What Happens Now?

Nae has turned into a full fledged teenager and I am so upset, crushed, hurt, and scared.

She lied to us yesterday.

She was ungrounded for exactly 5 days. What. The. Hell?!

She wanted to go over to her friend's house and told Dirty that her friend's step-mom was home and his dad was going to be home around 1:00. Dirty thought it was a little strange that she made a point of telling him that her friend's dad is going to be home at 1:00. (Side note: this is a boy, yes but not a boy friend. She's been friends with this boy since 2nd grade and has been over there many times to hang out). We took her over there and Dirty told Nae he wanted to see a parent wave at us, she went to the door, came back to the car and said "his step-mom is in the shower", Dirty said "OK, we'll just wait". Oh man! You should have seen the look on her face! She paled, her eyes got a little shifty, and I'm pretty sure she was sweating. After a few minutes Dirty asked her if there was even an adult there, her answer was no and she knew it the whole time. WHAT?! I seriously lost my shit! Not for ONE second did I think she was lying and knew this kid's mom wasn't home. That was the last thing I expected, even after her sneaking out last month. I was so shocked, Dirty was pissed, Nae was crying, and Zilla was like "hey, what's going on", kid is so oblivious. We took her phone away, AGAIN, she's lost any privileges she had, and she's on chore duty. Good part is, my house has never been so clean, bad part is, my heart is broken.

Sneaking out was bad enough, but I sort of understand. Who doesn't want to go out at 1:00 and see what it's like? It is pretty thrilling. Of course, I didn't tell her that because she disobeyed the rules and broke a law. So, she was punished, This? This feels differently. I don't know if it's because she JUST got out of trouble from her antics in December or what, but I am taking this one hard. I feel like I'm losing her. I am questioning every conversation we've ever had, wondering if she was telling me the truth. If she lied about this, what else has she lied about that we didn't know? Has she had alcohol, done drugs, had sex? She's told me no, but I don't know what to believe anymore.

When my niece lied about almost being abducted by a stranger, it was for attention because her parents were getting a divorce. That kind of shit is expected and understood when a huge upheaval happens in a family, but we haven't had any sort of upheaval to make Nae think she needs attention. Dirty and I do the right things. We talk to her about her day, we listen to her, we have family dinners and all of us converse about the day, we joke with her, we have family movie nights, we give her some space, so I have NO idea what the hell is going on with that kid! We don't go out and leave the children alone for hours at a time, she doesn't have to raise her little brother, nor does she have a laundry list of chores to do because we're too lazy to do them. Seriously, this isn't your typical teenager needs attention and is acting out.

I am just so confused, hurt, and scared. I don't know what to think or do. I know I am taking this very personally but I don't know how else to do it. I know I'm a good mom to her but what happens now? Where do we go from here? I feel like I lost my little girl and I don't know how to get her back or if that's even possible.

I'm not a stupid mom. Naive? Very! Which is why I didn't think she was lying to us. I don't even know how long it is going to take for her to win our trust back, but it won't be any time soon. In the mean time, I have no idea what to do. I know I'm probably being all over dramatic about this and I know it could be SO much worse, but the thing is, I don't WANT it to get or be so much worse. This is bad enough.

She's FINE!

I didn't want to post an update on Nae until we got a definite answer from someone who didn't study only a term of the heart. We took her to her follow up appointment on Monday and he confirmed that her heart looked great. No structural problems, no irregular heart beats, all is good! WHEW good news! We did find out that her blood pressure is on the lower side of normal, so she just needs to make sure she's NOT locking her knees and is aware if/when she gets tunnel vision. And if she does start seeing spots or gets tunnel vision, she needs to LAY DOWN! That way she won't smack her face on the floor and get a pretty bruise on her face and a concussion.So all is well there.

I know a lot of bloggers have posted already about Wise Guy and her little Lola but I just can't NOT post as well. I know from reading a lot of blogs that this loss has hit us all very hard. I know it has hit me very hard. I cried many tears when I learned that Lola was on a ventilator. I sent out texts to various bloggers and we all sent TONS of love. But we were SO hopeful! So much hope. Come to find out that Lola passed away was a HUGE blow to me. I cried, I asked why, I was in disbelief. The first words that came out of my mouth were "NOOOO!" I felt and still kind of do feel betrayed, I just don't know why. Not that knowing why would make any difference, but still! I didn't know what to do with these emotions. I, of course, cried, said a prayer for Wise Guy and her family, but what can I do with these emotions? I went to her blog and I read all her comments that so many people have left and it made me feel a little better. There are NO words that can describe the pain Wise Guy is going through, but I HAVE to believe she can feel the love we are all sending her. So, that's what I'm doing. I am sending Wise Guy all the love I have. In addition to that, I am also sending love to everyone else that knows Wise Guy.

