the day moving them.  I had to have the truck back by 2 pm.  We had lunch from subway and Douche headed for home in Kansas.  Bethany and I loaded some more things in my SUV and TJ's car (the tires were on and we picked it up). We drove the half hour back to the new place and unloaded what we had.  Then Bethany and I made the hour and 15 minute drive back home.

I have been kinda impatient and short tempered since then.  I am not sure if it is just regular winter orneries or if it is because of spending 2 days with their dad.  He didn't say anything bad or do anything bad but it is just being around him.  I realized after listening to him, that at this point in my life if I met him, I would not choose to be his friend, let alone marry him.

Oh well.  It is fridgidely cold and I am on a sugar free/low carb diet.  I have been doing this for 2 weeks.  I am not sure about weight loss because it says it will take about 3 weeks to actually lose any real weight but I am feeling some good affects from the 0 sugar thing.  The inflammation in my knee has all but gone.  I have very little stiffness and pain in it anymore. AND a pair of sweats I have that had become uncomfortably snug are now fitting me as they should.  So...inflammation is leaving my body.

I have a goal to actually lose most of the weight I want to lose by the time our school has its end of the school year conference in Kalahari.  I want to be comfortable being around all of them.  Half of them are runners.  I will NEVER be a runner but I don't want to be the old fat lady of the bunch.

That is my goal...