Wise Guy, we love you and we'll be here for you always and forever. Lola is in our hearts and that will never change.

Oh! Why Hello There!

Well, look at that! It's been quite a long time since I last wrote here. So much has happened, both good and bad. Let's see...Nae is still grounded, she's awfully happy about that too. She does, however, have her phone and computer back. She was allowed to go over to her friend's house without Dirty or myself last weekend, she was good and didn't do anything stupid (that we know of) and came home on time. She says she's learned her lesson, but she's 13, so I highly doubt it. I'm, sure she's sorry (that she got caught) and is scared shitless. Both are good. As of right now, she is earning back our trust and as we see fit, she'll get her privileges back. She is taking her punishment very well. No slamming of doors, no telling us she hates us or any of that. She's a smart kid, she knows she screwed up. So yeah, that's good! YAY Nae!

So the bad is that I did send my older sister the letter. She didn't take one word I said as anything but an attack. Not only did she share the letter with the rest of our siblings, she also told anyone who would listen that it was my fault that she doesn't have a relationship with her son. Ummm actually, no, not true. She doesn't have a relationship with her son because she does meth every day(!), not because I said something to him. But, once again I can't control her reactions, all I can is control mine. Which is what I did. I did not reply to her email, no did I try to defend myself to anyone. It's frustrating but you can't argue with crazy, or drugs addicted crazy.

Another good thing that happened was on Saturday. It was the 5 year anniversary of my mom's death and I did GREAT! I didn't cry, nor did I spend the whole day in bed. I didn't even have the urge to want to stay in bed. I WANTED to see the day and I wasn't faking it, either! That was pretty cool. It was very strange knowing what the day was and not bawling, but it felt good. I was trying to explain to Heather and Danielle how it felt and they said they got it, hopefully they did. I was and am very proud of myself. I never though that day would come. It did!

Another bad...once again with the teenager, but this time she didn't do anything wrong. She passed out at school on Friday and Dirty had to go get her. She said she started seeing spots during PE and went into the locker room and passed out, smacking her face on the floor. Once she came to, her battery had come out of her phone and she was trying to put it back in, standing up (because she hasn't learned that you shouldn't stand up) and passed out again. Once again, smacking her face on the floor. We think she might have hit her head on the lockers on the way down because she had a bump on the top of her head, as well as a swollen cheek and a bruised eye. Poor kid. She was pretty shook up and confused. She doesn't remember anything while she was out, obviously, and that scares her. We took her to the doctor on Monday and he ordered a full panel blood test. they took 2 vials of blood and are checking her for EVERYTHING! He also wanted her to have an echo cardiogram, which is on Thursday, and while I know he's being overly cautious because this isn't her first time passing out, I'm still freaking out. I was totally fine with the whole situation until I called the hospital to pre-register her. Now all I can think of is "what if"...not good!

I'm sure it's nothing and this is all to rule out the structure of her heart being "abnormal" but STILL! My little 13 year old is going to get an ultrasound of her HEART on Thursday and that sorta kinda freaks me out! I keep going back to when I was pregnant and they said there was a shadow on her heart. I keep wondering if we should have pushed harder to get it rechecked after birth or if we should have done something more the first time she passed out in 5th grade. Not a good place for my mind to go. I'm, once again, the strong one for Dirty and Nae but on the inside I am pretty scared. If y'all could spare some good JUJU to Nae, i would really appreciate it.

Talk to ya soon! I miss you all!

HELP!

I seriously need some advice here. Even just your thoughts anything, just give me SOMETHING!

Nae is finally the teenager I have dreaded having. She stayed the night at her friend's house last night and they decided to sneak out of the house. They got caught by the cops and had to call us to get her at 2:00 in the morning! Thankfully we didn't have to go get her at the police station but at the school they were at, but STILL! She's grounded from her phone, her computer, her iPod, and her friends for awhile, not sure exactly how long, a month maybe? We just don't know! We've never had to do this before with her, she's always been a great kid. We want to make an impact on her that this shit isn't going to fly, but also we don't want to punish her TOO much. Not sure if there's such a thing as "too much" at the moment, but I just don't know what's the appropriate punishment. My thought was she would get her phone when she went back to school on Monday, but Dirty thinks if she gets grounded from it, that's it. I didn't agree with him until I read her facebook messages. Her and her friend were sneaking out to go see a boy. Apparently he left his door unlocked so they could get in? That's what I'm getting from the messages, I could be wrong, but I doubt it. As if that's not bad enough, she sent that message this morning from her iPod when she was grounded! She doesn't know I read her messages, neither does Dirty. I just read them. When I asked her why they were sneaking out, her answer was "we wanted to know what it was like to sneak out". That's a bullshit answer, I knew that even before I read her messages. Now I have confirmation of it, so I just don't know what to do with this information.

Any thoughts, advice, anything would be appreciated. I'm at a loss as what to do here. I know she's a good kid and teenagers do stupid stuff, but I don't want this to become a normal thing nor do I want to lose her.

Who's The Real You?

I was asked this question by someone on Twitter a few weeks ago. My answer always was "I'm many things. Although you won't know the real me on Twitter." For me, Twitter is my place to be fun, silly, talk obscenely, drink wine on Friday nights at #wineparty, be inappropriate, sexual, emotional, supportive, flirty..all sorts of things. Its my place to bitch about my sister and her dogs coming for Thanksgiving, it's my place to say whatever the hell I want. My blog is for that as well, but this blog is more the emotional, softer side of me. The place where I'm more vulnerable, where I let my guard down and actually show others that I am not a cold hearted bitch, that I do have feelings and they do get hurt and I do in fact cry. Not many people know that I cry, even less have actually SEEN me cry. Not that "this is such a happy moment" cry, but the "ugly cry" where your face gets all contorted into odd shapes you could never recreate unless you were in the "ugly cry" state. I've thought about changing up my blog because it is SO damn depressing but I can't. I don't want to not write about something because it's depressing and just be happy all the time because I do enough of that in real life, I need to let it out somewhere. That somewhere is here. Obviously everything I write isn't going to be depressing, but if so? There's nothing wrong with that!

As far as knowing who I am, I still don't know. I know that I'm a wife, I'm a mother, I'm a daughter, a sister, a student, a friend, and a bunch of other things but who do I see myself as? That's what I don't have the answer too. I do know that I am stressed to the maximum and am SO overwhelmed! I have SO much on my plate that I feel like I'm drowning and I don't know what to tackle first. I am the only source of income and when we are broke, I feel responsible. I do the laundry, so when someone doesn't have something, I feel responsible. Same thing goes for the cleaning of the house, dinners, and everything else. I am responsible for WAY too much and I am beginning to not care about anything. I was in such a funk Tuesday, on the brink of tears all day long because I was feeling the "I don't give a fuck" feeling. This feeling is synonymous with my dark hole of depression. I don't want to go back there, even just the thought of being there makes me have a bit of a panic attack. I ended up talking to Dirty about it, thanks to Danielle who made me promise to talk to him, and he helped me a lot. We came to the conclusion that I am so scared of being depressed that I sort of make myself depressed. Its a vicious cycle and I'm not sure how to stop it. I need to balance these emotions and tasks and am unsure how to do that. I do know that asking for help is HUGE, as is reaching out and while I'm not perfect at it, I'm doing better. There are just some things I have no control over and continuing stressing about those things, isn't doing me favors. On the other hand there are things that I do have control over and that's where asking for help comes in. I'll feel better if I let go a little bit. I'm tying. That's the best I can do.

Another thing that has me going is the situation with my older sister. After I wrote my letter, my dad got her address and said I could send it to her. He suggested I leave out the part about her dad and I agreed. It was a low blow and it was just mean. I didn't need to physically send it to her because she tried to add me to Facebook. That is a little to close and I do NOT want her access to pictures of my kids or my life. She made the choice to love her drugs instead of her family despite us trying to help her. That was her choice, not mine. So I ended up sending her my letter via Facebook and it wasn't well received. Not that I expected anything less, I just didn't expect the shit storm it caused. She didn't reply to me personally, but she sent it to our other siblings and my dad. One of my other sisters sent me a reply basically telling me that I am a spoiled judgmental brat who lives in a  fantasy world. It was not nice at all and frankly, took me by surprise. I didn't expect anyone to remember the events the way I remembered them, but I thought maybe they'd see some of it my way? I don't know exactly what I expected but it was as hell wasn't what I got. The sister I sent the letter to did not reply to me, but she replied to my dad, which really pissed me off. I wrote the letter, if she had something to say about it, and she did, she should have sent it to me. According to her, Dirty is a lazy, controlling piece of shit who wouldn't watch his own kids so I could see my mom when she was sick. She also said that my kids are her niece and nephew and when they get older she will have a relationship with them if they want it. They won't, I've raised them better then that.

She is also confused as to why all of this is coming out now. She blames me for her son hating her and is not taking ANY responsible for anything. I knew she wasn't going to take any responsibility for anything, but I wasn't aware I was to blame for her son hating her. The best part of this whole thing? Is when she said "if and when I decide to get clean, that will be my business". She just admitted to still being on drugs! Knowing that, does she really think I want to have any sort of relationship with her? Or have my kids anywhere near her? I don't know what it's like to be addicted to drugs, so I can't relate but she HAS to know that I will not let her around my teenager! I just wish I could shake the shit out of her and allow her to see what she is doing to this family, even living a state away. She is STILL effecting our lives and I just want her to go away! I had hoped for some sort of closure after sending the letter but it's only frustrated me more. She'll never get it and I need to realize that and let it go.

In better news, my birthday is tomorrow and I plan on have a great day! I will not be grumpy, stressed, and will be happy! I will also let my family spoil me with adoration because dammit I deserve it!

She Would've Been 68 Today

Its been almost 5 years, still can't believe it! Sometimes it feels like it was just yesterday and then again sometimes it feels like it was so long ago. So many events have been celebrated without her, how can we celebrate without her? How is it possible that I'm still breathing and living? How did I move into my house without her helping me with my kitchen, without her making spaghetti? I can't believe I did it.

This morning I woke up feeling ok, I knew what day it was but I was determined to make it a good day. Then Facebook happened and my sister and my dad posted a video and my friend sent me a message saying she remembered and was here for me. After that, everything kind of turned into a blur and the whole breathing thing became difficult. I really did NOT want this to happen today, clearly I have no choice, but still! I just wanted to have a happy day while remembering her and eat cake. So when I reminded Dirty what day it was, he suggested I stay home and just have a day to myself. I protested a bit because I feel like I should be productive one of these years on her birth and death day, but this year isn't going to be it. Maybe next year, or maybe not. We'll see.

So far this morning, I've cried a few times, made a cake, got SO much support from everyone and listened to her song and cried some more. I just want the pain to lessen a little bit more. In time I suppose.

Happy birthday mom, I'll raise my glass to you tonight, sing you happy birthday, and eat some cake all the while thinking about what a great mom you were and are. Thank you for the 30 years you gave me. They were perfect in every way, just like you.
Love and miss you!

Dear Sister

My dad won't let me call her, he thinks it won't do any good. So instead I'll write her a letter here and vent to my dad and Dirty about how I feel, despite them knowing and feeling pretty much the same way.

Dear Sister,
As much as I don't look at you as a sister anymore and don't think that word fits you, calling you a "meth whore" right from the beginning will not only stop you from reading this letter. And I NEED you to read this letter.

When I was little, I thought you and the rest of my older siblings, were SO cool. Y'all got to go to the park by yourselves and went to a big school. Y'all didn't have to have mom and dad take you everywhere. Soon, however I realized how not cool you all were. Tim was old enough to have a job, but never worked. Lori was old enough to work and of course didn't, either. You were suppose to go to school, but you were always skipping. You three were always downstairs doing your thing, while Lil Sis and I were upstairs playing Barbies or listening to music. When MY dad would go on his business trips, he would always bring you guys something back too. But that was never good enough for you. You were bound and determined to make him feel bad when he got home for whatever reason. While you never harmed Lil Sis or myself, it was very clear you didn't like us. The good thing is we were too young to realize it and still looked up to you three.

As I got older, I could see what type of person you were. Not just you, the others as well. I know Tim stole MY dad's camera, I know he also stole my necklace that Dirty gave me when he was in the Navy. I've also heard that you and Lori treated MY dad like shit. Which, btw, I will NEVER understand because he is the most gentle man in the world. He came into your life when you were 5, basically rescued you and our mom from an abusive man, yet you treated him like shit almost every day. It was and is not his fault your dad was a douche bag. It is also not my fault that we have different fathers and mine is a better man then yours could ever be.

Anyway when you had your son, we really had a connection. We spent that whole summer before together, it was so fun! We planned, shopped, and laughed so much. Then the newness of having a baby wore off and the reality set in. You got a job, so you said, and were gone more then you were home. Mom, dad, Lil sis, and I raised him while you were working. Granted I don't know what it's like to be a single mother and I could be wrong here, but I doubt it. I don't think you were working, I think you were out with your friends while all of us tended to your baby. Then you changed because you met Scott. You two got married and had a great life, on the outside. On the inside there was a lot of drinking, drugs, and infidelity. It wasn't ALL your fault, I'll give you that but it wasn't all his fault either. Once you left him, everything went to hell. You went off your God damn rocker! You left your son with Dirty and I for 2 days, we had NO idea where the fuck you were, nor did we have his asthma medication. Thank God you have an amazing family, if not, I don't even WANT to think what would have happened to that sweet innocent blue eyed little boy. You did have great timing and picked great people to leave him with. Dirty and I didn't have children yet and mom and dad were able to watch YOUR son, so between the 4 of us, we did a damn good job.

When I got pregnant with Nae you were very judgmental and condescending, you couldn't BELIEVE I was pregnant so young. When I told you the first words out of your mouth were "is this a joke?!" Really? I wasn't really THAT young and I had been with Dirty for about 3 years at the time. Anyway, that's not really a big deal, compared to everything else you've done. The conversations Dirty and I had about parenting because of you are what made us the parents we are today. I guess I should thank you for that, but I won't because I shouldn't have to learn how NOT to be a parent from my own sister.

What has pissed me off the most is when I had to tell Nae that she wasn't allowed to spend time with you anymore because of your drug use. You had borrowed mom and dad's car and didn't bring it back when you were suppose too. Mom and dad got pissed off, rightly so, and you all got into it at Nae's 3rd birthday party. Mom and dad took it downstairs so as not to upset Nae but the damage had already been done. From that point on, Dirty and I decided you weren't going to be spending ANY time with Nae. The conversation we had to have with YOUR niece was horrible. 10 years later, I can't still remember her words and the look on her face. She was devastated that she couldn't spend time with her "Tante Tricia" anymore. After that conversation Dirty and I had with her, we vowed to keep you and your shit far, far away from her and any future children we might have.

After we had Zilla, we allowed you to come over to see him because you had gotten your shit together, for the moment. Then mom got sick and we all rallied together as a family to help dad and make sure dad could get to the hospital or the nursing home to see her. When that became just TOO much for you to do, you thought stealing their car would be a good idea. Classy move. But my favorite? Was when you basically stole from my dad while our mother was in the hospital dying of cancer. Yep, that was pretty low of you. It was then and there I realized, or rather, it became more obvious that you will never change. So when we had to make the decision to take mom off life support, you were bawling and freaking out, I, your LITTLE sister by 7 years stood up and took charge. I did everything from telling the nurse our decision to buying the urn. I didn't do it for you, I did it for MY dad. I did it because it's what needed to be done and I am OK with it. I don't want you to say thank you, nor do I want a pat on the back for doing what family does for one another. I just want you to know how every one of your fucked up decisions have effected every one's life as well.

Going through mom's jewelry was hard enough, but you telling me most of it was "costume jewelry"? That was IT! We kind of got into it that night, but I still held my tongue because we were in my dad's house holding and looking at his DEAD wife's jewelry. Going off on you would have only made things worse for him, even though you totally fucking deserved.

I could go on and on for pages upon pages but rehashing all of your fuck ups won't make them any better. It won't serve any other purpose other then making you feel bad, which is a bonus, but it won't last for long. I know you too well. So let me say it simply so you don't get confused.

I don't want you in my life. I don't even CARE if you get clean and want to make amends, I will not accept it. Yes I know family is suppose to be there for each other all the time, well I'm breaking that rule. I don't want your poison anywhere near me or my children. Yes, MY children, not your "babies". You don't even KNOW Zilla and haven't seen either of them in YEARS. Even if I were to leave out my children and my husband, there would still be my dad. I don't want you anywhere near him, either. But mostly this is for me. If I never speak or see you again, I will be just fine with that. Harsh? Probably so. Mean? Oh I am sure of it. But ask me if I care? The answer is no. You have hurt me, Lil Sis, mom, my dad, and everyone else too many times for me to take the chance on you again. There is TOO much to lose. I will protect this family till I die and if that means writing you off, I'll do it with a fucking smile on my face. Trust me on this Tricia. Stay away!

~Your little sister that once thought you did no wrong, but now knows the truth.